It's no news that wrestling has been a popular traditional sport in many parts of Sudan. In Omdurman near Khartoum for example, a weekly open-air wrestling competition is greatly visited by locals. Over the past few months we have found out that the passion for wrestling here in Sudan sometimes appears when you least expect it. One day, we were invited by one of the colleagues to visit her home, which meant her senior parents, sisters and brother. Typically Sudanese, we were welcomed very warmly and offered drinks and sweets before we even had the change to sit down. The TV was playing in the small room which was right next to the room where we were seated. At some point the 'American Wrestling TV Show' was being announced on the background, and, to be quite honest, we expected the senior parents to switch the TV off or at least change the channel. Somehow the fancy put-in-scene glittery American wrestling shows didn't seem to match the extremely modest and traditionally dressed residents of the house. But,..surprisingly, they all jumped up and couldn't wait to gather in front of the TV in order to get the best view. Especially the senior man and woman were extremely well informed in terms of the nicknames of the wrestlers (like 'big tarzan'), introduction themes and different moves and techniques. While Frank and I observed the competitive public seated in front of the small TV we realized that wrestling, in whatever form, is apparently more deeply rooted than we expected!
