On the way home from teaching I do some "tourist" shopping in Omdurman souq. I get a lovely lute to give as a Christmas gift for our "secret Santa". It costs SDP 2250 - a dollar over budget but who cares? It is traditionally made, used, and entertainingly large. I also buy, with myself in mind, two carved wooden head-stools at a price I swore not to divulge to the neighbouring traders or other khawaja.

Fri 24 Dec

Friday morning I pop into souq Shabi and buy a few more things - Christmas presents to me possibly? This time I get a small black pottery holder for charcoal and incense, a deep orange-coloured fruit basket, a gaudy shopping basket made out of pastel coloured nylon ribbons and a pestle and mortar for grinding coffee and peppercorns; the pestle being a section of drive shaft from a Land Rover (I like to think).