3rd 4Es' 3rd Birthday

Ehsan was born on June 3rd 2005 - it wasn't easy as he put Ckn through hours of labor, only to stop at 7cm dilation, forcing a c-section delivery. Alhamdullilah, all went as planned (except a slight infection on Ckn's stitches). And now, Ehsan is 3 years old!

Our own speed racer - this is the 3rd time blowing out the candles

When we were discussing Erica's besday party last January, we also looked ahead to Ehsan's as well. I had a trip back in February, so I was tasked to look for stuff for their parties. However, the one big dampener for Ehsan's besday was that it was in June; which is the height of summer and when our colleagues (and their children) were mostly away. So, it wasn't possible to organise another big do for Ehsan, like we did for Erica. Since we are planning to go away ourselves (2 weeks and counting!), we decided to have our own little party for Ehsan instead.

Ehsan really liked that cake...or was it the singing and blowing out the candles bit?

Ckn baked a chocolate cake for Ehsan. We couldn't find cooking chocolate for the topping, so Ckn bought some Cadbury bars instead (The side effect was that I enjoyed the cake immensely!). We propped the candles on 3 cute sports cars, and we had a fun time blowing out the candles the moment I came back from work.

My mom joined us on the phone as we were singing Happy Birthday to Ehsan. He behaved well and waited till we finished singing before huffing and puffing!

Ckn prepared a dinner of grilled lamb chops and I promised to help with the roasted potatoes. I even managed to make a sauce from the drippings (but it was crap!). I just digged the cake and I think that spoiled dinner a bit for me! We hope to have another mini party with Mama, Baba and Fyan in the next 2 weeks, and I'm sure Ehsan will enjoy his trip to the toy store then! I know I would... Happy Birthday, son!

Sea Monstar!

Look Mama - No Baba!

Ehsan's 3 years old yesterday - but more on that later.... Anyway, just to register that Ehsan is now a good swimmer; I can just leave him in the big pool now, and he'll merrily swim left and right, and float backwards to expose his feet. Not a great swimmer just yet (my definition of great is no Floaties and he can canon ball into the pool) but he is definitely getting there. We try to go for a dip every Friday evening or Saturday morning, and the weather currently is just nice for it - but we wouldn't last more than an hour in the hot sun. Pity Ckn who is the standby 'lifeguard'; she has to survive the heat blast!

The other good news is that Erica is also an avid swimmer - she can't do a lot, but she enjoys the water and splashes around, much to Ehsan's delight. We also have video proof of the elusive Ehsan and Ezalman swimming duo, courtesy of Ckn and her Pana:

Washing instructions (for those Stubborn ones)

Step 1
Collect stubborn ones. The timing is entirely up to you, but it is suggested that the following times are most ideal:

• After they have been playing non-stop for 2 hours
• After they have 'going to the toilet', but not at the toilet
• After your domicile acquires a 'comforting' smell and you can deduce that such smells come from the stubborn ones

Be careful; they may be strewn about in the house, or in corners where you would least likely to find them. Also, they may bite.

Step 2
For more stubborn ones, you must firstly give them a good soak. To do so, place a stubborn one into a pail half filled with water (for optimal results, please use warm water. cold water may cause shriveling). Clothing is optional.

Then, proceed to squeeze some soap into the pail and stubborn ones. Not too much as they have a side effect - they make the stubborn ones smell nice. See Illus. 1

Illus. 1 . The stubborn one must be carefully placed, in order to avoid yourself being splashed when soaking them. Please note the aforementioned biting (teeth)

Step 3
You may then proceed with the hand washing. Start at the top and work yourself downwards to the bottom. Otherwise, just start anywhere convenient to you as the stubborn ones are not known to stay dormant during this critical phase. You may find yourself occasionally losing the stubborn ones, as they have a habit of sliding everywhere and hiding. Please refer to step 1 on how to re-locate them in such circumstances.

Step 4
If you are satisfied with the hand wash results, you can then rinse the stubborn ones. Be sure to check all areas for leftover soap or suds. Also, it is best to make sure that there is no more 'leaking' from the stubborn ones, lest you find yourself feeling warm from said leaking when you carry them back from the washing.

