QATAR and Sudan

Sorry, it's been a while. I've been really lazy.Well, we kind of moved to Qatar a month ago, but it's not that different here from Iowa. Except for the weather. Actually, the weather's been pretty nice here. Not too hot most of the time. My uncle says it's unbearable in the summer, though. The difference from Sudan's weather is the humidity. The temperature in Sudan can get pretty high, but it's a dry heat, so it's a lot better (sometimes) than our summers in Iowa or Qatar. Here in Qatar, the temperature is high, and so is the humidity, making it almost impossible to go outside! The air conditioning literally has to be on 24/7 in that heat. Thank God we'll be back before that comes! Finally! I have better pictures of Sudan!
 

Along the highway, I think. I tried to get a good picture of the river, but I didn't have the right angle. Boo. 

A random house. I really like the architecture in Sudan, no two houses are alike. Also, triangular roofs aren't really a thing there. I think it's because a lot of houses usually have open roofs where people sometimes sleep, have evening tea, or just hang. Surprisingly, there are actually many houses this big, but most people live in smaller houses.

Donkey! There are quite a few of those on the roads. I think someone would be pretty surprised to see one in Iowa, but it's the norm in Sudan. At around 7:00 in the morning, someone on a donkey comes to deliver milk. The good thing is that it's fresh, but you have to boil it as soon as it comes. I think I like the pasteurized, homogenized, skim milk in a jug better. 

Instead of one store having everything, normal stores or dakaakeen, ("doukan" singular) will have things like tea, eggs, sometimes milk, credit for phones, sodas and chips, and other basic things. To get fresh produce, you usually have to go to one of these guys. There are a lot of them lining the street. The ones for fruit and vegetables are usually separate. They're not big on importing food, so most, if not all, of the produce here was locally grown. This also means that a lot of things are seasonal, and there isn't a huge variety all the time. On the upside, the fruits and veggies you'd buy from one of these stands is most likely not full of preservatives or growth hormones. A lot more organic than some of the stuff we buy in the states.

I'm not sure what this is, it was along the highway as well. I think it might be a little pond made possibly by the rain. Or maybe it's a way to irrigate some farmer's fields. I just thought it looked pretty.

My mom and brothers getting into a raksha. It's the favored way of transportation there. A lot of people don't drive (namely women) , or don't have their own cars handy all the time. It's an easy and relatively cheap way to get around. Although, since the gas prices have gone through the roof, it's getting a little pricey.  If you've ever seen a picture of one of these, it was most likely in India, where they use them a lot, too.