Somalia

I have traveled more for Somalian food than any other food yet. It’s that good. I learned this in 2019 when I was working in Redwood City. Someone told me about Jubba Restaurant, which is tucked back in a corner by the train station in San Jose. I had the Jubba chicken wrap, a great variety of vegetables and chicken wrapped in a large, thick tortilla like bread. It was huge, so I ate half there, took the other half to go, and was also able to try the mandezi, a mildly sweet, poptart shaped bread, and sambuso, a spicy beef and greens filled samosa.

Heather McGhee discusses a Somalian community in Lewiston, Maine in her book The Sum of Us. Because Allan and I were going to be in Maine in June 2021, I made sure and saved a day to visit. I enjoyed seeing the shops selling Somalian clothing and the women walking through town with long flowing scarves on their heads. When I asked at Baraka for a menu, the man said I had the option of chicken, beef, or fish. I ordered the fish and rice. The fish was dry, probably because I drove the hour and a half back to Scott and Dee’s before I ate it, but the rice was delicious.

My third Somalian restaurant was Faridas in San Diego with Vonnett and Kevin just last April. We had the potato sambusas, chicken suucqar, beef suucqar, salad, rice, pasta, and a super spicy dip. Kevin had the Somalian coffee with milk, sugar, cinnamon, and grated ginger. I thought everything was wonderful! This is one of several Somalian restaurants in San Diego, so I may be returning to try another.

And just this week, I asked Raquel and Anthony to go with me to Banadir Somali Restaurant in Inglewood. They are famous for their goat, and we also tried their salmon. Both were well spiced, and came with vegetable soup, rice, salad, a unique and flavorful green sauce, and a banana. Apparently the banana is to reset your palate. I loved that. Banadir has big servings, quick service and, as has been consistent for Somalian food, it was delicious. I want to go back for breakfast sometime to try their anjero, a pancake-like bread, that can go with one of the meats or be eaten with sesame oil and honey.

I haven’t had a chance to cook Somalian food yet, but when I do, I’ll start here: https://www.mysomalifood.com/recipes/

The first book I found at the library about Somalia was A House in the Sky by Amanda Lindhout and Sara Corbett. Amanda Lindhout is a Canadian journalist who was held hostage in Somalia for fifteen months. It is a painful story to read, but Lindhout’s drive to remain positive and understand the people around her is remarkable. The work she is doing now to support Somalian refugees is even more impressive: https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/2114519673

The second book I read, this time by a Somalian, was Nomad: from Islam to America: A Personal Journey through the Clash of Civilizations by Ayaan Hirsi Ali. It has interesting ideas and important points about human rights, including women’s rights, which she doesn’t see as compatible with fundamentalism. She has several talks online, including this one, in which she discusses her concerns with the faith of her parents. Devout Muslims in the audience disagreed. The religion is different, but the points are similar to many made in conversations between liberal and evangelical Christians: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HWo9eYL1Rk

I still need to read something by Nuruddin Farah, a Somali novelist whose books have been translated into 17 languages. Here he discusses what we are missing when we look at Somalia without understanding what the people are going through: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgEYggY0oIg

I enjoyed the movie Captain Phillips, currently available on Netflix. Of course, Tom Hanks did a great job, but the awards were won by Somalian American actor Barkhad Abdi. I enjoyed his interview on Conan here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYFOuptGtBs&t=1s and the additional detail in a conversation with Tom Hanks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVzBkAMoJXs

I also watched The President vs. the Pirates on Kanopy to learn more about the hopeful efforts toward democracy in Puntland, one of the major sections of Somalia.

Moving on to a variety of views of Somalia and Somalians throughout the world, I appreciated:

· A profile of a Somalian woman photographer on Voice of America: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jz1IuxAdUdk

· The Dhaanto dance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmC_qs_edOk

· A celebration of Black models along with a focus on Iman and Halima Aden, both from Somalia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERUSvQEhIOA

· A story by Igiaba Scego valuing the opportunity for education in her new home in Italy: https://wordswithoutborders.org/read/article/2021-07/july-2021-afro-italian-women-writers-my-home-is-where-i-am-igiaba-scego/

· A song from Somali-Canadian musician K’naan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APw9ES0JpZo

Rumor has it that one of the safest places is to go in Somalia is Somaliland. Indigo Traveler has six episodes making this point starting here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLZYFKjVhjI&list=PLN0FlxE6vY5DOenmlbtNCH8rPdLNJUSuU

Some great places to visit in Somalia are here: https://www.thecrazytourist.com/15-best-places-visit-somalia/ and when it is safe, I would love to go. I look forward to that time when we can travel broadly again. In the meantime, I’m hoping we all survive, thrive, recognize our mutual humanity, learn to deal with our conflicts, and allow peace, health, and safety to flourish in Somalia and throughout the world.

Photo Credit: Saacid Ahmed https://unsplash.com/photos/I7c0n1_7dZs