Step 5
If you are NOT satisfied with the hand wash, you may then proceed to bring the stubborn ones into your top-loading washing machine. Top loaders are better, compared to front loaders, as they are easy to operate and the stubborn ones can be easily fit in it with the minimum of fuss. Washing instructions are the same as before, except for Step 3 as all the washing up is done by machine.

Just be sure to set the machine to 'super wash', 'hyper rinse' and 'spin to dry' functions to complete the wash. See Illus. 2

Illus. 2. This illustration shows the stubborn ones in the top-loader. Please ensure that the cover is completely closed, or risk losing the stubborn one. Again, please note the biting teeth.

Step 6
Repeat. Please note : YOUR RESULTS WILL VARY

Mirai - A New Day (and the cool shows Ehsan Watches)

I think a lot of my loyal readers (Thanks Sayang, and myself...I'm sure there are a few more!) are getting tired with my tinkering with the my template. Well I've found the perfect one! It's highly customisable, and links nicely with Blogger so it makes my job of editing (or changing the elements within the template easier!). Thanks to ourblogtemplates.com! (link's at the bottom)

Now to a more serious topic. They say that our children become their parents, but in some aspects, there are loopholes that cause the parent to become their children. Case in point ; TV shows for the young...

When Ehsan was with Ckn in Malaysia last year, he enjoyed the Astro Ria channel, in particular 2 shows : Tom Tom Bak (Whatever that is) and ... Ultraman Ace (I think...). Of course, we don't get that channel on Showtime, so Ehsan can't get his daily fix on these two shows. I did the next best thing - and it involves the internet, and a software protocol made by the kind people at bittorrent (and utorrent). But where were we to get a regular supply of the 'good stuff'? Well, I managed to find a nice website called Fushigi-Chan Fansubs.

Ultraman Mebius (Brave) - upon combining his powers with Ultraman Hikari's Knight Brace in episode 18 where th... **groan** don't ask...

This cool website, based in Japan, provides 1) english subtitles to the most recent kid friendly Ultraman Mebius (Japanisation of the Mobius strip?) show, 2) torrent links to the TV show...28 episodes and counting (including one movie. The show has 50 episodes). Well, at first I downloaded just the odd 1 or 2 episodes, to keep the little tyke quiet, mind, but over time he got bored watching the same old monster getting the crap beaten out of him, so I was 'forced' to procure more...so much so, that said father (i.e. me) started to enjoy the show... The stories are actually really good, and the translators did a great job in capturing the humor. Nowadays, I can't wait for new episodes to be released by the Fushigi-Chan team, while Ehsan has moved on.(Yes, I have all 28 episodes and the movie in my Media Center). Mirai is the hero's name, and it does mean A New Day according to the subs...

'WAITTOORR'

Moving on to the second show that tickle's Ehsan (and my) fancy is a little known cartoon called Spongebob Squarepants. Now, I've heard of this cartoon for years; my friend Arman keeps praising it. But it's not until Ehsan caught it on Nikelodeon that I also started watching it. Let's just say that I enjoy - REALLY enjoy - their brand of 'comedy'. Which is absurd and hilarious, but cute in a way. We (father and son) don't bother with the regular TV episodes..we just watch the excellent Spongebob Movie. The best bits for me were 1) when Spongbob and Patrick get smashed on the Goofy Goober sundae and shouts 'WAITTOORR' 2) The Hasselhoff - like I said...hilarious.

Going Hero... Ooohh Maan!

Finally, we come to the creme-de-la-creme...of Ben 10... Oh Cartoon Network, you really hit me here! Ben 10 is a cool cartoon where the young hero, Ben Tenesson (or something) finds an alien watch called the Omnitrix (don't worry - Ehsan has his own. thanks to Ebay Malaysia) which allows Ben to convert to various Aliens like DiamondHead, Speedfreak, Grey Matter, Heat Blast, Four Arms (God Stop me!!) - and he saves the day. (p.s. check out the website - it's got tons of cool games!)

And the best part of all this? Erica's started to have the same interests too!! so I'll enjoy watching all the past episodes of Ultraman Mebius and Ben 10 all over again...

Baba - look ... Star Star!!

Found this Japanese website that turns your pics into really cool turn-of 19th century pics!

