Three day weekend

For once, we didn't bolt from Khartoum as soon as our break commenced. Rather, we stayed here for a long weekend to finish up reports and other necessary evils. We've enjoyed the work-filled days, as we've had our building to ourselves and have had some time to relax.

Now tomorrow morning we take off for Thailand, this time traveling through Doha- another first!
We'll be in Chiang Mai at noon on the 22nd to visit Emily's dad, her sister and step-mom. And to eat delicious Thai food! Yum!

Merry, Merry Christmas to everyone! We live a pretty amazing life, traveling so much. But the holidays definitely prove the most difficult, as we would love to be with our families. It helps that this year we were able to spend so much time with my parents so recently. And Em is really excited to spend Christmas with her dad- something she has rarely been able to do. But, we are thinking of all you. Wishing you all safe travels, that you may all arrive to the warmth of your families and friends. Merry Christmas! Love you to you all!

Qatari night out

We were invited to a function at the Qatari embassy to celebrate their national day. I knew to dress up, but with the invitation in Arabic, my understanding of what I was actually getting into was limited.

And then I arrived. The outside of the embassy compound was surrounded with embassy cars (the fancy ones that we don't drive) and drivers. The gates were open, with security checking admission tickets and ID. The red carpet (albeit with a few bumps- it was still Sudan, after all) was laid out, leading us around the palace. As we turned the corner, we saw the Ambassador and several other men in traditional dress, greeting guests. Beyond them was a wall of photographers. Oh, yes- and videographers sending our arrival to several screens set up around the courtyard. We greeted the Ambassador. He knew that we were from the American School and offered a handshake and some kind words. The other nice-looking gentlemen didn't offer their hands- us being ladies and all.

The large palmtree-dotted grass courtyard was surrounded in Qatar Airways freebie tables and massive buffets of food. MASSIVE BUFFETS OF FOOD. Of the approximately 300 people in attendance, 20 were women. Most men were in traditional jalibiyas. And there was one camel, sitting quite well-behaved in the corner.

The Ambassador gave a speech, followed by the Sudanese Minister of Culture. Since we couldn't understand, we smartly took this time to position ourselves next to the plates.

At the end of the speeches, the Ambassador took a very large sword and cut a cake with the Qatari flag in half. He then raised the sword, laughing, and shook it in the air. Quite entertaining.

After the speeches, it was proven- they weren't simply massive buffets of food, but massive buffets of delicious food.

It was a pretty amazing event. I chatted with a few Ambassadors, though felt quite out of my league and stuck with the ones whose children I teach. Al-Turabi was in attendance, one of the biggest names in Sudanese politics of the last 25 years. I'm sure there were other important people that I didnt' recognize.

I didn't take photos. Had to play it cool, you know... But this night is definitely burned into my memory. Some people live like this all the time! Crazy! (But really nice buffet!) And did I mention I got a Qatar Airways hat?

Mom and Dad in Sudan

They survived! I think we had a pretty awesome weekend, giving them a decent dose of what life is like here. Talking our way out of trouble with the police, doing some car maintenance, AND still having time to see all the sights!

Who's visiting next? We know how to show a good time!

de Nile

Enjoying the cruise

Egpyt continued

Egypt!

Mom and Dad show up in Khartoum tonight, giving me just a few hours to bake zucchini muffins and thank God I have a maid to do the cleaning!

Egypt was an extremely awesome trip for us. (Egypt Highlights, highly recommended) It was also super quick, with two sleeping trains, two flights and a 4 day cruise to do it!

We flew into Cairo, spending two days there before taking the train to Aswan. From Aswan, we flew to Abu Simbel for the morning before returning to check into our Nile Cruise. Awesome! We stopped in Luxor, where we hung out for a bit before taking another train back to Cairo. And the next day, we were back in Khartoum! Crazy!

We're not lacking in photos, as you can imagine. I'll post a few here and there.
Enjoy!
Happy Holidays!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! (And a safe Black Friday!)
One of the downsides of living overseas is that we can't always be there for those loving, family-filled holidays. And that void is noted, trust me! We wish we could be there!

