Indiana

It seems like years ago that we went on vacation. It was just over a month, but the relativity of time seems to be elastic. Time seems to stand still at traffic lights and accelerate on hikes in the mountains.

I’ll attempt to catch up.

Chicago

We left Nairobi on a cool night in the second week of July, though the start didn’t go as planned. The night we were to leave, we received a message stating that our flight was cancelled. After considerable confusion over the course of several hours, it was eventually confirmed that we would be put on a flight the following night. After all the stress, we woke up the next day to a day that we didn’t expect. I was already officially on vacation so we pivoted towards catching up on things in Nairobi, hoping we would indeed fly out that evening. And thankfully we did.

Charles de Gaulle airport with the Eiffel Tower off in the distance

Our plan was to arrive in Chicago, which is not something that we ordinarily do. O’Hare Airport was my arrival airport during the time that my brother lived there a few decades ago, but I have rarely passed through there since. The change this time was prompted by the fact that we would be ending up in Michigan prior to traveling to Idaho. Chicago made the most sense to be our hub this time, both logistically and financially.

We arrived early evening and the plan was to stay in a hotel near the airport before making the four and a half-hour drive to southern Indiana the following day. Heavily jet lagged, we ordered pizza, hopped in the jacuzzi during a massive storm, watched some bad American TV, and stayed awake as long as we could before falling into a deep sleep.

After a casual start the following day and lunch on the road, we were in Scottsburg by tea time.

Indiana

We would have a shorter time in Indiana given that we would be spending a few days at a vacation house in Michigan. After settling in, we smoothly moved into our routines of hanging out with family, exercising/going for walks, etc.

working off the food we are eating

We often go to a small theater across the river from Louisville. Senior citizens tend to make up a large percentage of their ticket holders, though it can draw a significant number of families depending on the production. We saw “Matilda”, a play that my daughters are familiar with having seen the two different movie versions more than once. 

the kids' table really doesn't have kids anymore

The evening begins with a buffet dinner followed by some great (albeit large) dessert options. The plays primarily make use of local talent and I’m always impressed by the quality of the productions. And interestingly, the cast also waits tables prior to the performance, during intermission and after the show. I think if I lived in the area, I would be a season ticket holder. It must mean I’m inching closer to the senior demographic.

birthday season

Of the four people in our family, three of our birthdays fall within 23 days of each other, all while we are usually traveling. I'm usually a failure and making these events sufficiently special. The girls would much rather be in Nairobi celebrating with their friends. The problem is, even if we were to stay in Nairobi over the vacation, almost all of their friends would likely be traveling anyway. But we do the best we can. 

Often when we are in southern Indiana this time of year, we are subjected to the usual hot, muggy weather. Though we did have some of that, we did have slightly cooler temperatures and a considerable amount of rain. In fact, many roads flooded and we had a few rather stressful sections where the water was up to the doors of the car.

* * * 

After about ten days, we headed north towards Michigan. My sister’s boyfriend kindly invited the family to spend a few days at his family house located on the shores of Lake Michigan. On the way, we passed through South Bend to visit a chocolate factory and an adjacent dinosaur museum. I won’t go into the reason we stopped nor the connection between dinosaurs and chocolate, but I was glad we took the time for the visit. It was much more impressive than I would have guessed.

dinosaurs & chocolate...and yes, they had chocolate dinosaurs

some people even look good in a hairnet

Kinaya helping out in the factory

After a quick lunch, we traveled the remaining three hours to our lakeside destination in Michigan.

The Homestretch

It’s not often that there are two Idaho stories on the New York Times front page. It’s not often that there is even one. Both stories involved white guys in their 20s brutally killing multiple people. Both incidents took place within an hour and a half drive of each other. Neither of the perpetrators was raised in Idaho. I’m not going to launch into any comment on these tragedies, though I think there is probably fodder for deeper reflection.

* * *

as seen on my way to the office in Nairobi

We’re now in the homestretch to vacation. I have no more travel to Somalia until August. I am exhausted and ready to have a break.

girl dad having Korean food with his daughters

The one bad thing about leaving East Africa at this time of year is abandoning the wonderfully cool weather in exchange for, what appears to be, very hot weather. It’s only for about four weeks, so I think we can handle it. I just really like Kenya this time of year. I hesitate to say that it’s chilly, since it doesn’t require a jacket (at least for me). But it hovers around the upper 50s and 60s F (14-20 C).

