Haboubs and brown rain

The coming of the rainy season here in the Sudan is a mixed blessing. For us khawajas, the 5-10 degree drop in the temperature is a welcome reprieve from the oppressive heat. However, for the majority of Sudanese people, the downpours and haboubs (dust clouds) that precede them bring flooding and difficult times. Interestingly, even the rain here is brown with dust and sand.

In Khartoum the sand and dust, leaking roofs, and huge puddles in the streets are mostly just a nuisance. The sewer system in my apartment began overflowing with the rains; definitely not a pleasant predicament in which to find oneself. Luckily, my one month of rent was about finished and my friend Michelle’s roommates were taking off for 4 weeks of R&R in Europe, so a room was available in her apartment. So, I packed up my things and switched apartments … and what a difference in quality of life the move is already making.

My new apartment is on the ninth floor of a large apartment building overlooking a mosque on one side and the city of Khartoum on the other. The picture below is of a haboub moving in over the city right before a rain storm. As you can see, we have a great view off our deck. Additionally, we have comfy furniture, a fully equipped kitchen, and a satellite TV, and a wonderful, young woman named Rose comes a couple times a week to clean and do laundry. It could not be more opposite from the open-air Sudanese apartment in which I was previously living.

And while I’m sitting on the couch watching Oprah and Alias on TV at night (the people here LOVE Oprah – everyone talks about her show and I feel the need to watch in order to be in the know), thousands of other people’s lives across the Sudan are being devastated by the floods. Everyday there is new story in the newspaper about flooded villages and people who are moving because they have lost their homes and crops. Here in Khartoum, the Nile has overflowed its banks, displacing all the squatters along the river who have small plots of crops. This migration of people also brings increased conflict between tribes as nomads move their livestock across or settle upon agriculturalists’ lands. Cholera season has begun, and the mosquitoes are out with a vengeance. It is a devastating time for many people here in the Sudan, which makes me feel especially guilty about the pleasure and comfort I have found in my new apartment.