It's Payback Time!

So I had a lovely Christmas here in a country that doesn't celebrate Christmas, because of my splendid new friends who are quickly becoming family.

On Christmas eve, the mother of my roommate (who is here to visit for two weeks :) made an American feast with pumpkin pie, mashed potatoes, stuffing, rolls, chicken. It was wonderful!

So naturally, we invited over some of our closest Djiboutian friends and made them eat it!

Djiboutian friends will invite you over and then stuff you to the brim with foods that are normal for them but strange to us. We invited friends who we thought would be interested in seeing our culture, but sometimes curiosity isn't enough for your palate. They were all gracious and willing to taste. It was great fun!

After that dinner, we had an American feast at the military base on Christmas day...this was down right overwhelming. ESPN and FOX news were playing, while hoards of Filipinos in shining shepherd/wise men costumes served 5,000 troops via 6 buffet lines. Needless to say, I brought home a box of strawberries, mini-wheats and a few extra pounds.

For these extra pounds I have decided that if extreme measures become necessary, I will follow the example of Uncle Nematollah, who after massive amounts of fast food in America gained some unacceptable weight before his return to Iran to find a wife. His full story can be found in the book "Funny in Farsi" which is a memoir of an Iranian woman who grew up in America during the Iranian revolution. It is absolutely hilarious, if you like to laugh, you MUST read it.

So here is a snippet of Uncle Nematollah's story:

"Uncle Nematollah's next shortcut to sveltness consisted of a specially constructed exercise outfit, advertised during The Newlywed Game,that promised to help sweat away those pesky pounds. The outfit was constructed of a thick silver material, a cross between aluminum foil and vinyl, something perhaps left over from a failed space mission and purchased at a NASA garage sale. The instructions stated that the outfit had to be worn for twenty minutes before each meal, during which the wearer was supposed to engage in some form of exercise. My uncle decided to speed the weight-loss process by wearing his moon suit all day. He thought nothing of circling the block endlessly, leaving neighbors wondering whether perhaps he was looking for the mother ship. Dressed for a jaunt on Venus he strolled to the supermarket, the hardware store, and everywhere else he needed to go. Unable to understand English, he had apparently forgotten the international meaning of stares as well. Kids at school asked me about the strange guy who was staying with us. In terms of weirdness, my family and I were now off the charts."

What is your name?

So my roommate and I are a similar height, we are both white, and with our baggy-clothes and head coverings we look similar. This seems to be very confusing to Djiboutians.

It is exam time! The students are freaking out about their grades (especially the ones who didn't come to class and are going to fail) and the teachers are trying to avoid all the student complaints.

So students are coming to my roommate and I to talk to us about our classes. But they can't tell us apart! This one set of students came up to my roommate convinced that she was me. Her response was, "No, I'm Hannah, there is another teacher who wears the same clothes and looks like me, but isn't me."

The same students approached her the next day and said, "Are you still Hannah?" bahahaha!

Thomas Edison, You are my fave

Oh man, oh man....

So there is this rumor that a generator at the electric plant exploded, killing two men a few weeks ago. Not only is this a tragedy, it is a great inconvenience.

With one less generator, the electric plant has even less power with which to supply the city. So there are general power sweeps each day for at least two hours.

It isn't so terrible since it is nice and cool, but it is inconvenient. Especially at night when you have to light candles or hold a flashlight to get anything done.

So Thomas Edison did us a huge favor. I'm sorry I ever took him for granted.

To Never Have Enough

I crawled into the bus and picked a window seat. While I was waiting for it to fill, a poorly-dressed man carrying a cane came to the window and stuck his hand near my face. He was saying something in Somali which I didn't understand, but it doesn't take a genius to know when someone wants money. I made a motion with my right hand to show that I didn't have anything. But he was persistent, so a well-dressed man on the bus next to me said in English, "He is asking you something." I didn't say anything, but I wanted to say "I know, but I'm not going to give him anything, are you?." My heart was already hurting because this man didn't have enough, and then to know that the whole bus was watching and waiting for the white girl to give a hand-out made me feel inexplicably worse.

