Dear Friends,
Greetings! This has been such a nice day. I was collected this morning by the family of a colleague and friend from the college and taken to the KCC, Khartoum Community Church. This is a Pentecostal service. It was very multi-ethnic and multi-cultural and reminded me of the International Fellowship in Nanjing China. The advantage to this particular church (vs the church in Nanjing) is that the local people can attend it as well. Both this service and the service at the Khartoum International Church are in English.
It appears that basically what is available here is Baptist or Pentecostal. This is not to say that there are not other options, it just means that I haven't come across them so much yet.
I need prayer as to the transportation issue. It appears that many people here in Khartoum started out living near where I live (Bahri in Khartoum North) but they have migrated across the bridge over the Nile River to other parts of Khartoum such as Odurman. The friends who brought me today will be moving to another part of town tomorrow and as such will not be able to help me out again. Ideally there would be a neighborhood church to which I could walk every week -- be it Friday or Sunday -- but where I am living now this is not the case. I trust that something consistent will appear on the horizon to one of the English speaking services in town, either the KCC or the KIC (see names above and match initials), or that I will be led to worship in an Arabic speaking service closer to home.
After service we joined with friends of my friends and went to a Syrian restaurant for lunch....I was so very excited to see humus for the second time in Sudan! Again, it may be here all over the place, but I haven't seen it! I was able to order tabouleh salad, a great favorite of mine and lentil soup that was vegetarian. It was great fun to sit with others for a meal again.
I am slowly realizing that religion and culture are intricately intertwined here in Sudan. This may be true all over the world, but since this is the place where I find myself residing for now it is the place that I am analyzing. I have learned things from The Will to Arise, a book on African theology from a feminist perspective; discussions with colleagues and others; from The Princess, the book I recently read on Saudi Arabia, and also from the Madeline Albright book which I am currently reading. The way that I am beginning to tell if something is cultural is if it is practiced by both Muslim and Christian Sudanese, although this is certainly up for correction.
Tomorrow should be laundry day. Yesterday would have been but the electricity was out for several hours and today might have been but I didn't return from worship and fellowship until late afternoon and a nap was in order.
Blessings,
Debbie
Friday, November 27, 2009
Thursday, November 26, 2009
American Thanksgiving while in Sudan....
Dear Friends,
Greetings! I made a fun discovering yesterday. I've had some long top/skirt sets made for me here in Khartoum. Looking at the length of the long top I was wearing yesterday decided to try it on as a dress -- it made an adorable short dress! I can't wear it like that here in Sudan but the next time I leave the country I will all have sorts of cute short dresses to take along with me!
By the way, at church last Sunday someone told me that there is an exercise gym on the second floor of the Alba (may not be the correct name) shopping mall near the airport here in Khartoum. She said it has stationary bikes and the like. She is interested in looking into it in mid-December when she returns from her home country and invited me to consider joining her. I don't know how I would deal with the transportation issue but I am quite thrilled about the idea of having a possibility -- and someone to be accountable to as well. Several people have told me that there is just no way to get exercise here in Khartoum. It is too hot to walk and I have not seen one single piece of exercise equipment in any of the stores that I've been in or walked by or gone by in a car. So this is hopeful!
A friend who is also on Facebook said today that he heard his first Christmas commercial. He is in the states. I remember my first Christmas in China in 2007. I went into the Walmart store in Nanjing and there was a whole section of the store devoted to artificial trees and decorations and Christmas music being played that could be heard through the entire store. I was in shock. It bothered me a great deal because I realized that in Communist China Christmas certainly is not a holy Christian holiday. China had found a way to milk a Western tradition as a money making venture. It was worst for me to have this in China than even in the United States because at least in the states there is still a vestige of understanding of the true meaning behind Christmas. This is not to say that there are not Chinese Christians, because there are. But even my Chinese students at China Pharmaceutical University who were not Christians and had no idea what the meaning of Christmas was, were excited about Christmas trees and presents and a festival.
In Sudan it is going to be another matter altogether. I was in Israel and Palestine in December of 1996. I remember how subdued Bethlehem and the West Bank were. And in Israel proper it was eerie for me knowing that I was there in Advent and there were no Christmas decorations, no Christmas music and no glitterama. Of course Israel is Jewish and Northern Sudan is Muslim, but the point is that same. There will probably be no Christmas decorations, no Christmas music and no glitterama here in Khartoum. This coming Sunday, November 29th, 2009 marks the beginnning of Advent. The International Church here in Khartoum is not liturgical per se. The college has ended chapel services for fall semester as it is almost finished now. Tomorrow I will accompany another teacher to a Friday morning Pentecostal service which will likely be non-liturgical. I do not miss the commercialized aspects of Advent and Christmas in the United States. I DO miss the markers that we are in a set apart season, a time for awe and anticipation. Instead I will need to do this setting apart for myself.
