Sinful till the last minute (Khartoum Day 1)

Arrived safe and sound in Khartoum after a fairly pleasant flight on Kenyan Airways. Thankfully our logistics officer avoided making our flight reservations with Sudan Airways as they apparently have one of the poorest reputations worldwide, not to mention several recent crashes. <gulp> While still in the air, one of my colleagues and I decided to have a light drink seeing as drinking alcoholic beverages is forbidden in Sudan. When I went back to the flight attendant area to request a bottle of wine however I was met with a surprisingly cheerful male, Kenyan flight attendant. He grinned at me and asked how long I'd be in Sudan. "Two weeks," I replied. "Oh God, don't take just one bottle of wine then," he said, "take two!" He then handed me two small bottles of white wine and gave me a knowing wink.Back at my seat, a Brit sitting next to us assured us that we could easily get through Sudanese Customs with the extra bottle of wine by just concealing it in our pockets (Sudanese Customs officers only check bags). Not wanting to risk being the one foreigner who DID get caught with alcohol at Customs, I ended up leaving my extra bottle of wine in the airplane. Call me a wimp, but having a celebratory swing of wine at the end of the day just isn't worth getting deported from a country known to be strict when it comes to crimes forbidden under Sharia Law.I'm only here for 2 weeks so I'll abide by their rules and taboos. Long-skirts and no alcohol it is. ...Interestingly enough though, my male colleague WAS able to  pass through Customs with a bottle or two of those small brandy bottles in his pocket. 

We have arrived in Khartoum late at night so I've yet to experience the Sudanese culture, atmosphere, food etc. I will be sure to write again soon though so as to share my experiences. After all, as my org's HR head said to me yesterday, "of all places!! Who gets to say they've been to Sudan?"