Mogadishu

It's time to begin catching up after many weeks of not writing. Time to write is a luxury.

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(Sept. 19) I’m in Baidoa, in southwest Somalia as I write this. For security reasons, I am not allowed to post things in Somalia while I am currently in that specific location. So, this won’t be posted until I’m somewhere else. But before I discuss my current visit, I need to go back to my previous trip to Somalia – the one that I took at the end of August/early September.

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After returning from the US, I was anxious to get back to work. Not only get back to work but get back to Somalia. That may sound odd to some but I do like what I do and I do like my team. Moreover, we are in the midst of a terrible drought that seems to be headed in the direction of a full-on famine. It’s a very serious situation and something that was in the back of my mind throughout the time that I was in the US. My team did a fantastic job while I was away but I wanted to get back to supporting them.

Within a little over a week of being back, I boarded a plane for Mogadishu (Aug. 28). One advantage of being back in Somalia, being away from family, was that I could really focus. Hanging out with family is one of the best things in life. But as the humanitarian situation continued to deteriorate, I desperately needed this time to dedicate to getting caught up and making sure our drought response was quickly scaling up.

I normally travel early Sunday. The 4am wake-up and 6:30 flight get me to the office at the beginning of the workday and workweek. It cuts my weekend in half but it’s an efficient use of my time. From the time I hit the ground, it was meeting after meeting as everyone was catching me up on what had happened while I was away, and to at least give me their take on what had transpired.

By day three, I was ready to escape the confines of the office. Not being able to duck out for a run or a cup of coffee, or do anything that involves me leaving the building without security detail can drive someone a bit crazy after a while.

My escape was to head to the “green zone” and participate in a panel discussion on reaching marginalized communities hosted by the UN. It took place in one of the container facilities (hotels) within the airport compound. As I’ve mentioned before, the airport area is more like a large military base and the airport takes up only about a third of the fortified complex. The rest is made up of armed compounds within the armed compound for private companies, UN, embassies, etc. It’s a dusty, sandy web of roads linking these compounds (most of which are collections of container buildings) and teaming with SUVs and armored personnel carriers (APCs). It’s a completely different world from what I experience on the outside. Though there are plenty of SUVs and APCs, we have noisy children playing in the dirt streets, bleating goats and an occasional meandering camel. Overall, life is better on the outside.

Mogadishu scene - camels wandering the street, kids resting from playing football, a sliver of ocean view

After the meeting, it was back to the office for a combination of face-to-face and virtual meetings. One twist this time was that one of my staff asked me if I wanted to go out to dinner with a couple of colleagues. It was a bold request given that I had actually never really been out to dinner in Mogadishu. I’ve been out to dinner in Garowe (Puntland) a couple of times where it’s considerably safer, but never in the capital.

She arranged for an armored pick-up which came to pick us up around 7pm. We headed out in the darkness of the Mogadishu evening. There’s only been one other time that I was in a vehicle after dark on the streets of the city and that was after a function at the British embassy in the green zone. The event went a bit late and the VIP gate that I normally use was closed. As such, we had to make our way to another gate that was on the opposite side of the base. Somalia, being farther north than Nairobi, gets dark a half hour to forty-five minutes earlier.

from my window - camel with the owner's phone number

Fortunately, our destination was only a couple of kilometers away. We pulled up in front of the unmarked perimeter wall of the restaurant compound. This is where things are usually the sketchiest. I was told to disembark from the side nearest the wall where I would slip quickly through the metal door, past a metal detector and two armed guards and into the compound. Once inside things were calm and peaceful. No foreigners, obviously, but people sitting around having tea in the dimly lit courtyard. I was escorted to a far table in near complete darkness with only a small light barely revealing the faces of my colleagues.

I felt like a kid skipping school. Though he wasn’t with me, my head of security did indeed agree to this. That was another thing that was weird for me. He normally shadows me when I’m in country. I suppose it made me feel even more reckless. Nonetheless, it was a stunningly beautiful evening. I could see a crescent moon between the palm fronds waving in the warm evening breeze.

At one point the manager appeared through the darkness. He’s a skinny, smiley Ugandan guy that I’ve known for a few years (I’ve been to this place during the day several times) and he seemed surprised to see me. I told him I was surprised to be there myself.

We ordered (fish curry for me) and the proceeded to sip on our juices as we waited for dinner (alcohol’s illegal though it would have been a nice evening for a glass of wine). Given that there had been a hotel attack a few days prior that involved some of our staff (thankfully no one was injured or killed), much of the conversation revolved around that and other attacks that they had encountered over the years of living and working in Somalia. Sobering conversation but it wasn’t without a few laughs here and there.

After dinner we made our way back to the exit, getting a couple of double takes along the way. We entered our compound and I was relieved that we’d pulled it off without a hitch. I’m not saying I’m empowered to keep pushing that envelope because I’m not. I’m just happy for the nice experience.

