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Monday, January 18, 2010

Khartoum Water

The 600ml bottles of water are available in a shrinkwrapped 12-pack

Continuing my quest for healthy living in Khartoum (you can read about this here), I managed to convince my husband to purchase a water dispenser. He had been buying packs of 12 (600ml) bottles of water (SDG 9 / US$3,60) which lasted fairly long - at least 5 - 6 days. Since I'd arrived, he's had to buy a pack every second day. I did a quick calculation and worked out that he (well, the company) would recoup the expense of a dispenser (SDG 477/ US$190) in less than two months.

Our nifty new water dispenser. It has a cold and hot dispensing switch but so far I've only used the cold. Purified water on tap...

On Wednesday we drove across town to the very upmarket Afra Merkez (Afra Supermarket) Once we'd made our purchase and loaded it onto the back of the Landcruiser, my husband stopped off at the dealer where he'd been buying the 12-packs. That day he bought the appropriate 19 litre bottle of water. Cost of this large refill bottle? SDG8/ US$3.20.

Now, who can argue with math figures like these?

A dog on a building across the alley from ours. It's quite a common sight to see dogs on rooftops. They belong to the people in the buildings below and instead of having a dog in your courtyard, he spends most of his time on the roof !
A online friend, Lynda, who has a fascinating blog written from their farm at the foothills of Kilimajaro, commented on my blog that the local people probably think I am a strange Western woman who runs around on the rooftop shining a torch before dawn every morning. I was still chuckling about this while jogging on Saturday morning when I heard a dog bark. Not a far-away bark (as it would be if coming from the ground) No, it was an ear-level bark. When I stopped I looked towards the sound and saw two yellow eyes across the distance. Then I remembered the photo I had of a dog on a nearby rooftop. I had snapped this tailwagging canine on a roof across the alley a few months ago when my husband first took me up onto ours. I retrieved the photograph from my archives and have posted it above. I'm sure this animal is quite fascinated (or confused?) by the strange bobbing light on the building just above him!

10 comments:

  1. You really have to work hard there to stay healthy, don't you, Jo??? I guess that doggie on the roof top really wondered who was up there before dawn running around!!!!! ha ha ha

    Glad you could get your water cheaper by buying in bulk.

    Hugs,
    Betsy

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  2. Smart move with the water. Love the dog on the roof.

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  3. Oh it's all in a day's work,Betsy! (LOL!) We also watch many feral cats on the rooftops - interesting.

    Thanks Gaelyn, I'ma also pleased hubby has bought this dispenser for me.

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  4. Hmm Nice attempt !! Great Idea and well explained !!

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  5. Now you can drink water whén you want to as múch as you like to!! :)

    Jo, ek wens ek kan jou hele tuin vir jou Khartoum toe stuur, en sommer die golfbaan ook - om by te gaan draf as 'n ekstra. Lief jou en laat weet as ek vir jou iets by jou huis kan doen.

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  6. Dogs on the rooftop that is different. I guess there is quite a cultural difference living in Sudan. Do you have to over your body shape when going out? Do you have to be accompanied by a male when going out? Great idea the water dipenser. We have one at work to keep the water cool.

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  7. Dankie Ida, ek het nie altyd Marquard se skoon omgewing en wonderlike lug en groenigheid waardeer nie. Dankie vir al jou liefde. (((Jo)))

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  8. Yes, diane, life is different here...

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  9. The big water dispenser sounds much more economical and convenient. Funny to have dogs on rooftops, and I'm sure you're right, they probably think you're funny, too.

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