* * *

If you’ve been tracking international news lately, you might be aware that Kenya has been experiencing protests. Last year, on the 25^th of June, thousands of protesters stormed the Kenyan Parliament Building in response to the passing of a finance bill, part of a larger series of protests against proposed tax increases. The protest escalated when the police opened fire at the protesters. Nineteen people died during the demonstrations as a result of the police response. The president subsequently vetoed the bill the following day.

Kinaya with a cup of tea watching smoke risking from the protests in the distance

Though protests were already planned for this year to commemorate the above, and to protest broader public concerns regarding the rising cost of living and political corruption, fuel was poured on the fire a few weeks ago when a Kenyan blogger and teacher died in police custody as a result of mysterious circumstances. Outrage grew and the table was set for a pretty dramatic day on the 25^th. Many establishments across the city closed for the day in anticipation of possible violence (including my office and our girls’ school).

The growing challenge with these sorts of things is that people have a tendency to hijack protests because they are unemployed and/or bored, or because they are looking for prime looting opportunities. Violence erupts in what likely would otherwise have been a peaceful protest. It’s obviously not unique to Kenya, but it’s sad and undermines what should be a normal part of a functioning democracy.

As expected, things got a bit crazy last Wednesday. The Kenyan National Commission on Human Rights confirmed 19 deaths from gunfire, over 500 injuries among protesters, bystanders and police officers and at least 6 incidents of rape and sexual assault. It was another sad day for the country.

* * *

Aladdin
To finish on a lighter note, last week my daughter participated in a stage musical at her school. Though I was familiar with the movie Aladdin as well as the book, I didn’t know much about the musical. It turned out to be quite fun. It wasn’t Broadway (where I think it is still being performed), but the teachers and kids did a good job with modest resources. Unlike her father, Kinaya loves being on stage and our plan is to get the girls more involved in theater next year.  

For now, their year is done. Two joyous months of vacation begin. I remember it well (except we had three months). We never traveled halfway around the globe during my vacations, but I do remember that thrill of putting school behind me for a couple months. Though all the travel is stressful at times, I think we'll all enjoy a break for a few weeks.

Mogadishu

As I type, it is Father’s Day. It’s not the first time I’ve spent this day away from home. The nature of my work over the past twenty years has involved considerable travel. It’s inevitable that this would cause me to be away from family on Father’s Day and/or my birthday. Being away on Mother’s Day would be more of an issue.

* * *

Uncommon Rain

I’ve been in Mogadishu for about three days and so far it has rained each day, even if for brief periods. That’s uncommon, in fact I think it’s the first time in the 8+ years that I’ve worked here that this has happened (in the end, it rained at least once each day for seven days).

It has been enough to create havoc in a city that has terrible drainage. I was told that between the 1950s and 1980s, infrastructure in the city was quite good. The Italians had invested in roads, water and sewage prior to independence in 1960 and it was maintained fairly well until the civil war began in the early 90s. At that point the city was more or less destroyed. Since the war ended in the 2000s, conflict and corruption have hampered investments in infrastructure. Though there has been a construction boom over the last decade, the underlying infrastructure is not keeping pace. Even marginal amounts of rain can create mayhem.

For some, the consequences can be devastating, including people dying from the collapsing of buildings or consuming tainted water. For others, it is more the nuisance of impassable roads, flood damage and soaking your shoes. Regardless of the impact, there doesn’t seem to be much ability or will to make the necessary changes.

Even within the “green zone”, a relatively small amount of rain can create issues. I attended a meeting last Thursday and water was up to the doors of the armored vehicle. One would think that the UN could make the necessary changes, particularly given their resources, the relatively flat terrain and proximity to the coast. In addition to a lack of will, there seems to be a lack of ownership given the ambiguous nature of land that is technically in Somalia but practically being run the by the UN.

The obvious positive aspect to this is that parts of Somalia are receiving more rain than anticipated, making them less vulnerable to possible drought in the coming dry season.  

