Sudan before South Korea (2002-2005)

Gritty sandstorms tuck between your teeth and rot your gums. My mother labors through tantrums to push salt pebbles into my mouth. She shakes my head like a snow globe. On calm evenings, she is hauling water buckets to bathe her child. Generators die but the stars ignite. Thunderstorms split skies and shock the heart. An ice cream shop sits on a barren land – a habitable land. Our drive to the ice cream shop is always luxurious. I am even permitted to crack the window. I learn the difference between an ice cream and a sorbet and years later in Seoul, I read in a textbook that ice cream is made of many egg yolks and is given to the many kids who ask for too many.