Elections and Voting *borrowed from a friend*

It's one of those days when there's just not a whole lot to report. I thought there would be. You see, it's election week here in Sudan. Something of a rarity...(like 24 years, I hear). In countries like this, one can never be too sure about how the political system will progress or er...escalate. Many of the Sudanese living in Khartoum left the city and went to smaller villages until the event was over. Some of them encouraged us to do the same. However, it's best for us to stay put. So we did. While the election itself has caused world-wide controversy, things locally seem to remain quiet. We continue in our work, remain prayerful and do what we can, while we are able in this dry, dusty place so desperately in need of a unified vote for Jesus.

Local voting station in Sudan (*Photo from Sudan Tribune)

Defining Hot???

I was laying the the living room at a friend's house the other day. When my friend asked if I was hot? Well my first thought was no, but then I thought about it and realized I was sweating. However I think here to be "hot" is when you have sweat dripping all down your leggs, and you jump in the shower with all your clothes on as soon as you get home. Just sweating no longer defines what it means to be hot. I have a feeling many sweatshirts will be needed when I get back to the states. For now I am happy that God has allowed me to not let the weather distract me too much :)

Transportation

We have many choices for transportation here. Busses, Amjads (like a van that works like a taxi), or rickshaws (small like a three wheeler, for shorter distances). Most of the time I take rick shaws to get around, they are great you can work on Arabic and very reasonably priced. Most people start to just get in and they know what the price should be so you pay it when you get to your destination. Today I had a slightly less awesome moment when a rick shaw driver decided to charge me over four times what the ride should have been and when I refused he threw them money at me. When I walked away he grabbed my arm and told me that I was not a good person. Luckily the neighbor was around and since he is a man he was able to help us and made the man finally go away. Just another day in this awesome country!

To the middle of nowhere and back...

Often times people say that they live in the "middle of nowhere" well I have news for you the middle of nowhere really does exist, but it is no where to be found in the US. This past week I had the amazing priveledge to travel through the desert to see many areas of this wonderful country I am living in. I saw about five different cities and many different tribes. I now have a stronger understanding of what this country is really made up of. However back to the middle of nowhere, so we would stop for lunch and gas in one town and then our leader would say "Ok about 240 clicks to the next stop. This did not just mean the next place, but it also meant there was NOTHING in the time between one stop and another. As far as you can see there was just desert, no people, no tents, nothing! Then after about an hour or so there might be a few tents and at one point we were driving down one road and we had some people we were giving a ride to in the back of our truck and another guy appeared out of the desert, no idea where he came from.

During our travels we got to go to the Red Sea and go scuba diving in one of the best places in the world! We also got to go snorkeling while staying on a boat for a couple of days! Then we traveled to a town that was deserted in the 80's yet still has a old hotel and about 4,000 people that live there, we went and found fuul (a type of bean food) where we had breakfast. Then we traveled on to a town up north where we got to go and enjoy some of the night life and a few surprises of people that are demon possessed. The next morning we woke up early and went to climb a mountain. Since the town is a very conservative town the bottom part of the mountain we had to wear our abayas (like a long dress) then later on we took them off and wrapped them around our waists. We made it to the top in a faster manner than I would have wanted, but we had time restraints. Some people said I was not choosing the best route since I walked up bascially a wall, but I got to the top and Chacos are amazing! Then we headed back down where we ran into some baboons that we had to scare away by throwing rocks at them. The best part was when I stepped off the mountain our leader had a coke for me nice and cold. :) Then as if that was not enough we went to the market to buy lots of amazing fruit that is grown in this farming town and headed out of town. Our leader noticed a tent out in the desert that had women and men in it so we pulled out into the desert to have tea with this nomadic tribe. The women were nervous at first, but they warmed up to us and were so generous! We had a difficult time communicating because they speak a different dialect of Arabic and our leader speaks the best Arabic, but he is a man and only women speak to women and men to men. It was an amazing experience being able to see a people group that is untouched by the outside world for the last 160 some years! Then if that was not enough we got to go to a couple more towns one for lunch and another we just drove past. By far my favorite was having tea in the village where the women squirted us with her perfume which I am sure was one of her most treasured possessions. She is very sick she said, so it would be great if you could all lift her up. Also it was great to watch the amazing kids that we had with us they are total rockstars! Plus encouraging conversations and chances to get to know people when you are driving 11 hours in a day and eating foods that might or might not make you sick made for an amazing adventure!

The light we carry!

I realized that I have not shared a lot about what life is really like here. I was reading another friend's blog and she made this country more real through her writing, so I am going to attempt to do the same for you.

There are days when you are walking down the street and there is nothing you could imagine more than the donkeys, the roosters, the sheep, hanging carcass’s of meat, people walking carrying large loads on their heads, dressed with their turbans and jalabiya and women in their taubs. Beggar’s at your door, on the street and at your vehicle windows trying their hardest (and loudest) to sell you their goods regardless of where you step. The Nile River and in another area further out, there are camels and pyramids. Oh, and let’s not forget the dust, lots and lots of dust. New buildings, old buildings, falling apart buildings, contrasts of wealth and poverty like any third world country has, and yet unlike any other. Someone else wrote most of this paragraph, but it really exemplifies this country so well.

The hardest part is that this country is dark, it is very dark all the time. Sometimes so dark that it is hard to see the light. Then their is our "family" that is here and their light shines so brightly that all the sudden you see the hope and the need of so many of people. You remember that their is a reason that we are all here and their is a plan for us to be here at this specific time. So no matter what the smell is of the day or how many buckets of sweat you feel like you have lost in the last hour. It will all be worth it when you look around and see the light in some children's eyes and the hope of the children and the questions of the other children that have yet to see the light. Wouldn't you want to be a part of sharing that light?

Thank you because you are a part of it every day!

Cross Cultural Teaching

This week in language arts we are reading a story about a street and how an unusual story comes out of nothing. To build background on the story, the students were asked to as a class put together a list of city sights, city sounds, and city smells. The example in the book and what our class came up with were completly different such as who thinks of a donkey as a city sight? When we were doing the list of smells I kept having to remind the students to say positive smells to start with. How often would you get the call to prayer as one of the city sounds when asking a class. Daily I am amazed at these kids and this culture!

KENYA!!!

We just got back from Kenya many many pictures to come. We got to go on a safari and see the most amazing green green green. I do not know if I would think the same if I was coming from America, but it was beautiful! It was a great and relaxing time to really get out and have some time to relax and refresh. I am so thankful for the time that we had. We also go to go to a conference with people that work all over this area of the world. It was so amazing to see all the generations represented. I can not believe that I have such an amazing job! Thank you for all of your support and encouragement! Happy New Year to all I hope this is that 2010 is the best year for all of you!