Omdurman

Omdurman is at the outskirt of Khartoum, it's where old Khartoum used to be. It is sprawling with shops of all kinds. This is the best market in Khartoum, best meaning the cheapest here. You can haggle your heart out, but since we're the foreigners here, be careful because they would tend to cheat you. The best way to do it is to have somebody who can speak arabic with you at all times. Since I do not speak arabic, my first trip to Omdurman is confined to the interior of the van. But we did went through some of the streets.

They have gold street, carpet street and so on. Anything that you need really... I saw a lot of colourful materials (probably from China) and it was full of people. The locals call us 'the fair skinned' and equal that to having dollars (a lot of money). So, for me, it is not a good idea to shop in Omdurman alone.

A week after we went to Omdurman, there was the 'incidence' of rebels fighting in Omdurman. We were asked to prepare ourselves for the evacuation if necessary. It was quite sudden and it caught us off-guard. There was a 3 days curfew. It was a little bit scary because we do not know what's happening outside. The only news that we could understand is from Aljazeera International. We had to pack a contigency bag for evacuation, but try as I might, one bag is just not enough to fit all the necessities for a family of five. The pampers and milk alone fit into a bag.

It has been a month since the 'incidence', but the bags are still unpacked (just in case, there are other emergencies). You'll never know in this country, we just need to be prepared, that's all. My husband went to see the exhibition of all the weapons used during the fighting (they have it on display), and it consists of quite heavy machinery, quite a few rocket launchers and stuff. So, it wasn't that harmless, actually. Okay, for me, it was a new experience and I am definitely not an ordinary expat's wife. I thought Darfur and the war are far away, but actually they're not...

Just pray for the safety of our family. Insyaallah, everything will turn out all right.