BREXIT Scares Me For November, But Not For the Reasons You Probably Think

Like many in the world, I was shocked when I woke up Friday morning to see that the UK voted in a referendum to leave the EU. It's not my country, but I thought British citizens would find they gained more from being in the organization than they gained from being apart from it. My shock at the vote, however, turned into sadness as I watched people online (mostly Americans) clamber over one another to paint the "Leave" voters as terrible human beings, as racist and xenophobic bigots who are clearly uneducated. In the world of the internet, "Leave" voters only cast their vote because they were duped, while "Remain" voters used thinking and logic.

And that scares me for November and the US presidential election. So many people seem to think that if you vote against what they perceive as the right way, you're an awful person who 1) shouldn't be allowed to vote and 2) is not worthy of discussion. The thing is, smart people can disagree, and politics is disagreeing and finding ways to come together. As a truly undecided voter (I really DON'T know who I'm voting for in November), I already find the articles and comments on my Facebook and Twitter feed calling all Trump voters dumb and un-American disturbing, because I may ultimately vote for Trump in November. I'm not uneducated; rather, I am looking at my options and weighing the different choices against what's in my best interest and, in my view, in the best interest of the US in the long-term. And here's a shocker to all my liberal friends: I'm not convinced Clinton is the best option.

Do I disagree with many of the things Trump says? Yes, but then again, I disagree with many of the things Clinton says. The only person who truly represents all my views is me. Since I'm not running, however, I have to weigh whether the things I like about Clinton outweigh the things I dislike about Clinton, and whether the positives of Trump are stronger than the positives of Clinton. I'm doing my research, and just because my research and feelings disagree with yours doesn't make me a bad person. Or a bigot. Or a xenophobe. Or a racist. Instead, it means that I have different priorities than you do and I believe in a different way of getting to what we all (usually) agree is an ultimate goal: a prosperous, safe country.

So internet, please do me a favor. Stop portraying "Leave" voters as ridiculous people who don't care about the future of the UK, because most of those people do care about the country's future and voted in a way they thought was best to achieve their vision of the UK's future. And I know this won't happen, but in the US, let's try to not vilify Trump voters as simple, backwoods folk who, if only they learned more, would change their mind. Reasonable people can disagree. Just because someone doesn't vote the way you vote (or would have voted) doesn't make that person evil. The BREXIT referendum scared me most because of how many in the "Remain" camp responded: with an elitist attitude and intolerable of dissent. And sadly, this does not bode well for a close election in November.

So on a lighter note, John Oliver had a BREXIT song that was very funny (he was firmly in the "Remain" camp). WARNING: CONTAINS EXPLICIT LANGUAGE

Just Close Your Eyes and Drive

I remember when my brother was first learning to drive, he (on more than one occasion) joked that his driving strategy would be to close his eyes and drive...because everyone else would get out of his way. In an American context, that's ridiculous. In a Sudanese context, I'm thinking these people went to the same driving school as my brother. Driving around Khartoum is at times fine, but there are enough crazy--and truly head-scratching--patterns that it makes you question every rule of driving you've ever known. I went to Quiz Night the other night and we were joking that there should be a category of "Sudanese Driving Rules." Here are a few of the possible questions, based on things I've encountered in my first three and a half weeks in-country:

Question: What's Rule #1 of driving in Khartoum?
Answer: Don't cross a bridge.
Explanation: Khartoum is a peninsula in the Nile, right before the Blue Nile and the White Nile meet. Crossing a bridge means that you're leaving Khartoum for Khartoum North (Blue Nile) or Omdurman (White Nile). Therefore, don't cross a bridge, and you're almost guaranteed to remain in Khartoum.

Question: Does Sudan drive on the left side of the road or the right side of the road?
Answer: Both.
Explanation: I've seen drivers go against traffic even when there's a median. Tuk-tuk drivers (little rickshaws) are the worst culprits, but I've seen plenty of cars doing this. It's usually when there's a median and they don't feel like crossing all the way over to have to make a left again at the next intersection. It's almost as if the driver is thinking: "It's a short distance to go against traffic; what's the worst that could happen?"

