Recently, I made updates to my 'unauthorized/unofficial' packing list. I suspect I am an unofficial 'Dorm-mother' out here. I'm also a writing-happy former girl-scout who is very keen on 'preparedness.' The result is everyone asks for my packing list and advice.
This is my personal recommendation list. It has evolved over time as people kept asking me questions and/or looking lost upon arrival. It is also a reaction to some of the relatively limited guidance I received when deploying, particularly with regard to cultural concerns for women. As a woman living in Darfur the last 8+ months, I have seen people arrive with wildly different expectations and/or need intense reassurance about what to expect. I realize what follows is, as a co-worker put it, 'longer than War and Peace'. On the other hand, between the questions I've received from nervous women about burkhas and the endless litany of "I wish I had packed x" from newbies, I figured I might as well develop the most exhaustive document I could. Enjoy!
General Info
Time Zones - In winter with daylight savings, the time difference put Darfur 8 hours ahead of EST. In summer it is seven hours.
Voltage is 220 – and the outlets come in various shapes and sizes – usually two round prongs or British style three large prongs. Power strips that accept American-style plugs are reasonably common. An outlet adaptor is a good idea though. If you have any non-220v items, you will need a voltage converter. I recommend TravelSmith.com to find some. My Brookstone converter melted at 4 months.
Local phone SIM cards are available for purchase in Sudan. The best carrier is Areeba/MTN (same thing). That said, the top-up card process can be annoying, so if you can find a reasonable carrier before hitting Sudan, it may be worth it. I have heard Sprint is good. Most people are also issued a company phone on the MobiTel network. Personal calls can be made on this phone, with finance sending you bill. Much of the time, the MobiTel network can be down though.
Skype and similar services are not allowed because bandwidth is at a premium.
Friday is the day off. In Khartoum, Saturday is also a day off.
Rainy season starts around July and ends around September. It varies a bit, and it does not cool temperatures. Most of the year temperatures are in the 90s-100s and higher. Winter is very short. In January and December, it can get cold in the mornings and you may need a light jacket. I used a big wool sweater. Usually by mid-day it gets very pleasant in winter.
Prices are often not as low as people expect. This is particularly true of Darfur. Because it is a desert, most goods have to be imported. Also, the influx of foreigners is creating inflation.
I know of no reliable, reasonably priced way to get mail to Darfur. Most people ask friends to bring them stuff from leave. If you pass through the DC office, and have space, carrying mail for someone is hugely appreciated.
Traveling to Sudan
Sudan switched from dinars to Sudanese pounds not long ago. The conversion was 100 dinars = 1 pound. If anyone quotes you a price that does not make sense, knock off two zeros, hand them the money and then see what they do. For example, many beggars may ask for ‘100’ when they really mean one pound. The exchange rate is 2 pounds = 1 dollar.
Lock your luggage. Personally, I bought two large plastic military-style lockers on wheels from “The Container Store” and added large padlocks. You can get through TSA with big locks on if you explain the situation and stay present while they screen. Heathrow may cut locks though.
Do not let anyone take or carry your baggage unless you are sure they work for you org. This is particularly true for women, who are often scared and end up paying someone off when they do not have to. Tell whoever to get lost and take back your cart. Also if anyone upon arrival in Khartoum asks to search your bags tell them who you work with and whether your organization has an exemption in terms of searches. If you work with my company: upon arrival, collect your baggage and immediate outside the terminal someone will be there to meet you.
My company specific: Confirm with your supervisor that you will get paid a cash per diem in field (this is true for normal field-employees, but not necessarily true for sub-contractors or temporary duty rotations). If so, you will be offered the opportunity to get a per diem advance of $500 on arrival. Only you can gauge how much money you want to bring, but it can take a couple of days to get a per diem advance sorted out. Also, little things add up. The average cafeteria meal ranges from $3-9 each depending on what you buy. You may also have the cost of meals in Khartoum.
Make sure you have some snack bars handy. Multiple trips I was unable to arrange to get meals on time. You may also have to get on another flight almost immediately.