That said, this year we will get to spend the last few hours of Thanksgiving with my mom and dad! They are soon to begin their crazy zig-zag travel to Cairo. And about 20 hours later, we'll hop on a plane for a short little ride to meet them there- putting us on the ground there at 9:30 pm- plenty of time to see them before the clock strikes midnight! Inshallah!

I am also pretty excited to finally see Egypt! Camera batteries are charging- I'm ready to go!

We will post on the other side of Eid holiday and our wonderful Egpyt tour!

Creepin' through the week

We're looking at 2 and a half more days until we meet Mom and Dad in Egypt! Hurray!

Here at school, we're enjoying the last week before the holiday. Below are a few pictures of the seventh and eighth graders working in our school community garden. You can see the way we plant here- quite different than at home! The final photo is our plot-, watered after the seeds were planted in the mounds. Cool, eh?

Algeria! Algeria!

THIS is a great article about the soccer match last night.

It was pretty interesting how it played out. In most cities in the world, hosting a major FIFA soccer game would not be a big deal. But here, there is such a lack of such normalcy, that something seemingly normal like a game is a really big deal.
I think it was really good for Sudan to host the game, to take part in these things like the rest of the world does. Even if they did it in a pretty intense way. (Half day for government employees, Sudanese schools off, tanks on every side road...)

I personally enjoyed the afternoon holiday!

Soccer Mayhem

This city is going nuts! Tonight Sudan is hosting a World Cup qualifying soccer match, with Egypt playing Algeria. It's making for complete madness in the streets- so much so that the Sudanese government has ordered everyone home by one in the afternoon. Surprise! Half day everyone!

You can read more about the drama HERE.

I had initially investigated getting tickets, but officials are expecting things to get pretty rowdy. There has already been pretty widespread violence in Egypt and Algeria leading up to the game- and now all those fans are showing up in our fair city! We'll see what happens. From inside my apartment!

Check it out!

Emily is making attempts to bring her blog back to life... Encourage her by clicking on the link to her blog on the right of this post and take her quiz- WHERE TO NEXT???

Let us know where you think we should live and work next year!

the drive

While the sand dunes around the pyramids are beautiful, most of the drive is not-so-pretty. See above video. Not a lot going on.

Morning shenanigans

After some pretty awesome scrambled eggs (with scrambling coordinated by yours truly), we packed it all up and went exploring. Everyone got to ride camels, sketch some drawings and take LOTS of pictures.

After-dinner Clean Up Crew

These four girls were responsible for cleaning up after our delicious dinner of hot dogs, cheeseburgers, salad, grilled vegetables and chips. They were such good cleaners- they ate ALL ELEVEN leftover hot dogs! Talk about cleaning a plate!

Setting up camp

We arrived to Meroe late in the afternoon, allowing us to use daylight to set up camp. The kids had practiced by setting up a tent in my classroom, so they knew what they were doing. Awesome surroundings, super-excited kids dragging rolling suitcases through the sand- what more could you ask for?

The road north

A few photos from the drive up to Meroe. It takes about 4 and a half hours to make the trip- in a bus, cruising through check-points. The mood of the police at the checkpoint can alter your travel time by hours. We had Mirghani, our Sudanese miracle man with us. And that kept us clippin' along.

Carpooling

The really awesome image of a jalibiya on a motorcycle

Girls leaving schoolMirghani, our liaison officer, as we approach the pyramids

to Meroe

Its that time again- we're taking this year's seventh graders on an overnight trip to Meroe to see the pyramids! Its a really big deal for these kids, as most of them don't really have any opportunities to do anything like this here. It will definitely be a lot of fun. Today in our advisory class we cut vegetables for tomorrow night's campfire dinner. More great pictures from the trip are guaranteed- Let the good times roll!

Caught in the yawn

Where to next?

An update for you all-
We have already started looking for jobs for 2010-2011. It's quite the process. We are applying to a recruiting agency, and will attend a job fair in Bangkok in early January.

Leading up to the fair, we will be stalking schools online, reaching out to those that interest us.
We have sent a few emails, but are just getting that process rolling now.

Where will we end up? At this point, the possibilities are endless- Zambia, Poland, Thailand, Bangladesh... We'll keep you posted!

Hush little baby

We made a friend at the Ethnographical Museum- a Sudanese college student that had lived in Dubai. She was eager to tell us all that she knew about the different tribes here. She explained that the basket in this picture is actually for a newborn baby- a bassinet of sorts to be hung in the tent.

