Emily, Matt, Neetha and I are in Wad Medani (a city south-west of Khartoum). We came here yesterday, just to get out of Khartoum for a couple days. The bus was air conditioned and they played a Jacky Chan movie. When we got here, we went to a hotel recommended by the guide book. Bad idea. It was a dirty hallway lined with beds. Next stop was the Nile Hotel. The guy at the desk quoted a price of 5,000 Dinars per night, but we got him down to 3,000. The room is small, but at least it has an air-cooler (not as good as an air conditioner). The bathroom at the end of the hall is a hole in the ground, but that is standard for Sudan.

We walked into the souq and found a restaurant called "The Pizza" for lunch. It was quite good and the owner spoke decent English. We asked him what there was to do here and he gave us a blank look, like that was the strangest question he had ever heard.
We have spent most of our time looking for food, smoking sheesha (hooka) and sleeping. Not much different than in Khartoum, but without classes to teach. The people here are very friendly, but they act like they have never seen white people before. Everywhere we go we get strange looks and people yell their few English phrases (like "Where are you going") at us.