The morning started normally. I left the room when Ehsan pointed excitedly to the back of my Nike T-Shirt, and shouted ' Star Star!!' . I knew my T-Shirt had a shoe print motif on the back and as I was still half asleep, I just shrugged and smiled at him and said 'yes, baju baba ada Star!!'. Ehsan gave me an 'okaayyy' look and moved on.

I prepared banana pancakes for breakfast, and then sat down with Ckn to tuck in. Meanwhile, our lil pear saw us sitting down, and ambled towards us. Erica is now in the habit of playing peek-a-boo behind my chair when I'm at the dining table, but this time it was a little different.

She snuck round me and proceeded to pick off something from my T-shirt - lo and behold, it was Ehsan's 'Star' - in fact, it was a honey Star cereal piece stuck to my T-Shirt. Erica, being the darling that she is, non-chalantly picked up the Star and proceeded to munch on it, much to our disgust! ... well we didn't stop her anyway...!

Ahh, what a story to jump start my blogging episode once more!!

Blood Sucking Technician

We have had quite a few experiences with the medical facilities here in Sudan; it's been a year since Ehsan was admitted to hospital (...in an unblogged part of our story!), and we've paid a few visits to Dr Amanda Tadross, our paed, who has a clinic next door to the US Embassy in Khartoum.

What everyone experiences (most, if not, all the time) is that if you are sick and walk into a medical establishment in the city, the very first thing they will subject you to is a blood test. They love to look for 'parasites'; namely for Malaria and other mosquito borne diseases, in addition to the regular bacterial and viral infections. A Tip : I do not like me or members of my family to be pricked, so we do our best _not_ to get tested!

Well, the technician at Dr Amanda's clinic still uses his tried and tested (!) method of blood extraction. He uses a special glass and plastic tool (straw?) to _suck_ the blood. No disposable syringes here, friends - just a prick on a finger, a squeeze and controlled sucking (child crying optional). You can see the tech-dude with the apparatus in his mouth, in the pic above.

You can simulate this at home; use a straw to suck some juice then place your tongue over the straw opening (the juice will be suspended in the straw by the vacuum), then move the straw into another glass, move your tongue away, and let gravity take its course. Finally, celebrate how cool that would have been with OTHER PEOPLE'S BLOOD...

But don't fret as the hospitals I have been to uses disposable syringes - but then there's the problem of finding a vein - I'll leave that story for another day!

The Adventures of Sharkboy and Dugongman

I had to work last Saturday - it was a long day and I was really tired. On the way back, Ckn asked me if I could bring Ehsan out for a swim. We were supposed to go the day before, but we had guests over for dinner, but we were tied up with something, and Ehsan was sleeping in the afternoon anyway.

Reaching home, and after a 15 minute breather, we left for the pool (it would be another 15 minute drive back to where I just came, as the pool is in the hotel, next to the office). Just me and my son; mano-e-mano! I can tell he was really excited and well prepared - he brought along his backpack (with Spiderman and his handy-dandy notebook stowed away...) and he had his bright green slippers. I asked Ckn to pack his brand new Floaties too (best to test them!)

Arriving at the hotel, and before you can finish saying 'swimming pool' (34 times), Ehsan was out of his clothes and in his trunks, his arms waving about awkwardly through the inflated Floaties. It was already 5 and the sun had gone behind the building, so the pool was in a shade (not good : it was cooler). I was a bit apprehensive; this would be the first time we tested the Floaties, and he seemed a bit too excited.

The moment Ehsan hit the water, his instincts (and his muscles) reacted perfectly with the Floaties - he was bobbing up and down on his own! He was actually moving both arms and legs - and he was floating! And swimming forward. I felt so proud! Ehsan doesn't need his 'trainer floating vest' anymore! He did, however, got so excited and constantly talked to me (I presume to tell me he can swim!), that he sucked in water... his gag reflex worked, and I let him 'cough' a little, and tried to explain to him that we had to control our breathing!

So we spent half an hour bobbing from one (short) end of the pool to the other. He managed to find his balance and lifted his toes out of the water. All the while, if he felt scared or tired, he'd grab my arm and rest himself on my thighs; and he'd be off again as quickly as he came!

