Dancing at Eid

Here are pics and video of the kids workin it out!!

Eid al Ahada

I've had the week off for Eid and it has been quite eventful. I'm really glad I stayed in Sudan. I was able to join my Sudanese friends for one of the feasts that happened during the 4 day celebration of Eid.
Its the time of the year many muslims go on Hajj and this holiday is about is big as Christmas, New Years and Thanksgiving in the states. Families come together and slaughter a sheep (in the likeness of the sacrifice Abraham made in the Old Testament).
And I mean literally in the likeness. They sheep are out in the street and folks buy one in the morning and slaughter it right in front of their houses later that morning. There is literally blood in front of most of the doors of the houses.
I went and stood on my roof in the morning and saw 3 different houses doing just this. (Pics below).

I went after the slaughtering, to my friends house and shared in a wonderful meal of fried and grilled lamb, shata (spicy sudanese dip), tomato and cucumber salad, sharboat (a beer like drink made from dates..but not alcoholic..that would be haram!) and fresh bread. We ate with our hands around a huge plate.

And you know when you are a guest you must eat lots of everything. It was delicious and I was stuffed. I then spent the rest of the day hanging out with the family. Folks would stop by and visit and candy was given out every time. The kids were wired and I had brought my mini speakers...so of course we had an mini dance party. It was awesome! The girls and boys were great dancers. They do a lot of snapping and shoulder moving. (check out the video)

We had tea a few times during the day which is also very Sudanese. By 8pm I was exhausted and went home to sleep.
As is custom and Sudanese culture I was invited to sleep over but I'm watching a friends cat so I had to come home and feed him!

I was sent home with some tea cookies with powdered sugar and some sharboat for the road.

I felt so loved I wasn't homesick for missing Thanksgiving (Eid fell around Thanksgiving this year)..I felt like I was home already!

World Cup Qualifiers

Well this week was eventful as there was a world cup qualifier game in the city right out side of Khartoum, (in Omderman). It was a game with Algeria and Egypt and they are apparently big rivals.
Not sure why they chose Sudan as the venue but it made the week soccer, or as they call it here, football MADDNESS!!

I originally wanted to go to the game. It was easy to get tickets and Omderman is a 10 min drive from my apartment. But the day before the game we got warned that it would be unsafe. Dozens of planes were flying in carrying fans from Egypt and Algeria and in the end there were 10's of thousands of extra folks running around the city.
On the day of the game flags of Algeria and Egypt were abundant. I even heard that there were people giving away free flags and 10 pounds to rickshaw drivers so they would hail the flags of the Algerian team.

Then at 11 am school was closed and we were told to go home and stay home! It was the decision of the Ministry of Education and all schools were closed early for the day. The streets were already crowed and impromptu rally's were taking place in the streets.

We stayed in for the evening and watched movies on our roof. I watched parts of the game later and when Algeria scored it was like the city erupted. You could hear cheering in surround sound kind of how it might sound on New Years Eve at midnight only the celebration lasted longer than a night. The police did a good job of keeping violence down at he stadium. Egyptian and Algerian fans were in separate areas and they had erected temporary housing that were also in opposite parts of the city a couple km away from each other. Yet, I still heard stories of violence and rival fans getting beat up.

The next day there were still thousands of fans in the city and now the problems were at the airport. Apparently the riot police had to be called in because some more excited Algerian fans broke up some airport offices and ran out on the runway stopping planes from landing or taking off. And now today, 2 days later there are still riot police out trying to escort the Algerians and Egyptians safely back to their home countries.

During my usual weekend shopping I saw dozens of Algerian fans still hanging out in the streets decked out in soccer jerseys , draped in their flags and still whooping it up for the big win.

I have never seen fans so crazy over a game.

Camping

I went camping last week at Jebel Awlyia again. It was with a larger group and this time I actually went in the water. I also got to learn how to ride a motorcycle in the desert. Its a great place to practice and learn becuase there are kilometers and kilometers of flat space.
In Khartoum this week there was an European Film Festival. There were movies from various European countries showing all week at the French, German and British Cultural centers. I saw a great film from Sweden called, Kidz in Da Hood. About an young refugee who tries go get legal status in Sweden. It was also a bit of a musical which made the movie a bit more light hearted for such a heavy subject. I also saw a good film called Troubled Water from Norway.