This is a pretty common episode. Poverty is common in the US, but at least in our town, I mostly see homeless men on street, so I simply write them off as being caught in addiction or something (which is sinful and shows my ability to simply judge and move on), also the US has an abundance of food pantries, churches, homeless shelters, and government handouts (not that these fix the problem, but at least these people are not without completely without resources).

The poverty that I see here everyday is women, children, the old, the blind and the lame. How do you know if they are truly in need? How do you know how to help them?

Everyone I have talked to has a different conviction.

Some say they will not give money because they believe strongly in development work, over relief work. (ie Give a man a fish he will eat for a day vs. teach a man to fish. Along this line: Micro-finance and Asset-Based Poverty Alleviation are some of the best ideas in relational/system driven help to the poor. Truly helping them, not enabling them. But these do not necessarily help when one is approached by beggars they will never see again.)

Some say they only give to the old men and the women with babies, because the children will probably be forced to give the money to some kind of pimp.

Some say they only give to children, because women with babies will buy their babies formula, which is actually less healthy for the baby then buying something for themselves and breastfeeding.

Some just tell them to go to a mosque or the french protestant church.

To discern if the person is truly in need, or just looking for free money. My friend developed a clever test, in which she asks them if they want water. If the response is yes, then they are in need and she will give them water. If the response is no money, then they are not in truly in need. (However, whenever I am prepared with water, no ever asks me for anything, it is always when I am unprepared.)

So with so many convictions, it is difficult to decide what is the best way. This is not something that can simply be ignored. Poverty is a disease that eats away at the soul. I was reading a book about poverty alleviation which interviewed a person who defined poverty as "never sleeping until you are no longer tired, never eating until you are no longer hungry, never having enough."

Language Learning

Three days a week, I study Somali with my new dear friend, Zeinab and her "assistant" (her 6 month old baby girl, Marwa). It is so much fun! We are trying to do the "Growing Participator Approach" to language learning. The goal of GPA is to learn language like you would as a child. So you start out just listening and pointing at objects to learn their names and get familiar with the sounds. Then you move on to speaking. I started speaking Somali on Tuesday! I carefully listed the body parts with possessives attached (in Somali the word ending changes for feminine/masculine and for who possesses it) and Zeinab practically cheered. She was so excited that because of her, I went from knowing zero Somali to being able to say a whole list of things.

We make videos after she teaches me a new thing so that I can study, otherwise I would just forget everything from our lesson. Here is one of my favorite videos, because she talks to Marwa in the beginning. She is teaching me the conjugations of "to Have".

Crazy Toothbrush Lady

So the other night, I was at my new apartment by myself. I was brushing my teeth, when some girls stopped by looking for one of my roommates. So I went to the door to tell them that she wasn't here, but to see if they just wanted to come in and sit for a little while.

[Side note: the door is a sort of chain-metal, so you can talk through it, and you need a key to lock it from the inside and the outside.]

However, I didn't have my key handy to open the door and in my attempt to pull out one of the five Somali phrases I have learned, I got completely confused and couldn't think of anything to say in French. So in frustration I just said in English "I don't speak Somali, I'm sorry, she isn't here." And they all looked at me and went away. During this whole episode, I still had the toothbrush hanging out of my mouth!

It is culturally appropriate to randomly stop by to see your friend or neighbor.

It is not culturally appropriate to go to the door with a toothbrush in your mouth and never open the door!

Oof, they must have thought I was completely insane. But its pretty normal for people to think I am crazy here.

Touristy Activities

This week has been quite eventful. A successful move to a new apartment, thanks to all some man muscles and two lovely roommates who did huge amounts of work to make it possible.