I wish I could have taken pictures or a video, but since it was just the two of us, it'll just have to wait. Being the over optimist, Ehsan was soon complaining about the Floaties, and wanted them off. So I obliged... Apparently, he was prepared to swim like baba! So I let him...he did his normal waving of the arms, and promptly sunk! He was gasping, but it was nothing a good hug and a pat on the back couldn't make better.

Good things always come to an end, and poor Ehsan was soon shivering. I quickly took him back to our chairs and wrapped a towel over him, with another over his head. Hugging him close, I rubbed his back and rocked him gently. Ehsan just stayed there; unmoving and quiet. I was concerned that he was feint and unresponsive, but after 5 minutes, he looked up and beamed me a smile! All's fine then! I already decided that we'd take our shower at home so that Ehsan wouldn't get cold again.

Before we left, Ehsan had his bottle on a nearby deck chair. I sat on one myself and looking up I felt tranquil and content; and not tired as before. I guess Ehsan helped 'wash' all that away with his newly found swimming prowess, and I'm glad we had some time alone with him.

4Es Cup Cake Ventures (un)Ltd.

Cup cakes to die for!

There have been several things that I have aways longed to do with my life; for example, I wanted to go to outer space, but the Malaysian Astronaut program came 25 years too late... and I don't think Malaysians would have approved of an overweight, short sighted paper pusher representing them as the first Malaysian in space! So that dream of mine was confined to watching Star Wars and Battlefield : Earth (ask my brother - it's the worst movie we've seen!)

I also had dreams to become a cook - I don't know why, perhaps it was a cool way to be creative and it sounded more alluring then being an accountant! Well, I recently managed to realise that dream and another grown-up longing of becoming an entrepenuer! Don't get me wrong, I've been cooking for a long time now. I made a killer masak asam pedas when I was at Kent, and my tiramisu was legendary (i.e. its no longer being made, hence it becoming 'legend'). But I've never (knowingly) sold anything before!


The Tiny Cup Cakes being set by Ckn (not pictured - me working the hand mixer before!)

So the story goes; Last Thursday, I promised Ckn that I would help her bake some tiny cup cakes for iftar. We started with gusto after I got back from work at 4pm. Using a recipe our neighbour in Sg Buloh gave Ckn, we managed to produce a batch of the lil' scrumptious tidbits. It wasn't too difficult; but I was made to understand that cake making was not to be taken lightly, that it was a delicate process and that the wrong timing of ingredients going in or doing something too much will spoil the batter.


...now open wide for some uncooked batter!

We were fasting and someone had to be the batter tester! So Ehsan and Erica helped out; Ehsan with the cleaning (i.e. licking the mixer attachments clean! Hey that was supposed to be my job!) and Erica with the 'batter quality Assurance' test.

Erica's not into food yet, but she liked what we were putting in her mouth, I guess. She was squirming, asking for more, but we stopped at just giving her a taste as the batter had raw eggs in it. Don't want lil Erica to fall sick now do we!

We had our first taste at iftar...and we loved it! I just looked at Ckn and she did the same - we both had the same thought, that we had to share this with the world (you can say it was a Eureka! moment...)

After much soul searching (30mins or less only!) we both decided to go into business to 'bring the goods to the market'. The timing couldn't have been better as there was a Petronita ramadan bazaar the next day, on Friday. We agreed that the costs of producing a batch of 16 packs was minimal (each pack had 5 cup cakes), while the proceeds from the endeavour would be substantial! Ckn would be in charge of the coupon selling for the whole bazaar, so the cup cake marketing would be my responsibilities! yipee... Finally, an opportunity to become a businessman presents itself!


My 'muka welfare marketing gimmick' and I at the bazaar ramadan

As this was as much a business as it was a learning experience, I told Ckn that we should have a little fun; so I decided to take pictures of all the people who bought our cup cakes. I got some odd looks from the others selling their wares at the bazaar, but I was on a roll (of course I wouldn't have considered this if I had a few hundred customers la).


The lucky few who went to bed satisfied (hmmm!)

The bazaar started at 4.30pm and I had my tupperware opened and ready by 4.40pm. Nobody gave the goods a second look for the first few minutes (maybe because we didn't put signages..DUH!) so I resorted to telling (nay, shouting to!) the patrons about the cup cakes and how scrumptious and cheap they were. Once the crowd rushed in at 5.00pm, my cup cakes literally became... hot cakes!

