Traffic Lights

Shame on Egyptians, really. The state of Khartoum is filled with timed-automatic-traffic lights. Like the ones installed in Dokki, but failed miserably. People here respect the traffic lights, even if there weren't any traffic police around, which usually is the case.

I was driving Friday night, and the streets were empty, and I was enjoying myself stopping at red lights. It's amazing.

Granted, Sudanese driving is as bad as Egyptian driving. And in some cases I feel like I'm driving in Egypt. But why do they obbey traffic lights? Why don't we do the same? What happened in their history that make them respect traffic signs? Knowing that our road infrastructure is more superior than theirs; we have a million highways, 4-lanes streets, paved roads!!!! Moreover, I haven't seen anyone, yet, driving in an opposite direction. I have seen people here respect the law (which is common sense) that tells you to stick to the left lane, if you're taking a left turn.

This will remain a mystery to me.

Communication, or the lack of it

I'm having a real problem with communication. The Sudanese language is supposed to be very close to the Southern Egyptain dialect, with the addition to a few words in their vocabulary.

However, that is far from it. My entire life I have been told that I talk very fast, that I sometimes skip some letters. Well, apparently everyone here is worse than myself. And strangely, I find that a lot of people here end a phone conversation by hanging up without saying a word.

It's getting on my nerves, since I started driving here, and I always need to ask for directions.

First meal in Soug Libya

Before I came to Sudan, everyone told me how food was great here. One of our colleagues took us on the first day to have lunch with him and his friends.

I have to admit that there is a communications problem that I'm facing now, and will be facing here forever. When I ask a question, I might not get a definite anwser, and I might not even get an answer. I asked our friend as to where we are going, several times, but couldn't get anything out of him. I just kept my mouth shut.

We drove for ages until we were coming to a more rural area than Khartoum itself. It was a gravel path, with tents on both sides. You'd be amazed to see the cars parked on both sides, compared by the area we're in. Infront of every tent, there is a fat lady sitting in the sun with a large pot infront of her cooking something that is steaming. The tents themselves are wooden poles with heavy cloth just to protect people from the sun, so they're open from both sides. Inside the tents are beds, yes, beds with people sleeping on them.

No way on earth I would eat in a place like this in Cairo. However, I sat down on the edge of one of those beds not knowing what was going on. The boys set three beds in a triangle, putting a plastic stool in the middle to act as a dining table. A young woman comes in with a huge aluminum tray and lays it on the stool.

Here was the menu:

1. Spicy dip - greenish yellowish paste.
2. Tomato pieces - cut into small cubes.
3. Onions - roughly chopped.
4. Bread - rich fat piece of round bread.
5. Meat - mouthful-sized plate filled with lamb meat.

Everyone attacked the tray, including myself.

With every bite I kept thinking about when I'm going to die with all that flies and dust around us. Reminded me of video footage we saw on Discovery or National Geographic channels.

Kudos, the food was great, I ate like a horse, expected to suffer after the meal, but nothing. Nada.

Flight to Sudan

Last thing I did before getting on the plane to Khartoum from Cairo, was have a Starbucks hot chocolate while hopping on the wifi in the Cairo International Airport.

Once I got on the plane, there was this grumpy 50-year old air-hostess, from where else but EgyptAir, trying to tell people to go to their assigned seats. I could not believe that people did not want to follow the assigned seating, which they picked themselves, and printed on the plane ticket. First thing that came to my mind is the Egyptian "fahlawa", where if they insist on sitting where they want, no one will force them to move eventually. Is this a downtown bus? Last time I checked it was a plane.

What really pissed me off the most was that air-hostess thinking I was Sudanese, and handing me a Sudan entry form for Sudanese people. Already, I was losing my identity as an Egyptian, not that I was proud of it back home, but it's the first day.

Who am I?

I'm an Egyptian working in an Egyptian company for IT outsourcing, who has a branch in Khartoum - Sudan. I've been lately appointed as Director of the Sudan operation, and moved here April 12th.

I decided to write my thoughts in this blog, about Sudan and life in Sudan. I hope you find it as amusing as I see it.