Last night I experienced my first power outage in Khartoum. Apparently, there are many more to come!
I got home around 8:30pm and realized that I had to use one the “thatchas” my mother-in-law gave me to carry in my purse - a mini flash light which was just enough to guide my way through the walkway to the main door of the building and to my apartment –.
Once I got in and felt the heat, I decided to call my friend to ask her about the situation in her neighborhood and probably ask to sleep over because my apt. felt like an oven! At that moment, I see my neighbor who invites me to go outside with her and learn how to turn on the generator! I had never seem the generator, but it’s this big contraption which stays right on the sidewalk in front of the building! (I passed by it everyday and never noticed it) It's kept inside a cage secured by a huge locker! There are four buttons, which need to be pressed in a particular order and many others that we are not supposed to touch at all! I wrote down the instructions, but the difficult part is to open the lock to get access to these buttons! The hole collects dust and the key won’t get it! Once it does and we get it to open, it’s hard to close it! After we are done, we need to turn up switches for each apartment. It's a kind of annoying task, but I can handle it.
Anyway, it took us about 10mins to get it going, but it was a good experience. I needed to learn in case I am ever alone in the building when this happens next. This blackout also gave me an opportunity to get to know my neighbor a little better. We spent a few hours chatting and by the time the conversation was over, power had returned and we went to turn off the generator!
Today I went to the gym and the pool. It was a very nice (AND VERY HOT) day :)
Friday, February 27, 2009
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Incident at the UN!
Incident at the UN!
Yesterday was a weird day for me. I arrived in the office at 8:00 and found out that my work computer had been stolen over night. A mystery! No one heard or saw anything and I basically had to spend my day being interrogated by the Investigations Division! A very unfortunate situation that resulted in a very unproductive day!
Not much else to report. The whether in Khartoum remains hot, dry and dusty. The traffic is still chaotic (did I mention that the lights here turn yellow before they turn green?), but the food is good, the friends I made have been great and I am still enjoying this mission very much! It’s already been a month since I left New York City! Time flew!
One last thing; besides Al Jazeera, Al Arabiya, Al Bagdadia, AlThuraya, Al Rafiden, Al Majd, Al Hakeka, AlFajr, AlKass etc. I am excited to also get CNN (in English) on my TV at home! Guess which channel I fell asleep to last night? :)
Yesterday was a weird day for me. I arrived in the office at 8:00 and found out that my work computer had been stolen over night. A mystery! No one heard or saw anything and I basically had to spend my day being interrogated by the Investigations Division! A very unfortunate situation that resulted in a very unproductive day!
Not much else to report. The whether in Khartoum remains hot, dry and dusty. The traffic is still chaotic (did I mention that the lights here turn yellow before they turn green?), but the food is good, the friends I made have been great and I am still enjoying this mission very much! It’s already been a month since I left New York City! Time flew!
One last thing; besides Al Jazeera, Al Arabiya, Al Bagdadia, AlThuraya, Al Rafiden, Al Majd, Al Hakeka, AlFajr, AlKass etc. I am excited to also get CNN (in English) on my TV at home! Guess which channel I fell asleep to last night? :)
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Sandstorm...
I have adjusted in my new place (gray building) and I like it very much. I do laundry everyday! :) Also, my ears are stating to get used to the sound of Arabic. “Hamdulilah” is my favorite word so far. It means “Thanks to God” and it’s said all the time here. I like the way it sounds.
Last week I had a taste (literally!) of what the Haboob will be like. We had a sandstorm and for like a whole day, I tasted and breathed sand. I learned not to have conversations outside or by the window! There was so much dust in the air that we couldn’t see the sky. It wasn’t blue nor cloudy. It was just “yellowish”. Some pics are attached, but unfortunately they don't capture the storm very well… These were taken on the way from the UN to my place. Anyway, Happy Belated Valentine’s Day to all! It was also Valentine’s Day here in Sudan.
Last week I had a taste (literally!) of what the Haboob will be like. We had a sandstorm and for like a whole day, I tasted and breathed sand. I learned not to have conversations outside or by the window! There was so much dust in the air that we couldn’t see the sky. It wasn’t blue nor cloudy. It was just “yellowish”. Some pics are attached, but unfortunately they don't capture the storm very well… These were taken on the way from the UN to my place. Anyway, Happy Belated Valentine’s Day to all! It was also Valentine’s Day here in Sudan.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
A new place...
I moved again!
I had an insect problem in the 2 bedroom apartment, so I moved out over the weekend. I am now staying in a nice small studio located directly across from the Khartoum cemetery! :) But there is a washing machine inside, which is a big treat for me! :)
I had an insect problem in the 2 bedroom apartment, so I moved out over the weekend. I am now staying in a nice small studio located directly across from the Khartoum cemetery! :) But there is a washing machine inside, which is a big treat for me! :)
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Catching up
Hi everyone!
Since my last post, I’ve moved out of the hotel into a nice two-bedroom apartment, joined a gym, had wonderful ice-cream and other sweet treats at a fancy bakery called “Ozone”, attended a cocktail party at the Norwegian embassy, AND attended a Coptic Sudanese wedding! I’m exhausted today :)
My life here is starting to become “normal” (I usually don’t have such busy weekends in NYC) and I have met a lot of nice people to help me out. Thank God!
The building where I live is on a very busy street, within walking distance to a supermarket, a pharmacy, a hotel and two nice restaurants. It’s not within walking distance to the UN compound, but I think I will get to and from work with the office driver.