Both films were on the roof and they were packed with folks. Mostly Sudandese men which was a bit awkward when in one movie there was a bit of nudity and kissing. Since kisses alone are blacked out on T.V. nudity on the screen made me feel like I was watching the film with my 8yr old third graders. Awkward! But it was really nice to have a movie fest and go out and see films with others. Since there aren't any movie theaters here I appreciated the opportunity.

I also started gardening with my students. We planted squash, beets, carrots, snap peas and sunflowers. It was a busy and fun week.

(yes..that's a scorpion..it was found under one of the tents in the morning!!)

Halloween in Khartoum

Well this past week was filled with fun. For many of the students at KAS Halloween is a holiday they don't know much about. Now like many other holidays religious or non we recognize them at our school and sometimes celebrate them at our school.

So this week I talked to my kids about Halloween and the history of its celebration in North American and Europe. It was like I was re-living my own childhood as I explained different traditions and shared a few with them too.

I went to the souk and bought a large gourd/pumpkin. It was more green than orange but the shape was nice and round.

Then at school my kids planned what they wanted the face too look like and we cut it and roasted the seeds. Then we crammed into my supply closet (the only area with out windows streaming in sunlight) and I told them a scary/funny story while the pumpkin was lit. They were pretty excited and later I had the other elementary classes come in the closet to view the glowing Jack 'O Lantern.
The kids also had a costume parade which had some very creative costumes. There aren't many places in Khartoum where you can buy a ready made costume so we talked with the kids all week about what kinds of things they could use from around the house. One of my students was:
"Super Dish-washing Lady." She had on a cape of an old sheet and rubber gloves. It was great.

Wedding pt.1

Well today I got to go to a Sudanese wedding. I was invited by a Sudanese co-worker to his cousins wedding. It was only part of the wedding. There are multiple events that are included in a wedding and I went to the second part which was the signing of the papers by the bride. Apparently the signing of the papers for the groom is a different event.
When I arrived the men in our group were immediately taken to a different area. The women went into the house and we sat there to talk and eventually eat. Later we went to the roof to sit and after another hour or so heard drums and music start to play. The other women on the roof responded by yelping and cheering because the music was the sign that the papers had been signed. Actually there were supposed to be guns shot off in the air..but because of safety the band was hired instead. All of this was occurring outside the house in a large tent that was set up. But only the men were present. We could hear the music playing because we were on the roof. Also, once the music started playing we were given sweets and soda as a symbol that the ceremony was complete.

Tomorrow is another part of the wedding. I am told that this part will include dancing and music and no segregation of the sexes. At this part of the wedding we will see the bride and groom together dressed in their finest! I didn't see the bride or groom today.

I'm looking forward to tomorrows festivities.


(pictures of the band and the ground view of the roof i was on)

More pics from Art night out in Khartoum

Dancing, music and hennna

On Saturday I went to an event sponsored by the British Council that featured many local artists. There was dancing, music, paintings, photography, henna and over all a great festive atmosphere celebrating art.
Families were there with their kids and the crowd was buzzing with excitement. It was also an event mostly done in English so I was able to understand most of what was going on and being presented. Some of the muisc groups and rap gropus that performed I had seen last spring at another event sponsored by the French and German Cultural Center. It made me feel like I live in a small town because I recognized some of the performers.

It was also interesting listening to the different rap performs. They would often rhyme in the style or cadence of a popular rap artist from the states. So I heard Jay-Z, Beastie Boys, Tupac, Biggie, Lil Kim, 50 cent and others. A lot of the beats they used were also throwbacks and I felt like I was at a house part in 1996! It was great!
I also loved watching the dance group open with, none other than, a dance number to Michael Jackson's Thriller. (see attached video) There were also some phenomenal break-dancers as well.
I actually had met a few of the dancers in the group a few weeks ago and might get to practice with them in the future. I have been longing to dance and might have found a group do that with!