The Ammarat house in Khartoum is also is near a good grocery store. Get someone to take you there, as you can stock up on anything you forgot. It can, however, feel like a youth hostel when crowded. Do not expect much privacy until you get to your final destination. Keep your towel, and a pillowcase handy. For whatever reason on more than two occasions these were not issued, and you don’t want to deal with this when jet lagged. I am told one of the Nairobi houses is even more austere, a sheet, pillowcase, and towel should definitely be in easy access. You may also wish to have flip-flops/shower-shoes handy at either place. Germ-phobes may find that one of those 'sleeping bag liners' takes up little space and is a good way to ensure you have sheets and pillow case. They sell them at REI. Flip-flops being handy also helps. Keep your mosquito spray handy and wear covering clothes -- there are mosquitos in Khartoum.
Serious internet users may want to see about buying a wireless card in Khartoum for use in Darfur. Service is supposedly about $90 a month (I don’t have exact details); worth it for those who wish to use skype, download media etc. The Khartoum staff should be able to point you in the right direction.
Upon arrival in El Fasher
Have at least 3 passport sized photos handy in order to get your driver's license. I recommend getting a bunch prior to departing home. All vehicles are stick-shift btw.
You will be asked for copies of various documents. Make sure you have several copies of your passport. I *highly* recommend scanning a copy of every document that has been given you or that you have returned to your employer, along with any other personal documents to a thumb or flash drive. If there is a problem with pay, for example, you do not want to be without a copy of the form you submitted.
Ask someone to print you a copy of the contact list and show you how to find the mission-wide SOPs (either paper copies or shared drive). These SOPs are incredibly useful guides to every aspect of daily life, yet mysteriously most people never hear about them until they have learned the hard way.
Please do not consider the following as medical advice, merely anecdotal experience. Many people find themselves feeling ‘off’ for the first week or more. One common cause for this is that the dry heat results in more hydration and salt-loss than expected. Further, local food is not heavily salted/processed. Assuming no medical condition prevents this, many people find adding some extra salt to their food and drinking Gatorade in addition to consuming extra water helps. The salt-loss can be a particular issue since some people may not be able to hydrate properly if their body salt is low. Remember, you can sweat salt, and in this arid climate you may be sweating a lot more than you realize due to rapid evaporation. This also jibes with my experience as training for a summer marathon in the US and information I received during that training. Again, no substitute for talking to a qualified medical professional. I also strongly prefer to drink only bottled water or the water in the cafeteria chillers. I am very suspicious of the office water-cooler -- mostly because I have heard it has high disolved solids (mostly calcium) which I suspect give me heartburn.
I do recommend washing your hands a lot. Most people seem to get a cold or mild stomach problem shortly after arrival. Washing hands is a great way to prevent it. Or hand-sanitizer or wipes.
Conditions in Darfur
Housing -- only applicable to people I work with
Depending on the availability of housing, you may be asked to share a tent with one or more roommates. Ultimately, each person should get their own accommodation, but this is not always immediately possible. ‘Dorm style’ rooms are also available made from either pre-fab units and/or local plastered brick & mortar. Furnishings in either style of housing are usually a desk, single bed, locker of some sort, nightstand and a lamp. Storage may be minimal, basic, poorly designed. No mirrors in the rooms (only bathrooms) but you can buy some small mirrors locally. All housing has Air Conditioning. There is no housekeeping service.
No one has a personal bathroom. Durable flip flops and/or a shower basket to carry your stuff can come in handy. Large towel and/or terry cloth robe is useful. Towels bigger than a washcloth are virtually impossible to find in Darfur and indeed much of Sudan.
A mosquito net can be very handy during the rainy season. I highly recommend getting one prior to arrival, as they can be hard to obtain when demand is high.
There are no fitted sheets. You may wish to bring 1-2 fitted sheets for your single bed. You are issued flat sheets, pillow cases, and blankets.
Pillows are extremely thin. Generally you have to request about three to get the equivalent of a US pillow, and you may not get 3 if there is a shortage.
