sudan: land of heat and sand
yes, we are back in khartoum, sudan for a quick two and a half weeks. as usual we are going to talk about sand and sun, but no surf. and of course immense hospitality. sandi has sent an email with her impressions, so i will basically add a few pics (if anyone missed this email just send me a note i will forward - lots of food descriptions seems we have another carrianne in the family!)
this time we came on marsland air, a new sudanese airline (with old russian planes) but pretty good service and good prices. also a free upgrade to business class and 40kg each (up to 100kg if you ask nice). too bad it wasnt a flight to canada, hey? it stops in juba, and on the way back we will stop for a few days (will cover this in a future blog).
the bethel is a 5 story building (i just looked back at my old posts - cant believe i haven't yet included a pic of the bethel! one coming up shortly) so we often go up to the roof to enjoy the sunset or chill out. so here is my latest experiment - panoramas - you can get a flavor of what the view is like up there. i haven't done a full 360 degree - this is about 180 degrees so you can get a sense of the view from one side. at 6.30 in the morning.... (there was a wedding at the house with all the lights - i guess they danced all night). you can also see the band of cloud all around just above the horizon? except thats not cloud, its dust.
and just before sundown (sun sets behind me)
funny...i dont have a sunset one....ok - went out and rectified that little detail, now we are good.
moving on, here is another pic of a rickshaw - local transport. usually about US$.25 to US$0.50 to take you anywhere. apparently all UN employees get free life and accident insurance except if you ride sudan airways or rickshaws.
and finally, a funny story. we were invited by magdi and gigi to their room and they started showing us their old photos. so we are looking at all these pictures, and then i look closely at this one picture - there is this one lady who caught my eye who looked sooo much like aunty cindy. then i start to look at a few others - theres my mom! theres my dad! theres me!!! apparently when they visited kenya in 1986 they were taken to the bookstudy by a brother, and it was at our house! kennie: i like your checkered pants. just to prove it, i borrowed the pic and scanned it in - there are a few other people in there that you may recognise...
i have a few other pics i want to post but they are black and white, so that will be subject for the next post....
this time we came on marsland air, a new sudanese airline (with old russian planes) but pretty good service and good prices. also a free upgrade to business class and 40kg each (up to 100kg if you ask nice). too bad it wasnt a flight to canada, hey? it stops in juba, and on the way back we will stop for a few days (will cover this in a future blog).
the bethel is a 5 story building (i just looked back at my old posts - cant believe i haven't yet included a pic of the bethel! one coming up shortly) so we often go up to the roof to enjoy the sunset or chill out. so here is my latest experiment - panoramas - you can get a flavor of what the view is like up there. i haven't done a full 360 degree - this is about 180 degrees so you can get a sense of the view from one side. at 6.30 in the morning.... (there was a wedding at the house with all the lights - i guess they danced all night). you can also see the band of cloud all around just above the horizon? except thats not cloud, its dust.
and just before sundown (sun sets behind me)
funny...i dont have a sunset one....ok - went out and rectified that little detail, now we are good.
moving on, here is another pic of a rickshaw - local transport. usually about US$.25 to US$0.50 to take you anywhere. apparently all UN employees get free life and accident insurance except if you ride sudan airways or rickshaws.
and finally, a funny story. we were invited by magdi and gigi to their room and they started showing us their old photos. so we are looking at all these pictures, and then i look closely at this one picture - there is this one lady who caught my eye who looked sooo much like aunty cindy. then i start to look at a few others - theres my mom! theres my dad! theres me!!! apparently when they visited kenya in 1986 they were taken to the bookstudy by a brother, and it was at our house! kennie: i like your checkered pants. just to prove it, i borrowed the pic and scanned it in - there are a few other people in there that you may recognise...
i have a few other pics i want to post but they are black and white, so that will be subject for the next post....
