"Alaska Fashion"
As of this Tuesday, I will have been in Nyala for one month. And what a month it has been! Although I can honestly say that much of it has been spent either in quiet reflection or curled up with a book, it has nevertheless been a month of considerable change. I have been overwhelmed with information about my new job; have tried, largely unsuccessfully, to settle into my new house; and have met more people than I can ever hope to remember. Unfortunately, the settling process has taken longer than I would have liked due to some uncertainty surrounding the living situation in our house. But, after about 2 weeks in one bedroom, I have been relocated to a second, much larger, room and am looking forward to making myself at home at last.
Within the last three plus weeks, I have also been out on three one-day field missions to other parts of Darfur (and I expect to go on another mission this week). The first of these missions was a helicopter mission to the southwest corner of South Darfur. Unfortunately, the most remarkable thing about this mission cannot be discussed in this forum. Nevertheless, I have one entertaining anecdote that I can relay:
For anyone who has paid attention to my blogging about Sudan, it will not come as a surprise when I say that Sudan is hot. Ok, so South Darfur is in no way as hot as Khartoum. But it is hot nonetheless. So imagine my surprise when I got out of the helicopter in this village in South Darfur and was greeted by a man wearing a very puffy parka with the label "Alaska Fashion" on the breast!!! Of course, given my background, I found this amusing for several reasons. 1) I can't imagine ever having any reason or desire to wear any piece of clothing deserving of the label "Alaska Fashion" in Sudan. Indeed, while this guy was wearing this coat, I was quite hot in a long-sleeved shirt and pants. 2) I couldn't help but wonder where this Alaska Fashion was coming from. And 3) Having lived in Alaska for a year, I can say with certainty that, despite how puffy this parka may have looked, no one would have dared wear it in Alaska as there is no way that it could possibly be warm enough for an Alaskan winter!
As of this Tuesday, I will have been in Nyala for one month. And what a month it has been! Although I can honestly say that much of it has been spent either in quiet reflection or curled up with a book, it has nevertheless been a month of considerable change. I have been overwhelmed with information about my new job; have tried, largely unsuccessfully, to settle into my new house; and have met more people than I can ever hope to remember. Unfortunately, the settling process has taken longer than I would have liked due to some uncertainty surrounding the living situation in our house. But, after about 2 weeks in one bedroom, I have been relocated to a second, much larger, room and am looking forward to making myself at home at last.
Within the last three plus weeks, I have also been out on three one-day field missions to other parts of Darfur (and I expect to go on another mission this week). The first of these missions was a helicopter mission to the southwest corner of South Darfur. Unfortunately, the most remarkable thing about this mission cannot be discussed in this forum. Nevertheless, I have one entertaining anecdote that I can relay:
For anyone who has paid attention to my blogging about Sudan, it will not come as a surprise when I say that Sudan is hot. Ok, so South Darfur is in no way as hot as Khartoum. But it is hot nonetheless. So imagine my surprise when I got out of the helicopter in this village in South Darfur and was greeted by a man wearing a very puffy parka with the label "Alaska Fashion" on the breast!!! Of course, given my background, I found this amusing for several reasons. 1) I can't imagine ever having any reason or desire to wear any piece of clothing deserving of the label "Alaska Fashion" in Sudan. Indeed, while this guy was wearing this coat, I was quite hot in a long-sleeved shirt and pants. 2) I couldn't help but wonder where this Alaska Fashion was coming from. And 3) Having lived in Alaska for a year, I can say with certainty that, despite how puffy this parka may have looked, no one would have dared wear it in Alaska as there is no way that it could possibly be warm enough for an Alaskan winter!
Labels: Sudan
posted by Hillary | 2:49 AM
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