Food
Our Cafeteria food in El Fasher and Nyala (two main hubs) is good and relatively inexpensive (between $3-9 depending on what you get). No pork. Food in our outlying sites can be unbelievably bad even compared with the worst military food. Darfur has very few choices in fresh fruit or vegetables and low quality meat. If you think you will go to an outlying site, pack vitamins and extra food accordingly. Post a comment and I am happy to go into more detail if needed. Outside El Fasher and Nyala, sites are very austere.
I recommend bringing a box or two of energy or breakfast bars or jerky (partly for go-bag) and any ‘comfort’ foods that might not be found in Sudan (e.g. popcorn, mac and cheese, your favorite bar of chocolate). Strangely, salty & savory snack such as chips, jerky or pretzels are hard to find. A large bag of hard candy or throat lozenges can be very useful when during the dry season. Local candy can be unpleasant. Gatorade or similar electrolyte drink mixes can also be useful. Re-hydration salts are only useful if you can actually bring yourself to drink them. Most people I know find them unbelievably foul.
Real coffee grinds and beans are intermittently available. Coffee makers, filters, grinders are basically impossible to find or very expensive – so if you must use real coffee, bring your own implements; the best option is to bring a french press since it can be used with wide variety of grinds and turkish coffee. Most people drink instant coffee (Nescafe or fake cappuncino). Stale Lipton tea is the norm, but you can obtain better quality tea from some sources in El Fasher and Khartoum. Electric kettles are common everywhere.
You will find cokes, sprites, assorted cheap chocolates and sugary junk food at all but the most remote sites.
CULTURAL INFORMATION & SENSITIVITY
Clothing Concerns: Sudan has a very modest culture, where the minimum norm is for legs, torso, and upper arms to be covered for both men and women. The majority of people tend to wear loose garments so that only their hands, feet and faces (women) or heads (men) are exposed.
Sudanese culture does not require non-muslim men and women to cover their hair, or wear specific garments, and in fact some Sudanese mildly object to non-muslim women covering their heads. There are also no color requirements (i.e. women do not, for example, have to wear black). Sudanese clothing is very colorful for women.
Sudanese people are usually very polite and tolerant of foreigners. That said, extremely tight, low-cut and/or revealing clothing can make locals uncomfortable. Unfortunately, a Sudanese person may be too polite or shy to tell you to your face that you are not properly covered up (even when directly asked by you). This is a real scenario that has happened. If you wonder if your host is uncomfortable, err on the safe side. Also, in worst case scenarios, indecency can result in complaints filed with the police. A young woman I work with, who tends to wear very tight clothes, was downtown with one of our local employees. She thought she was fine, until our local employee (Little Mohamed) told her that some of the men nearby were having a speculative conversation about whether or not they should throw rocks at her. Little Mohamed is very comfortable & familiar with western culture, our company etc (we actually want him to apply to US schools as he would probably do well socially). I do not know if any other local would be quite so straight-forward in a similar situation. The point of this story is if you don't speak arabic you may think someone is just talking to their uncle about the weather, and you may never know there's a problem until the first stone is thrown. I don't know anyone who has had a stone thrown at them (although a friend in Morocco had pebbles thrown at her in more rural areas). I do know someone who said that some villages in southern Sudan had protests over the 'indecent' dress of a few western women.
For both genders (ASSUMING YOU WORK IN A COMPOUND) the minimum/normal daily standard can easily be met by wearing ankle-length pants or skirt and a T-shirt. Many of the vehicles may require climbing in and out. Clothing should preferably not expose anything if you have to bend down, climb up, or twist etc. Capri-pants can be worn in some situations if they are loose.
I cannot speak for workers out in the community, but would advise better safe than sorry. I recommend western clothing that meets the dress requirement as nothing will make you more home-sick that to feel uncomfortable in your own clothes -- assuming you are not used to
wearing 'traditional' clothes.
A few notes on my recommended shopping places: http://www.fabindia.com/ -- the clothes run small and shorter than expected (or at least for me, I'm 5ft 9inches); their colors can also run at first. Chico's is surprisingly helpful for women trying to find culturally sensitive gear, since much of their clothing is looser in cut and very modest. For some reason, the Gap seems to have stuff that holds up GREAT out here, and a good selection of light-weight clothes, with modest options, plus their tall sizes are super helpful for us tall girls who do not want to flash midriff etc.