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The next morning, I was plowing through emails when the head of our Mogadishu office came to the guesthouse where I was working and asked if I was okay with have a meeting with the Deputy Prime Minister. I said yes, of course, though it does involve a bit of risk heading to the seat of power for the Somalia Federal Government. But you can’t pass up an opportunity such as this. We need close ties with this new government and at this point I know very few of them.

With short notice, we made our way to Villa Somalia, the former home of the Italian colonial government decades ago. I’ve been before but it’s always quite the adventure getting through the innumerable layers of security, boom gates, etc. Once inside, we had the customary wait in the spacious waiting lounge. Once inside, the meeting went fairly well. I suspected that I was rather bad at these things given that perpetual look of boredom I often get when meeting with high-level officials. But a Somali guy I know who runs another international organization told me he gets the same looks. According to him, that’s what a lot of Somali people in power do. Maybe. Or we’re both boring.

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Over the past several months, I’ve been quite heavily engaged in speaking to media about the drought. We have communications people that set these things up, sometimes with an idea of what they want to discuss specifically, sometimes not. It’s mostly been media outlets in the US and Europe.

me with the princess

As mentioned in a recent post, I missed out on a chance to meet the former Prince of Wales. However, I did in fact get to meet royalty. The day after the meeting with the Deputy PM, I had been asked to participate in a discussion with Princess Sarah Zeid of Jordan. She is a goodwill ambassador for WFP and in her role was visiting the country. Not very often I get to meet a real princess and that afternoon I headed back into the fortified “green zone” (which, by the way, has absolutely green whatsoever) for the meeting.

Mogadishu sunset

The princess had just returned from a trip to Galkacyo (central Somalia) and I was impressed that she was authorized to do such a thing, and that she was willing to do so. After the roundtable discussion, I spoke to her separately for a few minutes and it was clearer to me why she was willing to leave the confines of the UN compound, when so many from the UN don’t (or supposedly can’t). It seems that she really has her heart in this goodwill ambassador role. I almost felt like she knew more about some of these issues than some who do this for a living. Refreshing, I must say.

Idaho

Still catching up on the vacation. A lot happened. Needs to be recorded. Stuff still happening so I need to get caught up soon.

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Of all the meticulous planning that went into the six-week, multi-country, multi-state trip, Idaho was probably the most tightly planned. From the time we landed, we were immediately off to run errands, well before we saw any family or friends. Given that we intended to go backpacking the next day, we drove straight from the airport to our storage, sifted through our belongings for what we would need, particularly for camping, and then headed to shops to fill some gaps in our supplies.

My goal was to front-load all of this and be to my sister’s in time for tea. We wanted to have some time with family before heading out the next morning for the mountains.

The added constraint to our itinerary was the fact that about halfway through, my wife would be leaving us for Istanbul to attend a class reunion. As such, we needed to fit in as many activities as possible before she left. The first priority (for me), was to squeeze in a backpack trip.

 

Backpacking

Weeks before leaving, I spent some time scanning maps of the central part of the state looking for a possible alpine lake destination. Since my wife and I were married, we’ve been able to visit/backpack to over a dozen mountain lakes, taking a gap for about five years when we had babies. Now, with kids, we generally target lakes that involve a short hike and no crowds. Usually that implies a certain amount of remoteness. Deep Lake fit the bill.

The next morning we headed north. It’s about a two-and-a-half-hour drive to get to my brother’s place where, for some reason, I was thinking we had some of our gear. En route, we discovered that this wasn’t the case. At that point, I wasn’t sure where the gear was but we knew at that point we were going to be short some sleeping bags and a tent. Long story short, we were able to pull together some stuff from my brother, sister and a store to make this happen. Where there’s a will, there’s a way.

After a quick stop at my brother’s place, we proceeded to the town of McCall for lunch. From there we drove a little over a half hour farther north to the trailhead. Given the scattered way in which our gear was assembled this year, it took a bit longer to put together some manageable, hikeable backpacks. By the time we were attaching them to our backs, they were a bit heavier than anticipated. I suspect we’ll do better next time when we’re better organized.

at the trailhead

I looked online and there wasn’t a lot of information about the lake. What I did read was fairly accurate though I think it was far more beautiful than the photos that I saw portrayed.

The hike begins with a fairly gradual ascent. One thing that was mentioned online was that the hike is quite exposed due to a forest fire a couple decades ago. This turned out to be the case but the hike is short enough that it’s not a big deal. About halfway, the hike gets fairly steep as you make your way up the side of the mountain before cresting at the bowl-like area where the lake is. This is similar to other hikes we’ve done. The kids felt some elation when they began to see the blue of the water, knowing that their destination was in sight.

room with a view

We had no problems identifying a campsite. There weren’t too many options but all options were good – right at the edge of the lake. Though we’d seen a couple people on the way up, there was no one at the lake and we would have it to ourselves until we were breaking camp the next morning. It probably helped that it wasn’t a weekend.