Between the stress of moving (which I should mention led to the discovery of many bugs in the wood of my old closet) and writing my first midterms for my two small classes, I was invited to visit Lac Assal. It is a salt lake something like the Dead Sea. It is the lowest point in Africa and the second lowest point in the world, second only to the Dead Sea.

And it is beautiful! The floor is white salt crystals, covered in beautiful water and surrounded by mountains. Here is a photo for you to see. Quite remarkable.

Happy Eid!

Today is Eid-al-Ahda, a two day celebration of God providing a ram for Abraham to sacrifice instead of his son. The festivities start around 5 am, when people wake up to pray. Everyone gets dressed up in new outfits (similar to Easter) and they go to a large public space to pray in a group. Then families who are able sacrifice a goat or a ram for their lunch. Families and friends visit each other and the phone lines are crammed with people calling to wish each other a happy holiday. The local family hang outs have games set up (similar to a Fall Festival). It is a great day of celebration!

I did not partake in the goat killing or the early prayers, but I did have the opportunity to visit a friend's home! It was splendid. She brought us to her house, made us Ambabo (a savy pancake/crepe), and salad. It is a lovely day spent with a new friend!

Holidays are a beautiful part of culture....it seems like every culture loves a good excuse to celebrate!

Baby Shower

40 days after a women has a baby, they have a coming-out party!

The baby stays inside for the first 40 days of its life to protect it from sickness, while the mother fasts and prays. Then it is time to celebrate! Women and children bring presents, bless the baby, dance and eat. So much fun!

The opening procession of the party consists of a older child carrying the baby while everyone shouts blessings. If the baby is a girl, a girl will carry her and if the baby is a boy, a boy will carry her. The goal of this is to have the baby grow up with the character of the person who holds them. It is a great honor to hold the baby.

Here is a photo of the opening procession:



Then the party gets going with old women dancing and singing. It is a hoot!

A Djiboutian Lady

The qualities of a true Djiboutian Lady:

She can remain graceful while climbing over four people to get out of a 12 passenger bus that contains 16 people.

She remains poised while 10 men holler at her in four languages.

She walks with her head high, without tripping in the dusty potholes created by who-knows-what.

She can politely shove her way out of a bus that has sweaty-desperate people pushing their way through the only door.

Her heart is never hardened toward the poor children, old women and old men who relentlessly ask for money.

She can stop chaotic-traffic coming from two directions, so that she can successfully cross the street.

She can eat spaghetti and rice with her right hand, without making a mess or using silverware.



This is what I aspire to be one day. Today however, I failed at all of these.

Life-size Barbie

I had the privilege to attend an Arab wedding. I was invited by a friend and didn't even know who the bride was (apparently it is fun to have as many white people at the wedding as possible). The evening started with getting dressed up. Me, and two other foreigners were given a selection of beautiful local clothes. And then were informed that the sister of our host wanted to do our hair and make-up. I truly felt like a life-sized barbie.



It is important to note that all the dressing up and make-up was done by all the women at the wedding, knowing that the only man at the wedding would be the groom. Women do not dress up for men, they dress up for women. Walking into the wedding was like walking into a sparkly fashion show, it was impressive.

The wedding was held at a local police station, which sounds odd, but was actually quite nice. The wedding was more like an American reception than wedding, but there were many similarities to an American wedding. Dancing was first on the agenda. The Arab music filled the room and women danced holding their long dresses in their hands so as not to step on them. Followed by the bride and groom entering with great fanfare, confetti and followed by two women holding swords. The bride was dressed in white and out-shined everyone. The bride and groom cut the cake, danced to their song and the bride danced up and down the aisle. It was an exciting spectacle.

My Beach is Target Practice

For a weekend adventure, I went to the beach! So fun!

This is not however a Florida beach, when you enter the beach area there is a sign that reads, "DANGER CHAMPS de TIR" (Danger Shooting Range), there are no bathrooms, there are rocks and mountains (more similar to a California beach in this aspect), in the place of seagulls there are donkeys, and in the place of palm trees there are old buildings.

