Day Two - still making my way back to earth

I am back in El Fasher and noticing the striking differences between the general feel of the desert town I visited and the city. Even the small Zhagawa market where I do my shopping for tomatoes and cucumber was buzzing with chatter, smiles, laughing children, and just an overall positive vibe. The desert Market lacked any of those things. Funny that I did not notice it until now. I may also be adding a tad of my own euphoria of having access to my own bed, kitchen (after 4 bouts of food poisoning), and cooling temperatures.

I will try to add as many photos as I can. The internet connection is very very slow, so I will not guarantee anything at this stage. I will also try to upload photos to my facebook, so take a look at that site as well.

I think the only news I have from my work is that my employer is not willing to fly me back to my home station because I have elected to cut my contract short. I will be completing a full year, but they apparently have no obligations for less than the full contract. This news changes somewhat my plans to visit India from here. I had expected the employer to ship my belongings to the states and leave me with no luggage, so that I can travel more freely in India. I will try to find out how to make that happen with my own means, but without the help of a logisitcian, I will have some trouble getting my things shipped home. So, it would appear that I will be heading straight home and attempt to go to India another time.

Sorry, the picture uploading is not working. I lose the internet connection every two minutes or so and have to keep logging on. I will try to visit one of our neighbors with a fast internet satellite connection over the week and upload photos from my trip.

I especially wanted to show you the pictures of the desert transformed. When I first traveled into the desert, I uploaded a video of our Land Rover braving the sands. Well, I have a part two picture and video showing all the sand covered in grasses and various other plants. Amazing what the rainy season can bring to this environment.

Hope to bring you more information and images on Sunday, when we open again for work.

Until then, peace to you all.