Jasmin,
Twist, WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAW. Thank you very much saaxib! Walaahi, I have been looking for this song. Menace posted it on his blog ( VOA interview) but I couldn't find it. I sung this song at a wedding not many years back ; I have a guitar (I am learning to play it) and I always sing this song and sometime earned the not so flattering nickname of Gurxan.
Thank you saaxib.
BTW, he lives in Yemen in a refugee camp and I have been in touch with some people to collect qaaran for him
Chapter 2: Memory lane
Ma Jamiilidii aan aqaanay mise mid kale? Asked Jeele just to make sure that he was not dreaming.
Waa ayadii she replied in a Somali that is far from the Banaadiri accent.
Haye, ii waran walaal said Jeele in a careful manner .
Fiican aboowe, seed tahay?
Wa nabad qabaa; xageed joogtaa?
Landhan aboowe
Waan ku soo wacayaa ee ma taleefoonkaan ayaa lagaa helaa? Asked Jeele who wanted some time to reflect.
Haa aboowe macaan!
“Aboowe” and “abaayo” were common terms that expressed courtesy in the good old days. When addressing others Somalis used abaayo, adeer, abti, aboowe etc.
The “naayaa” “wariyaa” replies were for the “Dhoores” i.e. Lamagoodleyaasha
But, “Macaan” after aboowe/abaayo was reserved for relationships . Macaan/Macaaney/Macaanow signified love in the air.
So,in his mind Jeele knew that Jamiila was not the hard-to-get lass twenty or so years ago. Something has happened to her. Toloow maxaay la jilcaday? Toloow ma sidii ayaay u buurantahay? Yes, in Somalia obesity was a class cursor. Only the rich could become obese and believe it or not, it was a factor of attraction.
Jeele went to the nearest cafeteria and ordered a drink. He needed time to reflect on what he transpired a few minutes ago.
He sat down and went on memory lane.
Suddenly, all the memories he sub-consciously repressed for many years started haunting him. He recalled the good old days when it was great to live in Somalia in general and Muqdisho in particular.
The days when school kids in different uniforms ( blue, yellow and white) took Caasis (minibuses) to schools in the morning. To start the day, Radio Muqdisho played Iftin ( the education troupe) sung Alifle kordhobeey, alifle hoos dhobey song to encourage education.
The Alifle kordhobey expression was a legacy that was inherited from the great Sheikh Yusuf Al-kowneyn who is reported to have come with the ingenious ways of learning quran.
Memory lane
The 21st October celebrations, the Mahrajaan ( communist displays to boast over achievment), the pickpockets of the ceel-gaabta (a central station for buses to Baidoba), the Marwaas mosque area in Xamarweyne which was a meeting point for Jubba dhexe and Bay; the Sinai area which apart from being a bus hub for buses to towns north of Muqdisho also was the qaad area; and yes, Yoobsan (fleet street) where the romour mills were located.
He also recollected how peaceful Xamar was. Murder was very uncommon (only 2 in the 1980s; rape too).
He recalled the National services “ Shaqada qaranka” which was the pan ultimate way of adulthood. After secondary school before University entrance or before getting a job, all young men and women participated in 1-2 years of national duty.
After three months of military training in Jeziira, Ceel Jaale and other places, young women and men were dispatched to do their services to the nation.
He started singing the classical song; xageed jirtee Ceel jaalle? Xageed joogtee Ceel Jaalle which was a feature on Radio Muqdisho to encourage and romanticise the national service.
He did his national service in Buur Hakaba.
The national service was apart from gaining military training and teaching was also a mechanism to promote regional integrations. People from Muqdisho were taken to places in the North and remote areas in Mudug, Bari, Togdheer and as far south as Elwaak, Buulo Xaawo. The northerners were taken to Bay, Bakool and jubbooyinka.
Several anecdotes were created and disseminated. For instance, the guy from Bay who was taken to Hargeisa and said “Diin wa-se joogso” thinking that when people say “diinta aab..wase” they meant the tortoise; or the two guys from Afgoye who thought Keshali was the name of special sweet and asked the Burco lady to give them Keshalis!
Or the northerners who came to Laanta Buur and told the Cajusos “ abaayo macaaneey ma ku shumiyaa”
Ooh Radio Muqdisho!
He was a kid when Cawke using his command of the Somali language produced words to curse, mock and abuse the Ethiopians. The patriotic songs, the revolutionary songs, the love songs, the Iidheh and ogeysis ( Advertisement and announcements) programme before the 14.15 news. The sports programme and the barnaamijka salaama (greetings).
To many in Muqdisho, the Kacaan was the greatest thing that happened to them and life was good. Great Somalia was in the making.
Somalia was strong, Somalis could write and read their mother tongue; basic health and schooling was provided.
Feel good Prozac.
Despite this, there were unrests brewing under the surface. Northern Somalia in particular was under martial law. Human rights abuses were rife in many regions in Somalia.
But, to Jeele and many others, this was not a bother. Muqdishu people were too engaged in the feel good mentality that they could not see beyond Balcad and Afgooye. Yes, they listened to the BBC but many thought the BBC (Been Been Si) was a mouthpiece of colonialism and emprialism.
As long as life in Muqdisho was good, no one really cared.
