Bushy toilet

open-air toilet

Our neighbours of the compound right next door live according an open-air life-style. That means everything is being done outside: cooking, watching satellite TV, sleeping, fighting, eating etc... And, when I write everything, I mean everything! That indeed includes the visits to the 'toilet' in between two bushes. This used to be quite a private activity, since there were lots of other bushes and trees around. Really unfortunately, this refreshing idea of a private bush toilet came to a sudden end. Yesterday afternoon, one of the project owners (-who probably had an inspiring moment to build new houses on the premises) arrived with a big bulldozer and with a lot of noise he removed all the surrounding trees and bushes. You can imagine the expression on the faces of the family members when the only thing they saw left on their former green compound, was their bushy toilet. It is still a  mystery to us why these beautiful surrounding trees had to be removed. I am afraid it will take some time for new trees to grow back; sadly enough too long for our neighbours to hold their 'needs', that's for sure!

Army of ants

Where they come from and where they go to, I never understood; ants, and especially the Sudanese ones, are mysterious little animals. They look harmless, but today I discovered that they are indeed capable to achieve a lot in their big trained armies. While I had just poured my cup of green tea, I felt like eating a ginger biscuit and opened the new packet I had bought especially in Khartoum last week. We normally always put our 'sweets' in the fridge, but somehow I forgot about these interesting black, little creatures. I walked down the stairs while nibbling on my ginger biscuit and I was already looking forward to take the next one. But, as soon as I had greeted the guard downstairs and went up again, I saw there was something wrong: a strong army of energetic, determined ants were trying to confiscate my cupboard! And when I opened the small door, I couldn't believe my eyes. Within a few minutes hundreds of ants had come from 'somewhere' and were happily eating from, climbing on, and taking away my lovely ginger biscuits from Khartoum! It took quite a few exciting minutes before I conquered this special hard-working army, but eventually I managed to 'rescue' my biscuits. I do admire these forces of ants, but next time I'd rather keep them away from my kitchen!

Volley!

Student life; most of us will associate these words with a busy social life, hanging out with fellow-students, engagement in student associations and, ofcourse, a bit of studying. But unfortunately for the students here in Kosti there is not too much to do besides their studies. There are hardly any places to go to or events to visit. But,..the good thing is: there is enough space! So, Frank got out his volleyball net and discussed with the students from the hostel next door whether they felt like setting up a small volleyball court. Clearly a simple net and a ball were enough to mobilize the majority of the boys in the hostel. Nowadays, as soon as the evening falls, the boys (including Frank ;) gather outside and enjoy the competitive game and their daily exercise. From my balcony I have the best view to watch the evening matches and to admire the audience of curious cows, donkeys and goats passing by. As soon as the mosque starts to be heard, the boys shake hands and thank each other for the nice evening. It turns out to be an exciting student life after all: Let's play volley!

Hands and forks

We had been invited for meals here at people's houses so many times, that we had almost forgotten what it was like to invite people over for dinner in our Sudanese home. So, last night it was high time for us to ask some of the colleagues over and prepare some nice food for them. Here in Kosti, it is always a challenge to find all ingredients you have in mind, but luckily we still had some products that we had brought with us from Holland and Zambia. After having spend roughly 2 hours in the kitchen, we were happy to conclude that it had been worth it; it looked yummy! While we  welcomed our guests, we realized that it must be quite an interesting experience for them. Instead of eating with their hands from one big dish on the floor or low table, they now saw a dinner table with candle light, napkins, individual plates, spoons, knifes and forks! Culture shocks indeed cut both ways! As soon as all the dishes were placed on the table, there was a short moment of hesitation: hands or forks? "In our country, people also like to eat chicken with their hands, so please feel free to eat however you like!", Frank said, when he saw the hesitation and the bungling with the forks and knifes. That broke the ice and everyone dug in. It turned out a very nice and tasty evening, with a lot of busy hands and forks!

Morning has broken..

Normally, by the time morning has broken in Kosti, the sun is already shining brightly and more than happy to provide you with the first drops of sweat of the day. So to start the day as refreshing as possible, Frank woke up before sunrise and took his kayak (which was hand-made in Khartoum) to the Nile and drifted off. While the sun couldn't wait to show her face, the birds sang their most beautiful songs to celebrate the start of a new day. This part of the Nile is crocodile-free (at least that's what we assume, since we have never seen one!) and also the dangerous hippos are nowhere to be seen. So absolutely nothing stood in the way of enjoying this peaceful paddle-safari and eventually returning home just after the morning had broken..

"How many sheep can you eat?"

After having been abroad for a few weeks, I was welcomed back in the office in Kosti with big smiles and warm wishes. Everyone was still quite excited about the Eid celebrations and the attached one-week off from work they had had the week before! While I was distributing the small souvenirs I had bought for everyone, I bumped into one of our male drivers. He greeted me with a firm handshake and tap on my shoulder. When I asked him about his Eid holiday, he smiled and pointed at his belly: "I ate 3 sheep on the first day of Eid!". He looked around to see if anyone else had heard it. A bit louder than his first statement he continued: "And...on the second day I ate another 4!" His face started glowing when his female colleagues acted surprised and asked him how he had managed. While he was explaining that he just really really likes to eat sheep meat during Eid, another male colleague stepped in and started sharing his sheep-eating experiences. While they were clearly enjoying their stories on how many sheep they could eat during Eid, I started smiling and I wondered how on earth one would be able to eat even one whole sheep in a day! The two men had become a bit overexcited and invited me for a sheep-eating contest during next year's Eid celebrations. "Sound interesting", I answered diplomatically, not sure whether they meant me joining them in the contest. After having given it some thought, I decided this competition indeed could be interesting. But I would rather observe. Or take the sheep home with me ;)

What comes around..

One of the drivers told me a rather funny, interesting story about the irony of life: One of Sudan's well-off business man, who lived in Khartoum, went to the doctor because he was not feeling well. Once the doctor had examined him, he concluded that he needed an operation on a short notice, to prevent things from getting worse. When the doctor wanted to make an appointment to set the operation date, the rich business man apparently jumped up and shouted that he would never want to be operated in a Sudanese hospital. "The quality is too low and the Sudanese surgeons surely don't know what they are doing!" So, eventually the man contacted several hospitals abroad and he was put on a waiting list of a hospital in one of the neighbouring countries. After months of waiting it was finally his turn to be operated and he hired a jet to travel to the particular hospital. His operation went smoothly and while he was recovering in bed, the surgeon who had operated him came into the room to check up on him. While he stood next to the bed, he shook the businessman's hand and introduced himself. You can imagine the patient's face when he heard that the surgeon was actually Sudanese..