Sudanese Ethnographical Museum

Em and I went on a field trip this afternoon- to the Sudan National Museum for Ethnography. Say WHAT?!? The best part about exploring Khartoum is that if you go in with low enough expectations, you're bound to be impressed! It was free, and showed off all kinds of artifacts from various tribes around Sudan. Pretty impressive, as we didn't even think anything like this existed! AND things were labeled in English!

More photos to follow...

Reason to watch your mechanic at work

When we first bought our classy little used car, we were very surprised when it arrived without a functional horn. We assumed it was broken, only to find that, in fact, there was no horn.

Five months later, we casually asked about a horn at the mechanic's. For $20, they installed a brand spankin' new one, right in front of us. We watched, very entertained to see the mechanism at work. (Do YOU know where to find the horn on your car?)

Last night, that spying paid off. Driving home from a friend's, Emily slammed on the brakes to avoid hitting a jerk turning in front of us. A two-part reaction, she also slammed on the horn. HOOOOOONK. and some more. HOOOOOOOOOONK. and a little more- HONK, just to prove her point. This happens all the time here, no biggie.

However, the horn got stuck, and we drove several blocks with the horn going off non-stop. honk. hooonk. honk. short pause. hooooooooooonk. hoooonk. A bit embarrassing. Finally, Emily figured out that she could push on the horn, jamming it further and keeping it quiet. kind of. honk. honk.

We dropped off a friend and popped the hood, and knowing just where the horn was located and how it was attached, located the beast and disconnected it. sigh. peace!
Now when we drive, there's just a quiet clicking in the wheel- poor guy still wants to honk.
We'll work it out, but for now, the embarrassment is taken care of.

Embassy Halloween Party

Oh, what a night!

I worked the jack-o-lantern outfit for another night, while Emily busted out the big guns.
Em was a 'fuul sudani', which is Arabic for peanut. In other words, she was a Sudanese fuul. ha!
Below is our buddy Chuck- in full Sudanese military costume. She won second place in the costume contest- second only to our friend David who came as a rickshaw. (See above) Em and David both had their costumes fall apart before the competition. David was smart enough to bring tape, so we just had to hold it together while he wrapped it all up again. Emily, on the other hand, hadn't anticipated repairs. I found her off in the grass, alone- SEWING the paper of her costume back together with grass! (See below) Double stitched!

Halloween One

This is home costume-creating at its finest-
I made my jack-o-lantern out of a long, flowy skirt of Emily's. Not bad, eh?

Night driving

Apparently the challenge of 'Night Driving in Khartoum' was getting too easy, as people are now trying their hardest to make it more difficult.
More and more, ALL cars in Khartoum have been keeping their brights on- all the time. This is just stupid, as it makes all those really bright people walking down the middle of the street, wearing black, in the dark, even harder to see. And the giant holes in the roads? Those are tougher to see too.
I think it's definitely a good thing that our car doesn't have a 'black box' that would record all the words that come out of our mouths on these all-too-frequent occasions. They are not meant to be repeated or remembered.

Safe Driving you all!

Oil filters and brake fluid

We love being car owners, even if we really have no idea what we're doing- this being our first car and all. Yesterday we took our car in for an oil change because, well, it seemed like time.
(The nice guys at the shop confirmed our decision.)

They really are nice there, and they let us stick our heads under the hood alongside them while they explain what's up in Arabic. I don't think we're learning much from the explanations, but certainly from sniffing around and watching them work.

This is probably something that I would never have time to do in the States. Ha- well, you all know we have time here! In fact, going to the mechanic was the excitement of yesterday! We are just trying to take advantage- learning a bit as we go.

a side view

The stage- with all the kids that participated in the Parade of Nations.

Yumm!

It's that time of year again- the International Potluck Dinner! Again, I helped organize the Parade of Nations- about 60 kids dressed up in their national dress and pranced through the stage, stopping to say a few words about their home country.
Pretty awesome night. It was also less stressful than last year. 1, because I had done it before. And 2, because we had the kids involved in fewer performances. The second half of the night we enjoyed a performance by a Sudanese group.

Again, the food was delicious. All the families brought different dishes, and it was spread out over 20 picnic tables, organized by continent. Excellent!