I wear Gap clothes 90% of the time (button down long-sleeve and khakis), 8% I wear Chicos (slightly more modest), when going to a situation where I want to be the most modest I wear one of my tops from FabIndia
Here is an example of the maximum standard non-muslim people could opt to wear if they really wanted to be very conservative (i.e. a rare special event with a special local guest):
For men: a loose long-sleeve shirt (un-tucked) and trousers. The shirt should cover your butt, it doesn't need to be super long though. FabIndia.com has long tops. I hear the pants are a bit strange for westerners.
For women: ankle-length long-sleeve dress,
OR
Ankle-length skirt & long sleeve top, FabIndia.com has long skirts. Gap is good for long sleeve button downs
OR
Tunic top that hits mid-thigh or preferably lower over loose trousers (this ensemble is sometimes called Punjab pajamas or lounge/resort pajamas). I bought mini-kurtas from FabIndia (the polka dot ones are the best), some tunic tops and baggy pants from Chico's. Don't wear traditional indian pants unless you're sure you can be comfortable in them. A dress over pants also works well. FYI -- the 'short kurtas' were too short for me and only hit mid-hip.
However – this level of covering is never required for foreigners to my knowledge. I mention because many women ask me what the maximum might be in an extreme situation. Western resort-wear stores like Chico’s sell many things (tunic-tops, loose pants, long-skirts etc) that incredibly appropriate while still familiar to western women. So, do not buy a burka or similar unless you like wearing them! Half the high-fashion wealthier Darfurian women wear long-sleeve button-down office shirts over peasant skirts, and/or a funky dress over pants -- with a scarf thrown on top. The most fashion forward women in Khartoum seem to wear a long sleeve t-shirt, jeans, and then a short dress with short sleeves thrown on top -- but I could never do that in the heat.
You can, of course, buy clothes in Darfur, BUT Darfurians are predominantly very skinny and non-curvy, and the selection of clothes may be disappointing (ugly, itchy, weird by western standards etc). I have a top that I bought with my wheelbarrow kid, and while it is nice, I have to roll up the sleeves to hide the fact that they are strangely ABBA with jagged edges. The hem also has a jagged edge, and there is a plethora of florid embroidery combined with a peter pan collar. I'll post a picture sometime. Essentially, it may not give off the 'professional' vibe you may want and/or it may just feel weird.
Regardless of gender, expect to be stared at during your first few trips to market. It is usually more a function of the fact that newcomers are unusual and it takes a while before people get used to the sight of new people. Personally, I find wearing more covering at Market (usually tunic top and pants) gets me a little friendlier service, slightly fewer stares, and makes me less self-conscious, but plenty of people go in a T-shirt and jeans. I will say the one time I wore a long t-shirt and pants, was the one time I ever had anyone act agressive/harrass me (a kid tried to steal my ID off my belt in a very "I'm-a-16-year-old-punk-and-I-like-messing-with-foreigners" way).
On a non-work day (day-off) or after hours, tank tops and knee-length shorts can be worn within the compound (preferably not at the same time), although a lot of care should be taken to avoid local nationals and/or the gates.
For women: There is no need to adopt items of dress such as robes, burka, headscarf or similar. Again, hair covering is not required. Neither are skirts required. I have worn pants 99% of the time in Darfur as I prefer them (my ankles get too dirty).
For men: Clothing is a serious issue for both genders. Showing up (even on the construction site) without a shirt, or in shorts or some combination thereof has led to locals filing formal complaints to the Sudanese police and/or can be held as one of many small ‘grudges’ against your presence. You may know/think your workers are ok with it, but you might be surprised.
Cultural Concerns – Customs
- Don’t point fingers at locals, particularly face to face. This can be seen as aggressive and insulting – i.e. picking a fight.
- Making a gesture with thumb and fingers together pointing up (akin to the gesture made in The Godfather) is saying ‘be patient/calm down’ etc.
