Landing and Driving

The first question that came to my mom's mind when I told her I would be studying abroad in Somalia was "Why?" Well, thats an excellent question. I applied for and received a scholarship from the United Nations that would allow me to go on an exchange to a developing country. The United Nations would pay for my trip, but the catch was I would need to document my experience so they could have an inside view of the situation in Somalia. So here I am today.

I was not too surprised to learn that the United States had an air traffic block on Somalia, seeing as the Somalian terrorists do not take very kindly to Americans. Instead, the United Nations benevolently payed for my flight, which would have cost around $1,500 for a round trip. So, 24 hours and two layovers (one in London and one in Ethiopia) later, I am finally here. For someplace that was supposed to be right next to the ocean, Somalia is sure dusty.  It has all the wind and salty air that Alki Beach has back in Seattle, but less lacks vegetation and the welcoming atmosphere.

Another thing that was really different for me was having to wear a hijab.  A hijab is a headscarf that muslim woman wears to, in simple words, remain modest. The majority of people here are Sunni Muslim, and according to the Quran (the Islam holy book), women must remain modest in public at all times.  They must cover their hair because to prevent either gender from having lustful, and therefore sinful, thoughts (because hair is the most seducing part of the body. I am not required by law to wear one, but I prefer to, just to help hide the fact that I am a pale ginger kid and allow me to blend in.

One might think that wearing full body clothing in the middle of summer in 90 degree heat would be hot. Well they would be correct.  However, the heat was dry, not sticky and sweaty, so it wasn't as bad as it could have been.

Anyway, my host family picked me up from the airport and a taxi drove us through  the capital, Mogadishu.  I was stunned to find so demolished buildings (demolished in the sense that they were bombed, not a construction project). Sure, many buildings were still intact, but a thin layer of dust from the destroyed buildings engulfed them. A rusty, blown up car lied on this one street.  Its the car's roof was about a block and a half south of the car. People just walked by like it was a regular occurrence. It probably was. Rival war lords have ruled Somalia for many years, and often violence breaks out in the streets, especially in Mogadishu.

To better understand how I was feeling, I have included a video of a drive through Mogadishu in 2013 that was almost identical to mine:

Note the tents outside some of the buildings. Those are people's homes because their old ones were destroyed by the violence. The government does not provide insurance or assistance to help them back on their feet, their only possible source of aid is the United Nations. Also, compared to downtown Seattle, Mogadishu was pretty quiet.  People talked amongst themselves and cars drove around, but there was no roar of any freeways or honking from cars.  I hoped that it would stay that way.