Living means sharing

Living means sharing!, someone said. And apparently sharing sometimes happens when you are not even around. One of the ladies who used to do the cleaning in the office houses, sometimes invited herself on a lovely treat while she was working. Many of these items she treated herself with were brought all the way from Khartoum and Frank had sometimes kept them especially for special occasions. One day, Frank was really looking forward to make a special tuna salad for lunch when he discovered that the ingredients from the cupboard were missing. When he asked about it she said she had eaten it because she just really felt like doing so. This answer was followed by a friendly gesture (- rubbing her belly with her hands-) and a compliment that showed that she had really enjoyed it.  Last week, one of the other cleaning ladies was putting on some of the local perfume that I had received as a present from one of the women from the communities. When I came in, she just said she loves the smell and continued with spraying it all over her face and neck. For many of us, this might sound strange or inappropriate, but there is simply so much less attention for individual possessions here than in many other (western) societies. A good Sudanese friend of ours explained that somehow many Sudanese (-at least in the Kosti region-) tend to believe that everything should or could be shared; it is all for communal use. It is quite an interesting concept, I think. But somehow I still do prefer to ask beforehand..