af soomaliya

Language is really giving me a hard time here in somaliland.

Up to now i never ever experienced such a big language barrier than i do currently here in this country. Not only do they talk a language which is completely unfamiliar to me. They also talk it in a speed which makes me feel dizzy if i listen too long. Besides fast, the language is loud and has lots of odd sounds. As a result most of the time i am getting the impression that they are fighting and not talking. Some few days ago I must have been looking quite desperate when the woman sitting next to me in the car told me "dont't worry, we are just chatting!" You call this chatting?? Compared to the volume of their voices i expected them in the next minute to start throwing their handbags after each other! The problem with all this is that they not only use this rough and fast way of communicating when talking Somali: they somehow managed to implement it into their english as well, with the result that i am most of the time not getting what they are saying even when talking english.

Regarding these sever language barriers i reached the conclusion that there are only two ways out of this tricky situation:

1. I start talking in the same rough way when talking english (that means in real terms that i just cut off all kind of polite forms, alter my voice and try to use as many odd sounds as possible) That works quite well as long as i talk to people who have at least a small clue of english

2. I start learning somali. Unfortunately the latter is much more difficult to realize than the first one, but, at the same time, much more valuable since only few people know english.

Therefore i decided to give it a try.

In one of the dusty shelves i found some somali school books (big thanks goes to UNESCO who sponsered the books back in 93...). The first book i grasped carried the title "saynis", and dont ask me why, but i thought it might mean "vocablary" or maybe "grammer". As it turned out it was the science book for the first class. What i learned so far? The first thing i realized while staring at the ugly little pictures inside the book was that there are at least three different expressions for adult camels. No wonder in a country which consists mostly of deserts. The second thing i realized was that this is defenitly not the right way to pick up a language. However, due to the italian legacy, I discovered some leanwords which defenitly have italien origins and are therefore easy to keep in mind. Like baasto (=pasta) or boorso (borsa = bag) - the faible for double vowels is undeniable - take for example the following word: caafimaadkeenna. How should i ever get such a word into my long term memory?? The somalis truly hit the record in double vowels!
Arabic leanwords can be traced, too: baakshiish (tip), suck (market), and salam maleikum are just some few examples. And the english guys? Up to now i didnt find many left overs from the english occupiers. At least not when it comes to language. The only similarity i found so far is the word "buugga" (Book). But again this could just be a coincidence!

Anyway, reading old science books might not be the best approach to pick up a language.

Still there is the care staff. Since most (or actually all) of them are Somalis, there are plenty of teachers available. They are all giving it a try, but most of the time i am forgetting the words they are teaching me immediately.

Language language... How easy would the communication be if esperanto would have gotten off the ground! :-)

"it is better to learn than to play (idle around)"

I will keep it in mind... !

Out of focus?

Afternoons in Hargeisa can at times be a bit boring: either surfing the internet or trying to fix it, most of the afternoons are passing by without any special happenings. Offices are normally left by three pm (when it comes to work, Somalis keep time) and five past three the compound is more or less abandoned, until the next morning. The only thing usually taking place in the afternoon are the english classes for the supportive staff (by the way a fertile ground for studies on the effect of khat on the short term memory...).

Besides classes and excessive internet sessions not much is going on.

Not so today.

After they (the supportive staff plus the english teacher, the secretary and her baby, the HR trainee, and George, another unfortunate guy from kenya constrained to stay in hargeisa ;-) ) discovered my tiny digi cam, a new activity was found: taking snaps. Most of the time I am the one behind the camera, being begged for just "one more snap"... On very few occasions one or the other might come up with the idea that I myself should also pose for a picture. Thats normally the point were the fun actually begins.

A brief summary of the few occasions when I got the pleasure to stand in front of the camera will let you know, why those occasions remain actually FEW...

Attempt number one

Where im I?? At least Misky , the little lady with such an unfortunate name (immediately I heard the name I got reminded of the cook's offer from yesterday), is smiling into the camera - but dont even dare to think that she smiled because she was happy to be cuddled by a "mzungu" lady. It needed five other people behind the photographer, who were busy to make grimaces and to wave and clap the hands until she was finally convinced that taking pictures is a funny thing...

Attempt number two

Aya, here i am! But where did the other half of Miskis face end up?!

Attempt number three

A bit out of focus, but never mind. Certainly the wall deserves a bit of "focused" attention, too!