Throughout the event, Ehsan was not really himself; we thought he would have fun running around making friends - but it was a hot evening, and he managed to have missed his afternoon nap earlier, so fatigue and grogginess was sinking in. He spent most of the time sitting beside me. Ckn bought some lin chee kang to cool him down, and when I left the bazaar later, he cried himself to sleep in the car! Such was his tiredness that he slept soundly till the morning (so it was a restful night for Ckn!). However, he did take a liking to one of the patron's cutey daughter; and Ehsan took a picture of her himself :


Cute little Nur Ain, thru the eyes of Ehsan

All in all, we made a profit of SDG 13 or about RM22; not bad huh? The only problem was that we spent more than SDG 70 (RM120) to buy food for ourselves...! (well it was for 2 days - and _it is_ Sudan!) I now know the feeling of making ones own money and can appreciate how tough it is for people to have to do this on a daily basis. We're still deciding whether we will continue selling the cakes at this week's bazaar... but I'd like to quote Mr Gooding Jr from Jerry Mcguire '...Show me the moneeey!'

Cleaning Up

I got a nice surprise in my gmail today. My brother, Firhan, posted a link to a video of alledged child labour practices in Malaysia. Being the good citizen of the world, I had to check it out...it was shocking!!

This is the second video of Ehsan. I posted the first one some time back, which I'm thankful that I did since the original was lost when my hard disk decided to go to hard disk heaven!

The Power of Speaking...when you're 2

My troubleshooters! Taken at the Hilton Hotel, Port Sudan, 2006

I was having a bad day a few days ago - somehow I got myself a personal swimming pool. But before you say "how lucky you are, Ezal!", let me explain what the difference is with my 'pool':

1. It's in the office
2. The pool is installed on my desk
3. ...all my work, books and files are floating in said pool

Yes, the roof was leaking, and somehow this year (it only rains about 5 days in a year in Khartoum) the roof decided it was best to piss over my parade! Relating madly to Ckn from a makeshift office, she said I should call home and speak to Ehsan; she was convinced that my 2 year old son can help cheer me up... I did just that and called them.

So, Ehsan picked up the phone ... and said 'Hieee... Baba?' I was gobsmacked, my mouth wide open. I could hear Ckn in the background saying 'Apa nama adik?', and Ehsan replies 'Erica'. The night before Ehsan hurt his foot, so Ckn asked him what he did when his foot hurt - and Ehsan made a crying/hurting sound - he even managed a 'snore' when asked about sleeping...

Well, after a few precious minutes hearing Ehsan 'speaking', I just kept laughing (Ehsan joined in too, mind) with tears in my eyes (hey c'mon I'm a father, but the tears never left my eyes. Promise). But Ckn was right; my condition was fixed and I forgot about my bad day!

...and one more thing about that nose

Ehsan and Ezalman, separated by 30 years

Having done the previous post and including a photo of a pre-schooler Ezalman, I noticed something startlingly similar between me and my son Ehsan. I just can't place it, but the feeling is so strong... but what is it I wonder?

Growing Young

It's been a long day, so I thought I'd take a breather and post something on the blogg. I just love the recent photo of the kids taken at my sis' engagement do last week, so it got me wondering how well they've grown up. For example, Ehsan has a nice mop of hair now - we always thought that he won't be blessed with much of it! But, his tembam pipi is shrinking... luckily we can still torment our Pear, Erica!

Kids really do grow up fast. I'm getting daily snippets about how the kids are interacting with their environment and how everyday something new and wonderful happens. Thank God the 7 month wait is ending next month (well I cheated of course, since I've had opportunities to be with the family on several occasions since January!)

Father and Son Grows Moustache

I have my brother, Firhan, to thank for this video. He gave me the Logitech webcam before I left for Sudan...and here is my favourite outcome (the others show me in bad light!)



I've downloaded this video onto my PSP and most nights, I watch it before I turn in...missing you, son!

Happy Birthday, Young Man!

