Khartoum is... warm. Very warm indeed, The air has the smell of baked sand, which is probably what is causing the smell in the first place - Seeing as how Khartoum is in the desert and the sun shines straight down year round.
Yesterday - Monday - was my first full day in Sudan, and my first encounter with UN bureaucracy... there is a lot of it. Copies in triplicates, sign on the dotted line, go from office to office, and so on and so forth. Was almost a relief today to have a full day of training instead, even if we didn't finish checking in (we'll do that on Thursday).
Training itself was easy enough: lots of common sense, ground we covered back in Norway and so on. Off course, that don't mean it was boring or uninteresting, far from it. The instructors was very keen and their English was more than understandable. Only trouble was the guys in the back who couldn't keep their trap shut.
Khartoum itself is also quite interesting. If you take away the dust and the heat, it could be any major city in, well, middle east. It is somewhat weird to see shops with signs in English and Arabic... at least I assume it is Arabic - I can't read it. I did spot a billboard for Jotun paints - the largest manufacturer of paint in Norway. Made me sit up and pay attention.
We're currently living in the so called Norwegian House - a big house with room enough for the seven UNMOs that came down, along with the resident admin-officer and two staff officers working the HQ. Only downside? Ten guys, three bathrooms, do the math.
Tomorrow it's more training. I'm looking forward to it.
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