Shopping and St George's day.

I’m sure it will come as no surprise to readers of this blog to learn there are no Tesco’s or Sainsbury’s in Sudan. However, there are a few supermarkets which do sell western foods and other products. The largest supermarket in central Khartoum called Afra, which is as close as you’ll get to a UK-style out of town shopping centre, complete with cinema and bowling alley. Unfortunately, the cinema only shows films in Arabic and the supermarket itself is not well stocked. Having said that, I have only been to Afra once and so perhaps I should visit again before I make my final judgements. I found these two pictures of Afra on the internet – they are not my own photographs.

However, there are two other supermarkets which are popular with expats: Alanfal and the slightly more expensive Amarat, I which I usually visit (pictured right). Amarat stocks a wide range of products which a British shopper will find familiar, including Kellogg’s breakfast cereals, Flora, various cooking sauces and Cadbury’s chocolate. It also has both a meat counter and a cheese counter. However, prices are very high and seem to be getting higher every week. A packet of 24 weetabix is now 42 SDG (which is about £5) so I have found it very easy to overspend. When I visited a few weeks ago, I had 270 SDG in my wallet and the bill came to 268 SDG!! Luckily, the basics such as bread, milk and pasta remain quite cheap, at about 4 SDG each.

However, to keep costs down, I often buy things at one of the many small corner shops, which can be found all over Khartoum. The closest corner shop to my apartment is particularly good, and I often stop here for a drink on my way back from school. There is also a man with a fruit and vegetable stall around the corner from my apartment, which is much cheaper than the supermarket and often fresher too!

St George’s day was celebrated at the British Embassy last Friday. I bought myself a ticket, which at 150 SDG I had thought was a bit expensive, although refreshments and fish and chips were included in this price. This event was not even nearly as formal as the Burns Night supper which I attended a couple of months ago. In fact, it was essentially just a disco with a red and white themed dress code, but a night out is always welcome when living in a city as quiet as Khartoum. No prizes for guessing what I wore! (clue: it certainly wasn’t a Tottenham shirt!)

 

The most notable school event of last week was the annual prize-giving, which was held last Wednesday evening. I had been asked to select two prize winners soon after I arrived at Unity back in January. This was quite difficult as I barely knew my students at the time. However, looking back, I definately made the right choices! The prize giving also featured the unique Unity High School song, and a special award for one of last years students who acheieved the best Sociology iGCSE result in the world! It is amazing to think there is now only one week left of teaching this school year, after which the school exams begin for all students. It seems like I only started this blog a few weeks ago and yet I’ll be back home in less then a month.