Djibouti Trip

Yesterday, I visited a friend in Eastleigh, and realized that I understand far more Somali now than I had not so long ago. As I ambled toward EFC, a 20-something Somali yelled, “Gaal cadan!” at me. Basically, this means, “white infidel.” I'm not exactly sure why people do this to white strangers while they walk the streets, but I guess some members of the community find it funny to accost folks who don't quite belong there. Oh well, you have to take it all in stride, and remember Jesus' words to bless and not curse others.

Tomorrow, we head for Djibouti, where, I understand, we will be met on the street with words like, “farenji” (foreigner), “you, you, you” (meaning you, you, you), and, of course, the infamous “gaal!” (infidel). Hopefully, we will also meet wonderful people, serve in a refugee camp, and visit international schools as we explore employment opportunities in the development field. We are definitely looking forward to our trip, and will post some reflections once we return.