Here's my dilema.
Do I write about yesterday, my experience, knowing that this will automatically be sent to my sister and daughter?
Or do I not and write about a sleepless night without AC?
Or both?
Yesterday, Saturday, is a work day in Khartoum. They have no weekends if you are Christian. You have off Friday and Sunday.
Tito and I worked a very long and productive day. Nicholas was still out recovering from a bout of Malaria.
At 2:30 PM, we left work. (No editorial comments here. You try working 8 hours in this heat with no AC.)
Since the car was again being worked on, we walked one street over to a supermarket. Tito wanted to show me how close it was to work. And, they exchanged dollars.
I found out that the closest postoffice for stamps to US is at the airport.
Then we took my first Rickshaw ride. So much fun. Rounding corners a little to fast. Missing turns and turning around mid-stream in traffic. Like the Keystone cops.
Car was not ready. So we headed to my house. I actually recognized the correct intersection from the opposite direction. (See K, all my nosiness pays off.)
Housekeeper was here, as well as cook, they made me eat. Food is very good but heavy so I am eating a little at a time. It frustrates them.
They leave, I walk to the little store at the corner for bread for Rascal and water for me.
I get an invitation from the owner to sit and have dinner with him.
I just cannot get my head around eatting dinner on someone's bed while he wears a long white caftan/robe. Besides, I have no idea what he is eatting. So I thank him, but no, I am just back from work and need to rest a little.
People here are always making sure that I rest. That is so not me. Where's the next garden to plant?
Tito has promised to return and look at the new belt on the AC. It is not working correctly.
I turn on the computer and stream Countdown with my earset on.
I hear prayers and booming. Like a big party, like the 1812 Overture performed on July 4th.
I think lots of time has gone by and where is Tito?
Finally, I change out of this blessed skirt and put in the Big Chill to watch.
I am listening to Heard it throught the Grapevine and singing along when the phone rings.
It is Enoch Tombe. I pause the movie and remove one plug.
Surprise.
Judith, this is Enoch. I want to tell you that there is a curfew tonight from 5 PM to 6 AM. I can walk to the little store, but I wil not be driving anywhere. Why? Because of the attack on a part of Khartoum from terrorists from Darfur.
Do not worry, this is far away, but Tito got trapped away from home and he will be spending the night in the closest church. He lives where the fighting is.
WHAT?
OK. How to process this.
On his advice he tells me to turn on the TV. No TV. The Radio, cannot locate a radio. Then the internet to BBC.
Praise be to God for the BBC.
I call my neighbor Sami to make sure that he knows. He tells me he will be right over, be at the gate now, and hangs up. I meet him at the gate in my long sleeping shirt.
The cell phones have not been working for the past two hours. He has been calling here to make sure that I am home.
Love this man and mom.
He also tells me that he has been knocking on the gate, but of course I have been watching Countdown's Worst Persons in the World and laughing.
So, now I know what the booming was and why Tito did not return. I say a prayer for Tito.
Sami returns to work on the AC and I add pants. He gets it running and I am invited to come over and watch TV.
They have satillite.
We watch pictures from the other side of Khartoum. The "rebels" came from Chad. They were tracking them as they approached.
Do not ask why they were not stopped. Everyone is asking the same question.
Curfew is not extended to 10 AM.
Shucks no 8:15 AM service for me.
I end up watching TV outdoors on a bed, sipping hot tea and watching Oprah. The show where the pregnant man is being interview.
I keep saying, this is not America.
Then Dr. Phil. Geez.
Then Dance Fever. Shoot me please.
Then the movie that starred Brad Pitt and Tony Soprano. Shooting, sex etc.
This is Sudan?
No, this comes from Syria. And it is in English with Arabic subtitles.
All is well in the world.
I leave at 11:30.
AC is working.
But I awake at 12:30 to the belt squealing. So I turn off the AC and open the doors. I can sleep in this "warmth".
Sure, finally at 5:30 AM. But then I turn back on the AC. It is not squealing and I slept until 9:30 AM.
So, I am a little bit more understanding about how lives continue in the midst of chaos.
But, it does. And it does so safely.
Which I am.
Thanks be to God.
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