Visiting Duria...

On the first day of puasa, a few of the us went to visit Madame Duria, whose husband is the head of PMSL(Petronas Marketing Sudan Ltd.?!!). We just heard that her MIL was recovering from an operation. Madame Duria's also involved in Petronita as the deputy chairlady. She's also quite supportive of the efforts of Petronita in reaching out to the Sudanese at large. She also helped us in identifying several homes that needed our help such as the single mothers' and orphan homes.

When we arrived, I observed that she had a huge house. In Sudan, those with money normally build a three storey house to accommodate their close family members, sometimes even extended family. We entered with our shoes on because that's just their culture. 

I met her MIL who's well enough to sit on a chair. Even though we could not communicate very well because of the language barrier, I could sense that she's quite happy to see us. I also observed that she kept on repeating the tasbih throughout our stay, alhamdulillah.

Duria was also a very hospitable hostess. Since Amir was the only one not fasting, he was offered a drink. First just mineral water and later an orange drink...hehehe. When we were about to go home, Duria gave us a bag each, full of goodies. Dates, tabaldi etc. We were grateful for the hospitality shown to us.

 

K. Aishah and K.Jas...

Tabaldi...

Tabaldi is a traditional drink here in Sudan, especially during Ramadhan because they believed that it'll give them the strength to fast during Ramadhan. It looks like crushed paper but actually when put in water, it'll dissolve and turn into a drink. If I'm not mistaken, it's made from dates and a lot of spices. It smell quite bad but the drink was delicious...hehehe.

 

Duria was telling us about cooking during Ramadhan for Sudanese...

If you notice, Duria had henna on her feet. Here in Sudan, married ladies adorned henna on their feet. They have two kinds of Henna, the red and the black ones. But, Malaysian ladies who tried the black henna discovered that it's not suitable for our skin. It gives a burning sensation, somehow.

K.Jas, Faridah and K.Husna...

In the picture above, you could see the servant girl in the background. She's quite fair because she's not a Sudanese. If I'm not mistaken she came from Euthopia or another neighboring country.