Once, I was driving eastwards in the Sudan in my Landrover heading towards Showak by the Blue Nile to visit the American run Lalamba clinic. The desert was hot and the sandstorm - the habub - had made the trails almost invisible. On the "roadside" in the middle of nowhere, was a tired old bedouin just standing there gazing at the horizon. He surely needed a lift to wherever he was going, so I picked him up and he was comfortably seated in the backseat. And we drove on politely exchanging the few words I know in Arabic. After a while I suddenly felt his hand on my arm and he was pinching me; like taking a measure of my skin."Ouch!"
"Three camels!?" he bursts out to my photographer sitting next to me. Totally ignoring me - the pinching object.
He obviously wanted to trade his three camels for me.
To tell you frankly, I was not very flattered at his offer..
However it soon turned out that I was too skinny then and obviously not worth more than three lousy camels.
I lost a huge piece of self confidence right there in the desert!
Today after many years have passed, when I look in the mirror, I feel I have regained it! My Self confidence!
I surely look like I am worth at least six camels! He should have seen me now! Maybe seven!
Ouch!