Old Hat

My girls beat KICS again- this time 25-12!
Now if only we can keep them from getting too confident...
(3-0-1 can really go to a 12 year old's head!)

Sudanese weekend

We have some new Sudanese friends, opening up all kinds of new and different activities to us! This weekend we hung out with them twice.

On Thursday night we went to a DJ party for charity. They are involved in starting a charity, helping orphans. For 30 sdg, we went up some rickety stairs and into a large hall with balloons and a dj. People danced, balloons were popped, groups of men took microphones and rapped songs- including one with the catchy lyrics "Sudan is the best... Sudan is the best." Entertaining, if not terribly exciting.

We caught up with them Friday night as well. We met them in front of a well-known hotel.... following them down the alley, and up some really sketchy stairs, and into what looked like someone's house. (Don't worry. We make smart decisions. ha ha.)

It wasn't someone's house at all, but an unmarked, underground Ethiopian restaurant. We walked between the old men watching soccer and the projected screen on the wall. There! Off in the side room- more friends of ours! It was really a restaurant! We spent the night sharing some sheesha, good conversation and traditional Ethiopian coffee. (It was practically the full on ceremony- including incense and popcorn!) It was a place we would never have found on our own- but definitely cool to go to with local friends!

About the weather...

So there is this new fancy gadget to the right of this post- weatherbug.
It has the potential to be really awesome.
Just one problem: it doesn't save the city setting, and is thus always set to NYC.
But don't be discouraged- its super easy to click on the little EDIT button and type Khartoum, Sudan. Or any city, really... should, for some unfathomable reason, you be interested in some other city's weather.

Lookin' FIERCE!

Another game today- my girls were scared, as they had heard that today's competition was THE team to beat. Yeah, maybe. Until today. Now WE'RE the team to beat, because we totally spanked those guys! Awesome! My girls were drivin', passin' and shootin' like I have NEVER seen them do before. Final score 20-15. We are now 2-0-1 in our league. Seeing how there are only four teams, we're at the top.
Above is an unofficial team photograph, taken before the game. As you can tell, we were R-E-A-D-Y.

Video worth watching

Click HERE for a not-so-amazingly-well-done-but-super-interesting video that discusses US-Sudan ties and also shows off Khartoum. Also interviews a friend of ours, Laura.

Parent-teacher conferences

These tend to be pretty fascinating because we have such a diverse student body.

Just one highlight-
a father told me that he thought his daughter was definitely smarter than he is because...(wait for it).... he made sure she ate lots of chicken brain and fish brain.

uhhh....

WAPI

WAPI is an initiative supported by the British Council, giving underground artists and talent a place to shine. Its proven successful in other parts of Africa, and they are now bringing it here.
Last night, we went to see what this "WAPI" is all about. And it seems its all about goodness! They had henna, a photo exhibit, art, an open mic, and other performers- break-dancing, singing... Awesome! We formed our own little dance party in the back with some Sudanese friends. Live music, dancing! Too good to be true!

Dance Sudani

We were invited to a Sudanese dance party on the Nile through a friend of a friend. We agreed to go, with no idea what we were getting ourselves into. They had told us to meet them at the dock at five. We arrived at 4:50. The large boat was waiting at the dock- empty. We followed the dirt stairs carved into the bank of the Nile. Our Sudani friend set up his sheesha as we relaxed on the cushions, waiting for more people to arrive.The boat eventually left at 6:50- a mere two hours after we were told it was going to leave. By then, there were probably 60 people on the boat- five of us foreigners. They started the music. Instantly the women had removed their scarves and robes. Short skirts and shoulders!

The music stopped. It seems the generator on the boat was busted. We cruised quietly for an hour, looking up at the starts and waiting for another boat to bring us another generator.

There was no alcohol. The vices of choice were dancing and music. It reminded us very much of a high school dance. Rap and pop songs, interspersed with the occasional slow song (Celine Dion). Just like Prom, everyone would pair up and dance closely.

They only had rented the boat for a few hours, so despite the delay of music, we were back at the dock by 10 pm. As we got close, they killed the music and everyone covered up. Amazing!

It was absolutely excellent to see the 'undercover' youth culture at work. It seems you can't stop people from dancing!