Reality sinks in!

So here I am finally in the town that will be my home for the next 9 months.  I am glad to be out of Khartoum.  Much as I enjoyed my time there I'm not really a city kind of girl, and for me it's a little too like London in so much as it's busy, crowded and dirty.  From the little I've seen of El Obeid already it feels more like home.  The  Guest House is a fair way out of town and even further from the University Campus at Khawr Teggat where I am to be working most of the time.  Although to my Sudanese hosts this is not a problem; as they'll happily run me around; for a fiercely independent, single, Englishwoman it feels uncomfortably dependent.

The staff at the University are so warm  and friendly, within a few days I feel that I have known them for ages.  Many of them speak very good English and they are all so forgiving of my poor Arabic.  I only have four timetabled lectures a week to start with, which are all a the beginning of the week.  The rest of my time is spent drinking and eating breakfast with the students whilst chatting.  I haven't been at the University very long before a group of recent graduates come and seek me out to take me for a coffee and chat.  This all feels far too enjoyable to be considered work!

My first lectures are dreadful! Despite both my teaching background and TEFL training I don't really know quite where to start.  Text books, even old ones are a luxury item here, if the students are really lucky they might have a photocopy of an out of date edition of a book.  Interactive whiteboard??  You have got to be joking!  I thought I'd seen the last of the blackboards at my previous school!  Technology here is a lecture theatre with a working microphone!  However none of these difficulties faze the staff or the students, who are always cheerful and upbeat.  The difference in ability between some of the students is so vast.  Many of them, especially the girls are so quiet and shy they won't say a word so it's impossible to tell whether they understand what is going on or not!  However, the students are so respectful and kind they not only resist the temptation to eat me alive but thank me for my excellent lecture!  I promise to do better next week.

Although I am thoroughly enjoying my work, I missing my old roomies dreadfully and living on my own is starting to make me feel quite homesick.  Just under two weeks after my arrival in El Obeid I move to an apartment in the town centre.  It is basically one small room with a tiny kitchen area and a bathroom.  There is no air conditioning and the taps I soon find out are mostly for decorative effect!  I resolve that these are minor issues as being in the town centre will be much better for my state of mind, independence and my Arabic.

 My New Bachelorette Apartment!

With the English Society at University

However, after a couple of days without running water and too much time spent on my own in my new abode, my resolve starts to crack a little.  The low point comes when there is a problem at home, which turns out to be a minor issue, but at it's height had me thinking I might have to return to the UK.  This became a turning point, for as I considered the possibility of having to leave Sudan prematurely, I was filled with sadness.  Much as I miss my family and friends in the UK, how could I possibly leave my new friends, colleagues and students already?  I may have only been here a short time but as I walk around the University students call after me "Mrs Helen!" and my colleagues and I spend many hours engaged in light hearted banter over cups of tea.   The people of Sudan are so wonderful, the pace of life so relaxed - swearing and stress have already become things of my past!  Life may be hard here and people don't have much, but what they have they are more than happy to share, they have a warmth I have never encountered before.  I would hate for these lovely people to think that I am not happy in their country.

Still as they say "things often look better in the morning."  As day breaks I find that everything is fine back in the UK, and Al Hamdu lilla - I have running water this morning!  I think this is a sign - My work here has only just begun!  I'm feeling brighter already!

Off to El Obeid

At last I have the news I have been waiting for - All my paperwork is complete and I am off to El Obeid on Monday.  Part of me is excited to be finally on my way to my placement at the University of Kordofan http://www.kordofan.edu.sd/, but another part of me is quite terrified!  For the last month Billie, Jess and I have been like the Three Musketeers, living and going everywhere together and now I am going to be let loose in Sudan unaccompanied!  I have made so many friends in such a short time in Khartoum and although I will miss them terribly, I hope to do the same in El Obeid.

My last evening in Khartoum is spent with my good friends Bob and Omar at Omar's house which is near the centre of Khartoum, where we have a "Sudanese Takeaway."  The bus leaves at 730am and it's advisable to get there at least half an hour beforehand, and taxis and amjads are hard to find first thing in the morning.  Bob's friend Kamal kindly takes us to the bus station.  Even though it is only 7am the bus station is buzzing.  I am so glad that Bob and Omar are with me as I would be completely lost in the noise and chaos.  At about 715am they pack me onto a lovely air conditioned coach, complete with apples for sustenance on the journey, and the contact details of who will be meeting me at the other end.  Bob has got me the best seat on the bus - in the middle by the window with plenty of leg room.  I feel like a small child being packed off to school for the first time, with Bob and Omar fulfilling the roles of anxious parents!

As the bus pulls out of the bus station and meanders its way through the streets of Khartoum my feelings are very similar to those I had four weeks ago as I took the flight from Heathrow to Cairo.  My big adventure has been brilliant so far and now the next chapter begins, but this time I travel alone, feeling for the first time a little vulnerable due to my lack of Arabic, now cursing myself for not spending more time on it before I left the UK.

