For some reason this morning I woke feeling a little queasy. Shaking it off as nothing, we had breakfast and then headed down the road towards the mud brick buildings of Deffufa. The directions we had been given were good and despite having to ride on sand for part of the way we made it to the site. After what a lot of form filling, parting with money and having to explain that we didn't have a photocopy of all our documents, we were allowed in. Fortunately they didn't insist on keeping our travel permit which we need!
By now the queasiness that I had ignored had turned into full blown nausea. The fact that the mud brick building we were looking at was over 3500 years old and possibly the largest and oldest man made structure in sub-Saharan Africa, didn't change the fact that I felt really sick. While Debs went for a wander round, I sat in the shade and tried to hang onto my breakfast. The nausea eventually eased, so I was able to have a little wander and take a closer look at the massive structure.
With me clearly not feeling one hundred percent, we decided to head to the town of Kerma to buy our hosts a gift for letting us stay and then head back. The lack of a tarmac road made getting to the town very difficult and we never actually made it. Instead we were beckoned over by some men and had a cup of tea with them and then stopped at a shop for a cold drink. I had thought the drink may settle my stomach a little, but it didn't help at all. Getting invited into another families house was a lovely gesture but it was all I could do to stop from being sick. For once the amazing hospitality, in my case at least, wasn't so welcome.
The projectile vomiting didn't start until we got out of the house thankfully. Rather fortunately there wasn't anyone around either, which saved my embarrassment at least.
From then on there wasn't much to do but head back. Trying to explain that I was feeling unwell was difficult and the family were very concerned. Even more concerned when I couldn't eat any food. I hope that they didn't think it was because I didn't like it. I ate a little and they insisted that a coffee was the best thing for an upset stomach. Another round of vomiting later and I did feel a little better, so I guess the coffee served its purpose!
I spent the rest of the day feeling extremely weak and groggy, Debs meanwhile went off with Zuleikha (Abdulfadil's wife) to a pre wedding event.
Debs' account of the evening:
It was a ladies only event and it appeared that all the women of the village were there. I was introduced to everyone and was greeted with warmth and curiosity and was made to feel very welcome. The bride's sister, Mona spoke English quite well and took me under her wing. After a while the groom's female family and friends arrived from a nearby village in light covered pick-up trucks with loud music blaring. With everyone present, the main reason for the party became clear; the bride was given lots of gifts for her wedding next month. The gifts included a lot of beautiful outfits and shoes for her new married life, which when shown around were greeted with loud whoops and shouts. It was a lovely evening and a great insight into Sudanese customs. I feel very honoured to have been part of the event and cannot thank Zuleikha enough for taking me.
Later that evening I started to feel a little better and managed to eat a bit of supper. For me at least it has been a difficult day. I am glad that Debs has been so roundly embraced by the local women, as looking after a sick grumpy me wouldn't have been a great deal of fun for her!
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