stones and uncooked beans

Dear Friends,
Greetings! Hmmm. Well, this week I have discovered that there are differences in quality in the tall pots of cooking "ful" that are available around town. The last two batches I've purchased have been from the same shop and I won't be going back there again. I've bitten on stones and have forced myself to eat less than fully cooked beans -- some of them were cooked but some were not. Uneven quality I say, and even I have higher standards than that.

I am still squeamish every time someone uses their bare hands to handle the food that I am going to consume -- date bars, falafel, whatever it is. Maybe I as a Westerner think too much about what the consequences of bare hands and my food could be. Maybe here in Sudan there just isn't time to think about that kind of thing. Or, ignorance in this particular case is perhaps bliss?

School has been pushed back for a few days. The opening seminar, on Spirituality and College, I am quite looking forward to that!, will be next Monday. We begin teaching on Tuesday. I am coming to the conclusion that perhaps Africans are better able to see the big picture and we Americans are more stuck on details. It will get done, we just have to get 24 class periods in. China was also comfortable with ambiguity. When will the tests take place? We don't know yet. In the states the calendars are out in black and white well before the semester appears on the horizon. Many lands, many kinds of time.

On my way home from the college yesterday I did one of my shopping as I walk trips through the main block of town. After I had picked up yogurt, shampoo, Diet Coke and date bars, as I got closer to home I said hello to an elderly man who was sitting in the shade. He seemed shocked to have someone talk to me. He had a little bit of English but I had to begin saying, "schway Arabic" very quickly. "Very little Arabic!"
Blessings,
Debbie