The Rotana hotel has a wonderful pool and a great gym, so I decided to join as a member for an initial 3-month period. Because the rates are much cheaper if you join as a married couple and I was told that single women enrolment are “frowned upon”, I have found a fake gym husband (Matt agreed to it :)) He is a Brazilian guy who just arrived for a one-year mission.
The Public Relations Manager of Rotana is a nice Brazilian/Lebanese girl, whom I have befriended. (You may be thinking that there are a lot of Brazilians here, but there are only 25 in the whole country and I met almost all of them either in person or via email). Yesterday evening, after a nice relaxing day at the pool, I went to her house for some pampering time! She had a manicure and a hairdresser come over and after we got ready, I went with her to a Coptic Sudanese wedding! Can you believe that I have already attended a wedding here? It was a cool experience!
The wedding was huge! At least 800 people and it was located in a farm by the White Nile. There were actually trees there! It was nice to see some green for a change. Khartoum is pure dust! (Poeiraaaaa…) We met some other interesting people who were sitting at our table (including the pastry chef of the Ozone bakery). Coptic Sudanese are descent from the ancient Egyptians and are much more liberal than the usual Northern Sudanese. They also look different (have lighter skin). I learned that they are very united and wealthy around here. The community is small, so they help each other out in business and stuff. Since they are Christians, there were alcoholic drinks, photographers and women with cleavages at the party! It was a strange sight for me. :)Anyway, The wedding was very nice – quite similar to Western parties - The Bride wore a white gown, they danced to an American song, posed for pictures with the cake … all of that usual stuff. The main differences were all the Henna in the bride’s arms, the noise that other women made with their tongues around her when she walked by, and the Arabic music playing in the background. We didn’t stay long, but the party was supposed to last until 4am!
Today (Sunday) was my first official working day after a lot of induction training. I haven’t interacted with the locals so much because I have noticed that women are really treated differently here. I am always served last if I am being served by a Sudanese in a restaurant and there are men at the same table, a local man almost pushed me to get by in front of the line at the bank, another pulled his chair away from me when I went to sit next to him and another refused to shake my hand. So, I am respecting their traditions and have been trying to keep away. Only talk when talked to! The women are very shy and I have only interacted to a local girl who works in my office. She is very nice. Conservative and friendly
Ok, so that’s it for today. I will post some pictures next time. I need to get internet at home now!
Since my last post, I’ve moved out of the hotel into a nice two-bedroom apartment, joined a gym, had wonderful ice-cream and other sweet treats at a fancy bakery called “Ozone”, attended a cocktail party at the Norwegian embassy, AND attended a Coptic Sudanese wedding! I’m exhausted today :)
My life here is starting to become “normal” (I usually don’t have such busy weekends in NYC) and I have met a lot of nice people to help me out. Thank God!
The building where I live is on a very busy street, within walking distance to a supermarket, a pharmacy, a hotel and two nice restaurants. It’s not within walking distance to the UN compound, but I think I will get to and from work with the office driver.
The Rotana hotel has a wonderful pool and a great gym, so I decided to join as a member for an initial 3-month period. Because the rates are much cheaper if you join as a married couple and I was told that single women enrolment are “frowned upon”, I have found a fake gym husband (Matt agreed to it :)) He is a Brazilian guy who just arrived for a one-year mission.
The Public Relations Manager of Rotana is a nice Brazilian/Lebanese girl, whom I have befriended. (You may be thinking that there are a lot of Brazilians here, but there are only 25 in the whole country and I met almost all of them either in person or via email). Yesterday evening, after a nice relaxing day at the pool, I went to her house for some pampering time! She had a manicure and a hairdresser come over and after we got ready, I went with her to a Coptic Sudanese wedding! Can you believe that I have already attended a wedding here? It was a cool experience!
The wedding was huge! At least 800 people and it was located in a farm by the White Nile. There were actually trees there! It was nice to see some green for a change. Khartoum is pure dust! (Poeiraaaaa…) We met some other interesting people who were sitting at our table (including the pastry chef of the Ozone bakery). Coptic Sudanese are descent from the ancient Egyptians and are much more liberal than the usual Northern Sudanese. They also look different (have lighter skin). I learned that they are very united and wealthy around here. The community is small, so they help each other out in business and stuff. Since they are Christians, there were alcoholic drinks, photographers and women with cleavages at the party! It was a strange sight for me. :)Anyway, The wedding was very nice – quite similar to Western parties - The Bride wore a white gown, they danced to an American song, posed for pictures with the cake … all of that usual stuff. The main differences were all the Henna in the bride’s arms, the noise that other women made with their tongues around her when she walked by, and the Arabic music playing in the background. We didn’t stay long, but the party was supposed to last until 4am!
Today (Sunday) was my first official working day after a lot of induction training. I haven’t interacted with the locals so much because I have noticed that women are really treated differently here. I am always served last if I am being served by a Sudanese in a restaurant and there are men at the same table, a local man almost pushed me to get by in front of the line at the bank, another pulled his chair away from me when I went to sit next to him and another refused to shake my hand. So, I am respecting their traditions and have been trying to keep away. Only talk when talked to! The women are very shy and I have only interacted to a local girl who works in my office. She is very nice. Conservative and friendly
Ok, so that’s it for today. I will post some pictures next time. I need to get internet at home now!
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