The landscape on the outskirts of Khartoum is very flat with buildings along the side of the road, which peter out into dust as far as the eye can see once we are out of  town, reminding me of my first view of Sudan from the plane.  It is a very long bus journey down and across  the country to El Obeid from Khartoum.  The exact time that the journey is supposed to take seems somewhat vague or as we say here in Sudan "Inshallah!"  About half way through the journey the landscape changes and there are bushes, trees and hills. At Kosti we cross the White Nile via a large bridge, with water as far as the eye can see.  Shortly after Kosti the bus stops for lunch.  I decide against lunch and just opt for a quick bathroom break as I would hate the bus to continue on without me and my Arabic is not up to asking how long the stop is for!  I needn't have worried though as unlike National Express, the bus waits for everyone before continuing the journey!  The bus makes several stops along the way, seemingly in the middle of nowhere, for people to get off and on.  The scenery is much more interesting now.   There are small villages with traditional African huts, which I later find out are the Nomad communities.

 Nomad Huts 

Hills!

Finally after a ten hour journey I arrive in El Obeid, where I am met by my new colleagues Hassan Muser and Mohammed Hassan, who have been waiting over two hours for me to arrive.  They take me straight to my accommodation and leave me to settle in and get some rest.  Later Hassan comes to pick me up and take me into town for something to eat and drink.  The Guest House where I am staying belongs to the El Obeid Research Centre.  It is out of the town but very quiet and comfortable, so I have no trouble getting a good night's sleep, although it feels very strange being completely on my own for the first time in 4 weeks.

The next day Hassan picks me up and shows me all round the University, which is spread over 3 different campuses across the town.  He introduces me to so many people, I know I am going to forget their names and what they do!  So I am delighted when I hear a familiar name, "Victor" not once but two or three times. That makes life easier I say to Hassan - we have this name in England!  "What name," he replies "Victor" I say.  "No, Duktoor, (Sudanese for Dr!) - They are PHD holders!  "Oh!"  I say, knowing my brain has lost at least the last three names it has heard as it had clung to the title and ignored the rest of the names that followed!  (Arabic names are made up of a first name, the father's name and the grandfathers name).

Everyone I meet is very warm and welcoming.  In usual Sudanese style nothing is too much trouble.  I am told if I want to go anywhere to phone someone and they will come and pick me up and take me where I want to go, and if I need anything to just phone any time.  Part two of my adventure has begun!

The Funeral Crashers!

On Saturday we got up early to say goodbye to Jess, who went off to Wad Medani to her University.  First thing in the morning the tea ladies have delicious donuts, but have usually run out by the time we normally surface.  So Billie and I thought we'd take advantage of being up and about at 7:30am and find some

Glancing along the road, there were no obvious tea ladies around, but we noticed a canopy across the street next door to the pharmacy.  We headed across the road and asked in our best Arabic if there was any tea, there were several ladies sitting peeling vegetables.  The ladies invited us to sit, and after a few minutes a young girl appeared with two teas on a tray for us.  In the mean time the other ladies had started chatting to us and one of them told us that someone had died so they were preparing lunch.  We were mortified!  How crass could we be?  Walking into the preparations for a wake and demanding tea?  What we needed now was a dignified exit before we could make matters any worse!  I figured the best thing to do under the circumstances was to offer to help them with the preparations.

The Sudanese don't bother with chopping boards they just cut and slice into their hands, which may be extremely dangerous especially with my John Lewis kitchen knives from home, but more hygienic and removing all dilemmas about which board to use to avoid cross contamination, with the added bonus that should I lose a finger during the process I would have a indisputable excuse to leave!

How long can it take a group of women to peel and slice a large pan of aubergines anyway?  THREE HOURS! - what I hadn't realised was that underneath the large already peeled and sliced pan of onions was another larger pan of aubergines!  Still the work was conducted with lively banter and a bit of an Anglo/Arabic lesson, with frequent stops for refreshments.  Once all the aubergines had been sliced we announced that we should really go now.  "You must stay and have breakfast with us!" the ladies insisted,  Well it would seem rude not to, so we did and it was excellent!

By now our  hands were attracting a lot of attention - the insides were now the same colour as our new found Sudanese friends hands!  "It's no problem" I insist "I'll wash them later,"  Before we could go phone numbers needed to be exchanged so I popped back to the house to get my phone and wash my hands.  After plenty of soap and furious scrubbing they were resolutely the same tone of brown!  When I returned with my phone, the ladies showed Billie and I how to rub sand into the stains to get them off and we left shortly after with our hands returned to a near normal colour.  "But you must come back for lunch!" they insisted.

Despite our horrific mistake, it was truly the most pleasurable experience in Sudan so far, to sit and chatter with a group of local ladies (whom we'd assumed initially were tea ladies!)  There were midwives, teachers, students all mucking in together to prepare the feast for the wake.

After a rest and a shower we went back across the road to rejoin our new found friends.  Only to find that the group was now more of a large crowd and there was no one that we recognised.  Again we were told to sit, but this time we were asked to show our hands - clearly the white "khawajas" brown hands had been a subject of hilarity after we'd left the first time!

We spent a lovely evening in the company of friends and close family of the deceased, being looked after in true Sudanese style.  When our friend Higer left, we saw it as an appropriate time to make our excuses and leave too.  However, Higer was not ready to part company with us and kindly invited us to her house where we spent a very pleasant hour or so drinking tea and chatting with her family, after which her husband dropped us back home.