When I tell my friends I went backpacking in Sudan, the response I usually get is, “Sudan? Why?” Like most people, I had limited knowledge of Sudan; my image was entirely shaped by the mass media. When I envisioned Sudan, I thought about rebels on the back of pick up trucks riding with long rifles, and hungry children roaming the streets. My experience was far from that, in fact, it was the opposite. When I arrived in Khartoum it was probably the most peaceful city I ever set foot in. Wherever I went, I was greeted with the Arabic words “As-salām ‘alaykum.” I truly felt at home in this foreign…