By Popular Demand ...
When the good folks at Faceless Corporation talk, I listen. And when they tell me that they need to be entertained with tales of my travels - or rather that the need things to read when they're in the factory at 1a - I oblige. First of all, check out this quick shot from back home.
I returned on the 14th from the Sudan, having spent 11 exhausting days going from house to house, greeting, catching up, paying condolences and generally being the hometown boy made good. Being the eldest son of the eldest son is not an easy job, but you do what you can. I'd tell you all the things I did but it's not as interesting to the outside observer. To quote a conversation with a friend prior to the trip:
Friend: So are you going to do any touristy stuff while you're there?
Me: Are you crazy? There's no touristy stuff to do in Sudan - you just visit people's homes and be with your family and wander from wedding to funeral to wedding.
There are, on the other hand, some observations that can be made. After all, every time you see people you see something new. At least you do if you keep your eyes open.
There are the things about the country itself which you notice. For example, the sheer number of minarets that one sees when gliding in to land at the airport. It's a strangely comforting sight, and makes the hearing of phantom calls to prayers in downtown San Francisco make a little more sense. The difference between living in a Muslim country and a western one are not in the large disparities but in the little details. The minarets, the prayers, the ubiquity of the faith in the streets.
There's also the massive consumerisation of the country. It's something that is an almost required consequence of globalizaton. Things have progressed in the realm of marketing to a great extent, with slick new billboards all over the city. The interesting thing is the manner in which the advertising itself has changed, from the prepackaged, scrubbed foreign faces to scrubbed Sudanese faces. The faces of the new generation of ideal Sudanese consumers. Beyond that there's the sponsoring of events: "This New Year's party brought to you by the fine folks at Mobitel", "The management of Qatari Airways would like to say Happy New Year to it's staff and customers!". None of this is remarkable to folks living here in the States but it's quite amazing that the Sudan has moved into that era.
That's all surface stuff though, and the casual observer would no doubt see it quickly and easily. There's other, little stuff. For instance, the art of washing one hand only. Like the Zen koan, it is the sound of one hand washing itself. In some households the washing of hands is done outside the main rooms in the courtyard. Small children pour water out of large plastic ewers usually, but if one isn't handy you pour with one hand while washing the other. At my aunt's house, after lunch with her husband we washed up. He washed his hand so meticulously! I was terribly inspired.
There are other tales of chaos, lack of organization and travel woes, but I will spare you. Instead I will tell you about one last thing I found in the Sudan. Purpose. While I was visiting my father's village, my Dad's cousin asked me what I did for a living. It's difficult to explain in Arabic (for me at least) so he finally said, " you work for a computer company then? In that case the village school needs new computers." So just like that I found my purpose in life. I've decided to start up a small non-profit and solicit donations for small educational material grants to the village school in my Dad's village. You guys will be getting news of that and hopefully you will take my new motto to heart, "It's not my money anyway".