Masalama, Sudan!

Our most characteristic photo of Sudan

After a period of almost a year we are now leaving Sudan. It has been a very special and memorable time with a lot of new impressions and perceptions on Sudan and the Sudanese people. Thank you all for reading this blog and following us on our Sudanese 'journey'. In case you want to write a letter back to us, please use the following email address: lettersfromsudan@gmail.com. Warm greetings from us! :)

Presents

The differences in cultural habits find their roots in even (or should I say, especially) the smallest events. Giving or receiving presents for example. I have always learned that it is rude not to open a present immediately after someone has kindly offered it to you. It would somehow indicate that you are not interested in the content of the present and that you simply don't really care. Here in Sudan, on the contrary, lots of people consider it inappropriate to open a present in front of the person who has just offered it to them. The other day, I gave a small Dutch gift to one of Frank's colleagues and without hesitation she thanked me and put the (still wrapped!) present in the drawer of her desk. Only after some time, she rang me up to say that she had opened the present and that she really liked it! When I asked her why Sudanese generally wait with opening the presents until the benefactor has left, she said: "Just imagine if you really don't like the present; then it's is not nice for the other person to see your disappointed face!". When I think about it in that light, I guess many of us have simply learned to be very good actors sometimes..

Sugar-free!

The banks of the Nile in Khartoum

"Nothing beats a nice, fresh cup of tea while sitting on the banks of the Nile", said one of our friends, while we enjoyed our cinnamon tea, overlooking the tranquil Nile water. The tea and coffee ladies with their simple stalls and colourful plastic chairs give the area a cosy feel, without it being really fancy. Just at the moment that we thought nothing could ever take away our relaxed feeling, we heard a funny noise. One man approached us, carrying some kind of machine that came across as a hover. It was quite big, so the man had to carry it over his shoulder in order to hold it. The funny noise clearly came from a small shiny, lightening thing that was attached to this machine. He shouted something in Arabic, which I couldn't understand. When we looked closer we saw that the machine that the man was holding were weighing scales. At first I was amazed, because I thought this man wanted to sell  it. But it turned out that this man actually wanted to lend it to people so they can weigh themselves on the spot. "He says these scales are really special",said one of our friends, "if you stand on them, and they think you are too heavy, it will make a funny noise!" We could hardly hide our smiles because of his unexpected offer. I wonder who would ever stand on these scales in front of all  friends and family while relaxing on the banks of the river. And especially with that funny noise in case of overweight! ;) But thinking about the amounts of sugar that people here take in their tea and coffee, I guess it is not such a bad idea to make the people a bit more aware of their weight. We anyway drank our next tea sugar free!

Exotic sandwich

Since this is our final week in Khartoum, I invited two of the girls from the office for a nice farewell lunch/dinner. We left at 4.30 in the afternoon, which meant it was Sudanese lunchtime for them and (almost) dinner time for me. I took them to a special place with a nice, cosy green garden and an interesting tasty menu. It indeed turned out to be an interesting menu for my two accompanies, because the menu was only in English and not in Arabic. "This is strange, we are in Sudan! And there is no menu in Arabic!" There is no real dining culture in Sudan and the fact that everything was written in English clearly showed that the majority of the customers probably come from outside of Sudan. The two girls at my table didn't let that stand in their way and when the (English-speaking!) waitress came around, they both confidently ordered the chicken sandwich. "Then at least we know what we are getting", they giggled after I had tried to explain the international dishes on the menu. In the back of my mind I knew that the Sudanese bread with large fried pieces of chicken they had in mind was probably not the type of sandwich they were going to be served. And when the waitress approached us with a large tray with 'the' sandwiches, I realized I was right. "Hmm.., this is not a chicken sandwich", one of them commented while examining the toasted piece of chicken-filled bread which was lying on her plate. Fortunately they liked the taste and were clearly amused. "An English menu and an exotic looking chicken sandwich" they laughed, "Haha,..now it really feels like we are on our an international holiday in our own country!"

Stuck

Insects are not the most welcomed guests here in Khartoum. Their ability to transfer diseases like Malaria is one of the reasons why people rather see them go than come. The local government seems to take their fight against insects very seriously. Once every few months a team of 'sprayers' go around the area to kill all unwanted creatures. I had seen them before, when they sprayed the garden of the former office. Last week though, was the first time for me to see them working indoors; the special team sprayed the whole office on the ground floor of our building. But we soon found out, that the 'smoke' that they were producing, didn't just stay in the office. A thick cloud went up in the hall way and seemed to stay there, with the result that from our small apartment, it was impossible to move anywhere. For quite a while we were stuck on the top floor, with no intention to get lost in the large chemical cloud.  After some time the mist of the spray had vanished and the coast finally seemed to be clear to leave the house. And believe it or not,..while we went out, covering our nose and mouth, we saw something unexpected: one fierce mosquito came flying out of the office like nothing had ever happened! I am not sure if I just imagined it, but he even seemed to be smiling...

Perceptions

I always find it interesting to discover the different perceptions of people on the same topic or theme. 'Life in Khartoum' is one of the topics that tends to produce extremely diverse views and perceptions from people who have lived here a while. Yesterday I visited the gym and spoke to some women who all had different ideas about the Sudanese capital: "Khartoum is sooo depressing!", said one. While another one commented: "It is such a safe city with a nice atmosphere. I don't want to live anywhere else!". One of the women argued the opposite and said she has never felt so unsafe in her life. Others said that their week is too short to fill it with all the activities they want to and can do in Khartoum. "Really?", others commented surprisingly, "I am so bored of sitting at home all the time, because I can't find any nice activities here!" I guess it shows that perceptions on Khartoum are simply as variable as the weather. At least, as the Dutch weather, because the weather here in Khartoum is always hot. Although....some people have a different opinion on that...

Wish come true

sunset in Khartoum

Last weekend I was invited by Frank's colleagues to attend one of the women's evenings as preparation for her niece's wedding. It was a nice relaxing evening with lovely Sudanese food and, naturally when women get together, lots and lots of chatting and gossiping. At some point, Frank's colleague and I were talking about people that used to work in the old office. My friend said that she hadn't seen one of the women for a long time. This particular young woman used to be part of the team of guards, which is quite an unusual profession for women. We kept talking about her and we wondered where she had been placed after the old office was closed. We could have never thought that this very morning the same woman we had talked about, suddenly walked into the new office! "I just felt like dropping by", she said, "and I asked some people the directions to your new place. So, here I am!". You can imagine the face of my friend, when she saw her walking in. "That's a coincidence!" she said, "I was thinking about you a few days ago and now you just walk in after all these months!" After she had greeted her she turned to me and said "In my culture we believe that God sometimes gives you what you want, if you just think about it." I answered that I found it quite a nice and soothing idea. But while a big frown appeared on her forehead, her voice turned sceptically: "I wish I had thought of a lot of money or a new house, instead of this thinking about this woman. Then maybe I would have got that instead!"