The Son of the Alien Husband by Izzadine Abdul Rasoul

Author:Izzadine Abdul Rasoul
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Key Publishing House Inc.
Published: 2012-03-20T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty Three

CITY OF PEACE

When the train entered Dar-es-Salam I was still sleeping. After the train stopped in the station, Khalid woke me up and said, “Hamdu lilahi Alassalama,” which means thanks to God for getting here peacefully.

“I suppose we are in Dar-es-Salam?” I asked.

“Yes,” he said.

I struggled to look out the window to inspect our new location, but it was night so all I could see was a train station with a few people milling around. However, most of the people in the coach were gathering their belongings. We did likewise.

Before we got down, the professor came to me and gave me his business card that contained his full addresses. I thanked him and promised to get in touch. Some of the students also gave us addresses of their homes and the university. It was a nice trip and we had had fun, but we knew that it was time to move on. Then all, including the professor and his assistants said goodbye to us; some in Kiswahili, some in English and I know I heard some in Arabic.

From the Dar-es-Salam train station, Khalid, an elderly man and his wife and I, squeezed into one private car. In Dar-es-Salam private cars are used as taxies. The driver took us to a district called Namanga where we dropped down first. Khalid headed straight for a medium sized house just off the main street. It was late at night. He knocked on the main gate of the house but didn’t wait for an answer. He just shouted in Arabic, “Bashir. Open the door. It’s Khalid at door.”

Then a man came out. It was Mr. Bashir. He took us in after a long Sudanese greeting (Peace unto you, how are you, how are your affairs, how is your health, how is your work, how are the people in your house, how are the children, how is the weather, how is the ..., how is the ...?). Then Khalid introduced me. Perhaps because of the noise of our “salaams”, three other men came down out of the house and gave us warm (Sudanese) greetings. Bashir said, “It’s three thirty right now. You can take a hot shower and have a sleep. We can discuss later.”

We took a shower with warm water. I couldn’t remember the last time I had had a really complete wash. It made me feel like a new man. As soon as we finished we went directly to bed.

At four, by the clock, I was awakened to have something to eat. I thought it was still morning, but when I peeped out of the window of the room I realized that I slept twelve hours more than expected. I jumped up, staggered to the bathroom and cleaned my face, brushed my teeth, and went to the dining room where I found that all were ready and waiting for me to come and join them.

According to Sudanese culture, everyone must wait for all individuals to join the table before they start eating together.

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