Highlight #1: There was a coral reef! This was a first for me and was quite a wonderful experience. From above the beach looked arid and desert-like, but under the water there was a colorful world of fish, urchins, octopi and many other little creatures.

Highlight #2: Military Presence. The beach is part of the French military base, so it was interesting to see Frenchmen swimming and playing in the water, with their guns lined up by their cars. This was in stark contrast to the American military who were using the base for some sort of maneuver and needed to have their guns with them while they peed. The Americans did a drill with tanks while tourists in speedos snapped their pictures. And several Black Hawk Down type sky machines flew overhead. Interesting, interesting.

Delightful Drinks

After walking ten steps, I am so sweating that it appears that I have run a marathon. Actually, I don't even need to exert energy to break into a sweat that soaks through my shirt. I was observing a class last week and a student handed me a napkin because my perspiration was so exorbitant.

Now that you now that (and I'm sure you really wanted to), it will be quite unnecessary to tell you that having a cold fruity drink is one of my new favorite activities.

Djibouti has wonderful juice bars. I had my first mango juice with ice cream(jus de mangue glacee) on Saturday evening, it was beautiful! Even better than Rita's Italian ice!

Opinions Matter

Shuffling into a warm room with students who were chattering over the fans, I found my seat next to a sweet girl I met the night before. The chalk board read:

"Welcome to English Club"
"1. How do you achieve your dreams?"
"2. What is love and who knows to more, men or women?"

The relaxed atmosphere was quickly transformed when the speeches started and debate ensued. Students would volunteer to give a speech, that always started with "I would like to thank the coordinators and the...." and was followed by a good four to five minutes of talking. Most of the students selected the second question, they seemed extremely interested in love and men/women issues. After each person spoke, the group of about 35 would all be raising their hands with questions for the speaker. It was quite interesting in that all the students had opinions and seemed comfortable speaking in front of the group.

This student-led English club was started by an American professor and a Djiboutian professor three years ago. The students continue to prepare the activities and engage in rhetorical practice and listening. This is encouraging as I will start teaching English next week. The students are excited to learn and are not shy about their opinions. Teaching will be just another part of the adventure of living in Africa.

Pubic Transport-Djiboutian Style

Ok, so imagine the oldest 12 passenger van you have ever seen. Take off the side door. Add a yelling-man hanging from the place where the side-door should be and a ton of flies. And you will have the Djiboutian bus.

It is an experience unlike any other bus "system". There are not assigned stopping areas, so to get off you just tap on the metal or yell and the side-door man will yell at the driver. Quite exciting.

Here are some pictures of nicer buses:http://www.visualgeography.com/categories/djibouti/transportation.html

This is only one of the new sites and sounds that I have and will experience here. After four days, I feel like this land is an interesting mix of French/Arab/African cultures which presents challenges (like too many languages) and a different standard of living. But the people are beautiful and warm, I cannot wait to start making friends with my students and people in the city.

Safe Arrival

Yesterday at 12:30pm (7 hours ahead of US eastern time) I arrived in the Horn of Africa. After eating plane food for the last four meals and sleeping only about three hours, I walked off the plane to the smallest airport I have ever seen. The hot here hits you like a wall (I haven't stopped sweating since arriving due to a lack of affordable ac). After waiting for my visa, which didn't cause any problems, I walked to get my luggage from the only luggage carousel in the airport. This was more stressful than usual, as a man quickly started gathering my bags and carrying them for me... I knew we wasn't stealing them, but I didn't know how much he would demand for his services and a "no" was not a possibility.

My roommate and two new friends greeted me at the exit. It was lovely to meet them and their families. They gave me a tour of the town and invited in into their home and their lives. I have high hopes for the upcoming and challenging nine months.

