Arrival in Somaliland

Traveled through a dark but always vibrant Nairobi to Jomo Kenyatta airport for my 8 am flight on East African Safari Express to Hargeisa. Their motto is "Fly there faster", but it seems that any time saved in flight would be lost in their extended check-in process, made worse by the fact that I had reserved but not yet paid for my ticket. Working on a laptop circa 1994 they were finally able to get me ticketed. By "finally", I mean that they brought my return ticket to me at my seat on the plane an hour and a half after I checked in.

It wasn't until I was checking in that I finally, for the first time since I decided to come here earlier this year, heard someone say "Hargeisa". I'd been pronouncing it Har-GHEE-sa. It's actually Har-GAY-sa. Good to know.

The flight went smoothly and we landed in Hargeisa at about 10 am, sending terrified goats sprinting off the runway, insofar as a goat can sprint. As did the handful of other women on the plane who hadn't been wearing one throughout the flight, I put my headscarf on to cover my hair before getting off the plane. An administrator from the hospital met me with the official copy of my visa and walked me through the immigration process, which involves the required exchange of US$50 for Somaliland money, at a very poor exchange rate--a big moneymaker for the country, apparently, as well as $20 for the visa itself.


My pockets stuffed with bills worth about 10 cents each, I made the pretty quick trip from the airport to the hospital, maybe 15 or 20 minutes. The town, at first impression, is set in low hills and is very dry and dusty (appropriate for its desert location...) with low concrete buildings scattered across the hills.

I'll be staying in a room in the hospital, along with the other international staff who work here. The three wards (medical, labor and delivery, and antepartum) are on the first floor, the administration offices, classrooms and a a sort of living room for the international staff are on the second, and the third is all guest rooms and classrooms. I'm on the third floor in a big, simple sunny room. Unpacked my head scarves for the month :)

Lauren (a midwifery student from Canada, here with her new husband Harrison on their honeymoon for their 3 month summer break) gave me a tour of the hospital, which is by far the nicest I've ever seen in Africa. And some in the US, too. More on the hospital tomorrow.

This evening, I went to dinner at an Ethiopian restaurant in town to celebrate the departure of a Norweigian woman who has been working in Hargeisa for a year. Some of the best Ethiopian food I've ever had. Good company too--17 people were there, from 7 different countries: US, Canada, Britain, Somaliland, Ethiopia, Norway, and Kenya. Mostly staff at the hospital but also some from a small Norwegian NGO that is setting up to work here.

This is Katherine, the matron of the hospital, from Kenya, with one of the Norwegian doctor's baby, at dinner.
More tomorrow.