Very, very hot. Wasn't sure if I was just a whimp, or if it was excessively hot today until I reached camp and Sarah told me that it had reached 108 degrees farenheit today!
The most fun stop I made during the day was at this village, which was a ways off the street. The man in this picture first sold me a coke, then gave me some biscuits, then tried to give me some chocolate, then tried to give me some more biscuits, then offerred to let me take a nap in his house, and finally, as I was leaving, paid me back for the coke and said that it was an offer. Very, very friendly man.Didn't get a chance to follow up with Abdil about the prayers and point system. Got to camp and was very, very hot and tired. Noted that others were drinking cold cokes. They told me there was a village about 1 km down the road. I almost didn't want to go - too tired. But the thought of a cold coke lured me. Abdil and I decided to bring the backgammon game down and I'm glad we did. No time to talk about prayers because Abdil and I became the highlight of the tea house/soda shop/shack where we sat. Many vendors gathered round to watch, comment, and cheer us on. Mainly they appeared to be rooting for me. Not sur if that's becuase I am a foreigner, or because I was the underdog. At one point, when Abdil was way ahead and smililng greatly and everybody knew he had the upper hand, I pointed at him and said, "He is very, very happy." This made them all laugh. At a later point, a very chatty female customer came in and tried talking with me in Arabic. Just started rambling away. Did she not notice that I was not Sudanese?? I tried conversing with her in my seriously broken Arabic, much to everybody's amusement. Today we started seeing hills and we are now camped at the base of a hill. So, Miss Chatty asked me, "Are the hills (or mountains?) nice?" to which I think I might have answered, "Oh, yes! The hills - very nice! ... The sun - very not nice!" This cracked them up and got everybody to talking about the heat. So, as you can see, no time for prayer talk. But I must get to the bottom of that point system and will try again tomorrow.
Oh. Don't want to forget about the orange. It was amazing. It happened toward the end of the ride, maybe with 10-15 km to go to get to camp. There I was, rolling along. Hot, sweaty, tired. Had already taken one nap about an hour earlier in a shady spot. Was hoping to get to camp without another nap. When what to my surprise, a car pulled alongside me and the passenger-seat man had his window rolled down and he was smiling and he said something. I couldn't hear what he said, but my only (tired from heat) thought was, "What does this man want? I'm in no mood to chat right now." BUt his smile was persistent as the car continued to gently drive along beside me, and this time he held up an orange, and this time I could clearly hear what he said. He said, "Do you want an orange?" I all of a sudden realized that in my present state, I would *love* an orange. So my eyes brightened and I smiled and said, "Oh! Yes!" And he handed me the orange and then the car started to speed up, but I called after it, "You are beautiful!" And he called back, "Thank you!" And then the car drove away and out of sight.
So, I found another shady spot, pulled over, sat down, and ate my delicious orange. As I was eating, I thought to myself, yep, just one more delightful encounter with Sudanese people. From Wadi Halfa to here, I've had nothing but wonderful interactions with the Sudanese. They are amazingly generous, thoughtful, kind, and peaceful. But then I thought about Darfur and slavery. How could these very same people engage in slavery and genocide? It's too startling a contrast and doesn't fit with the characters of anybody I've met. Well, maybe the people doing that are not the same as the ones I've met. But then, who are they? And then I just decided that it was too complicated and I can't figure it out and it needs smart people like Paul Theroux to figure it all out and write it down in a book for us. I can't get my head around more than the fact that the tea ladies sure are really nice. Which reminds me - here is a picture of a typical tea lady. (No - can't get it loaded. By the way, may have to stop with the blog and try again in Addis Abbaba, when internet is a bit faster.)
------------ TODAY ------------- TOTAL
Cycled------- 111 km (70 mi)---- 1,841 km (1,142 mi)
Sagged------- 44 km (27 mi) ---- 388.5 km (253.5 mi)
Total ------- 155 km (97 mi) --- 2,229.5 km (1,395.5 mi)
In Saddle --- 6 hours ---------- 108 hrs 1 min
Ascended ---- 614 feet --------- 16,500 feet
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