- Someone snapping their fingers at you is trying to get your attention. This is not considered rude.
- Men should be careful when dealing with local women they do not know. Do not shake hands unless the woman offers first.
- Touching between men and women is virtually never seen in public, and should be avoided even by two non-Sudanese. Further, the behavior of non-Sudanese people is frequently closely observed. A Western man acting familiar to a Western woman (or indeed any woman) – such as a hand on the back etc, tends to be reflected on the woman. I had a co-worker who was TERRIBLE about this. We would be downtown and he would put his hand on my elbow or lower back or whatever, and I would get these very speculative looks from the local men. I had to continually remind him. For better or worse, these things DO have an impact on the way women are treated and seen by the locals.
- Same-sex hand-holding is a common sign of friendship (yes, males holding hands).
- People calling you sister, daughter, brother, father, son etc – it’s all a sign of respect, familiar affection, and/or sometimes the equivalent of calling someone Ms. or Mr.
- If you are invited somewhere, your host may feel too polite to tell you ‘no’ on any issue, particularly with regard to questions such as “Am I properly dressed?”, “Is the milk/other food item safe to eat? (And for the record, what is safe for your host may make you violently ill)”, and “Is it time to go?” to name a few. In any situation, you are better off working very hard to be polite, safe and/or gracious.
- If a Sudanese person, even a laborer making $7 a day, invites you to a meal etc, you will find it nearly impossible to ‘chip in’ for any portion. A better tactic is to bring them a gift equivalent in value, invite them to & pay for the next meal, or cook them a meal.
- If you know a Sudanese person very well, the equivalent of a hug is to shake hands and pat them on the shoulder with your other hand at the same time.
If you learn other tips, please pass them on.
WHAT TO PACK . . . .
In my opinion, my company's packing list is seriously outdated from back in the early days of the Darfur conflict. Take it with a grain of salt. Don't rush out to buy all new clothes. Your favorite pair of jeans may be the thing that stops you from losing your mind one day. The new fancy clothes you bought may not wash well (I recommend washing and pre-shrinking EVERYTHING that you buy new).
DO bring a good back-pack or similar, ideally with many pouches to hold your cell phone and a large radio. You may additionally wish to bring a good laptop bag/briefcase, as company-issue laptop bags do not hold much.
DON’T go nuts on the toothpaste, toothbrushes and other toiletries– you can buy some of it in Khartoum, El Fasher and Nyala. One guy told me he was still using toothbrushes he brought when he first came here 3 years ago, based on the old packing guidance. Think about your normal life and then remember a few odds and ends are harder to get. That said, sunblock and chapstick that contains sunblock are a bit harder to find, dental floss unknown. Also some people do find eczema and dry skin can be worse here. Except for your go-bag (and assuming your employer/organization has good support), you are not packing for survival-school. Bring things that will help you fight stress, home-sickness, and boredom during your time off. Also your go bag should be light.
DON’T go crazy buying over the counter medicines and first aid kits. You really only need something small for your go bag. For us, each site has a medic. The stuff the medics have for stomach ailments is, in my opinion, better than anything you can get in the U.S. The medics are fully stocked. That said, you do want to bring anything you might be miserable without. I learned the hard-way that nothing works as well as NyQuil for me, and I was miserable without it. Similarly Advil, aspirin, Tums etc anything you use regularly is good to bring.
On clothing: Some people like these ‘technical’ fabrics, but the laundry here can be very inconsistent and I have found they tend to get damaged. Sometimes you can only get hot water. Also, if we hit serious water rationing, natural fibers tend to smell less if you can’t wash things very regularly. Depending on where you are, laundry will either be done by locals (with inconsistent results) or you will wind up doing it yourself. Almost every one of our sites has modern washing machines and most have dryers or clotheslines. Any white clothing will slowly turn brown.