Today was my first American Thanksgiving in another new country. From my experience so far in traveling and living abroad I would say that the first year in a new country is the most difficult. There is the adjustment to the new culture. It takes time to learn where to grocery shop and the proper ways of dressing. And it just plain takes time for friendships to form and become a vessel for nurture and joy. I spent today alone although someone from the college did accompany me to purchase a large container of water for my water machine and vegetarian pizza. The power went out this afternoon and into the first of the darkness. I was planning to sleep in the living room with the doors open so as not to be locked into an airless darkness. And then, praise God!, the power came back on. I may still watch a movie. I trust that Thanksgiving next year will be different. By then I should be sufficiently connected with an ex-pat community of Americans somewhere that I will have fellowship on this American day.
I was asked today to teach English to some of the students at the college, along with History of Missions and New Testament Background. I was assured that this was more of an Oral English than a grammatical English. I've realized that I can do with these students so much of what I wanted to do in China and was not able to do because of the limits put on Christians in that country. I can hand out readings from all sorts of literature that are based on Scripture or on thinking from around the world and have the student's discuss those readings. There is potential for this being a rich time of learning for both my students and for me.
I am currently reading The Mighty and The Almight by Madeleine Albright, the first female Secretary of State in the United States. I would recommend this read to anyone who is interested in learning more about the United States and our relationships with countries in the Middle East. It is a fascinating and informative book.
Blessings,
Debbie
Greetings! I made a fun discovering yesterday. I've had some long top/skirt sets made for me here in Khartoum. Looking at the length of the long top I was wearing yesterday decided to try it on as a dress -- it made an adorable short dress! I can't wear it like that here in Sudan but the next time I leave the country I will all have sorts of cute short dresses to take along with me!
By the way, at church last Sunday someone told me that there is an exercise gym on the second floor of the Alba (may not be the correct name) shopping mall near the airport here in Khartoum. She said it has stationary bikes and the like. She is interested in looking into it in mid-December when she returns from her home country and invited me to consider joining her. I don't know how I would deal with the transportation issue but I am quite thrilled about the idea of having a possibility -- and someone to be accountable to as well. Several people have told me that there is just no way to get exercise here in Khartoum. It is too hot to walk and I have not seen one single piece of exercise equipment in any of the stores that I've been in or walked by or gone by in a car. So this is hopeful!
A friend who is also on Facebook said today that he heard his first Christmas commercial. He is in the states. I remember my first Christmas in China in 2007. I went into the Walmart store in Nanjing and there was a whole section of the store devoted to artificial trees and decorations and Christmas music being played that could be heard through the entire store. I was in shock. It bothered me a great deal because I realized that in Communist China Christmas certainly is not a holy Christian holiday. China had found a way to milk a Western tradition as a money making venture. It was worst for me to have this in China than even in the United States because at least in the states there is still a vestige of understanding of the true meaning behind Christmas. This is not to say that there are not Chinese Christians, because there are. But even my Chinese students at China Pharmaceutical University who were not Christians and had no idea what the meaning of Christmas was, were excited about Christmas trees and presents and a festival.
In Sudan it is going to be another matter altogether. I was in Israel and Palestine in December of 1996. I remember how subdued Bethlehem and the West Bank were. And in Israel proper it was eerie for me knowing that I was there in Advent and there were no Christmas decorations, no Christmas music and no glitterama. Of course Israel is Jewish and Northern Sudan is Muslim, but the point is that same. There will probably be no Christmas decorations, no Christmas music and no glitterama here in Khartoum. This coming Sunday, November 29th, 2009 marks the beginnning of Advent. The International Church here in Khartoum is not liturgical per se. The college has ended chapel services for fall semester as it is almost finished now. Tomorrow I will accompany another teacher to a Friday morning Pentecostal service which will likely be non-liturgical. I do not miss the commercialized aspects of Advent and Christmas in the United States. I DO miss the markers that we are in a set apart season, a time for awe and anticipation. Instead I will need to do this setting apart for myself.