Have a focused day :-) !

out of sight, out of mind?

khat, the green gold of somaliland

here enjoyed by the watchman of the CARE Compound

Of course i am here to learn more about CARE's work, about education in Somaliland, about how to run a project and last but not least about how to get a good paid job afterwards. But since the work for CARE doesn't keep me busy from dawn til dusk (actually they stop working at three pm in this country, and overtime is a word which must have been erased from the dictionaries some long time ago), i decided to carry out my own little research besides the research which iam doing for CARE. Finding a topic was not difficult. There seems to be only one really important thing in the everydays life of Somalilanders: Khat. Known also as Miraa, it is the most valuable plant to many people here in Somaliland. Packed on the back of middle sized lorries it reaches Hargeisa twice a day: for breakfast and dinner. First you hear the lorries honking the horn in at least ten different sound combinations, announcing that a new load of the green gold from ethiopia and kenia reached hargeisa safely. Not even five minutes after this noisy welcoming (only the mullahs are making more noise) you see man of all ages and backgrounds with a happy green smile on their lips. Khat is not only pleasing the mind, it is also giving the teeth a fancy green color. But what is Khat? As far as i know it is a kind of amphetamine derived from the leaves of the catha edulis plant. It is a mild stimulant. And it is legal in Somaliland. In order to show any kind of effect one has to chew it for some hours. And that's exactly what most men in this country seem to be occupied with from morning til evening: chewing. Up to now i met nobody who is not chewing. The watchmen inside the CARE compound do it. The Ministers do it (that is actually the reason why they close their offices by one pm - they must be recipients of the morning load). The police men are chewing (though those unfortunate guys have to work til late. Surprisingly enough they manage to keep the traffic under control - i guess they do so because they are in the same condition as the drivers). I am asking myself if my boss is also chewing? If so he must have a good toothbrush - his teeth are never covered by green leftovers. Women are not chewing - but they are selling. Many can make a living out of the addiction of the male population.

Some days ago the mayor of Hargeisa tried to enforce a new law which would force all the khat sellers to move out of the town centre. The plan is to establish some five designated sites in each part of town where sellers and buyers can meet. In his view this would decrease the amount of Khat consumed on a daily basis - and it would have a positive sideeffect on the environment: Thousands of small plastic bags, the bags in which Khat is wrapped, are scattered all over the citys streets. But not only there. Today i travelled to a neighbouring town in order to visit one of the project sites. Not thousands, but millions of those bags made the thorny trees look like chrismastrees at the end of the season - called also "somaliland flowers" they are defenitely a sign for the scale of the problem, and maybe some garbage can along the streets in the town centre would do a better job then those designated areas outside the town. After all, i dont think that moving khat out of sight would move it at the same time out of the mind - these green leaves are too deeply rooted in the minds of the people as if closing down the selling areas alone would solve the problem.

You want to know more? A friend of mine (actually the english teacher for the support staff af CARE) recently wrote an article on Khat. Read it, it will tell you more about the importance of Khat and of the problems it is causing here in Somaliland!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4145400.stm

And if you want to understand better the effects of khat on peoples mind, go to Dr. Mohammed Alkamels page: www.geocities.com/forceps1974/ That guy must defenitely have been eating a lot of khat while working on his website!

In the meantime it became dark outside the house, the Khat lorries are competing with the Dolby Surround of the Mullahs, and Osman, the cook, promised me to prepare pizza tonight. Besides Pizza, he offered me some whiskey - since i am not chewing khat (yet) ... ;-)

Have a sunny day!

kuehler regen

Lulla und Johanna vor der "hacienda",

Kopftuecher - man beachte - farblich uebereingestimmt

fuenfter tag in hargeisa. draussen surren die mullahs ihre gebete in die mikrophone, sozusagen im dolby surround, da im umkreis von fuenfhundert metern in jede himmelsrichtung mindestens drei moscheen plaziert sind. gebrochen wird ihr gesang nur vom regen. ja, es regnet in hargeisa. untertags bleibt es dennoch heiss und trocken. der regen hat einen nachteil - abgesehen von der kurzweiligen erfrischung, die er bringt: er lockt die moskitos aus ihren verstecken! innerhalb von fuenf minuten wurde ich von ca zehn dieser kleinen biester gestochen, mit dem ergebnis, dass ich statt emails zu schreiben vier fuenftel meiner zeit mit kratzen beschaeftigt bin. Lulla hat schon recht, wenn sie ihre ganzkoerperbedeckung auch im haus anbehaelt :-)

Abgesehen vom Kampf gegen die Moskitos habe ich in den vergangenen tagen damit begonnen, mich durch das durcheinander im Aktenschrank zu wuehlen, auf der suche nach informationen ueber vergangene care projekte und gegenwaertige aktivitaeten. Meine aktivitaet derzeit besteht also hauptsaechlich darin, niesanfaelle abzuschuetteln (die schraenke sind nicht nur unordentlich, sondern auch voll mit staub!), dabei moeglichst mein kopftuch nicht zu verlieren, und das gefundene aufzuarbeiten. Heute, am dritten tag, begleitete ich meinen chef auf ein meeting mit anderen ingo's. Da sie alle irgendwie am selben thema arbeiten, naemlich education, wurde zu beginn des treffens festgestellt, dass es eindeutig mehr solche treffen geben sollte - vermutlich das routinierteste statements derartiger treffen. Thema dieses treffens war der international literacy day am 8. september - also einer jener tage, an dem die schlagworte -awareness building im mittelpunkt stehen! Dementgegen wurde zu beginn des treffens vorgeschlagen, ein abendessen mit den hiesigen politikern zu organisieren - na, wenn das awareness building ist? zum glueck wurde dieser vorschlag bald wieder verworfen, stattdessen haben wir uns auf einen marsch, gekroent von einigen reden, preisverleihungen, theaterstuecken und life bekenntnissen geeinigt. puh... unicef sponsert tshirts fuer die marschteilnehmerInnen ("we have plenty of them" - klang fast so, als wuerden sie den tag als anlass nutzen, alten krempel loszuwerden"), African education trust, die armen, sollen die leitung uebernehmen, da sie im vorigen jahr bereits so einen tag veranstaltet haben, und der rest beteiligt sich finanziell... auch wenn ich derartigen tagen etwas skeptisch gegenueber stehe, werde ich natuerlich auch einen part ergattern - frau will ja nicht umsonst in somaliland sein.

