And month number two coming to a close, complete! It's one of those weird passages of time that feels like
I've been here long enough to settle in but am still smacked around
daily by the little things that make it seem like I just arrived
yesterday. While I've got the daily routine down to a hot, sweaty,
scurry about we still don't have access to our promised vehicle so my
extremely limited knowledge of Bootyland consists of where I can walk
during short bursts of perspiring exploration. That and working
these silly split shifts leaves little to no opportunity to meet
people or properly or do things. Not to be completely discouraged
however, I've thrown myself out there a little bit with notable
success so far. I've made some new friends!
There's a fancy pantsy super posh hotel
just down the road that hosts their own private beach party once a
month or so. It seems to be attended by the leagues of various
European military personnel that are stationed here and the kids of
expat NGO staff. Crew cuts and 17 year old French girls – yeah,
that's not a recipe for disaster of any kind, is it? Oh, and
Ethiopian prostitutes. I've been schooled that anywhere there are
military men, which is everywhere in Dj, there will be a following of
Ethiopian prostitutes. Djiboutians cashing in on this action? Nope,
only Ethiopians. Oh. Ok. Good to know, I guess.
Back to the beach party ... so I'm
super excited to follow Bruce, his friend L, and a friend of hers for
a night out on the sand. Great sound system set up, excellent people
watching. Yes, let's make this a regular thing! Sadly after about
45 mins, L and her friend have to leave for the airport and Bruce
wanted to leave as well. WHAT?! There's hardly anything to do in
Dj, can't we stay and hang out and people watch, and beach party it
up for a bit longer? A little bit longer? Nope. Hound dog frown. I
decide that it would look a little creepy for this old girl to be
trolling the beach party by myself so I resign myself to heading home
with them. Oh boo hoo pity party me.
As we were leaving the grounds I saw
two very tall, very NOT military looking guys heading in and oh
fabulous universe, they were speaking American English. Pure crazy
kicks in as I rush over and stick my hand out - “You're speaking
North American English Nice to meet you! Where are you from?!” A
few seconds of stunned silence as they peer down at this strange,
sweaty, frantic fool. Then … game on. Intros made and a quick
explanation, my friends are leaving and I'm not ready to go, I've
only been here a couple of weeks and would really appreciate some
North American company, do you mind if I hang out with you for a
bit?! Ahhhh... they were awesome! Swept me up in good ole US charm
in record time. Bruce and L continued on their way, I stayed with my
new “friends by force”.
25 year old J and 57 year old K work
for an American moving company that secured the contract for
installing new furniture into the quickly growing US base here. The
US military doesn't have “mover” as a trade, obviously.
Djiboutians are hired to do the labour but a US company needs to
coordinate all the logistics and oversee the mess in addition to the
physical moving job. Enter J & K. A 3 week contract, that
turned into almost 5 weeks, and they may return again in the new
year. I'll take it!!
A rapidly growing US base but these
were the first Americans I have seen. Why, I ask, why why why? The
French, German, Italians, Spanish, Japanese can all come and go
around town as they please; you see them here, there, and everywhere.
The Americans? Confined to their well-equipped, well-guarded
compound. Whether histrionic American paranoia or legitimate threat,
they are only allowed off base in chaperoned groups using issued
buses and only for limited social events. The beach party … off
limits. But as J & K are contracted, not military, they are free
birds. Lucky me!
SUPER nice guys who tolerated my cling
on approach and over-enthusiastic chat. It was so nice to be able to
talk about … not work. And to have a back and forth conversation.
It was really, really nice and they were really, really accommodating
and yes, it was very, very needed. Shame that their time here is so
short but I have new friends for now – woop woop!
What else? I've had some wanders
through town with my camera and this is always fun. The responses
to me walking around town were about 90 -10. 90% of the people I
passed smiled, asked to have photos taken, posed proudly, or took the
moment to chat and giggle. It was what I've come to know of the
people in Dj; welcoming, friendly, approachable, lovely. 10% of the
people, most of whom didn't even enter my field of vision, felt the
need to go out of their way, whether they were sitting on a sidewalk
somewhere, walking behind me on the road, or just in a random crowd,
to confront me, finger wagging in my face, shouting “NO! No
photos!” At first I was shocked into speechlessness. What?! My
camera was down, I simply had it in my hand, who are you, and where
THE HELL did you just come from? Yikes. Have never run into this
before.
I was soon able to spot these
over-inflated egos before they got too close and when they did come
up with a shaking finger, bless them for being able to speak several
languages other than English, I beamed my biggest smile and uttered a
muttered “oh f**k off.” through shiny, happy teeth. They had no
idea what I was saying and I had the cathartic release of standing up
to these bullies. And that's what they were – bullies. When other
locals saw these meanies they quickly shushed them, waved them away,
or scolded back for the way I was being treated. Fair, fair. I know
better than to take photos around government or military backdrops
but in the local market or walking the streets, come on. Get over
yourself. I can promise you that your country's secrets will not be
given up in the midst of broken down mini buses, stray goats, and
trash heaps. I promise.
Most of the time, it's women who feel
the need to scold my scenery snapping and I've still not quite
figured out why. While taking pictures of the street kids who love
this game, men will come up and shoo the kids away as they try to
protect me from the swarms but once they see that I'm alright with
it, they smile and encourage the chaos. The women however, shoo the
kids and me away, angry muttering, scowls in scarves. I've stood my
ground in some cases, as I was in a public square taking photos of
only the children, but it got a bit heated and I started getting
shoved, so I chose to move on. Taking pictures via phone seems
acceptable as EVERYONE does this but a small DSLR … nope, no way.
Suspicions of journalists gone awry? Political spies? Military
undercover rat? Have no idea. But my camera is now a social
experiment, I'll let you know what I find out...
Bullies aside, SUCH nice experiences
wandering the inner city and being treated to big smiles and
welcoming “Bonjour madame!” from doorways. A resource deprived,
desperately dreary country with a fantastic mix of friendly faces.
Wow. Well done Bootyland.
Bruce and I went on a boat trip /
snorkeling day out to one of the nearby islands with the American
guys – AMAZING, and we hung out or went to dinner with them as
often as we could before they returned to the States. Fingers
crossed they should be back in February for a few more weeks. Really
nice guys who will be missed over these next few months.
What else have I done? Ooooo... I
stormed a local dive shop and presented myself to the staff, Hi, I'm
Janice, I live here, we WILL be friends. All fantastic people, of
course, and have already been out on a day dive trip. Woop Woop!
Two hour boat trip on their gorgeous liveaboard boat, two very nice
and super warm dives with lots of colour and CLEAN water (no plastic
or rubbish floating around) and sites all to ourselves. The American
dive instructor, Sarah, has spent the last several years in SE Asia
so we've already played the who-knows-who-where game; lots of similar
friends in places we've passed through. Sitting amid dive gear
reminiscing about this place, that site, or those people is an
incredibly comforting feeling. Thank you dive world for helping me
feel at home no matter how lost I may be. The other dive instructor
is of course, fantastic, so I'm as happy as can be to have two great
girls to spend some time with and hopefully explore the sea with over
the next year. The manager is incredibly generous and accommodating
so if anyone is looking to dive in Dj, wow have I ever got a great
shop for you!
Our schedules make it difficult to
socialize as we work mornings AND evenings but for two days a week,
I'm slowly finding more options to occupy my time. This makes me
happy. Hopefully we'll have a vehicle soon, the weather is starting
to cool to just about tolerable (albeit still painfully hot midday),
and I am learning to become more confident with my atrocious level of
French so there will be more exploring on the horizon. Show me what
you've got Djibouti!
