I really, really love this sash I found for myself.
She's made appearances at two parties now, and is kind of turning into a crowd favorite.
(Did I mention that the school year is over now? And that I'm about to go to a party wearing the really amazing Sudan sash that I got my hands on from a moving sale? And that I only have two work days before I am off to the land of sidewalks and salsa?)
Here are the tea/coffee ladies on the side of the road.
And- my favorite part of the drive...well, and honestly, my favorite part about giving directions to our house- the Welcome to Islam Organization! That's right- that's when you know to turn onto our street! We have yet to stop and ask just what the organization does. But the stories we make up are most definitely better than the truth, dontcha think?
And that's the drive. Sort-of. You can't hear the horns. Or Emily's string of curses as people drive like idiots. But you can imagine.
They invited the entire middle school to their compound to enjoy their beautiful pool for the day, and we finished it with an elaborate full-on Chinese buffet. All on their dime. Not a bad way to end the year! (Politics still aside.)
All year long, I have been amazed by the diversity of our student body. This was reinforced today when we got to the pool. We had girls in bikinis, tankinis... all the way to full length (to the the ankles and wrists) bodysuits. Some even had a matching swim cap! It was amazing to see the girls come out in all kinds of different swimming costumes- and everyone- everyone- was respectful and fine with it! Very cool to see. Some of the girls that usually cover their hair let their hair down, while others were careful to keep their caps on. Overall, it was just amazing to see them all (and in the end they ALL did) get in the water and splash around, having a good time.
Several of the teachers were invited to 'high tea' at the home of a family whose children go to KAS. I teach Hannani, whose in above photo and grade 5. They are from Malaysia and the father works for Petronas, the Malaysian oil company. What a fun adventure to the Petronas compound on the Nile! Their 'hi tea' was really just a Malaysian feast in the middle of the afternoon. Delicious!
While I don't have any photos of the haboobs themselves, I do have one of the aftermath. This is the bottom of the door in our kitchen, leading to a small balcony. Our maid came less than a week ago. This is the damage after just 5 short days (and two haboobs).
We finally did it! I finally coordinated cement and frames from the maintenance department, and we transferred our designs from where they were all laid out on cardboard to the wet cement. Success! Emily and a few other colleagues helped the kids frantically place the stones, with the reward being that they then got to make their own. In the end, 12 kids and four adults produced 14 stepping stones. Some are really, really cool. Others aren't. They weren't the craftiest bunch. But I think they all enjoyed the process.
So I found this picture online- taken at the National Museum. I love it. The skies weren't blue when we were there- but rather the dusty brown "looks like it should rain" cloud that seems to have enveloped this city for the month of May.
The museum could be impressive. It's a large building with potentially beautiful grounds, located right on the Nile.
They have brought several temples piece by piece from Northern Sudan. Very impressive, as she could explain the difference in carving between the earlier Egyptian dynasties and then the later 'Sudanese'. The most exciting was a temple originally built by Queen Hatsepshut- including one of the few remaining drawings of her! (See photo- she's to my right- topless, as most queens are?).
Sadly, the museum lacks any serious financial support. Any fancy signage has been donated by the archaological society here in Sudan. But their donations and efforts are heavily restricted and limited.
They also have a hall of Christian mosaics from 1000- 1300s, when Sudan was Christian. Surprisingly beautiful. Interestingly, these all depicted Jesus as white-skinned while bishops and disciples and others are dark-skinned. In Ethiopia- not so far away- Jesus was always painted as having dark skin. Hmmm....
I haven't really had my camera out and about. Things aren't so new and exciting after 9 months here...
A photo of the coolest mosaic so far- a map of Africa. It will have a peace sign running through it. Totally cool! Nice work, Majid! Love it!
Em has done some pretty awesome work putting together this community garden. On the 22nd, the school celebrated the garden (and the Earth) with an assembly. It was really cool to see high school kids playing guitar, accompanying the elementary chorus, An Eco-fashion show, poetry readings in different languages. We also dedicated our peace pole. What an inspiring morning! Emily did a great job putting it together.
Our boss had a few free tickets for a big cultural event this weekend, and we were quick to jump for them. Though we still, even after the fact, aren't sure what the event was. It seemed to be a free 'celebration of Sudanese culture' for the masses, sponsored by the biggest corporation here- DAL group. We drove our car- our first driving adventure across the bridge and into neighboring Omdurman. It was the most organized event we've seen so far. While it was all GA, they seemed to almost have a system for admitting people! Novel.
Odd. Perhaps the oddest being the laser lights and dj, and a stadium full of people sitting in silent observation. It was like a club. With nobody dancing. It was truly bizarre.