* * *

Socializing

As I’ve mentioned recently, I’m not able to spend as much time in Somalia as I was before given the funding reductions over the last few months. While it allows me more time with family (a good thing), it complicates the ability to do my job. It is essential that I maintain contact with the work on the ground, with my team and with the government and other partners. It’s a big part of what I do and sitting in Nairobi complicates things unless I can arrange some of these engagements there.

On this trip, I was invited to an event with the outgoing head of UNICEF. She’s a wonderful, talented woman and I’ve enjoyed working with her. I’m sad to see her go.

The event, held at the UNICEF office, was relatively small and consisted of people that worked more closely with her. I knew about half of those who attended, and it was a good opportunity to reconnect with a lot of people I hadn’t seen for a while (and a good opportunity to network with a lot of people at the same event – a bonus since I’m not here as often).

It was also a nice opportunity to have different foods. The cook at our guesthouse is quite good and I have no complaints. Though she seems to have a fairly limited rotation of meals. I need to be careful as well. I noticed that if I say something nice about one of the dishes, I tend to see it a lot thereafter. Case in point, I had a really nice camel stew a few months ago. I commented on how good it was and now it appears for dinner every couple of days.

* * *

The Mosque

Being in Mogadishu on the weekend isn’t ideal given that not much is happening in the office, and I miss out on a weekend with my family. On this occasion, however, I did fill the space with a couple of meetings in the “green zone” and I was able to lower my head and catch up on copious amounts of emails and other work.

On Friday, a colleague reached out to me and asked if I wanted to go to the mosque. He was graciously seeking to extract me from the confines of the guesthouse, particularly over the quiet weekend. And I think he also just likes to chat. Unlike other countries, most Somalis (except the tiny minority that work inside the “green zone”) don’t often get chances to interact with foreigners, particularly Westerners, given the security situation. So I’m a bit of a novelty.

visit to a mosque in Cote d'Ivoire in 1990

I had never been to this mosque. I’ve been to other mosques in Cote d’Ivoire, Istanbul and Jerusalem. At the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, I had only made it just inside the entrance when some unrest nearby (protests, rock throwing, etc.) caused them to abruptly close the mosque and thwart my chance to see the interior.

Istanbul in the early 90s

an early 90s photo of the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem as they were shutting the area down due to unrest

The Ali Jimale Mosque is near our office and was built since I’ve been working in Somalia. It took about two years to construct at a cost of around $12 million. It’s inspired by Turkish (Ottoman-style) mosques, unsurprisingly since Turkey maintains a big influence on this country, both economically and socially.

It’s a stunning building. I’ve seen it from a distance since it was built but I never thought I would be able to visit, primarily due to security reasons. As you might guess, tourism is not a big thing in Mogadishu, particularly for some ethnicities and nationalities.

I figured that if I had the green light from my security guy (whom I trust after years of working together), I was game. He said to keep it short for obvious reasons and we would aim for a time when the mosque was the least busy. Fridays are the big days for the mosque, while Saturdays tend to be much less busy. We just needed to wait until after the Asr (afternoon) prayers.

When we arrived at the gate, the armed guard made a brief check of the vehicle. He was taken aback when he saw the white guy in the backseat but then smiled and waved us in. As we exited the vehicle and began to walk in the courtyard, I did get some stares from the few people milling about. In addition to the mosque and nearby ablution structure (for washing), there surprisingly was a coffee shop and a small store within the compound. It just seemed incongruous to have a couple of drab-looking businesses in such a beautiful, sacred place. Having said that, it is handy. We bought a couple of teas to go and found a place to sit in the early evening breeze.

We chatted for a while, enjoying the peaceful and amazingly clean setting. Over the ocean, dark clouds were slowly moving in our direction. We walked around a bit more and then the rain hit, putting an end to our little excursion. We jumped back into the vehicle and the driver took us back to the office. In addition to another café nearby which has beefed up security, I now have two outings I can do in our neighborhood (without going into the airport compound). I can also go across town to the beach area for lunch on occasion but that can be done rarely and with an armed escort (sadly).

* * *

I’m now writing this at the end of the week in the Mogadishu airport. I’m not allowed to post things while I’m in country for security reasons (which may provide information as to my whereabouts), so anything I send out needs to be done once I’m no longer in the country, or at least when I’m in a more secure location – like being on my way out.

It’s been a productive visit. A lot was accomplished. But happy to be reunited with the family.