Sudan woman ‘blesses’ Clooney by spitting on his head and hands

George Clooney has revealed that he faced an unexpected culture shock during his recent trip to South Sudan when a local woman “blessed” him by spitting on his head and hands.

Activist Clooney travelled to the region with U.S. newswoman Ann Curry earlier this month (Oct10) to raise awareness about a brewing conflict in the region, which will split the African nation in two.

Clooney appeared with Curry on morning news programme The Today Show on Tuesday (12Oct10), when he recalled his interactions with the native Sudanese – including an unusual “blessing” by a local elder.

“I was blessed. She was a grandmother of a friend of ours and she lives in a very tiny hut… and one of her blessings is she spits in both your hands and pulls you down and spits on your head, and I hadn”t been blessed like that before… It was nice to be blessed, it felt good,” the Daily Express quoted him as saying.