Dress ranges from very casual (jeans or cargo-pants and tees) to business casual at best (polo or collared-shirts with khakis or similar -- some women are a bit more fancy in terms of nice blouses, linen pantsuits). Cowboy boots or high heels are a recipe for a sprained ankle. Sand can be very loose, flat shoes and/or boots are recommended. All clothing should be geared for extremely hot environments. Sand here can be as fine as powder, so shoes (particularly running shoes) with large mesh vents or holes can get annoying for some people. I LOVE my elastic keds. They look like something my grandmother would wear, but they breathe and do not track sand into my room. I have another friend who loves converse sneakers for the same reason. Personally canvas shoes seem to work best for me.
Pick-pocketing is slowly becoming an issue in Darfur, mostly among children. Cargo-pants or a waist pack to the front can provide better security than a purse or back-pack.
I do recommend at least 1-2 lightweight long sleeve shirts and a sweatshirt or light jacket. It can get surprisingly cold in mornings and evenings. The long-sleeve shirts are also good protection against insects. We don’t get many bugs during the dry season, but I find wearing long shirts and pants and staying indoors at twilight is half the battle; bug-spray doesn’t always work for me (and I have tried high DEET concentrations). Longer-top socks are also good for keeping the bugs off. During the rainy season, calf-deep mud has been known to occur. Some people bring rubber boots, but just remember it will be hot.
You may also want to bring a mesh laundry bag or zippered delicates bag to prevent the locals losing things.
Anti-malarials: I don't take them in the dry season (see notes about covering up and being indoors during dusk and dawn). Keeping the A/C on in your room also helps keep bugs out. I do not advocate that other people take any course of action; do not take this as a recommendation. Malaria is a serious disease. For informational purposes only, here's why I do not take them: I was given Doxy-cycline. I have acid-reflux, and Doxy even with food chewed up my stomach badly. I also got a very bad rash, which we think was the Doxy making me more sensitive to a bugspray/sunblock combo I tried. I took Mefloquine for while, and it worked ok, but was hard to obtain out here. I am told Malarone is the best, but it's expensive and hard to get. Doxy is apparently also good in that it stops lots of other diseases/parasites. Again, it was a personal choice of mine and I do take the meds in certain situations. I also make a point of wearing bug spray and covering up in Khartoum which has more mosquitos.
MISCELLANEOUS
Random very useful things:
A box of wet wipes. Keep handy for arrival.
Hand sanitizer that you can clip on your belt (5 continents including up the amazon and this is the first time I ever had a stomach bug).
Bandana or scarf (cover mouth etc again sandstorms, wipe sweat).
Thermos, travel mug, or water-bottle with lid (sand and insect prevention).
Coat hangers. They are not issued and hard to find.
A few cheap plastic baskets or similar to organize junk (prevent ‘living out of a suitcase’ feel).
Large padlock in addition to whatever you are using on your luggage. This is useful if your door lock breaks (common when sand gets into things).
Any office supplies you could not live without. In particular, both local staples and staplers are absolute garbage and the source of much cursing. Other items such as large post-its can be subject to strange shortages.
Dryer sheets – There are many uses. Static can get pretty bad during sandstorms etc. These also double as extra filters on A/C units – and you need all the air filtering you can get. Remind me and I can post a picture.
String – laundry line and for holding up your mosquito net
Duct tape – nearly impossible to find
A few stick-on hooks (if you anticipate being in hard-walled accommodation).
A rubber stopper thing for sinks (commonly sold in travel laundry kits). Very helpful when you need an emergency wash of clothes.
Postcards of home or small souvenirs. People from other countries are curious about your life and/or may find that tourist key-chain or magnet to be a great gift.
PERSONAL GROOMING
Hair: Don’t bother bringing a blow-dryer or anything with a heating element unless it can take 220v; it will blow up. The water is very hard, so personally I rarely feel as clean as a US shower. You may wish to pack shampoo and soap accordingly. Getting a hair cut means one of two options: DIY in some fashion (scissors or clippers, and good scissors might be worth bringing), or trusting a local (men-only) barber. For men: the barbers are a mixed bag. I have seen haircuts done with a razor blade and a comb (1930's style). Most good barbers will open the razor packaging in front of you, but I personally would not be comfortable with any of it. Get a friend to give you a buzz-cut. There are absolutely NO hair pins, head-bands, hair elastics to be found in Darfur – people with long hair beware.
