Two nights ago we attended a lecture about Darfur at the British Council. It was a thinly vialed plea for money from a local NGO. Very boring. We didn't stay long.

Woke up very late yesterday. We are both feeling the effects of the time change (it usually hits about a week into the trip). Many of the local SVP volunteers and some friends came over last night. The apartment was packed. We ended up getting a bowl of Ful, smoking the Sheesha (hookah), and going for milk. The milk is like melted ice cream. Packed with sugar, like everything here. It is served from a small, nondescript window which doesn't open until about 11:00 pm. Keep in mind that alcohol is illegal here, so people find other things to drink at night.

When people come over, they often end up staying the night, because the buses stop running before midnight. So the people who were here yesterday were also here today. Fridays are the religious day of rest in Sudan, so today was like the weekend. We hung out most of the day, then went to watch the Sufi dancing just before sunset. It is one of the main attractions in Khartoum, but it was quite boring. The Sufis mostly just played drums, chanted and stood around. When the drum beat got going very fast, a few of them danced. But it was lame.

We found out that we are being placed in Al Obied, the capital of the Kordofan state. It is located almost directly in the center of the country and it is a large city, like Khartoum, but not as big or crowded. We are very excited to head out there and start teaching. The city is an 8 hour bus ride from here; we are suppose to leave on Sunday (En Sharlot).