"Its too late to change your mind"

I woke up singing the High Road by the Broken Bells, a song that I think is lovely but overplayed. "Its too late to change your mind, you let love be your guide." I'm not even sure if those are the words, but it seemed somehow appropriate with everything packed up and all the goodbyes that I have said in the last three weeks, there will be no turning back. The bittersweet journey is truly beginning, but I feel like my fate was predetermined long ago. It may seem odd to some, but I cannot imagine doing anything else.

If all goes according to plan, I will be in Africa in almost exactly 36 hours (I have 30 hours of flying/layover time).

Thank you all for your help and support! I will greatly miss my sweet friends and family in my cherished homeland.

My next post will be from a different continent...

Learning Overload

Training in Colorado has created anticipation of the future possibilities in cultural adaptation.

Lessons taken to heart:

Expectations can cause good or bad "twangs" to your heart.

7 hours in a plan crossing over an ocean doesn't make any magical changes in how you act or react, you have to train.

One has a choice in how they enter a culture and how they react to a culture. Both choices will result in positive or negative adjustment/incorporation into a culture.

One's cultural perspective is thoroughly ingrained, therefore it will take a significant about of work to process another culture without judgement.


Even with two weeks of training under my belt, I am still not feeling quite prepared to embark on this quickly approaching adventure.

Culinary Adventures from the horn of Africa

Three weeks ago some friends tried out an Ethiopian restaurant called the "Queen of Sheba". The decor is festive, the food is wonderful and they have historical picture books...what more could one want in a culinary adventure?

So if any of you Tampa folk are looking for something different: http://ethiopianrestauranttampa.com/

One of the best parts of the night was dessert. Of course that would be one of the best parts for my sweet-craving self. It was a simple fried chips covered in honey. Sort of like a fried baklava, but less sweet and far easier to share.

Loving to bake, I thought it would be fun to find more simple desserts from the horn of Africa.

So I tried to make Qumbe (Somali Coconut Squares)-the picture above is of my attempt.

It seemed like an African version of Rice Krispie Treats, just minus the krispie.

If you want to find some African dishes yourself: www.celtnet.org.uk/recipes/djibouti.php




Funding Update:
Monthly Achieved (in pledged): $2226 or 91%
One-time Achieved: $8500 or 100%

Thank you all! This is possible because of you!

Florida is hot, but Africa is hotter.

I have the privilege to babysit for two beautiful young ladies, ages 4 and 6, who absolutely HATE to sweat! They would rather do anything, anything - other than go for a walk or ride bikes - because the Florida humidity will induce sweating.

But mom says the girls need to be active. So after 20 minutes of fretting and lallygagging, we finally make it outside to walk. Within ten minutes the girls are begging and pleading to return to the a/c. I try desperately to convince them that it isn't that hot and "aren't we having so much fun!", but my forehead calls my bluff. Therefore, the girls persist and we end up back inside after not so much as a fifteen minute walk.

As the girls run to lay over the a/c vents, and I offer everyone ice water and popsicles, I can't help but think that I might just melt in the African weather where the heat index is easily at 115 F (and humid), a solid 10 degrees above the good old Florida weather.


Funding Update:

Pre-Field: 93% of $8500 (in pledges)
Monthly: 62.5% of $2600 (in pledges)
Thank you all!! It is coming along!

Oh to find a beautiful four-story bookstore with an ENTIRE AISLE for African Travel!

Photo by Trey Penton (a delightfully thoughtful photographer)

Put me in my place

My favorite kind of day is the day that allows for reading and hours at the beach.
Yet, recently I have felt like my days are a weird whirlwind of moderate car trouble, saying good-byes to good friends, and just trying to remember everything (because if I forget something the world falls apart).

Before my days felt crazy, and the beach was a place I could loiter at, I read some recommended reading:
"Desert Flower: the extraordinary journey of a desert nomad" by Waris Dirie.

A beautiful tale of overcoming- Waris Dirie is a Somali who became a supermodel and UN spokesperson. She revealed with honesty what it was like to undergo female circumcision. This is a reality for many in the horn of Africa. A sad reality.

