R&K Insider: The rebel saint of South Sudan and a deep conversation with travel writer Jodi Ettenberg

This week on R&K, Rajiv Golla reports on a rebel nun trying to do big things in South Sudan, and the original Legal Nomad, Jodi Ettenberg, on "eating soup for a living" and coming to terms with a food and travel writer's worst nightmare—bedrest. View this email in your browser Illustration by Daisy Dee Happy post-holiday Friday! We were waiting until after turkey, manic online shopping, and tolerating problematic relatives week to drop this epic dispatch from South Sudan, the fruit of years of research and reporting by Rajiv Golla, a journalist (and former R&K karaoke partner) now based in East Africa. (Plus, fantastic illustrations by the great Daisy Dee.) In June 2016, Rajiv traveled to Wau, a trade-hub city in South Sudan, to report on the aftermath of a devastating attack that made the city the latest victim of the country's civil war. There, he met Sister Gracy, an Indian nun in the Salesian order—a Roman Catholic order that focuses on serving disadvantaged children—who had spent 30 years in service in Sudan and South Sudan, and despite chronic instability, managed to build several schools, a nursing college, and a hospital—sometimes defying her superiors' orders. Sister Gracy took Rajiv in, and he lived by her side as she did her rounds, organized food distributions, assessed the fallout from the attack, and charmed her way past soldiers, UN workers, and bank tellers alike. Sister Gracy had been through it all, he writes: "The wars, the death threats, the deportations, and the peace deals that continue to precariously tie a tattered nation together." She never lost hope, but things look bleaker now. The renewed threat of violence has tested her resolve, and then was handed an ultimatum from her superiors in Rome to choose between South Sudan and the Salesian order. By shadowing Sister Gracy's daily work, the piece also traces South Sudan's history, and explores the tough questions and decisions at the heart of humanitarianism and what "doing the right thing" really means. Read it!  And over on The Trip podcast, we're wrapping up Montreal with long-time friend of R&K, Jodi Ettenberg, founder of the travel and food site Legal Nomads. In 2008, Jodi quit her job in corporate law to go to Siberia and eventually live in Central Mexico and Southeast Asia, writing about soup a whole lot and riding nightmarish night buses in Bolivia and meeting miniature cows, and spinning her travels into a new career and a forum for fellow long-term travelers. Then in 2017, complications from an emergency room spinal tap led to a cerebrospinal fluid leak—a rare condition that makes even standing upright excruciatingly painful. Among other physical cruelties, it has kept Jodi mostly confined to her bed for over two years. Still, she has lost none of her brightness, humor, and grace. Nathan and Jodi talk about her unconventional route into traveling for a living, her obsession with llamas, and her hardest journey yet: the unexpected and painful process of coming to terms with a big world made—for now—unbearably small. If you haven't already, check out Legal Nomads for some of the best "non-fluffy" food and travel writing out there, plus honest practical advice (including the always-relevant what to do if you don't want to be a lawyer anymore). Which Rudy Giuliani might be interested in reading. From autumnal Quebec, the The Trip travels south to Tijuana—where we talk about the border city's golden age catering to their northern neighbors' vices, NaCo style, mouth-electrifying flowers, mezcal diets, and much more. The Trip now lives at Luminary Media—sign up (with a free one-month trial) to hear cocktail-fueled conversations with exceptional people around the world, and get access to over 40 other exclusive podcasts. Until next week, when we will be writing this newsletter from Beirut.  —Alexa Copyright © 2019 Roads & Kingdoms, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: 68 Jay St. #422 Brooklyn, NY 10013 Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.