It has been a busy few days here, what with the storms, field trips, GI distress, and, as always, fussy internet connections. Now, though, I’d like to take some time to tell you a few stories about my first week here.
Actually, it starts before I even landed in Hargeisa. In my last post I told you about my unexpected night in Djibouti. Well, I planned to be at the airport the next morning a good 2 ½ hours before my flight, just in case. That meant a 5:10 cab ride. All was well, and I arrived at the Djibouti International Airport by 5:30, only to discover that not only was the airport not even open, but, according to the staff, my 8 AM flight was now scheduled for 8:30, and Juba Airlines never opens the ticket counter until 2 hours before the flight. (This was my first real experience of “Africa Time.” It’s a real thing—the staff here at the hospital use it as an excuse when things are running behind and we antsy Westerners want to know why.) I spent the next hour waiting outside the door of the airport, but thankfully I wasn’t the only one there. In fact, my sidewalk buddy was Peter, a professor from Western Washington University who travels around the world whenever he can. I mean around the world. He didn’t even list all the places he’s been, since he is nearing 100 countries! We talked about what was bringing us to Somaliland, with just two tourist destinations, as well as what we thought of Djibouti (hot). Peter is a really interesting guy, and I hope someday to travel to almost as many places as he has. As many of you know, my stated life goal is to be the most interesting old lady in the nursing home, so that when I’m telling the CNA’s the same stories over and over again every day, well, at least they will be interesting stories. I think hitting the 100-country mark would be a pretty cool story
Once the airport finally opened and we checked in, waited for the snack bar to open so we could buy water, waited some more, and finally moved to our gate, we encountered another foreign visitor, one whom Peter had met the day before. Gilles is a computer whiz with his own tech company based in Paris, and he was in Somaliland on business. No one else in his company wanted to come and honor the contract, and most didn’t want Gilles travelling to Somaliland either, thinking it too dangerous, but he came anyway. I say bravo! Somaliland needs more foreign engagement and investment, not to mention a stronger technology infrastructure.
I really enjoyed meeting Peter and Gilles, and learning about their reasons for coming here; I find that one can meet some really cool people while traveling, and I bet once I reach that 100-country mark, I’ll have a contact list to rival Rupert Murdoch (except I’ll use my world-wide web of connections and influence for good, not evil).
By the way, our “is it at 8 or 8:30?” flight split the difference and departed, half-empty, at 8:15.
