Letter from Sudan # 1:1

- 1:1 -
This morning I was woken with a nice cup of tea at about 7.30am. Later, we strolled down to the suq and had a lovely breakfast of adis (lentils), a sort of meaty water and the meat cooked in it, with hot, sweet tea to swill it all down.

Afterwards, we set off for the big vegetable market. It’s much bigger than the one in my own town and so I took full advantage of it and bought some nice, new potatoes, some spring onions, and some carrots. Carrots are not very common in markets so I wad glad we had walked down to take a look.

I also bought myself a big stick while in town – I’ve recently been having trouble with next door’s dog, a savage looking beast. It jumps out at me as I walk home in the evenings and scares me half to death. It bares its teeth and all that. This stick will sort it out, I reckon. We’ll see.

I am better now, but last week I went down with a touch of malaria for the second time since I’ve been out here. It’s not very pleasant, something like flu and lasts for a few days. I’ve been having injections at a local hospital in the afternoons and now I’m fine again.

When I turn up on your doorstep, you may not recognize me at first; I’m very brown and have lost quite a lot of weight, which is quite normal and happens to everybody who comes out here.
Robert L. Fielding