abgesehen von diesen short news gibt es nicht viel zu berichten. nachdem ie "supportive staff", also die security guards, drivers, und wer halt sonst so nach arbeitsende im compound herumgurkt meine kamera entdeckten, wurde ich temporaer zur fotografin erkoren - und so war auch schon der nachmittag vorueber!

nun wartet das abendessen, osman, ein wahrhaft goettlicher koch, hat jahre in italien gelebt und kocht delizioese pasta, und bevor mich die moskitos mit einem aparitiv verwechseln, verlasse ich dieses buero lieber.

inshalla, wie man hier so schoen sagt!

hacienda

Die Umgebung: ein paar Hügel, ein paar Häuser, nicht viel Farbe, dafür ein unendlich weiter, blauer Himmel.

















Irgendwie erinnert mich das Haus, in dem ich aller Voraussicht nach die kommenden vier Monate verbringen werde, an eine spanische Hacienda.

noch mehr eindrücke aus hargeisa

Eindrücke meiner ersten Streifzüge durch hargeisa... Mit dem Jeep durch die Straßen zu kurven scheint eine der wenigen Freizeitaktivitäten zu sein, die diese Stadt zu bieten hat...

Zu entdecken gibt es zum Glück vieles: Fliegermonumente, Märkte, neue und alte Gebäude, Geldwechsler (scheint neben dem Verkaufen von Khat, einer Art Kautabak, eine der lukrativsten Geschäftsmöglichkeiten in Hargeisa zu sein), Goldgeschäfte, ... Alles in allem wurde mir bisher auf derartigen Streifzügen nicht langweilig!

impressions of hargeisa

Hargeisa.... die Farbpalette reicht von Braun ueber Okker zu Beige, Grau, und ein paar verdoerrten, olivgruenen stachelbueschen!

von wien nach hargeisa

beinahe nichts im leben geht direkt, und schon gar eine reise von wien nach hargeisa. Daher flog ich von Wien ueber Dubai nach Nairobi, von Nairobi nach Mombasa und zurueck, und schlussendlich von Nairobi nach Addis Ababa und weiter nach Hargeisa, im Zentrum Somalilands. Je naeher ich Somaliland kam, desto fraglicher wurde der Zustand der Flugzeuge. Das letzte Flugzeug war ein fuenfzigzitzer, des Typs Fokker. Die Innenaustattung verriet das Alter des Flugzeugs, und der Geruch, den die ausgesessenen Sitze verstroemten, liess mich vermuten, dass in dem FLugzeug bis vor kurzem noch rauchen erlaubt war. Beim Take Off ratterte und vibrierte der Propeller so stark, dass ich augenblicklich an das Schicksal meines alten CIAO (=italienisches Minimotorbike) denken musste. Irgendwie schaffte es das Flugzeug dann doch noch bis zum "international Airport Hargeisa". Das Attribut international verdient der Flughafen allerdings kaum: von aussen schaut er aus wie eine Baracke, und innen drinnen gehts zu wie auf einem Kamelmarkt. Da ich mehr damit beschaeftigt war, moeglichst saemtliche Teile meines Kopfes zu bedecken, bekam ich von dem Trubel leider nicht allzu viel mit.
Der Schritt ins Freie kam einem Sprung in eine klebrige Menasse gleich: stickige Luft umfing mich und so stand ich erst mal lediglich die augen nach links und rechts bewegend da. Die Erloesung kam in Form eines four wheel Vehicels und seinem Chauffeur. CARE? HMH!! GO IN! Viel English verstand er nicht, der Typ mit der coolen Sonnenbrille. Auf dem Weg ins CARE Quartier versuchte er mir die wichtigsten Gebaeude der Stadt naeherzubringen: Ein Monument mit einem halben Kampfflugzeug on top (von den Bombardierungen 1988), jede Menge Minsterien (allerdings alle leer, da es bereits drei uhr am Nachmittag war), der Palast des Praesidenten, und ein paar internationale Organisation. Endlich errreichten wir das CARE Gebaeude - einer spanischen Hacienda gleichkommend wirkte es wie eine Oase in der Wueste.
Den rest des Tages verbrachte ich damit, die Eindruecke der Fahrt zu verdauen. Derzeitiges Resumee: Heiss, Trocken, Verschleiert, aber dennoch eine sympathische Stadt!