Different connections

Sudan is not the only country where family members are allowed to marry each other. But this is the first country for me to see it happening so often. It actually seems to be the rule, rather than the exception in some parts of the country. The reasons for this 'tradition' have not been been very clear to me. Some people say it has to do with religion, others say it is just a way for people to survive as families; marrying your cousin means that the money stays in the family instead of disappearing into the hands of another family. I guess it also makes the wedding planning slightly easier; you only have deal with the wishes of one family. Although, I am getting more used to the concept here, it is still strikes me to know that  practices in one country, can be strictly forbidden by law in another country. I guess it is all about different conceptions and connections..

Tasting and learning

The Sudanese cuisine consists of a variety of spices, ingredients and flavours. I used to get confused to remember it all, but since a few days I have a very talented 'tasting' teacher to show me all the tricks of the Sudanese cuisine. Every morning, she brings a home-made biscuit, cake or savoury pastry with her to the office. She would wait for the right moment to come to me and reveal her new tasty product. "Taste it!", she then says without any hesitation. When I put the home-made biscuit to my mouth she does not take her eyes of me. Then she waits for me to give a short review (-and trust me, it is always positive!). I then have to guess how it has been made and what kind of ingredients have been used. Whenever I get it wrong, she would start laughing before correcting me, as a true tasting teacher. "Who made it? Me or my sister?", she would ask me as a final question. Whenever I guess it right, she gives me another of her biscuits. And, whenever I guess it wrong, she would give me another biscuit as well....for being such a devoted student. ;)

Dusty teeth

Haboob storm approaching Khartoum

You cannot imagine what a dust storm looks like until you see one. Or actually, to be quite honest you can't see anything when you are in the middle of it! The dust is literally everywhere and you can hardly see your own feet in the worst case. Yesterday, I was taken by surprise by one of these typical haboob storms, as they are called here (see: link). Within a minute the scenery changed from fairly bright-skied into a wild, dusty environment. And the dust does go where you least expect it; this morning I even woke up with dust on my teeth! I guess, I will need to keep brushing my teeth though-out the day as well as sweeping the floor every other hour. Let's get ready for the next haboob to come!

Plastic tree

Sudan and The Netherlands are, in many ways, two completely different worlds. Me and a Sudanese friend of mine keep amazing ourselves and each other about the different contexts we come from. Mostly the amazement comes from my side; a lot of the aspects from her Sudanese lifestyle are generally completely new to me. But today, it was the other way around. I was upstairs doing some work, when she knocked on my door and told me that she wanted to show me something strange. I walked with her to the office garden until she stopped in front of one of the trees. "Feel this!", she said, while holding one of the leaves in front of me. "This tree is not normal. It feels like it is not real!" she stated while touching the texture of the leaf. I couldn't help smiling and I said that this type of tree (-it appeared to be some sort of coniferous tree-) is really well-known in Europe. Probably, the former owner of our office building planted it a few years ago to create some sort of exotic garden. But my friend didn't seem to be impressed by this exotic tree type:"Very strange, these plastic trees!"

Everybody is a winner!

Doing sport can be such fun! But unfortunately not always possible for children with a disability. Today, a special sports day for children with disabilities was organised in Khartoum and we were very happy to help out as volunteers. Together with two of Frank's colleagues we supported the children with fun sports and games throughout the day. It was so great to see the smiles on the faces of the children; they seemed to be having the time of their life! Unfortunately the sun was also shining happily, which made the afternoon activities almost impossible to execute. But the children didn't seemed to be too bothered by the heat, and took the opportunity to dance in the shade of the trees on the side of the football pitch. As a reward they all received a nice medal at the closure of this memorable sporty day, where indeed everybody was a winner!

  

Balancing

The house next door is being renovated and painted. Since Frank and I recently moved into the small house on the top floor of our office building, I have a good view of the building and painting processes of the neighbours' house. All day long, the men put their energy in making the house look beautiful and shiny. But besides being able to hold a paintbrush, these men need to have good balancing skills as well. Instead of stable, well-built scaffoldings they need to make the best of their slightly wobbly construction with thin slats and wrapped-around ropes. I find the balancing skills of these hard-working men truly impressive and admirable. But I have to say that it also takes a lot of courage to even watch them!

Soap watchers

Yesterday I was invited to join a Sudanese friend of mine to visit the International Trade Fair in Khartoum. Before we would head off to the fair grounds we would 'quickly' stop by her house. As expected, the smell of freshly prepared food already reached me before I had even entered the house; there was a large plate of food waiting for us to be finished first! After this lovely meal my friend said she was going to wash herself and prepare for prayers. "In the meantime you can join my mother and sister in the other room", she said. "Do you like soap?". For a moment I thought I was about to get a washing treatment or scrub, but as soon as we entered the room and I saw her mother looking at the small box which had been placed in the corner of the room, I knew she meant soap programmes on TV! I sat down on one of the local beds in the room where her friendly mum and sister had also situated themselves comfortably, and watched the soap with them. Although I couldn't understand a word, I noticed instantly that the themes of the programme where more or less universal. Likewise the reactions of the viewers; sometimes my friend's mum would lift her hand or make gestures to show that she agreed or disagreed with what happened in the soap world on TV. At some point she put her fingers to her mouth and shook her head at the same time, as explaining that one of the actresses was wearing far too much red lipstick, according to her. It took some time before my friend and her two sisters, who also wanted to join us to the International Fair, were ready with their perfume rituals. And cousin Mohamed, who had the male task to guide us around and take care of us during our evening out, took even longer with choosing the best shirt to wear. But too be quite honest, I really enjoyed myself in the meantime with the soap in the small TV room; and even more with looking at the soap watchers!