My dear reader…I’d like to share with you a fresh story from my day…

So I was in an office…in a specific building somewhere very specific in Khartoum (I don’t even know the address of the office I’m working in…I guess you’ve figured that by now). In the afternoon, I felt like having my usual afternoon coffee and cigarillo. But I didn’t want to smoke in the office (though I had the whole room for myself). So I found the nearest balcony..had my cigarillo ready, my aromatic black cup of coffee (which I prepared 30 min earlier) in my hand and opened the balcony door.

What came next was what I’d like to call a wake up slap…it was a sudden rush of oven-hot, sun-dried scorching winds that drilled their way to my skin as if my whole suit wasn’t there. It was that sensation of standing in the midst of a BIG OVEN with a big shiny projector in your face!

Nevertheless, I embraced nature, embraced what it was telling me in those warm breaths of the Sudanese desert…I listened and smoked…for what seamed like eternity..but was actually less than 2 minutes. I looked at my cigarillo, which usually takes me around 5~6 minutes to smoke, and it wasn’t even half way done. But I just couldn’t get along anymore with the heat, so we decided to part, I turned off my smoke and went back in.

Now the first thing that came to my mind was: Thank God for ACs!…but the second thing I realized is that my coffee…yes that same 30min-old-barely-warm cup of coffee is HOT it was actually steamy again like I first made it!

Now many of you would ask why did I even bother and smoke…well it’s more like a ritual for me after lunch and a busy day, especially if there is a lot more to be done. It’s a means of self pampering and a moment of reflection. Don’t get me wrong here, I’m not a heavy smoker nor am I a promoter of smoking, I just know how to enjoy my cigarillos and cigars, they got their own moods and times…let’s just say we get along.

So the lesson for the day is: If you think you know what nature is and believe you can defy it or play along with it…think again!

Thank you Khartoum!