Beauty Parlors and Hair Removal: Many men & women bring electric shavers due to the fact that water temperature & usage may be an issue. Women who are keen on hair removal may wish to bring a home waxing kit, since the military-style shower is not always good for shaving your legs. I'm not a very 'girly-girl' but I will admit that trying to shave your legs during water rationing IS miserable. Waxing it off can just make you feel like a civilized person and exfoliate that layer of filthy dry skin. Do NOT, as a co-worker of mine famously did, go to local beauty parlors for chemical hair removal. Chemical burns are not nice. If I were ever to go to a local beauty parlor (assuming I knew where one was), I would opt for sugaring or wax after inspecting the cleanliness of the place. Sugaring & waxing are widely done in the US and pretty hard to screw up. Similarly, theoretically there is henna dye available here, but do you want to trust an unknown concoction on your body? If you can't live without your hair dye -- bring it with you. Do not allow any implements or chemicals of questionable cleanliness to be used on your body. You wouldn't allow a doctor to do it, don't let a barber.
But seriously? My advice with regard to your appearance: do it yourself, get a trusted friend, or learn to live with whatever it is. And whatever you do --if you MUST spend 2-3 hours a day on your appearance, please spare the rest of us your complaints and you may wish to not discuss it. 1 minute of "gee I wish I had a hair dryer" is normal and ok -- 20 minutes of "I can't get my nails done and I can't buy eyeliner" is NOT. Most of us have been having to live with this for some time. At one point I cut my own hair by holding a mirror up. Further, women are the minority here, and there are many people from countries with lower-maintenance standards of appearance. Do you really want to be the high-maintenance 'rich-American' woman?
Exfoliation: it's a good thing. TMI - On my last vacation, I took a long bath and scrubbed with a washcloth. I left a GIANT ring around the tub and it's not like I don't shower. I sincerely hope it was just dead dry skin and no dirt, but even then it's not appetizing. If you're out here for a while, a loofah, scrub brush or similar is not a bad idea. If you're a pro-fingernails person or work with your hands a lot, bring a nailbrush. I hate dirty fingernails and keep mine as short as possible, but even then they're still disgusting . . . .
Personal grooming products: you can get many items in El Fasher such as reasonable brands of soap, cocoa butter moisturizer etc. Again no guarantees as to what is on offer, but if you're not picky, you can survive.
ENTERTAINMENT
Books: We have an informal book loan process in our El Fasher compound, so it is a small, mixed bag. Westerns and spy novels are easy to get, anything else is sort of a grab bag. Literature of a 'feminine' angle is virtually unknown. No offense guys, but during my first 4 months, I thought if I had to read another macho spy-thriller or whatever, I would scream.
TV: There is one in the cafeteria. What you watch is subject to the agreement of everyone else present, and it can be noisy in the room. Downloading internet video or picture content is against regulations. Some people buy their own wireless internet card in Khartoum to get around this.
Movies & DVDs: One staff member is running a 'movie night' on his own. Most people bring DVDs and/or portable hard-drives with movies and music. Audio speakers can be a good idea. Right now we are unable to throw parties because no one has decent speakers, and believe me the parties are really fun when people all are sharing music from their various cultures etc.
Exercise: Until the El Fasher gym renovation is finished, it can be very hard to get any exercise. There is a bow-flex and a few weights, but no much. There is a treadmill at the main residence. Some people are organizing a jogging club to jog around the stadium across the street in a safe buddy-system.
Smoking: It is very common among expats here. If you are trying to avoid it, bring gum (local brands may taste funny) or whatever will help you. If you wish to smoke, many well-known brands (Benson & Hedges, Marlboros etc) are available by the carton in El Fasher, but there are no guarantees a specific brand will be in stock, and/or it may taste different. You can smoke the local cigarettes but they may taste drier and harsher than you're used to, and I do wonder what's in them.
If you think of anything that should be added to this guidance, please feel free to let me know.
Read More...
Summary only...