Today was my first American Thanksgiving in another new country. From my experience so far in traveling and living abroad I would say that the first year in a new country is the most difficult. There is the adjustment to the new culture. It takes time to learn where to grocery shop and the proper ways of dressing. And it just plain takes time for friendships to form and become a vessel for nurture and joy. I spent today alone although someone from the college did accompany me to purchase a large container of water for my water machine and vegetarian pizza. The power went out this afternoon and into the first of the darkness. I was planning to sleep in the living room with the doors open so as not to be locked into an airless darkness. And then, praise God!, the power came back on. I may still watch a movie. I trust that Thanksgiving next year will be different. By then I should be sufficiently connected with an ex-pat community of Americans somewhere that I will have fellowship on this American day.
I was asked today to teach English to some of the students at the college, along with History of Missions and New Testament Background. I was assured that this was more of an Oral English than a grammatical English. I've realized that I can do with these students so much of what I wanted to do in China and was not able to do because of the limits put on Christians in that country. I can hand out readings from all sorts of literature that are based on Scripture or on thinking from around the world and have the student's discuss those readings. There is potential for this being a rich time of learning for both my students and for me.
I am currently reading The Mighty and The Almight by Madeleine Albright, the first female Secretary of State in the United States. I would recommend this read to anyone who is interested in learning more about the United States and our relationships with countries in the Middle East. It is a fascinating and informative book.
Blessings,
Debbie
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
The Last Few Days....
Dear Friends,
I've just finished listening to the haunting Call to Prayer of the mosque closest to my apartment. Khartoum has a lot of mosques and each one of them has distinct architecture and colors. I am discovering that I enjoy sitting in my covered porch area with a lit candle listening to the morning call. It brings me into prayer as a Christian.
Yesterday the college sent a man to change lightbulbs, hang pictures and fix a broken chair. I was sitting on the chair at the computer when the leg fell off -- fortunately nothing on me broke! It was pretty amazing watching him nail the chair back together...I would have thrown it out.
Thanksgiving is of course tomorrow in the states. I've decided to celebrate by going to one of the two local pizza joints here in Khartoum North and getting a vegetarian take-out pizza. They also have sweets that I have admired at the pizza place and I am going to treat myself to some of those as well. I am grateful to have a new home and thankful for a place to buy familiar foods.
Sunday and Monday I was included in dinner plans with one of the other teachers at the college and his family. We went out for Egyptian food as the family is from Egypt on Sunday, then went on to church and afterwards went shoe shopping! I came home with a lovely pair of purple shoes from Egypt that are designed to be worn with henna tattooes. My henna is fading fast -- but once I understood how the shoes were worn (they have pointy toes and human toes don't go all the way to the end of the point!) I could see how they would show the henna to best advantage. It was great fun shopping with the family!
Monday we went to an Indian restauraunt for "lunch." Now I must explain that in Sudan breakfast is eaten around 10:00 a.m., lunch around 4:00 p.m. and dinner at 8 or 9:00 at night. Needlesstosay I am going to have to do some balancing when I am teaching because I need to eat breakfast in the early morning and lunch around noon! At any rate, a friend of the family joined us for lunch on Monday and we had a blast! I love spending time with women friends, we have the mutal language of laughter in common and it is a beautiful language!
I was told that there are places where I can go and have a coffee and nice pastry for a fix when I need one. I explained that when I was in Nanjing I found some Western places for a fix when I got too homesick....and after seeing the shoe stores on Sunday I realize that there are more modern in stores in Khartoum than the ones that I have hitherto been exposed to.
One of the questions that will face me at some point is: will I try to get a car or not? Another question has to do with language study. The colleague whose family I ate with took me to the Arabic school on Monday and it had already closed by 2:30. I am not having much luck getting hold of the people who teach there. Maybe I need to be content with December as the month for preparation for teaching in January.
Blessings,
Debbie
I've just finished listening to the haunting Call to Prayer of the mosque closest to my apartment. Khartoum has a lot of mosques and each one of them has distinct architecture and colors. I am discovering that I enjoy sitting in my covered porch area with a lit candle listening to the morning call. It brings me into prayer as a Christian.
Yesterday the college sent a man to change lightbulbs, hang pictures and fix a broken chair. I was sitting on the chair at the computer when the leg fell off -- fortunately nothing on me broke! It was pretty amazing watching him nail the chair back together...I would have thrown it out.
Thanksgiving is of course tomorrow in the states. I've decided to celebrate by going to one of the two local pizza joints here in Khartoum North and getting a vegetarian take-out pizza. They also have sweets that I have admired at the pizza place and I am going to treat myself to some of those as well. I am grateful to have a new home and thankful for a place to buy familiar foods.