I also had fun and got some local art..on my hand/arm..in the fashion of Henna.

It was an event that is supposed to occur once a month featuring different local artist and talent. Venues for showcasing art are not very popular here Khartoum so I'm looking forward to next months showcase. It reminds me of the festive atmosphere of Philadelphia's First Friday events.

what more can i say...

So I haven't blogged the last few weeks because I have been sick.

2 weeks ago I got food poisoning. It was quite a harrowing experience. Thank goodness our school nurse used to work at one of the local hospitals. I was able to get amazing and immediate care. It was better and faster service than any emergency room in the states and in a few hours I was re-hydrated, injected with antibiotics and had prescriptions for bacteria fighting drugs.

So the next week I was recovering and feeling the after affects of Flagyl and Cipro. The side effects of these drugs was like being constantly unsober. Not Fun! But it did kill the bacteria even though I spent the week at school in a dizzying haze.
Then just as the drugs wore off I got a head cold. I realize after the food poisoning my immune system is weaker but dag! So I'm just taking it easy.

The great news is that the weather is cooling off. Cooling off= days under 100 degrees..97,98. Yeah... relativity is something else. But that means the evenings and mornings are in the low 80's and that is just bliss. I think its cooler than last year...could be affects of global warming or maybe I'm just used to the heat now.

I am going to an art show this weekend and so I hope to have some good stories and pics to post soon.

More pics from Jebel Awliya

Local fishers out early in the morning! The sail of the boat was made from an old and tattered tarp!

Goats wandered into our campsite looking for scraps of food. The cows came by the waters edge for a cool drink and the sheep were herded in the patch of green near our campsite.

Jebel Awliya

I just returned from camping at Jebel Awliya. It is an area just south of Khartoum. A large dam was built years ago and this caused the river to flood and it left a large lake where many go to fish. We went camping and kayaking there.
It was so beautiful. The drive there was through the typical desert but once we got close to Jebel Awliya you could smell the water. We drover off road for about 20 minutes through hard packed sand and past a small town. We camped for the night and left the next morning.
We saw goats, sheep and cows come by the waters edge. We also saw some beautiful birds, hoopoe, spur-winged polover(black/white and grey) and abyssinian roller(blue).
I wasn't able to get any clear pictures of them but you can see what they look like from these internet photos of them. The hoopoe was amazing to watch fly. It was as if it were dancing in the air. It turned its head from side to side and flipped its body back and forth while it flew overhead.
The area around the lake had the typical prickely trees with thorns as long as your pinkey. There were also some small sand dunes wind whipped with soft sand.
At night the moon was about 1/4 full. There was enough light for us to go on a late night kayak ride. There were some other campers that came later and they built a small fire and went night fishing. One of the guys there was telling us how his father used to hunt crocodiles along the river about 40 some years ago but there haven't been sightings of crocs in that area in years. After that story I still ok out on the water with only the moonlight and the small beach side fire as my guide.

At the end of our trip we stopped at the Dam and had some tea. There was fresh fish cooking all around and the market was busy for a Friday morning. I had some spicy tea with cinnamon.

Fatour Music & Dance Performances

Ramadan Kareem!

It is about to be Eid and the holy month of Ramadan will end. We had a fatour dinner at our school for the majority muslim working staff. It is always a nice event. We break fast with the workers who speak mostly arabic and a bit of English. We talk through hand motions and smiles and eat together. We had traditional Sudanese foods. Foul = hearty bean stew with feta cheese on top eaten with fresh bread. Asida with a sauce made of okra. Asida is the consistency of cream of wheat or gritz when its cold. It has a mild sour taste and the sauce is flavorfull. There was carcidae (hibiscus flower) drink and stewed beef as well.

