The weather has changed. Last week it was mostly 43C+ in the daytime, with peaks at 47C, and 39C at 10pm at night. I would wake at night drenched in sweat, and fortunately the bed is so big -- super king size -- that I could roll over to find a dry patch.
Now in the morning there is a cool breeze. Don't even need the noisy air conditioning now. Room temperature is 31 - 31C.
The house wireless internet is working now, and its only 500kbps. We also just got an alternative mobile internet dongle with the top package from "Zain". They sell it as 7mbps, but that is a joke, as it mostly that runs at 500kbps, and only once I saw it reach 1mbps. Its slow, but it is double the speed of the dongle from "Sudani / Sudatel". Sudan is at the end of the line, there is a single cable running under the Red Sea from the gulf, so everyone has 500mbps. But its enough to get by.
I can't get a multiple entry visa. Each time I leave the country, I'll need a new visa to get back in. The 1 month tourist visa costs US$100 plus £30 for a 'letter' from British Embassy, plus the hassle of filling in forms and standing in line and it might take 24 hours each time. Then each month I have to buy visa extensions, USD$75 per month. I can stay up to three months that way, then you can stay a fourth month by paying a daily fine of £1.25 per day, prepaid, for overstaying. Each of these transactions means a hassle, a taxi ride, a visit to immigration. Sudan has the most expensive visas in the world. Visitors are not welcome.
But then the UK residency cost £900, and citizenship a further £900, that ain't cheap either.
So far the upcoming election hasn't been publicized and many Sudanese people haven't heard about it. Others are skeptical, they think its just theatre. And some will vote for the incumbent purely on the basis of 'better the devil you know' - at least for the rich or the comfortable.
The pre-election process seems to be progressing in earnest. Staff are being trained, and are keen. There is a possible shortage of resources, mainly cars and people, and difficulty in communication between local departments and the UN. The process is delayed and maybe the election will be postponed again.
In the last week I have seen:
* The neighbourhood around here, Riyadh area, the back streets are quiet, unpaved bumpy red earth, with trees, the grand houses of the very rich, and embassies.
* An unlikely social space.... There is a new road that leads to nowhere. It looks like an airport road, smooth, straight, with palm trees in the middle. It is near the river, and at night the air is fresh and moist. People park their cars and set up picnics, barbecues, make tea, generally just quietly hang out along the roadside. Some cars us the straight road for drag racing, and occasionally some racers roar past. About 11pm we stopped for a coffee, a man with a tray, with glowing coals to keep the coffee pots warm, little are metal pots with a bulbous bottom and narrow neck, and tiny cups. Sat on the curb I got three mosquito bites on my ankles. Apparently there isn't much malaria here, but there's dengue and west nile fever.
* Bachelor pad of the very rich. Huge glowing HDTV, cinema projector, 7 speaker surround sound, and every luxury. Our hospitable host told how he couldn't bare to stay in Sudan for more than a couple of weeks at a time, he finds it too boring, and spends more time overseas.
* Decent Lebanese food. Restaurant full of men, many foreigners. Good thick hummus, plenty of bread, delicious stuffed vine leaves.
* Mostly I've just seen the inside of the apartment, and this computer screen.
* The UN car park. Hundreds of cars just sitting there unused, and Norma's group have to haggle of who gets to use the pool car. Maybe the cars are knackered. The Nissan Patrol that we had the other day was misbehaving, the horn alarm kept going off, and we had to drive it to the UN compound at 12:30 at night to abandon it there.
* US$1200 cash rent money
Last night we had a mosquito in the bedroom. Woke up itchy, sprayed repellent, then woke up with more bites, took a while to identify it as a mosquito and wake up properly to set up the mosquito net.
!We've booked a holiday diving in the Red Sea in Egypt! In Cairo Norma will see the pyramids and museum I saw already. I will see the Sudanese Embassy Visa Section again.
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