Sunday and Monday I was included in dinner plans with one of the other teachers at the college and his family. We went out for Egyptian food as the family is from Egypt on Sunday, then went on to church and afterwards went shoe shopping! I came home with a lovely pair of purple shoes from Egypt that are designed to be worn with henna tattooes. My henna is fading fast -- but once I understood how the shoes were worn (they have pointy toes and human toes don't go all the way to the end of the point!) I could see how they would show the henna to best advantage. It was great fun shopping with the family!
Monday we went to an Indian restauraunt for "lunch." Now I must explain that in Sudan breakfast is eaten around 10:00 a.m., lunch around 4:00 p.m. and dinner at 8 or 9:00 at night. Needlesstosay I am going to have to do some balancing when I am teaching because I need to eat breakfast in the early morning and lunch around noon! At any rate, a friend of the family joined us for lunch on Monday and we had a blast! I love spending time with women friends, we have the mutal language of laughter in common and it is a beautiful language!
I was told that there are places where I can go and have a coffee and nice pastry for a fix when I need one. I explained that when I was in Nanjing I found some Western places for a fix when I got too homesick....and after seeing the shoe stores on Sunday I realize that there are more modern in stores in Khartoum than the ones that I have hitherto been exposed to.
One of the questions that will face me at some point is: will I try to get a car or not? Another question has to do with language study. The colleague whose family I ate with took me to the Arabic school on Monday and it had already closed by 2:30. I am not having much luck getting hold of the people who teach there. Maybe I need to be content with December as the month for preparation for teaching in January.
Blessings,
Debbie
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
More Sudanese Adventures
Dear Friends,
Yesterday afternoon I was one of several guests at the home of the Principal of Nile Theological College, and his wife. We were invited for lunch, which in the states would be an early dinner. The food was wonderful, I am quite certain that his wife spent the day cleaning house and preparing food. They do have a grown daughter and her children staying with them at the moment, so there were probably extra hands pitching in as well.
We were shown the house which, in the African manner, has a bedroom for the girls and a bedroom for the boys as well as one for the parents. I believe that if this had been an Arab home the parents would have slept separately in the men's and women's quarters. It felt like a loving home, attention to details such as bedspreads, which were quite lovely, added to that feeling that the people who live there are important.
We then went to the "company" living room which had a traditional African set-up for furniture as well as the dining room table. The table had the food which was served buffet style and then we returned to our seats where there were small tables (nicer than American TV trays) to put our plates on. Esther, Rev. Thomas' wife, had kindly made special vegetarian dishes for me. It was so good to eat homemade food, since of course I am as yet not producing much of my own!
After dinner we sat and talked. I asked questions about African tribes and found that the tribal relations and inter-relations are at least as complicated as what I know about American Indians tribal history. It is clear to me that for me to thoroughly understand the situation would take a great deal of concentrated study. Suffice it to say that there are many, many tribes in the totality of Africa, and each of them appears to have particular traits. This is similar to American tribes which were, say, warriors or nomads. There was a feeling of true generosity and hospitality in the evening. I was very grateful.
It is a marked difference, and a very gracious one, to be invited into the fellowship, the life of the community in the college. I am being included and people are helping to care for my needs. Today one of my colleagues/friends from the college negotiated at a mattress making shop for a cotton mattress to replace my twin mattresses which I continue to wrestle with at night. I ask you, have you ever had a mattress made to your specifications? Frankly I did not know that such a thing was possible. It will be a firm cotton mattress of sufficient quality to be long-lasting.
Today was the final chapel for the fall quarter. Once again there was beautiful singing by the men in the choir -- there are no women, I don't know why. For this final chapel we had communion; in Southern Sudan the church celebrates communion but twice a year.
So today I celebrated my first African communion with my sisters and brothers in my new community in Sudan. The Principal presided wearing his black robe and stole. He received his Master of Divinity degree at the Johnson Theological Seminary in the states, it is one of our Presbyterian Seminaries. I was excited to learn that! Communion was received not by intinction but with each element served one at a time pew by pew. And it was good.
Blessings,
Debbie
Yesterday afternoon I was one of several guests at the home of the Principal of Nile Theological College, and his wife. We were invited for lunch, which in the states would be an early dinner. The food was wonderful, I am quite certain that his wife spent the day cleaning house and preparing food. They do have a grown daughter and her children staying with them at the moment, so there were probably extra hands pitching in as well.
We were shown the house which, in the African manner, has a bedroom for the girls and a bedroom for the boys as well as one for the parents. I believe that if this had been an Arab home the parents would have slept separately in the men's and women's quarters. It felt like a loving home, attention to details such as bedspreads, which were quite lovely, added to that feeling that the people who live there are important.
