Take-Aways/Sahfari*

So it’s July. I’ve made it. In 20 short days I’ll be leaving the place I’ve called home for the last 10 months. In the last month or so I’ve thought about what I’m going to “take-away” from this experience. Its even more refreshing now that some new volunteers have arrived and asked me these questions and what to expect. I’ve thought a lot about how I want to “talk about Sudan” with friends, potential employers, and strangers. I’m definitely searching for a balance.

A farm on Tuti Island overlooking Khartoum

I’ve really been thinking about the way I view and define violence, development, and freedom while I’ve been here. I hope to continue to challenge my and other’s definitions with different cultural interpretations.

Rachel and I have spent countless nights here debating lots of etymology used in International relations and development. The one we could never quite get over was “Developing vs developed country.” Although far better than the other category option of “Third-World,” I think our community of practice owes it to work out better language than this.  It’s problematic. I’m sure there have been far more articulate arguments made about this issue and I urge you to post them in the comments section below.

Some pretty terrible things happened to some people while I’ve been here. For security I’ve not shared those stories on this blog. I’m not going to whitewash those truths when I come home, but at the same time I don’t want my experience to become throwaway anecdotes which minimize some truly horrible  problems in Sudan or make it about “how rough I had it” (EYEROLL) or something that perpetuates or plays into the stereotypes of Sudan which Americans have.

Nile Street at Sunset

I think it’s very hard to simply say any statement saying “Oh well Sudan is like this…” “Sudanese people are like this” The same way when my students ask me about America and I tell them I can’t generalize about all Americans. I’m going to try to take that lesson to heart. 

Ok here are some more pics of what I've been up to this month!

Nas with notepads - a monthly spoken word event

Hanging with some fun ladies for mougrib tea

Henna- a beautiful Sudanese tradition for women before they get married

One of two Mexican restaurants in Khartoum "Amigos" describes itself as Tex-mex

Goodbye dinner at GAD!

*Sahfari (Sah-FA-ri) is the arabic word that is used to get food "to-go" it means take away. Easy to remember because its like  going on a safari

Teacher Musings and How to Deal with the Heat

I realized I haven’t given a life update in some time and so it’s probably only fair to write about what I’ve been up to. A lot has happened! I moved from Bahri (Khartoum North) to Manchea*, a neighborhood in center of Khartoum. I moved because Rachel and I received a new university placement at Comboni College. We live much closer to Nile Street and “all the action” Khartoum has to offer, though we do miss the tightly-knitted neighborhood of Safia and our favorite neighbor Haj Safie at times.

Our  kitchen where our signature dish pasta and Mish** tomato sauce is made

Camboni College has a really interesting history. It was started as a primary school by missionaries but has since scaled up.  It is named after, Daniel Camboni,  the first Catholic Bishop of central Africa, who worked as an Italian missionary The school administration worked with the Ministry of Education and now offer 4 Bachelor’s programs in some sort of public/private partnership. They also offer "after-school" English, Spanish, and Italian short-term courses. There is a church at the Souq Arabi campus and all the secondary students wear lavender blouses and headscarfs for girls, with black bottoms. It is pretty amazing that their campus is located right around the corner from “the big mosque” in the center of Souq Al Arabi. Many students of all different backgrounds attend classes at Comboni. The classes I teach are short-term private classes which are small and grouped by level. They are much more manageable than my 80-100 group of rowdy 17 year olds at Bahri University. This has had a huge effect on my feelings about teaching and my spirits in general.

We haven’t been without problems, but overall the administration of the school is the most organized I’ve been involved with or potentially heard about here. Our coordinator is an incredibly bright young Sudanese woman who splits her time running the short term courses for Comboni and running an oncology clinic. She speaks fluent Italian and English and is taking Spanish courses. Honestly regardless of the frustrations we have, this woman runs a tight ship and is an inspiration.

The terrace across the street from Khartoum University where I taught my private class

I was also teaching private classes associated with Khartoum University that just wrapped up in April. If you’ve been following the politics there, I’d add it finished just in the nick of time although I’m saddened by the university’s closure. I really enjoyed this group of students. At the end of our class we even took a class trip to Jebel Aulia, about an hour south from Khartoum on the White Nile, to have a picnic of fried fish.

Students exploring the dam

Boat ride on a fishing boat by our picnic spot

We have decided to hold our own English club on Nile Street twice weekly. Nothing like having a hot cup of tea on the side of the road in 100°F heat. I can’t actually believe I got this far into discussing my life without mentioning that Summer is killing me!

A spot along Nile Street by the "India Bridge" to Bahri

Nile Street!

It’s hot hotter even hotter now. Always. There isn’t much else to say. The heat has made many of the volunteers, including myself, more anti-social. People don’t want to leave their homes, which is fair. Staying in seems to be one of the best ways to cope. I feel like I should have learned more tricks of the trade by now, but really, I only have a short list with a few of the lame ways we have coped with the heat.

1.)    Drinking water

2.)    Putting our sheets in the freezer

3.)    Standing in front of the fridge while it is open

4.)    Multiple showers daily

5.)    Drinking more water

6.)    Holding a water bottle like it’s a baby.

7.)    Naas Pizza delivery (ah-mazinggg BTW)

Like I said not a very impressive list, but hey, I think we’re doing alright, for ourselves. 

The glory that is Naas's "Ethiopian Pizza"

*Currently polling the English spelling of the neighborhood as I've seen it Manchea, Manshiya, and Manshia.

**My googleing in English failed to produce a good picture but for all intensive purposes Mish is like yogurt veggie dip