We proceeded to set up camp. To me, it’s one of the best parts of camping. We had two tents: one for the kids and the other for the grown-ups. The day had gone according to plan and we were set up in time for late afternoon tea. As the sun lowered, the air began to cool. We started a campfire as the bright yellow-ish orange sunset developed on the horizon. It was a perfect evening. The lake was still and you could see and hear fish jumping occasionally. A nearly full moon began to rise above the lake to the south. I don’t think we could have asked for a better setting.

taking a dip

Eventually we made our way into our tents. The night was calm. Around 2am I was awoken by the sound of some sort of creature not far from the tent. I immediately assume it was a deer. We turned on the flashlight and sure enough, there was a large doe standing just a few feet away. She seemed unfazed by the light and carried on nibbling at the grass. She stayed for quite some time, to the point that I fell asleep while she was still there.

Deep Lake

The next morning the air was chilly and I made a fire and started some coffee. Early morning is also one of the best parts of camping. For me.

After breakfast, we broke camp and made our way down the mountain to the car. I was sad we had to limit it to one night but, given the tight schedule, I’m glad we pulled it off at all. Next year I’ll make sure we have a two-night stay.

 

Car Camping

After stopping in McCall for lunch, we headed south to meet family for a bit of car camping. I’m okay with car camping though I do find it inferior to backpacking. But it was good to hang out with family. We were hit during the night with a massive rainstorm. Our car camping tent kept us dry but the next morning was a mess as we packed up.

We took a spin on my niece and husband’s boat. I’m not a big boat person but it was fun to be out on the lake on a beautiful day.

In keeping with our need to spend no more than a night in any location, we headed on towards my brother’s place to attend a party his neighbor was having. Apparently every year they invite some family and friends to an afternoon of food and games. We were obviously outsiders but they love my brother and he figured we (particularly my daughters) would be a nice addition since it was primarily for kids. Indeed they were.

As we parked at my brother’s house on a hillside adjacent to where the party was, I saw something move down the lane. It was a baby bear. Soon we saw a second and then a third. And then their mother. The looked to be making their way down the hill so we all jumped back in the vehicle, sped down the lane and just as we got to the road, the four of them crossed and headed down the other side.

We drove to where they crossed and we saw them scampering across the valley below heading for the mountain on the other side. Eventually we lost sight of them as they ducked into the forest. It’s so amazing to see bears in the wild.

We weren’t sure what to expect but it turned out to be a wonderful afternoon. It was good to see that my brother had such cool people in his area. And for us, given the chances that we move to the area.

One couple that was there was from French-speaking Belgium (Wallonia). It was the strangest thing to be in a rather remote part of Idaho and hear a couple arrive at a party speaking French. I obviously couldn’t resist the temptation to introduce myself, let them know that I had lived in Belgium and that my family were francophone. I think they were as shocked as we were. The woman was not as strong in English as her husband and I think she was quite happy to be able to chat with people in her native language.

Afterwards we headed to my sister’s house/cabin about twenty minutes back up the road. For everything we did, I wish we had had more time. Again, at least we were able to fit all this in.

We had a very nice evening at my sister’s wonderful home, only to wake up the next morning and move on to our next destination. Before we left, I took some time visit the property we bought just prior to the pandemic. I met the contractor who has been helping us work on the house. It’s slow, given that available contractors are hard to come by, but it’s inching along. At this point I don’t think it will be done until mid-next year.

The next stop would be my parents’ house about four and a half hours to the south. It’s a relatively easy drive and, with my three passengers, I was getting my fill of the latest in pop music.

 

Kimberly

I rather enjoy spending time in the Magic Valley where I grew. I likely enjoy it more than my siblings for some reason. I’ve mentioned this is previous blog posting but I think it has something to do with the simplicity of the place. The nostalgia. And it’s so radically different from where I live and work.

One reason for the visit was to participate in a 65^th wedding anniversary party for my parents. They’ve avoided having a single massive event but, and I think wisely, they have opted on a couple smaller gatherings. Easier to have conversations with people and I think they can get overwhelmed by larger groups.

 

Boise

Then it was back to Boise to hang out with my sister and then see my beloved wife off to Istanbul. Boise was sweltering hot and unpleasant by day. Evenings were quite nice.

One thing we were invited to do was assist in the spreading of my brother-in-law’s ashes. John passed away a few weeks prior to our trip and my eldest sister has still very much been in the grieving period. When we were with them a year ago, he knew that there was a strong chance that he didn’t have much longer to live. He mentioned to Priya while we were walking through a Boise park that after his death, he would be there. It was touching moment that Priya relayed to my sister. As a result, during our visit she invited us to the spreading of some of his ashes in the park.

