This time last year, a colleague told me that Valentine’s Day was taboo in Khartoum, and that if I wanted to celebrate with my loved one, I should do so discretely so as not to cause offence. Well apparently the concept of Valentine’s Day has gathered strength, and not to everyone’s delight, as this week senior Muslim clerics in Sudan issued a stern warning about the day’s corrupting influence.
Personally, I always felt that if you wanted to show your adoration for someone close to you, you could do that every day of the year. But that’s probably because I usually forget February 14th and need a good cover-story.
Down here in Juba, Valentine’s Day is very much on the social calendar. Most restaurants I have seen this week have been proudly advertising their plans for Saturday night – including one Ethiopian eatery that offered “a romantic dinner, at candlelit tables, with chocolates, and all in a reddish light”. I am not sure what the latter entailed, but it would have got me there just to find out.
Sadly I will be returning on Saturday to a more loveless Khartoum. Anyway, as I said, it’s more meaningful to say ‘I love you’ every day, isn’t it? Please back me up on this one …
And if you want to be a little more cryptic it appears there is a whole range of little notes you could stick in your Valentine’s card, if some of these are anything to go by. Just don’t go posting them in Khartoum this year.
