With a wad of khat wadded discreetly in his cheek, his calloused fingers inched the volume up on the SUV’s stereo. A USB stick plugged into a cigarette lighter adaptor fed blaring traditional Somali lute classics over the worn speakers.
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Last Visit to the Gulf of Aden Part 2
Somalis have an undeserved reputation for being pirates, especially since the Tom Hanks film, Captain Phillips, recently released at the time of this story. J- told me the real criminals were illegal fishermen, traveling to the Gulf of Aden from places like China, Iran, and Spain to poach the locals’ catch. They sabotaged his nets and threatened the fledgling industry with violence. Somaliland has claimed territorial waters but they are effectively lawless since the region is not formally recognized as a country by the international community. Its meager coast guard does not have the capacity to adequately protect its claims.
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Save the Bees
I made a movie about visiting my in-laws on the Thanksgiving of 2020. It was an experience filled with catharsis, hot takes on current events, six feet of social distancing, a close encounter of the third kind, and a few bees.
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Last Visit to the Gulf of Aden Part 1
Remembering a trip I took to Berbera, Somaliland in 2016.
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A Trip to Burao, Somaliland
In Burao I received a Somali name: Roble, the one who brings the rains. A doctor gave it to me at a hospital we toured. It started raining very hard on the way back to Hargeisa as we drove up Sheikh mountain.
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Things That Happened to Me in Garowe
Our UN airplane landed in a desert, not on a tarmac. The airport was basically a tree, a sign, and a small building in the distance. I wasn't allowed into Puntland without first swallowing a liquid polio vaccination administered to me in a tent by WHO officials dressed in white biohazard suits. My passport was taken away from me at customs to be "processed" during my stay.
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Last Visit to the Gulf of Aden: Part 15
At the far corner of the terminal I found my old haunt and got the attention of the gossiping waitresses long enough to order some shiro, injera, and my first beer in two weeks. I took in the view from the brasserie and watched travelers circulate through the airport as if they were extras in the Star Wars cantina scene.
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Last Visit to the Gulf of Aden: Part 14
I discreetly took out my Steri-pen, a UV light filter, and dipped it into the water. A neon blue light turned on and I stirred the water for a full minute, watching the particles in it swirl around like a mini toilet bowl. Drinking the water was now safe; the light was supposed to kill off all the amebas and sea monkeys, but that didn’t mean it sat well with my sensitive stomach. I took a sip and then waited for the aches, pains, and diarrhea. Why I didn’t just buy a bottle of water from the cafe I don’t know. I guess I just felt like I needed a big bottle of water for whatever surprise or long wait was in-store for me between Hargeisa and Addis Ababa.
Read More »Last Visit to the Gulf of Aden: Part 13
"Power on!" She yelled I was unsure how me turning on suspicious-looking electronics would avert any threat of blowing up the security line but I complied anyway. Most everything turned on except for the spare laptop. Its battery was dead.
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Why I Made a COVID-19 Horror Movie
Coronut is an expression of my anxieties documented during a family vacation we took during the first lockdown phase of COVID-19 in 2020. It's a carnival grotesque, if you will, inspired by The Blair Witch Project, Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None, and Albert Camus' The Plague.
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