Last week began with the school suddenly announcing that I
was to be taken to the ‘Alien Registration Office’, so that my standard visa
can be converted to a working visa. As you might expect, the name of this
office had me thinking of ‘Men in Black’, but instead it was just men in white
coats who met me. Luckily, I wasn’t taken away, but a vile of my blood was. A
blood sample has to be provided and screened for HIV, before a working visa can
be issued. Anyone found to be HIV+ would be immediately deported – but
obviously I’m fine!
The avid and eagle-eyed readers of this blog will have
noticed from week one that my flat was very sparse and without curtains. This
is slowly improving, as I have now purchased a few pictures for the walls and
the school has provided curtains, which make a huge difference to the feel of
the flat. I have also employed a cleaner to visit once a week. On her first
visit, she spent ages mopping the floors and dusting – and even made my bed!
All this for just 100 SDG (about £20) every month!
To celebrate the prophets birthday (see last weeks blog), there
was an extra holiday this Saturday – The normal weekend is split on Friday and
Sunday – and I’m pleased to report that I took full advantage of the three day
weekend which resulted! On Friday, I was invited on a three-hour cruise down
the Blue Nile, on a decent sized boat complete
with on-board BBQ and music. It was a great day out – both fun and relaxing –
although at 37 degrees it was quite hot! Away from the prying eyes of the
Sudanese police, I was able to take several great photos of the river, but no
bridge close-ups for the reasons noted in last weeks blog. On Saturday, there
was another race with the hash harriers, which was also along the banks of the Blue Nile.
The Nile-themed weekend continued on Sunday, as I was
invited to a picnic to Jabel-e-Olia, about 30 minutes north of Khartoum
where there is a dam across the river and a
beach area, which is popular with the locals. Unlike the cruise on Friday, this
was the actual river Nile (as opposed to the Blue Nile)
which at this location is vast and hugely impressive. Unfortunately the picnic
area is less impressive with more dried mud than sand, and an incredible amount
of rubbish.
The avid and eagle-eyed readers of this blog will have
noticed from week one that my flat was very sparse and without curtains. This
is slowly improving, as I have now purchased a few pictures for the walls and
the school has provided curtains, which make a huge difference to the feel of
the flat. I have also employed a cleaner to visit once a week. On her first
visit, she spent ages mopping the floors and dusting – and even made my bed!
All this for just 100 SDG (about £20) every month!
To celebrate the prophets birthday (see last weeks blog), there
was an extra holiday this Saturday – The normal weekend is split on Friday and
Sunday – and I’m pleased to report that I took full advantage of the three day
weekend which resulted! On Friday, I was invited on a three-hour cruise down
the Blue Nile, on a decent sized boat complete
with on-board BBQ and music. It was a great day out – both fun and relaxing –
although at 37 degrees it was quite hot! Away from the prying eyes of the
Sudanese police, I was able to take several great photos of the river, but no
bridge close-ups for the reasons noted in last weeks blog. On Saturday, there
was another race with the hash harriers, which was also along the banks of the Blue Nile.
The Nile-themed weekend continued on Sunday, as I was
invited to a picnic to Jabel-e-Olia, about 30 minutes north of Khartoum
where there is a dam across the river and a
beach area, which is popular with the locals. Unlike the cruise on Friday, this
was the actual river Nile (as opposed to the Blue Nile)
which at this location is vast and hugely impressive. Unfortunately the picnic
area is less impressive with more dried mud than sand, and an incredible amount
of rubbish.
After eating, we took a small boat out into the river and I took a
few photos – but, again, there are no dam close-ups – just in case! As of the time of writing, I have not been able to find out the precise
history of the dam, but I was told it was built by the British about 100 years
ago for defensive purposes but is now used to manage the water supply and
facilitate irrigation. If anyone has any more information on this area, please
do leave comments.
Hello dear, Jabel-e-Olia is actually south of Khartoum about 40km. The dam built by Egyption government in early 1930th. It was owned by the Egyption government till 1977 when the return it back to Sudan. Now it looks as its useless regarding irrigation but they produce about 80 mw from it.
ReplyDeleteHello William
ReplyDeleteJabel-el-Olia is actually on the White Nile not the River Nile