Khartoum: Expectations

Khartoum is definitely not what I expected.  Sure, it's still Africa, but I find few similarities between here and Malawi, or even the rest of Southern Africa that I've been to.  As I mentioned before, I was surprised that people here drive on the right side.  Here are some other things that surprised me:

Sudanese Arabs are very dark-skinned.  For many, I can't tell the difference between Arabs and Blacks except for their hair texture.  I'm still confused about this; I've read that most Sudanese are Arab, but I guess they don't fit my silly stereotype of Arabs.  South Sudanese are very distinctive, though, because they are really tall and really dark-skinned, and I've seen quite a few.

Continuing the ethnic theme, there are very few Whites here.  Beyond meeting 6 Whites through friends, I've probably only seen about 5 out in the street--and I've been in the street a lot.  In Malawi, we called these "whitey-sightings."  Whitey-sightings are definitely fewer in the 2-million-plus Khartoum than in my humble 30 thousand home-town of Mangochi!

I have only seen 2 fuel stations.  I only started looking out for them on Friday, but it's a distinct contrast to Malawi, where they feature prominently in cities.  I've also not seen any supermarkets or malls, though I'm told there are at least 2 supermarkets.  Shops here seem to be either small kiosks, specialized shops (like electronics), or restaurants.

In the bustling metropolis of Blantyre (Malawi), the sidewalks roll up around 8:00, and in Mangochi, the streets are empty at 6:30.  Here, the sun doesn't go down until 7:30, and people are up and about for hours later.  I suppose it never completely quiets down, but I'd guess it's mostly quiet by 1 am.  Not only are people out late, shops are still open and you can still catch public transport after midnight!

The toilets here are somewhat dirtier than Malawi, and all are squatties, even in nice places!  But the worst part is that they don't have toilet paper, because Muslims wash with water.  Toilet paper has become a precious commodity to me, and I have to take it with me everywhere.

There are many things I love about Khartoum, some of which I've mentioned in previous posts: the public transport, friendliness of Sudanese, AC in my bedroom, later sunset, and the big city feel.  I also like the prices--some things, for sure, are expensive, like transport (much more than in Malawi), but other things are really cheap (in my estimation), like cellphone credit, Internet, and electricity.  Food is comparable to prices in Malawi, I think, which is expensive compared to the US.

I also love the generosity.  I've already learned so much about what real generosity is: it doesn't say "Do I have enough for myself? Then I can give whatever I have extra."  It's absolutely refreshing to stop being selfish and thinking of myself first.  I've always wondered, how much do I take away from saving to give?  And this experience has added valuable thoughts on the subject.

Of course, there are also things I need to adjust to (that's polite for "I don't really like it"), but as you'll see, they're all minor.

Feeling stuffed.  I'm used to cleaning my plate.  But when someone else fills your plate, it's impossible to eat everything.  So I'm trying to learn the right balance of polite acceptance and knowing my stomach's limits.

Water Intake.  Khartoum is very dry and hot, so I'm constantly reminded to drink lots of water, which I've tried to do.  For my first few days, I collected about 3 or 4 water bottles each day, because I refused to throw them out in the street.  It's an adjustment to drink so much.  Cold water doesn't stay cold for long, so I'm getting used to drinking lukewarm and water so hot it could be coming from the hot water tap!

Heat.  Need I even mention this?  Most of the time, the temperature is in the 90s or 100s Fahrenheit.  I don't actually mind the heat too much, which is mostly because I psyched myself up for it so much; I was actually prepared for it to be worse and for me to be miserable.

"Dress code."  Of course, the need to cover up exacerbates the heat.  Women are covered from ankle to wrist to face.  I can't recall seeing any female forearms, and most cover their necks.  At the same time, men wear long trousers and many also wear long-sleeved shirts.  So this is something that's a little bit annoying because it makes me hotter and I'm stuck wearing the same skirt most days (this is because trousers must be warn with very long shirts, and most of my shirts are normal-length).

in my Sudanese garb

On the other hand, women generally look really beautiful in attractively-matched scarves, long-sleeved shirts (often with a "Western" shirt on top), and floor-length skirts.

Sudanese flat.  The flat I'm sharing with Tanya is large, and has AC, a clothes-washer so I really can't complain.

Our flat is on the third floor of this building

my room

But even in Malawi, I lived in a Western house, so it's a bit of an adjustment living in an un-western house.  The kitchen is rather un-equipped, but that's always something I can work on!  On Friday I put my pictures up on my bedroom wall, and it's really becoming home.  I also love that our flat has a huge patio and that we live higher up.

view from our patio

Last but not least, I need to adjust to the discrimination against my dear toilet paper and learn to take it everywhere with me :)

Khartoum: the City and Weather

Instead of writing a chronological account of my first few days, I thought I'd write more topically.  As I said, Khartoum felt pretty hot those first moments, but it's the kind of heat that is just extra warm, not piercing hot.  That's the only way I can think to describe it.  I find that the heat is a lot more manageable than I'd expected.  I'm blessed to have a powerful ceiling fan and air conditioning in my bedroom, which helps my heat-sensitive laptop to function.  Thursday night, my housemate Tanya and I ran out of electricity units, so we didn't have electricity until she went to buy some in the morning.  But, Elhamdu li-Allah (praise to God), I was able to sleep fine that whole night, and only woke up once.  Friday I experienced my first sandstorm.  Everything went hazy and dust filled the air, and I was grateful for my scarf to keep most of the dirt off my face, but my clothes were pretty dusty by the time I got home.

The best way I can describe the city is to say that it's like Limbe (Malawi) with a mixture of Blantyre City Centre and Blantyre market (also Malawi) times 10, because it's so much bigger.  Most of the city that I've seen is just streets and streets of little shops.  To me, the city centre doesn't seem to end; it's like Limbe 10 times bigger.  For the most part, buildings look old (I think it's because of the dust), so it was neat to pass "Gaddafi's Egg," the beautiful hotel built by the Libyans and several other large pretty buildings.  The roads are really nice, and many of them are 3 or 4 lane, one way (as in 6 or 8 lanes across).  Most of them are paved, and I've noticed very few potholes.

The first time I saw the Nile from the ground was yesterday, Friday, when I went to Omdurman, across the White Nile from Khartoum, and Bahri, across the Blue Nile from Khartoum.

It was also the first time I saw vegetation.  I'm not sure, but there appears to be a lot more vegetation in Bahri and even Omdurman than in Khartoum.  And we drove to Tutti Island, which is basically a farming area between the three cities.  From there we got a ferry, but the sandstorm had started and dusk had fallen so it was pretty hard to see.  In the background of this picture, you can faintly see Gaddafi's Egg (it's egg-shaped).