Question: From which lane can you make a left turn?
Answer: All of them!
Explanation: The Sudanese have no concept that on a four-lane road, the far right lane shouldn't be making a left turn and the far-left lane shouldn't be making a right turn.

Context: Sudanese traffic lights have counters on them (telling you how much longer until your red light turns green, and how much longer your green light will remain green).
Question: How long should one wait before honking one's horn at the driver for not going on green?
Answer: When the red light still has 5 seconds to go.
Explanation: Pretty self-explanatory. The impatience is mind-boggling.

Question: What goes faster: a tuk-tuk, a mini-bus, or a donkey cart?
Answer: They all go the same speed...that of a tired donkey.
Explanation: I've learned to share the road, but these vehicles all drive so erratically that you have to take whatever chance you get to pass them. Or that will be one VERY long trip down the road.

Question: What are Khartoum's main roads named?
Answer: Whatever the person driving feels like calling them, because it's not like most of them are signed.
Explanation: My favorite example of this is in a neighborhood called Amarat 2, which is on the other side of Khartoum from where I live. The east-west streets are helpfully numbered 1 to 61 from north to south. But this does me no good when I don't know if I'm on Street 7 or Street 47. I cannot confirm this, but I may have gotten a little lost in Amarat before finding that Street 15 is one of the few that DOES have a label (on part of it, at least).

Question: Where's an appropriate place to stop your broken-down car?
Answer: Middle of the road with the doors all open and the hood and trunk popped.
Explanation: Surprisingly, I still haven't seen any cars without any of their doors.

So that's the end of the Sudanese Driving Rules trivia round. Anybody get any of the answers correct?

Keeping with the driving spirit, here's a little Carpool Karaoke with James Corden. So many good ones, but I think Gwen Stefani takes it. Explaining the lyrics to that one part of Sweet Escape nobody knows and the epic We Are the Champions with two special guests makes this a must-watch:

Khartoum: A City of Perspectives

Khartoum sits at the intersection of Africa and the Arab World, and one's personal background in either of these two worlds--or neither, in some cases--greatly influences how one views Khartoum and, more generally, Sudan. It is in Khartoum that the White Nile, which starts in the rainforests of Rwanda, meets the Blue Nile, which emerges from the highlands of Ethiopia. It is from Khartoum where the new, mightier Nile, flows past Aswan and the pyramids at Luxor before providing Cairo its sustenance and then fanning out to enter the Mediterranean Sea. Khartoum is literally at the geographic meeting point of Africa and the Arab World, and this has influenced its people, architecture, culture, and society.

I have only been in Khartoum 10 days, so perhaps my view of the city will change, but in talking with others, it has become apparent that perspective is key to how one approaches Sudan. I view Khartoum as an African city with an Arab flair. For instance, the sand-lined roads are reminiscent of Dar es Salaam or Kigali. The massive slabs of concrete rising along the roads seem like they are probably in a perpetual state of construction (like in Maputo or Lusaka). And things seem to fall apart at any given moment, like my experience this morning with a car's rear bumper randomly flying off as we were driving down a major road (like Moroni or Harare).

To others I've spoken to, Khartoum is an Arab city with an African flair. The sand and dust are like any of the desert countries in the Arab World. The prevalence of high-end cars sometimes looks like a scene out of Doha or Dubai. Not to mention that the Sudanese speak Arabic, even if it does have a lot of non-Arab root words in it.

The best part is that both of these views of Khartoum are true. An Africanist like myself will find the city comforting in many ways and recognize that an adjustment is needed to deal with the fact that I can't understand the language OR read it. An Arabist finds the city comforting in the use of many traditional Arab customs, but the inconsistency of getting things in Khartoum may be off-putting. So this is what I've discovered in my first 10 days here. I'm looking forward to further exploring the city and hopefully getting to other parts of Sudan during my two years here.

Unfortunately, there's no picture or favorite video today because the internet is being silly and, while generally working, is a bit too finicky for my liking. So next time.