All posts tagged: Somalia

on a potluck

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I left my first job in Somaliland last week, to join a different organization just down the road. Serendipitously, my last day at the old gig coincided with the US Thanksgiving holiday, so all my gratitude was thrown into one bucket. To celebrate, our office hosted a lunch potluck. Some were concerned that things wouldn’t go off well, given this was an unknown holiday (by the majority) and a new dining concept (potluck). In the end, though, things went swimmingly, staff brought mountains of food, and we indulged to our hearts’ content: Somali classics, Ethiopian loaners, American standards, pizza and burgers (but of course@),  and more. Appropriately, this post is an ode to gratitude, for a number of things perhaps elementary but also fundamental. Work | For employment, period; for a relatively seamless and drama-free transition; for 9-to-5s and side projects alike; for the organic relationships that grow from contrived collaboration and the friendships that develop among colleagues. Love | For the give-and-take, for the patience, learning, and maturing that emerges inevitably (though not always painlessly) from being in loving …

on a trip to Berbera

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Time passes, and there you are doing things you didn’t know were possible: harvesting tomatoes; meeting ministers; winning the trust of neighbors; chatting with cargo ship crew from New Jersey at the Berbera port; stripping down to bathing suits on a Somali beach, guarded by baby camels and soldiers with AK-47s. You made it, and the story no longer writes itself; you’ll have to put pen to paper and craft the day anew each morning. Here’s to relentless adventure.

what’s to eat #34

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No, not those guys (as far as I know, no one here eats those guys). Oatmeal with bananas (the lesser, Somaliland–Ethiopian?–bananas, as opposed to the giant, creamy bananas of south-central Somalia) and jam, mint tea, and a few gulps of camel milk. Truth be told, the camel milk was for my canine companion. but it is a breakfast, dinner, and snack of choice for many. I can tolerate it in Somali tea (see also here and here), but this creamy drink is not for the faint of heart: if it comes from a camel, it inevitably tastes like camel. The benefits of this milk are much-touted, especially where it’s consumed most–strength, vigor, vitamin C, anti-cancer properties, and enough oomph to keep you full for hours. For now, I’ll stick to my oatmeal, and a just a cup of the magic stuff from time to time.