Day 2: A Few Shots
Today was preparatory, with many hours spent waiting for unbelievably slow bureaucracy. But praise the Lord, we are cleared to leave for Kadugli tomorrow.
I did manage a few pictures, though, so enjoy.
One thing that has been fun this week has been our drivers. I know I’ve said it before, but our drivers these days have been in a class by themselves–two days, two drivers, two tickets. I didn’t even know they enforced traffic laws here, but they do.
The first ticket was rather run-of-the-mill, as our driver simply failed to maintain the registration on his car. Boring, but a hassle, as the white-clad Sudanese traffic guard waved us off to the side of the road, and we sat there until the ticket has been written.
Today’s ticket, though, was far more fun. I was sitting in the front seat next to the driver, so I had a great view of the excitement. We were wending our merry way through the crowded streets in typical Sudanese style, which is at its core chaotic, frustrating, and occasionally terrifying. As we approached a traffic guard, I noticed he was holding up his hand, giving us the “stop” sign. I also noticed that our driver wasn’t stopping. I thought that was weird, but I have trouble understanding their hand signals, so I dismissed the weirdness as quickly as successive thoughts.
When the traffic cop hauled off and whaled the windshield, though, I didn’t dismiss it. And when he followed that blow with a right hook to the driver’s side door and a flood of angry Arabic, he certainly had my attention, and he got our driver’s attention too. We pulled off to the side of the road as the Arabic tirade continued, but it wasn’t just the officer–our driver had his fair share of angry words. I have no idea what they said, but I was just glad it didn’t come to blows.
We kind of snickered at the tirade, and the driver got out, returning after a minute with his pink slip. We laughed outright, though, when he berated the officer as he pulled out. I don’t know what his beef was, but I was sure we were going to get another ticket for his behavior. And I wasn’t about to defend him…
Tomorrow, Kadugli. Catch you all on the flipside.