Happy Birthday, my lovely son
I can't believe you're already One
Your smile, your laughs, your little touch
God, I miss you oh so much

Once, you were so very small
Now, you're proudly standing tall
My, how you've grown to be so strong
We pray to God you'll do no wrong

To baba and mama, you're our brightest star
We'll love and cherish you, wherever we are
We'll show you how big the world can be
And how you can change it, son, you'll see

For now, do help to look after mama
As we can all be so near, yet so far
and do enjoy yourself in being One
A Happy Birthday to you, my lovely son

Going Home

It's 4 months to the day that we all upped and left Sudan, that we have the opportunity to go home. The whole troop is going with me - ckn and the little tyke too! It's Summer in Sudan and I think the break from the heat is very welcome indeed.

We booked a flight out on 17th May - and true to form, the notorious Sudanese 'Habub' reared its ugly face - we were stranded for a few minutes on the tarmac due to strong winds, dust storm and a little rain! but thank God all went well and before long we were on our way.

The flight was great and Ehsan was on his best behaviour (I think!) - however we had an 8 hr transit wait in Dubai. Not that we can enjoy it too much - we arrived in the dead of night and had to leave at 7 the next morning...

We met a few colleagues and their families en route to KL - Zabuddin and his family on the Dubai-KL flight and Rosliza and her 6 kids (!) in the Khartoum-Dubai flight. It was also the first time that were able to video tape our experience on the plane - as soon as we left Dubai, out came the Sony - capturing our experience in the air. Even had a little prosumer commentary to boot!

Ehsan was of course enjoying every minute of it! Being cuddled and praised by the female flight attendants helped too, I guess. He was unashamedly being flirtatious with them in return! I wonder where he got that little trait...

Ckn and Ehsan will be staying in Malaysia for the better part of June - then I'm going to bring them back in July - with a short stopover in Dubai. I think this will allow us all to 'recharge' whatever Sudan and our experiences in the past 4 months have taken from us (except Ehsan, who's like a moving /talking sponge, absorbing everything - god, he's been walking for the past month and a half anyway!)

I'm a little worried the Mrs would have a tough time without her partner around. Sure, she's better prepared this time ( compared to the period after giving birth to Ehsan), and although she won't believe me, I do feel the loneliness and pain of being away from family just like she does (I'm currently in hr 5 of a 10 hr transit in Dubai, without access to the Business lounge...oh, the hurt!...on my ass!)

Nevertheless, I think we enjoyed the past 10 days together. I just fell in love with shopping (again)! The freedom, the choice and the sales were just overwhelming. Don't remember how many 'KLCC-One Utama-Low Yatt' pilgrimages I performed, but I risked blowing all my overseas allowance on every little new thing that I fancied and was not able to procure in Sudan...haha - thank God for responsible spouses eh?

...I miss giving Ehsan a bath, and I miss Ckn's over-protectiveness...

April 1, 2006 : Ehsan Reezal in … The Moon Crawler! (cue compatible James Bond theme song)

We’re at our usual haunt 2 Friday mornings ago. Syikeen was checking her emails and we made our weekly phone calls to our family back home. Of course, I held the baby-affairs fort for the day (I can do my work and check email everyday, so of course my wife wants me to cut her some slack…).

Knowing the little dude, I’m sure I could get about 30 minutes of baby-ly conduct out of him (nowadays, we’re lucky if we can keep him calm for 10 minutes!) . Giving up after 15 (!) I surrendered and put him on the office floor; I know what you’re thinking – the dust, dirt and germy-wearmies! Trust me – The things Ehsan sniffs and licks and the corners he wanders into at home, has given me the confidence in his resilience, Thank God!

Anyway, after a few minutes inspecting the Xerox machine cables and lifting the office carpets to look for something remotely exciting (gee, thanks baba for bringing me somewhere SO nice!), Ehsan suddenly eyes the ‘edge of the world’ – read : the ledge of the staircase going down…(the shock and horror!)

I hover closely to see what he’ll do next; He’s sizing up the ledge with his black round eyes, and does his usual I’ve-never-done-this-before routine - He sticks out his cute cubby right hand and feels the ledge (I’ve noticed he’s more of a south-paw – which he likes to use to pick up things. His right hand is reserved for touching hot plates and inspecting Xerox machine cables…). He then shoots me a look-at-me-baba-I’m-doing-nothing-naughty facial expressions (hmmm I like to do that word-dash-word gimmick, sorry!) – I think he was seeking my approval… which I readily gave!