One interesting additional point is that John said he always loved yellow roses, acknowledging that most people preferred the other colors. So my sister decided to begin the spreading of ashes where some yellow roses were. As we walked up to the chosen bushes, we were caught off guard by the name of the variety of these particular roses:

We had dinner with my uncle Rich (my namesake) and Aunt Charlotte for dinner. I saw them briefly last spring when I was in Idaho for wrist surgery but I haven’t been able to spend much time with them in recent years. As I kid I would go fishing every year with them, my cousins and grandparents. It was always something I looked forward to, particularly because it usually coincided with the end of the school year/beginning of summer.

The following day we bid a sad farewell to my wife as she headed to Turkey. The girls haven’t spent much time away from their mother over the years so they were quite sad. It would only be for about 5 days that I would be single dad but it would include travel back to Europe.

 

Back to Kimberly

The next day we would remain in Boise for another family gathering before heading back to see my parents again and another family gathering. My dad had injured his leg not long before we arrived in Idaho and the onset of infection caused him to be hospitalized. In addition to visiting him at the hospital, we decided to do some yard work while we were there, recognizing that they would have less ability to take care of such things during this time.

One thing we did while we were there was go to Shoshone Falls. It’s a significant tourist attraction and I always love going there when I’m in town. There’s a lake nearby that I used to go to when I was young to swim and jump off the rocks. It’s changed since then, obviously, and now they have a diving board and several docks. It’s a bit “tamer” compared to the old days which is probably good. I was surprised that Kiran was keen to join me in jumping off the cliff into the lake. One always hesitates when standing at the top and peering down at the water. It’s great that she did it.

Back to Boise

Soon we were back in Boise for the home stretch, not only of the time in Idaho but of the entire trip. We mostly ran some last-minute errands and did a bit of swimming at a local pool. By the time we were heading to the airport, I think we were all ready to go. We would reunite with Priya in London before continuing on towards Paris and then Nairobi.

It was a long journey full of so many wonderful experiences. But it was time to go home and return to our routines. And back to work.

St. Paul and on to Indiana

Back to the vacation...

In the second half of July, we made our way to the US. Travel was a bit precarious with massive crowds, cancelled flights, etc. But somehow we were able to make all of our unwieldy connections and get to where we needed to be, more or less when we needed to be there.

 

airport chaos in London

St. Paul

Our first stop is often St. Paul, Minnesota, to see our friend Kathy. This has been built into our itineraries for many years, facilitated by the fact that our flights generally go through MSP airport regardless. Kathy has known our daughters since they were born and has become like an aunt to them. It’s such a wonderful, peaceful place to land after the chaos of international travel – particularly these days.

Minnesota, land of 10,000 lakes

As I often say, the Twin Cities is a very livable area. It’s green. People are active and there are loads of well-kept trails for biking, jogging or walking. Lots of things to do. If it had mountains, I would rank it even higher on my livable cities list.

This year, as we anticipated, would be hotter than normal. But after record temperatures in the UK, we were already used to it. Our girls are not strangers to hot weather so they adapt pretty quickly. And we spent quite a bit of time indoors.

downtown St. Paul and the farmers' market

One challenge we faced in our planning was traveling to see family in southern Indiana. When we were looking at flights several months ago, options were few and cost was far higher than normal. We considered our options and, in the end, we decided to drive. Ten-hour drives in the US are relatively easy compared to what they are in Africa. Nonetheless, it’s tiring, particularly with kids.

 

 

Indiana

Given the demands injected into our schedule, we had much less time in Indiana than we normally do. Though there was some down time, each of our stops on this trip sort of felt as though we were on the go all the time. The upside was that we were able to fit so much in. The downside was that we had little time to relax. I suppose if you glance at a few photos, it gives the impression that it was more relaxing than it was. It wasn’t unpleasant by any means. Just busy.

a drink along the Ohio River

I dream of the day that I spend my vacations with less driving and flying. I would like to do more reading, writing, hiking, etc. I think it will be some time away but I anticipate that it’s coming in the next few years. I have a friend that goes on vacation to the US from Kenya and he sets up his family at their home in the US and that’s it. If people want to see them, they come to him. We’re not at that point but it has certainly reduced the amount of time that they spend traveling.

The time in Indiana was enjoyable but wasn’t loaded with big events. We spent Kinaya’s birthday at a water park. We had a lot of quality time with family. Time with the gang was the main thing.

After about ten days in Indiana, we loaded up the car and headed back to Minnesota. As I said, it’s not a bad drive but it’s a lot of the same thing – except for skirting alongside Indianapolis and Chicago urban areas.

After one night in back in St. Paul, we were off to Idaho for a packed week and a half.