We then went to the "company" living room which had a traditional African set-up for furniture as well as the dining room table. The table had the food which was served buffet style and then we returned to our seats where there were small tables (nicer than American TV trays) to put our plates on. Esther, Rev. Thomas' wife, had kindly made special vegetarian dishes for me. It was so good to eat homemade food, since of course I am as yet not producing much of my own!
After dinner we sat and talked. I asked questions about African tribes and found that the tribal relations and inter-relations are at least as complicated as what I know about American Indians tribal history. It is clear to me that for me to thoroughly understand the situation would take a great deal of concentrated study. Suffice it to say that there are many, many tribes in the totality of Africa, and each of them appears to have particular traits. This is similar to American tribes which were, say, warriors or nomads. There was a feeling of true generosity and hospitality in the evening. I was very grateful.
It is a marked difference, and a very gracious one, to be invited into the fellowship, the life of the community in the college. I am being included and people are helping to care for my needs. Today one of my colleagues/friends from the college negotiated at a mattress making shop for a cotton mattress to replace my twin mattresses which I continue to wrestle with at night. I ask you, have you ever had a mattress made to your specifications? Frankly I did not know that such a thing was possible. It will be a firm cotton mattress of sufficient quality to be long-lasting.
Today was the final chapel for the fall quarter. Once again there was beautiful singing by the men in the choir -- there are no women, I don't know why. For this final chapel we had communion; in Southern Sudan the church celebrates communion but twice a year.
So today I celebrated my first African communion with my sisters and brothers in my new community in Sudan. The Principal presided wearing his black robe and stole. He received his Master of Divinity degree at the Johnson Theological Seminary in the states, it is one of our Presbyterian Seminaries. I was excited to learn that! Communion was received not by intinction but with each element served one at a time pew by pew. And it was good.
Blessings,
Debbie
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
All Sorts of God's Critters Got A Place in the Choir.....
Dear Friends,
I got a lousy picture, although it IS a picture, of the lizard just now. I was outside of the kitchen looking in and he/she is sprawled out (the only position a lizard has) on one of the burners on the gas stove. Fortunately for said lizard the stove was not turned on for I am STILL avoiding cooking:)
I will get the picture to you at a later moment/day/year/century -- it just depends on my mood....
I was accompanied to the suq (sook) again today by Christine, the woman whose family will be returning to New Zealand next Monday. I will sorely miss her sense of humor which, by chance, happens to be like my own...witty, sarcastic, kind of cynical. Anyhow, I was passed on to her vegetable person which is fine with me because in China I always tried to go to the same person. It can be very nice to build a relationship with one person vs going to a different place each time for one's food.
The water cooler has been acting up again and two of the men from the college came today to haul it to the company for repair. They looked inside it first and lo and behold there was a huge hunk of ice that was preventing the cold water from moving! I had inadvertently turned the temperature too cool. They were so kind and defrosted and drained it, reassembled and cleaned it for me.
I found out today more about the schedule for the classes beginning in January. This is good as it will make it a measure less challenging to do my planning. Tomorrow people will be at the school dealing with the accreditation process that NTC is in the midst of. Always a hard thing for schools/colleges/universities from what I have observed.
Blessings,
Debbie
I got a lousy picture, although it IS a picture, of the lizard just now. I was outside of the kitchen looking in and he/she is sprawled out (the only position a lizard has) on one of the burners on the gas stove. Fortunately for said lizard the stove was not turned on for I am STILL avoiding cooking:)
I will get the picture to you at a later moment/day/year/century -- it just depends on my mood....
I was accompanied to the suq (sook) again today by Christine, the woman whose family will be returning to New Zealand next Monday. I will sorely miss her sense of humor which, by chance, happens to be like my own...witty, sarcastic, kind of cynical. Anyhow, I was passed on to her vegetable person which is fine with me because in China I always tried to go to the same person. It can be very nice to build a relationship with one person vs going to a different place each time for one's food.
The water cooler has been acting up again and two of the men from the college came today to haul it to the company for repair. They looked inside it first and lo and behold there was a huge hunk of ice that was preventing the cold water from moving! I had inadvertently turned the temperature too cool. They were so kind and defrosted and drained it, reassembled and cleaned it for me.
I found out today more about the schedule for the classes beginning in January. This is good as it will make it a measure less challenging to do my planning. Tomorrow people will be at the school dealing with the accreditation process that NTC is in the midst of. Always a hard thing for schools/colleges/universities from what I have observed.
Blessings,
Debbie
Monday, November 9, 2009
Sunday Coffee with the Ladies.
I like this veiled picture.
Part of the group of graceful women.
Graceful serving
Very eager to have her picture taken -- a very sweet spirit.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)