Mon 1 Nov

The teaching is going fine. I had two lessons today, the first at 8:30am, thirteen students arrived in the first half hour (I stop counting after then) and at 1 pm I had a class of one! So, you can never be sure how many photocopies to make of the worksheet. Today we "did" marriage - why people do it, types (arranged or love, monogamous or polygamous), and who can marry who, whether anyone pays anyone, if so how much...

As I am walking back from classes, passing Mahdi's tomb, I decide it is high time to take a closer look. Mahdi was a holy man from the west of Sudan who led an uprising against the British administration towards the end of the 19th century. He was much admired and is remembered with great fondness.

His mustard coloured mausoleum is topped with a silver dome and is flanked with four similarly decorated towers. Through an open window I can see wood panelling around the room and around a central chest. High up there are panes of coloured glass projecting shafts of coloured light across the room throughout the day.

In the grounds I find the "curator" lying on a mat in the shade of some trees. I motion I want to go inside. He motions I should sit down. "Wait until 3pm," he tells me. It is peaceful apart from the birds going about their everyday business. Some are colourful. They are pretty and pleasing. It is a quarter to. I sit on the mat next to him. There is a breeze but the air is warm. I am feeling lazy, relaxed and soporific. I lie down, shut my eyes and fall asleep.