We are invited to Assaf's house. Assaf is a very well meaning student who takes speaking English very seriously. So much so that he has a tendency to wag his finger at you while he is talking so the overall impression is that you are being told off. His father turns out to be very pleasant company and we end up chatting with him for hours. Thankfully Assaf's attention span is short and he wanders off for long periods.

His father went to Germany in the 1960s for a two-month language-course. During his visit he managed to get a scholarship to study medicine. He lived in Bonn, Cologne, Berlin and eventually left nine years later. Now, aged 70, he runs a "field clinic" at a displaced people's camp in the mornings and his private clinic in Omdurman in the afternoons. We asked him if he planned to retire, but he is keen on his work. It is bad enough sitting here in the evenings flicking through endless TV channels. He talked fondly of his younger days both in Europe and in Sudan. Particularly of the nightlife, the parties and happening places in downtown Khartoum before alcohol was banned.