(just realised the date ; NO, they're not doctored pictures - my son really did this!! haha)

Arab-a-day:

1. Wallad = Boy

2. Kuis = Good

March 12, 2006 : Accidents do happen

Oh dear, oh dear - we've met our first true test of being expats here in Sudan - last wednesday, Ckn and Ehsan were caught up in a road accident. Ckn decided to come to the office to check her email after office hours. The driver misjudged the speed of an oncoming car, which according to Ckn was driving very fast. Turning into the office too slowly forced the oncoming car to slam into the van.

Ckn was holding onto Ehsan for dear life! she got knocked out of the seat, hitting her head on the side door (the one you see here) and scraping her kneecap on the floor. By the time I arrived on the scene - about 1 minute later - Ali had Ehsan, and Ckn was standing close to the van; my staff and colleagues were trying to help. I gave Ehsan a once over and he looked fine. Ckn wasn't so lucky; she had a nasty bump on the right side of her head and she looked faint. Getting them both into another office car, we sped off to Al-Faisal Hospital for checks...

Luckily the x-ray turned out ok, and Ehsan was happily drinking from his 'lunch' at the hospital. The swelling reduced overnight and we managed to go to a Sudanese wedding later on Thursday evening. Phew - it was a close one!

We partly blamed Ali on this one, and it's forced us to keep Ali at a distance for the time being. but he's been very concerned for both of them, I just dont know how well we can trust him again and when! The people here live by 'God's will' - I believe in that too, but as humans we do have a duty to do the best or make sure that we're responsible; after we've done all that , only then can we surrender our fate to God.

Oh dear, oh dear...

March 4, 2006 : A Tale of Elephant hair and Kindness

Yesterday was a fun day for the family - a fun, long and eventful day!

We started out early with Syikeen attending the women's association AGM, where, just like the Oscars, she was tipped to be elected as the Secretary. All of the 15(!) people who attended voted for her nomination! Well, good luck dear, I'm sure you'll do just fine!

In the afternoon, we already planned to visit one of the bigger Souks (market) in the city - across the Fitihab bridge, in Omdurman. Interestingly the bridge has 2 tanks guarding its approach; dont know if they're working or not coz I can see the crew sitting leisurely under some trees nearby; I for one am not finding out!

Anyway, we parked nearby the household-ware section of the market; it was starting to get a bit sticky, but we did go at 3pm! and started to do the rounds - goodness! there were so many shops, and we only had 1 hr before we had to surrender the van to my neighbour.

First stop: a shop selling china (we needed a fine set, but we'll shop around first I think!). One thing you'll notice here is that lot of the shops sell similar items, and confusingly, prices are quoted in USD, Sudanese Pounds or Sudanese Dinars. I've found the best way to circumvent this is to flash the numbers on my mobile and show a sampling of the currency i have. All said, the things here are all imported and reasnobly priced

There was one part of the Souk that had a lot of souveniors (sic) and trinkets. One item that I wanted to show my wife was a nice black bangle made out of ... elephant hair! now these hairs are thick and strong - it looks like plastic, until the salesman showed me the eneven size and textures. Well we took out a few and handled them - our driver Ali even put one on Ehsan's wrist - so cute (he looked hip, like his dad! haha). after a few minutes smelling (!) them, we returned them back...but the salesman looked at Ehsan and said 'mafi musykila' - 'no problem' : Ehsan got his bangle for free!

I was stunned! we didnt even buy anything. Quietly waving us away, I offered my Syukran and gave the good man a strong hand-shake and my widest smile, which he graciously accepted!

That was a good, valuable lesson - Up until now all i knew of Sudanese hospitality was from what my fellow expats told me or what i read from the Brandt book I bought back home; but to experience this first hand was quite a delight and a surprise...makes me feel at home already (don't think i ever got any free bangles from strangers back home tho...)

i wonder what else this country has in store for me and my family..?

Arab-a-day:
1. Tamam - I'm OK!
2. Kulu Tamam - I'm Very OK!
3. Mafi - a nicer way to say No (La)
4. Mafi Musykila - No Problem!