I also got the chance to go to another fatour and art performance in Bahri which is right over the bridge (over the Blue Nile) it is another part of Khartoum.
There is an theatre group called Hilahop. They have place with an outdoor stage and the dinner was there. Every night of Ramadan they have had performances of different artists and a fatour dinner free for the public. It was amazing. I saw some great dancers and singers and have attached some of the video clips here.
There were dances from different parts of Sudan. East, South, North. Its interesting to watch the dances closely because you can see the influence of the boarder countries in the dances. For instance the East Sudanese dances look very similar to Ethiopian (shoulder shaking) dances.
The event went until about 1am but I had to leave early because it was a school night. So I didn't get to see Hilahop perform but I plan to go back another time and see the theater group in action. You can also find them on youtube!

Video of bus trip through Khartoum

Floods and Dust Storms

This past week we took the kids on a field trip around Khartoum to see the flood water and how it affected the city. Many of the homes in and around the city are made of a traditional mud brick. So when the rains came many of the homes were damaged and destroyed. Many of the workers at our school live in homes like this and we as a school community wanted to help in ways that we could. We realized through meetings and discussions that the best way we could help fairly was to give the workers and Eid gift of food, clothes and money. Because we can not asses the damages of each home and also because of cultural and language barriers may not be able to talk to each family affected we thought it best to give everyone the same thing. Money and food are used by all and clothes given if not used can also be used as currency.
In the attached video you can see the mudbrick homes and the water that is still all over even a week after the rains have stopped.
We also decided to start an emergency fund for the workers at our school. This could be used to help when future emergencys arise. We want to also set up a meeting with them with a translator so they can discuss their needs and decide on what things we could actually help them with. Communication is important and we want them to have agency and a voice in our efforts to help. We don't want to give what isn't needed or help in an area and appear patronizing.
We also learned that many of the workers get a financial incentive from our school if they know English. So now we are discussing the possibility of having English language classes for the workers. Although we all are at school all day many of us as teachers don't interact much beyond hello and goodbye with the staff that cleans and maintains our campus. We want to change that.

There was also a huge haboob at the end of last week. I was on the roof of my building and got some pictures. It was amazing to watch it come in.

Rain Rain Rain!

So the other night it rained...I mean seriously rained. Rainforest rain. African rainy season rain. According to the locals the most rain in 25 years rain. It was hard pelting no visability rain, wind howling, tree knocking over rain for a good straight hour..with no let up!
So of course my house flooded. I mean rain was coming through the walls. The places where the window meets the wall or door meets wall were trickling water. The window in my bedroom just opened on its own and since I was mopping other parts of the house I didn't notice until it was too late. Bed and rug soaked= night on the couch. And not to mention the dust that is always around the house anyways...it looked a a haboob landed in my apartment.

Then the next day everything was flooded. There isn't a great draining system in the city so streets were lakes of varying depths. When we got to school most of the fields were underwater as well. It looked pretty cool though and made the kids excited. Kind of like a snow day.

Later that evening I went to the hash (the running group). On the drive to the dinner portion of the evening the car I was in stalled out in the foot high water we drove through and we had to push the car blocks to higher ground. The car actually never made it home. But along the way since we were already wet we helped many stuck and stalled rickshaws and amjads through the water as well!

And two days later the water is still around. This only means there will be lots of frogs and mosquitoes. I could do with out the mosquitoes.

Omderman

(Pictures from left to right ..haboob..love birds...busses getting washed in the flooded nile...beautiful mosque..the place where the two niles meet)

I went to the souk in Omderman this weekend. My amjad driver, Salah took me and another colleague. We went to look at the birds that are available to purchase. It was a really nice drive over the white Nile and we also saw where the Blue and White Niles meet. Since it is the rainy season and both rivers are flooded you can't really tell the difference between both of them. But it was cool to see the area anyways. Later in the year when the rivers calm down you can actually see the differences in the colors of the rivers!

We also had Back to School Night this weekend as well. It went really well but there was a haboob (dust storm) and so the turn out was lower than usual. We have an open campus to when there is a dust storm we can't quite escape it. Ill post a picture of the dust storm I saw last year when I flew into Khartoum so you can be reminded of how much dust that really is!