When I think my days are bad or hectic...I should remember I am not being prepared to be sold to an 80 year old man in exchange for 4 camels. (I'm pretty spoiled)


Funding Update:
6% increase in monthly
30% increase in pre-field
Thanks everyone for your support!!! Each day is more encouraging!

Dentists and Djibouti

Well, Djibouti is a pretty obscure location. I don't normally tell people I am going there. I normally say, "the horn of Africa" or "East Africa", but many people think I mean to say South Africa, because to them the cape is a horn. All understandable since I didn't know where this tiny place was six months ago either.

So today when I told my Israeli Dental Hygienist that I would be going to the horn of Africa to teach English, I was surprised when he started telling me how peaceful and wonderful it was. Between telling me that I needed to floss more, and asking random questions (that were impossible to answer with that water-sucking-thing and the scraper in my mouth), he told me I needed to visit Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, Egypt ("but Egypt is dirty"), Djibouti is so dry and sandy that I won't need warm clothes, pondering its origin as being part of former Somaliland, than French Somaliland, now Djibouti, and so on.

Needless to say, the most fun I have had at the dentist, at least since I was five and my dentist gave me stickers.

I have so much to learn about this little obscure place, that I hope to visit very soon.

Funding update:
Monthly: 32%=$795 in pledges
Pre-Field: 60% or nearly $6000
(getting numbers that make sense is hard for me)

Tragedy in Uganda

Violence breeds violence. Hate breeds hate. Love brings down walls.

Life is not simple. Even on a day that should have simply been fun and games, evil and violence had their way.

Reading, Reading, Reading

Thanks to a friends recommendation and a birthday gift from my lovely parents,
I started reading "African Friends and Money Matters" by David Maranz.

Money affects all areas of life.
The way we handle money can point out the way we think about life.
So this book is basically a list of observations from a westerner about how many Africans use money.
Even though I am only in chapter two, I feel like I have already learned valuable lessons.

A key derivative from the observations thus far is the contradicting value-system.

Africans are generous and compassionate,
the implications of this in society are almost incomprehensible to my Westerner thinking of boundaries, privacy, budgeting and financial responsibility.

Yet, I can't help but wonder if our system, that is based on "sound decision-making" and progress, couldn't learn a thing or two from this system of individual-sacrifice and limited hoarding.

Africans are generous, so generous that most Westerners would use the phrase "generous to a fault". This is lived out in every area of life, so much so, that if someone has a "surplus", i.e. they budget, save and meet their needs, then they are considered greedy, because they must have ignored their needy family and friends.

How then can I, a Westerner, who is inherently going to be judged as wealthy because of my skin-color, enter a system of generosity and actually make friends?

We shall see.

There will be undoubtedly more observations from this book.
Hopefully it doesn't loose your interest.

Only with your Help

So dear friends,

This journey is only possible with your help. (Cliche...yep. But totally true.)

Because of you,
I can dream of Africa,
read of Africa,
eat Americanized-African cuisine,
and know that this is only a taste of what I will experience.

So thanks to all you lovely people who have decided to join my journey.

As of today (end of week 4),
I am at 18% of my monthly funding goal and I have 40% of my pre-field costs.

Both numbers have to be up to 80% in order for me to ship off to the dark continent in 9 weeks.

Thanks you for your support!

Welcome to my first blog attempt

My personal goal: To teach English in East Africa
My goal for this blog: To share my journey

I'm hindered in my understanding of Africa in that I am typically, if not hyper-typically, American.
I am the ultra-independent, "get it done on time at all costs", "makes plans to make plans" kind of girl.

But I love people and cultures!

Yet, when what I know about Africa used to be limited to The Heart of Darkness and "Invictus", you know I have a lot to learn. So this blog, will be my feeble attempt to share what I am learning about a beautiful and diverse continent that I hope to visit in the near future.

So I thought I would start this blog with a recommended book to read.
If you are a sucker for fiction and intrigued by cultural clashes,
Read: Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe.