Information Overload

Tomorrow, Emily and I will have been here a month! Wow. I'm glad this internship is longer than a month because I'm only just now feeling settled.

Sorry that the first picture I posted was of an eyeless cat. I have my camera here, but I'm very hesitant to use it. Photography is a great creative outlet for me and I continue to love it despite the conversations I've had with Ashley about how photography, like all art, can manipulate your emotions and glorify the mundane, provoking you to have a false perspective of life. It can be dangerous and detrimental to people like Ashley and me who are so easily influenced by our emotions. But... I still love expressing myself through photography. Here, though, I feel so strange snapping shots of every day life. I am quite clearly a foreigner, but I'm not here for holiday or to visit the French or American military bases. I am living among these people for 2 months, trying to become a Djiboutian in word and deed. I think walking around town in my Djiboutian clothing with an expensive camera in hand puts a greater emphasis on my otherness.... it reminds everyone that I am not one of them and that their way of doing things is different than mine, evidenced by my photo taking. I don't know, maybe it would be fine. I just feel strange about it now. I hope to take pictures of people and town after I've been apart of it for awhile, when its not all new and exotic to me and when I am able to ask people for permission to take their picture. Until then... here are the few pictures that I've taken from afar, out of the eye-sight of the natives plus a few from Emily's camera.

These two were taken by Emily when we went to Awo's (Kristie's french language helper) house for Henna. Except it's not called henna because they use black hair dye instead of the traditional reddish henna on their skin. It looks great on them, but with our white skin we look sort of gothic. Also, you can see me wearing a traditional Djiboutian dress. I bartered for it in the market.

This was taken during the middle of the day when the sun is hottest. People go home to nap and just get out of the sun. Thus, the streets are empty. On this day Kristie, Emily, Awo, and I were on our way to an Ethiopian house restaurant for lunch. I've had so much Ethiopian food here- mmmm.

This is what the electrical outlets look like here. It looks like an emoticon to me, so I like it.

Don't mind my strange facial expression. This is my favorite head scarf.
This is the roof that I once tried to sleep on. My mattress was the white one, the red one Hannahs. Yeah, I had a fan and everything, but with the hot air and radiating tiles, it was nearly 100 degrees.
Here is Balbala, the neighborhood my old apartment is in.

Makeshift homes. Belong to the really poor population of Djibouti city.Our neighbor's makeshift roof for sleeping
On the picture's horizon you can see the ocean and Djibouti's port.
The rest are Emily's pictures. Left to right: Rosario, the friend of Biden (I forget her name!), Biden, Kristie, Emily, Hannah, myself, Udbe. This is at Planete Hollywood.
Emily and I eating the Ethiopian food we helped Awo make at home :)
Awo on the left and Neema, our houseworker, on the right eating Ethiopian



Additional random pieces of information:

1. I'm getting so much language exposure here. The official language is French, but most speak Somali and some Afar and Arabic, too. In one day it would be possible for me to hear 7 different languages being spoken around me! It's really cool. I'm taking formal Somali language lessons 3 times a week and studying French on my own with Rosetta Stone. I know of some native Spanish speaking workers here, so I'm hoping to practice my Spanish, too. Africa is a great place for people who love languages.

2. The Coke here is AMAZING. Kristie says they use real sugar opposed to high fructose corn syrup. It tastes different. Really. So much better. Coke and dark chocolate have become comfort foods for me here. But to be honest, all the food is great. With the French influence, we have access to a lot of good French food. Way better quality than the stuff we eat in the US. In one of the documentaries I watched or maybe from a book I read about the food industry in the US, I've learned that despite Americans need to have the best in clothing, cars, and whatever else, they typically want to pay the least amount of money possible on food. This is why we have such nasty meat-producing systems in place and inject and spray our food with hormones and chemicals in order to get more food in less amount of time in the cheapest way possible. I could go on and on about my disgust with America's food industry, but I will refrain. Just know that the French and Djiboutians eat REAL food and it tastes so good.

3. I've been dancing along to the Bollywood dance DVDs that Emily brought with her and it is sooo much fun. A few nights ago, Emily, Kristie, and I did it together for the first time and afterwards celebrated our success by watching one of Emily's many Bollywood movies. I'm being exposed to so many different cultures and I absolutely love it. And with all this physical activity, I'm becoming so physically strong. It feels glorious.

4. I like being in Africa while the World Cup is here. I wish that I could go to South Africa and be a part of the festivities since I'm soooo much closer than I would normally be, but it's still cool to be among Africans while it's being hosted on this continent. Last week while out to dinner at "Planete Hollywood" (the extra 'e' is not a mistake), the game was on the tv and Djiboutians were blowing their own vuvuzelas in tune with the vuvuzelas on the tv. AND, in case you didn't know, K'naan, the guy who sings the world cup anthem is Somali and is being bragged about all over Djibouti.

5. I'm quite sad to have missed by brother's graduation ceremony, but luckily I was able to be Skyped in for his graduation party on Saturday. I am nearly 7,000 miles away, 7 hours ahead, an entire ocean apart, and I was able to see people walking through my backyard in Brownstown, Michigan with only a small delay. Technology is insane.