Khartoum Christmas!

On the 23rd December I got up in time for dawn prayers for the first time since I've been in Sudan.  No I haven't finally found religion - I was catching the 715am bus to Khartoum and Hassan was coming to pick me up at 645am.  I had no idea what my first Christmas away from home was going to be like, but I'd figured it was all the excuse I needed to take the long trip back to Khartoum, to see my SVP friends.

My friends at Extra had been laughing at me as I'd been fretting about the bus ticket for the whole week, worrying that they might sell out and I wouldn't be able to get to Khartoum for Christmas!  In my mind I had visions of it turning out like one of those cheesy American "Home for Christmas" movies, where everything that could possibly go wrong on the journey does, although in my version I couldn't picture the happy ending!  However, seemingly as long as you avoid travelling during Eid you can pretty much bowl up at the bus station on the morning you want to travel and you'll have no problems getting a seat.  

Much as I was looking forward to seeing everyone in Khartoum I was dreading the bus journey.Spending ten hours on a bus without a toilet and only one stop halfway was not on my bucket list strangely enough!  Still I needn't have worried as it was a relatively painless mere eight and a quarter hours, with a driver who wasted no time and ignored the speeding alarm constantly beeping all the way!  By 3:30pm I am standing in the sun outside the bus station in Khartoum, waiting for Billie to arrive.

Billie rang and asked me if I was standing next to a Sudanese person, which made me laugh so much - I was the only white person outside the bus station!  Of course I soon realised the reason she was asking me was that she'd got lost and a Sudanese man was helping her with directions!

It was so great to see Billie after all this time, and to know that Jess was on her way too.  Billie's apartment  in Riyadh (which is a very upmarket Ex Pat area of town) is amazing.  Her bedroom alone is bigger than my apartment!  At one point there were four volunteers living there together, but now it's just Billie and Mary, with Mary's folks in town for the festive season.

We had all been invited to Paul Fean's; a fellow SVP volunteer's house; for the big day and each needed to provide something to eat and a secret Santa present.  So on Christmas Eve, after a nice long lie in we headed for the Ex Pat supermarket in search of edible goodies and then off to the mall for something for secret Santa.  

Later on we had arranged to meet Martha and Christine at a Restaurant called "Solitaire"  for something to eat before attending Midnight Mass at the Catholic Cathedral.  We surprised ourselves by arriving relatively on time and found a nice table and settled down to wait for the others.  After a fair few minutes of waiting with phone calls back and forth we realised that there were in fact two "Solitaire" restaurants in Khartoum!  Martha and Christine were waiting patiently in the other one!  So we went and hailed a rickshaw to take us to them, aware that time was moving on and we were all starving.  

However, this proved to be no simple feat - we had picked the rickshaw driver who had just arrived in town and had no idea where anywhere was including Khartoum 2, a whole district!  After he had stopped and asked for directions for about the 4th time we abandoned the rickshaw paid him something towards the petrol and got an amjad to take us there instead.  By the time we arrived it was 11pm and Martha and Christine were just finishing off their meal so that they could get to the Mass in time.  Luckily the service was very quick so Jess and I still managed to get to the Cathedral before the Mass started.  

The place was packed, mostly by local people with a smattering of Ex Pat's here and there.  Unlike in England the Mass actually started at midnight and went on until close to 2am!  It was the most up beat "jingly jangly" Catholic Mass I have ever attended, although we were slightly disappointed by the lack of Carol singing opportunities.  However we did manage a few versus of  "Oh come All Ye Faithful" on two occasions!  I finally fell into bed around 3am, feeling quite Christmassy at last!

On Christmas morning I awoke to find a card and present of a much needed Arabic book from Jess - bless her, she's so lovely and thoughtful.  I also had another gift to open from my dear friend Rabha, who had given it to me the night before I left El Obeid - nice perfume which I have been constantly wearing ever since.

After a very relaxing start to Christmas Day, we set off for Paul's in the sunshine wearing tinsel with Billie carrying a small Christmas Tree she had made with the children at the Coptic Catholic School. On arrival we were greeted warmly by Paul and Brent who were waiting outside so that we could find the house.

The house was full of SVP volunteers, friends and family, with more friends arriving later on.  We put our secret Santa presents under the tree and set to work in the kitchen preparing our feast. 

My contribution was cauliflower cheese, to go with the roast chickens and stuffing provided by Brent and Paul.  The table looked amazing, full of delicious food that everyone had made.

After dinner we played pass the parcel - which was new to both the Sudanese and Americans!  It's amazing what SVP does for international relations!  Then we opened our secret Santa presents.  Mine was a beautiful handmade box with a two bank notes in it; one Sudanese and the other from South Sudan; which I know will prove to be a truly memorable souvenir in years to come!

I chatted to my mum and children on facebook and by telephone, although it was hard hearing their voices and not being there with them, knowing they were all happy too made my day complete.  I also had calls and texts from my friends in El Obeid wishing me a Happy Christmas, which was lovely and unexpected, especially bearing in mind that it is not a day of celebration here in Sudan.

Christmas Day 2011 may have been spent thousands of miles away from dear friends and family, but all the friends I have made in Sudan since September made it truly wonderful in it's own unique and special way - I am sure I will always remember my magical Sudanese Christmas!