Sleeping and praying

"How was your weekend?"- "Really nice! Mia-mia!" This answer, in combination with the common 'thumbs-up sign' and big smile, automatically gives me the feeling that something very special has happened over the weekend. Here, the Friday forms the essential 'resting' day of the week. And while the children go back to school on Saturdays, most of the companies use this as a second day of the weekend. I always considered the weekend to be used for organizing as many activities as possible, but I realized that it doesn't take much for most Sudanese in Kosti to really enjoy the free days of the week. Their answer to my question what they have done to celebrate their weekend, is always very short and clear: "Sleeping and praying!"

Smokey eyes

Burning natural incense (-Bakhoor-) is a local Sudanese tradition. It is believed that the smoke chases away negativity and, besides that, it leaves a nice and comforting odour. Women here make their incense at home, using natural products, before placing it on a small dish with burning coals. It is being practised both inside and outside the house. Last night we were lucky to have one of these incense experiences while drinking tea with some men from the local authorities and university. When the tea-lady approached our table with the small ceramic dish with burning incense, the men at our table started to make hand-waving movements to receive as much smoke as possible. There seem to be many interesting thoughts about this ritual: "If the smoke of the incense keeps floating into your direction, your mother-in-law likes you!" This, of course, is quite valuable information, since most families here live closely together. Luckily, the smoke of the incense went in all our directions, so at the end of the evening we could all go back to our houses with a relieved feeling ;) One of the unmarried man from the group smiled and pointed out that he hasn't got a mother-in-law yet. "But", he said, "it is definitely a comforting thought to know that my future mother-in-law will like me for sure!"

Chicken or fish?

"Vierach, samak?- Chicken, fish?" The smiley man behind his stall knows who to sell his products! He only has a menu option of two (-chicken or fish-), but this specialization has somehow made him famous in town. The fish should preferably be reserved beforehand, so he can prepare it while it is fresh from the Nile. The chicken is always there, waiting in the fridge for the many chicken-fans in town. The fact that he always wears the same cowboy-hat, makes this particular salesman an unforgettable character in Kosti where everyone seems to be his best friend. His small open-air stall is situated on the corner of two sandy streets and it basically consists of two tables, a fridge and a grill. There are hardly any places to sit, besides two or three plastic chairs from where you  have a good view to see your fish or chicken being turned into a meal. This man knows how to prepare them in such a way that it looks easy. But while observing him, I realized that behind his apparent playful way of food preparing, lies a professional and thought-through methodology. The hot, sizzling charcoals should be the exact temperature and the seasoning has to be done with passion and accuracy. No wonder everyone who passes by, seems to get watering mouths while he waves and calls them to come over and taste his lovely food of the day. "The choice is yours: chicken or fish?"

Malaria

If there is one threat in this specific season, it is malaria. Because of a lack of financial means, the precautions to protect oneself against this deadly disease here are minimal. And in fact, according to the locals it is almost an unachievable task to try so; there seems to be no way to escape malaria! This local believe unfortunately seems to be true. Despite all our efforts with anti-mosquito sprays, mosquito nets and wearing long sleeves and trousers, Frank received a nice malaria present from one of his mosquito ‘friends’. Since it was a (holy) Friday that Frank started to feel unwell, there was actually nowhere we could go to. One friend of a friend is a doctor and she was willing to help us on her free day and guide us to the local clinic here in Kosti. While we were waiting for the results from the semi open-air lab, a small mouse and an army of frogs were there to entertain us in the waiting room with broken chairs. We wondered what these animals were doing in this human hospital, but we took it for granted. After we got the results, we bought the medicines from the local pharmacy and gave the doctor a lift back to her house. The following days, Frank’s colleagues were obviously sad to hear about his malaria, but they assured him that it is ‘very normal’ to get malaria here: “Sometimes I get it five or seven times during the rainy season, if I am lucky!” So far, the local medicines seem to have a very positive effect and together with all the local advices (-“eat a lot of chocolate!”) it seems to go a lot better now. One malaria down, and hopefully not many more to come..

Up-side-down

Yesterday's leaving party of one of Frank's staff members took place in a small open air venue in Kosti. I sat at the table with a couple of Sudanese colleagues and we were chatting and drinking some local coffee. It was not that busy yet; only two other tables were occupied. Two men, sitting at one of the tables, were apparently discussing some important issues. I find it difficult to sometimes to distinguish the difference between an energetic talk or a true strong discussion, when I am observing people's body language here. But the conversation these two men were having definitely looked more like a strong discussion. At some point I saw one of the men removing his slipper and putting it up-side-down on the sandy floor next to him. The people sitting with me at the table explained to me that putting your slipper up-side-down means that you are not ready not stop the conversation yet and that you want to deepen the discussion. Once you put your slipper in the right position again, it shows that you have agreed with the other person or that your want to end the discussion. I was happy to hear about these kinds of local non-verbal conversation rules. From now on, I will definitely try to keep an eye both above and under the table; be aware of 'up-side-down-slippers'!

Animal farm

Our office house is slowly turning into a real animal farm! The plentiful birds are flying in and out of our house while our new cat is naturally doing the same. As soon as you walk out of the door, the cows and goats are there to welcome you, while the dogs are resting in the shade. The donkeys in the area provide an interesting wake-up call and they are also there to wish you a good -IA IA- night as well. But unfortunately one of the young donkeys that was owned by our neighbour had a tragic accident yesterday. Somehow the electricity company had made a 'mistake' and put voltage on one of the cables next to our house. The poor donkey felt like scratching his back against it and died instantly because of the strong electric shock. It was actually also a shock for us to find this animal lying lifeless on the ground, and to realize it could have well been one of the children who often play in this area (-or us?). Hopefully the neighbour will be able to get a new donkey again, as a new source of income. And, besides that, to provide us with our beloved morning wake-up call on our animal farm.

Figures

Here in Sudan, it is no secret that ‘a little bit of extra meat’ on a woman’s body is considered more beautiful than a skinny twig. Some of the women I have spoken to here in Kosti, explained to me that about a month before her wedding, a woman is even being fed as many fat products as possible in order for her to gain some weight for the wedding night. It also became clear to me that not all women are happy with that particular cultural custom. Last week, I visited a local ‘gym’ for women (-that by the way doesn’t in any way look like the gym you are imagining now-). There were 5 women there, who welcomed me very kindly and observed me from top to toe. “We are very happy you have come to visit us in our small gym! But what are you doing here? You are not fat like us!” They all shared their stories of gaining weight after marriage and the fact that it all started with this particular feeding-month before the wedding. “At first, my husband wanted me to be fat, but when I became too fat and started to get medical problems, he told me he wants to marry a second woman! So, I visit the gym now and hope to lose some weight!” I  straight away felt a feeling of injustice, but the women assured me that these kinds of statements from men, really motivate them to work on their health and figure. While the tape in the small ghetto-blaster played the 90’s beats it had obviously played many times before, the women were jumping up-and-down on the colourful carpets. The scale was standing in front of them, ready to be stood on at the end of the session. All together this gym and these determined women really made me feel like visiting again and join in. If it was just to coach them on their weight-loss journey..