在蘇丹南部的重鎮(zhèn)朱巴，從7月10日開(kāi)始，它便成了全世界矚目的地方——地球上最新國(guó)度南蘇丹共和國(guó)的首都。

在南蘇丹已經(jīng)看不到阿拉伯人的面孔，他們與非洲其他國(guó)家的人民一樣，都是地道的黑人。蘇丹南部本是蘇丹最富庶地區(qū)，氣候條件較好，石油等自然資源蘊(yùn)藏豐富。

朱巴市中心只有總統(tǒng)府附近才能看到柏油馬路，據(jù)說(shuō)整個(gè)南蘇丹僅有60公里的柏油公路，而且都是2010年下半年以后才鋪設(shè)完成的。一群當(dāng)?shù)厝藝诼愤叺目救鈹偵?，七八個(gè)人一桌，喝著可樂(lè)、啤酒，盡情享用一大盤烤雞。我在朱巴市區(qū)很少見(jiàn)到兩層以上的水泥建筑。無(wú)論是我住的朱巴飯店，還是過(guò)去的蘇丹南部自治政府辦公室，都是用鐵板和泡沫塑料填充的臨時(shí)建筑。居民大多生活在當(dāng)?shù)貍鹘y(tǒng)的茅草房里。這種茅草房一般是用當(dāng)?shù)靥赜械哪嗤疗龀梢欢聢A形圍墻，再用一把把捆扎起來(lái)的茅草鋪在上面作房頂。當(dāng)?shù)厝苏f(shuō)這種看似簡(jiǎn)陋的建筑其實(shí)通風(fēng)透氣，恰恰適合這里燥熱的氣候。的確，朱巴白天的最高氣溫竟達(dá)38攝氏度以上，在太陽(yáng)下稍站一會(huì)兒就汗流浹背，暴露的皮膚也被灼得發(fā)疼。

隨處可見(jiàn)頭頂水桶的婦女和小孩。她們熟練地把幾十斤重的水桶放在頭頂，一只手扶著桶邊保持平衡，艱難但靈活地穿梭在泥濘坑洼的小巷中。當(dāng)?shù)厝嗽诩Q(mào)市場(chǎng)上購(gòu)買進(jìn)口的日常用品，當(dāng)然日雜服裝仍被中國(guó)貨占據(jù)著主導(dǎo)地位。這種類似于中國(guó)鄉(xiāng)鎮(zhèn)上的集貿(mào)市場(chǎng)，從蔬菜到服裝，從豬肉到彩電，從大餅到家具，毫不相干的各種商品相鄰擺放，雜亂但卻豐富，雖說(shuō)不上應(yīng)有盡有，但也算是南蘇丹最繁華的地方了。在朱巴主要有肯尼亞人、烏干達(dá)人、印度人以及黎巴嫩人經(jīng)營(yíng)著餐館、超市等，規(guī)模稍大一點(diǎn)的超市貨物價(jià)格奇高。

在朱巴街頭經(jīng)?？梢钥匆?jiàn)穿著假耐克的年輕人，他們聽(tīng)著歐美流行音樂(lè)，戴著遮住大半個(gè)臉的墨鏡，額頭卻留著一道道部落圖騰的V字型刀痕。我在朱巴的幾天中，正好遇到了當(dāng)?shù)赜腥宿k婚禮，有幸一睹別具非洲地方特色的婚禮。我先是來(lái)到了新郎的家里，還未走到門口就已感覺(jué)到了熱鬧的氣氛。聚集著的人群走了一撥，又來(lái)了一撥。不過(guò)男女之間還是要保持距離的，連坐席都是男女在不同的地方。這里不讓喝酒，所以來(lái)到的賓客都會(huì)先發(fā)一瓶飲料，用以代替飲酒。然后每人發(fā)一盤餐食，算是婚宴的主食。別看數(shù)量不多，但每一樣都很撐肚子，要吃完一份還是需要很大肚量的！吃完了之后，稍做休息，就得往新娘家里趕，在那里會(huì)有婚禮儀式。來(lái)到新娘家的第一件事又是吃！可能他們覺(jué)得拿出食物是最好的招待，整個(gè)場(chǎng)子就放了這么兩個(gè)盤子。儀式開(kāi)始了，雙方家長(zhǎng)聚在一起。新娘也經(jīng)過(guò)了精心的打扮，身上戴滿了娘家傳下的首飾，在母親及伴娘的陪伴下入場(chǎng)。

