Many moons back, ‘Young Sudan Lad’ (aka YSL) featured in many of MB’s posts, from his days in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. People move on in life and a lot of Nile water may have passed under the bridge since back then, but MB and YSL have kept in occasional contact since both moved their separate ways some ten years back. YSL moved from Saudi to France where he somehow wrangled a French Passport, and a few years ago moved to his present home in London.

Back in those same Saudi days, MB even got an invitation to the wedding in Khartoum of the cousin of YSL who was also known to MB. On that occasion, MB stayed in the Khartoum family home of YSL. Today, as a result of the war, that same family home is ransacked by one side or the other and a lifetime of memories and treasures have disappeared. The very kindly mom of YSL treated MB like one of her own during that trip but sadly passed away in the intervening years. She was on the minds of many during the YSL wedding event, especially on the mind of MB.

Anyway, out of the blue a few weeks back, MB receives a WhatsApp message from YSL as follows:

“Might get married end of this month in Egypt if everything works out. Would you be able to come?”

The message intrigued MB much. The word “might” and the “if everything works out” were pregnant with intrigue and wonderment, and even for easy-going YSL, this message of imminent nuptials was on the ‘extremely’ end of laid back.

Also-laid-back-MB replied immediately:

“Sure. What date and where in Egypt?”

And that is how MB and partner BR came to attend the Sudani wedding of YSL in Cairo to fellow-Sudani bride Monia on 27 June 2024.

And what a wedding it turned out to be!