This was the Somalia he left one late evening in 1988. His departure engaged the whole suburb. Friends arrived to wish him well. The family made Zab. They slaughtered two goats, invited the who-is-who of the clergy to read duca.
The last few days, all the Xalimos he dated approached him hoping that they will tie the knot after he returns.
He was very hot!
He was the talking point of the ciyaalka xaafada.
Leaving Somalia –Especially for Europe- was a big event. Only the bright minds- the future of the country travelled to Europe to get education. The Muruqmaals left for the Gulf countries, the brainys went to Europe to get education and return to build the nation.
Jeele contacted his uncle Alore who studied military strategy in Modena, Italy to ask him about life in Europe and to borrow winter clothes because he was told that it could get cold. Alore , whose actual name is Aweys earned that nickname because after arrival from Italy he started every sentence with “alore”.
He told him that life in Europe was great but Jeele has to be careful; white women will be like vultures on him and hunt him.
He got a dark suit which did not fit him but few recognise this.
He came to Muqdisho airport accompanied by friends and family. He was the star of the moment but he knew he had big expectations placed on his shoulders.
He has heard about young people seeking asylum in the west. To him, this was a crazy move! How can a Somali abandon Somalia and engage in ISDHIIBIS? Qaxootinimo? Subxaanalah, that is something for the destitute!
At 10 PM the Somali Airlines flight lifted ! The final destination was Frankfurt but the flight will make stopovers in Cairo and Rome.
Jeele arrived at Frankfurt Au Main airport the following day at around 9.30 am. He was suppose to be met by a driver from the University of Darmstadt which is roughly 50 KM outside Frankfurt in the State of Hessen. The scholarship was from the German development Agency, GTZ and was supposed to last one year. The GTZ provided boarding and lodging and gave him pocket money. They also sent him a driver to take him Darmstadt; the industrial heartland of West Germany.
He started his class the following day.
The course was in English and enrolled 30+ students from various developing countries.
The day started with introductions; “hi, my name is Jeele and I am from Somalia in the Horn of Africa.” Jeele begun saying. The course professor pointed to a map of Somalia; this is Somalia he pointed. Jeele spontaneously said “ that is only one part of Somalia” pointing his finger at the map. This is Somali Galbeed, this is the NFD and this is Djibouti; they were all stolen from us by the Ethiopians, Kenyans and France. To make sure that his point got through he pointed to the flag of Somalia opposite the continent and said “look at this beautiful star!
The professor stopped him; no politics here! We come from different countries and one of the goals of this course is to ensure that we can communicate with people from different countries- even your enemies—in a constructive manner!
What Jeele did not realise was that there were two Ethiopians in the class. He saw that there were people who physically looked like him but he assumed that they were Eritreans. He had never seen an Ethiopian in his life and he pictured that an
Ethiopian looked like a warthog at best; and that they were smelly people who eat raw meat. To his mind- fed by propaganda- the Ethiopians were cannibals; only the Cubans were worse ! Kuuba Naasweyn (big tit/breast subhuman beings) who did not fight like men.
Propaganda works!
When Haile from Ethiopia was introducing himself Jeele could not believe his eyes! Here was someone who looked like him and claiming to be Ethiopian!
For a second he regretted coming to Germany. How on earth can he go to the same class as an Ethiopian?
After a few days of talking to his classmates, Jeele learned to his dismay that Somalia and Somalis were not that known.
Lack of knowledge meant that the Europeans he met did not know that Somalia was the great nation that defeated its enemy . The camel which was the symbol of Somali pride and which Jeele used to proudly describe his people and country was viewed as a weird animal at best.
Jeele’s family never owned a camel and the people of Banaadir were known for their aphorism of saying “Cimrigaaga raagey geel dhala aas ku tusaa” ( you know that you are old when you see a camel giving birth).
But, when in overseas he was the camel owner and herder. Although his family never own a single camel and although he had never actually reared a camel, the camel became part and parcel of his vocabulary.
The “camel” owner/herder narrative was to provide Jeele with the tools to meet women at the night clubs. According to many yarns from Somalis that left Europe (e.g. uncle Aweys), western women were easy catch.
“Naagaha cadaanka ma gudno, sidaasi daraadeed afar iyo labaatan saacadood waxaay un doonayaa in la saarnaado” goes the yarn.
He decided to give it a try one night. He went to a nightclub dressed in the black suit only to realise that people were wearing casual clothes.
He approached Helga – an obese woman – who because of her size never probably attracted any admirer. To Jeele, she was beautiful; fatness and money went hand in hand; richness concealed ugliness in other words.
They started dancing to the tunes of the disco songs and Jeele was in the heavens; for the first time, there was a woman who was not afraid to show affection!
Walee waa run, naagaha cadaanka waa iska baban, he assured himself recalling the tales about white woman. He could touch her big buttocks and he had her big breasts on his chest.
He did not know any real dance moves but to Helga, he was a godsend. For the first time, there was a man admiring her!
Barrow iyo Bareey waay isku baado maqanyihiin
” Sir, wir schließen. Die Zeit ist 10“ said a waitress at the bar.
Like someone waking up from a dream he jumped and dried his eyes. Where was he?
He thought for awhile and concluded that earlier today Jamiila had called him and he had promised to call.
He picked his phone and dialed the number…
Hello, ma Jamiila?
Haa answered a voice ….
To be continued