南蘇丹是一個(gè)多民族的國(guó)家，對(duì)婚嫁的講究非常之多。一般一次婚禮要持續(xù)好幾天，南蘇丹人對(duì)婚禮也是比較講究的，他們十分注重禮儀。在舉行婚禮的儀式上，新郎新娘在優(yōu)美動(dòng)聽(tīng)的樂(lè)曲聲中從內(nèi)室走出來(lái)，肩并肩地坐在院子中央用彩燈、彩球和彩帶裝飾起來(lái)的一個(gè)臺(tái)子上，賓客們紛紛走上前去握手、擁抱和親吻，表示熱烈祝賀。彩臺(tái)前放著一塊大的紅色地毯，音樂(lè)一響，新郎新娘緩緩起身，慢慢走下彩臺(tái)，在地毯上翩翩起舞。新郎新娘跳完一曲舞，回到彩臺(tái)上坐下，男女賓客輪流走上地毯，跳起“頸脖舞”?！邦i脖舞”在南蘇丹十分流行，是婚禮場(chǎng)上必跳的舞蹈，青年男女人人都會(huì)跳，而且從孩童時(shí)期便開(kāi)始學(xué)跳這種舞蹈。這個(gè)舞蹈的動(dòng)作模仿駱駝行走時(shí)頸脖的晃動(dòng)，駱駝是蘇丹人非常喜愛(ài)的一種動(dòng)物，他們認(rèn)為駱駝在行進(jìn)中頸脖有節(jié)奏地晃動(dòng)是最優(yōu)美的動(dòng)作。舞蹈時(shí)，姑娘們頭向后仰，突出胸部，不停地晃動(dòng)頸脖和雙肩，展現(xiàn)出優(yōu)美的舞姿。小伙子們圍著跳舞的姑娘，舉手彈指，發(fā)出有節(jié)奏的響聲，伴舞助興。人們除跳古老的“頸脖舞”外，還跳現(xiàn)代的“迪斯科”，兩種舞蹈交替進(jìn)行，盡情歌舞，一直持續(xù)到次日黎明。

My Impressions of South Sudan

By Shen Haibin

Juba， a central city of the previous south of the Sudan， became the capital city of the Republic of South Sudan on July 9， 2011. I knew nothing about Juba before I came to the city. Upon my arrival， I was astonished to find that the city was more landlocked， backward and primitive than I had imagined.

South Sudan is the latest new country that has come into independence since the end of the cold war. Nowadays， there are no faces of Arabs in the country. Everywhere I go I see black people just like many other countries in Africa. With rich mineral resources， the south of the Sudan had every hope of becoming a rich region， but the civil war of the past 50 years demolished the country savagely. Infrastructure was almost nonexistent there and the direct economic loss amounted to one million dollars a day.

Without the independence and without the benefits of the Nile， Juba would probably remain an ordinary primitive village forever. Today， Juba boasts a population of nearly 400，000， but it is hard to say where the downtown is and where suburbs start. If you find a cluster of thatched houses and something that looks like a rural marketplace in China， then you are in the very downtown of Juba. Beyond this small area stretches desolation and some dusty roads.

It is said that only around the president’s office in downtown Juba can you see asphalt roads. It is said that the whole country now boasts only 60 kilometers of asphalt roads and all of them have been built since the second half of 2010. The road system of today cannot effectively link the capital with other cities across the country. In the rainy season， many regions will be cut off like islands. When cars speed through the main streets in downtown， dust spread with the exhaustion emission toward shops， but local residents seemingly had long since got used to that. It is a common sight that a group of men sit around a table by a roadside doos stall， drinking beer or coke and treating themselves whole-heartedly to a plate of roasted chicken.

Seldom did I see a two-story or higher cement house in downtown Juba. The Juba Hotel where I stayed and the office previously used by the autonomous government of the southern Sudan before the independence are all make-do structures of iron-sheet and foamed plastic. Most local residents live in circular adobe houses with a thatched roof. It is said that this typical residential architecture is most suitable against the scorching climate.

Water-transporting trucks are a common sight on the streets of Juba. Most of these water trucks are refurbished from something originally designed for other functions. More often than not， water would splash to the ground as the dirty roads are bumpy and potholed. The downtown Juba is not yet equipped with a tap-water system. All the drinking water is transported by the water trucks from the Nile to the water distribution centers across the downtown. Women and children are frequently seen carrying buckets of water on their heads.

There is no manufacturing enterprise or a large supermarket. Local residents do their shopping at local markets. The markets sell all kinds of household goods. Local restaurants and shops are run by foreigners from Uganda， Kenya， India and Lebanon. In the streets， you can see young men dressed in fake brands. They wear dark glasses and listen to Western pop music. The dark glasses cannot hide the tribal patterns carved on their foreheads.

Though South Sudan is poor with infrastructure， income from the booming oil industry will eventually fuel the growth of the youngest nation. In 2011， about 7 billion US dollars will be invested to boost a full range of undertakings. I saw rows of new houses just completed. Juba University is transferring teachers and students from Khartoum. As more power-generation units are in use， power outage is greatly reduced. The wireless network is becoming faster. The government is beginning to solicit investors for development projects in suburbs. Foreign businesses have come to the capital trying to set up shops there.