Mangoes

(Cue music) It's the most wonderful time of the year. (end music) Even better than Christmas . . . sure, Easter is the event that provided a way for us to be justified with God, and that would make Jesus death and resurrection more wonderful than his birth alone, but I am speaking from a humanistic point of view now. . .

Woohoo! It's the beginning of mango season!! And here in the Yei area of South Sudan I am never more than 50 feet from a mango tree. So for the next few weeks, I get to look forward to eating mangoes morning, noon, and night. Bananas are fairly plentiful around here, and although tasting better and fresher here than in the States, they can't compare with a mango. Fresh pineapple is a bit better, but they are quite a bit more expensive and are not always available. So, I am very eager for these next few weeks. Right now the head of the project I am working on in this area is back in Georgia cursing his sister for planning her wedding right at the apex of mango season. He may have gotten a few in before leaving last Thursday, and by the time he returns in another week and a half there will be some mangoes still available, but the best two weeks to be in South Sudan he will miss . . . Sorry Matt.

For me, this season is very exciting. First off, I love fruit. I always have and hopefully always will. I always enjoy the different seasons back in PA as we go from strawberries to melons, peaches to apples, and all the others. When working for Flohr Pools, I always tried to pack some of whatever fruit was in season, and often times when working with Derek and Troy, they would possibly even have some fruit I didn't. So it was always enjoyable to get done working out in the heat and bite into a nice juicy fruit. This past year, however, I missed the most amazing season of all for the first time in quite a while. Peaches. Peach season still is my favorite time of year in PA, and I would prefer to have fresh peaches to fresh mangoes, but I am more than content to be able to partake in mango season and it should help me to get over the fact that last year I missed the peaches.