Parlez-vous Anglais?

'Parley-vous Anglais?' are generally the first words out of my mouth anywhere I go in this country. The response is, typically, 'non' or 'un petit peu' (the response isn't even in English). To them I say 'je parle Francais un petit peu', and then I struggle along, largely in poorly composed English sentences.

Indo-China was comparatively much easier; everyone spoke English in Cambodia (to varying degrees). I probably shouldn't be surprised that not everyone in the world speaks English. But I have lived for many years in an Anglo-centric universe (despite my own country being both English and French). I wish I could go back in time and slap the 15-year-old version of me who gave up on French class. In retrospect, and for many reasons, speaking another language would have been of immeasurable benefit (as I found in Ghana, where my Twi lessons paid off immeasurably in negotiating down the price of various purchases: "me pa wo kyow; te so kakraa"). C'est dommage.

This is my second day in Ali-Sabieh. My temporary accommodations in the Hotel Palmerei are considerably more austere than what I was getting used to in Djibouti-ville (no running water as yet); though the price, remarkably, is not commensurately lessened. Again, this is just temporary, and I am looking forward to what will become my semi-permanent address in Ali-Sabieh (which I will elaborate upon in future posts).

Yesterday, and today, I visited the refugee camp in Ali-Addeh. It's not a long drive, only 20km (give or take), but navigating the road is more like 'off-roading' so it takes about a half hour or so to get there. The camp itself is located in a beautiful valley surrounded by mountains; the landscape is not unlike Iqaluit in the summer, with the exception of sparsely distributed trees here and there. But there's no water. There is a dry (dry) river that runs through the camp; but really, there is very little water to speak of (my understanding is the wells in Ali-Addeh do not supply the camp with the amount of water required for a population of 13,000 refugees).

So far, and while accompanied by other members of my office, I have had some limited interactions with the Ethiopian community, including their community leaders, as well as several Somali refugees at the office in the camp. I've explained to the Ethiopians the purpose of my visit and hope to start meeting with them in the coming days to commence my interviews. I understand getting to know the Somali population will not be quite as informal as it was with the Ethiopians so my relationship with their leaders will hopefully build overtime (again, I will elaborate on this in future posts).

The sun is slowly setting and I'm still at the office in Ali-Sabieh so I should start shutting down to make my way back before dark (I learned last night in walking the town with my supervisor that the streets are not well lit - and I don't know this place very well as yet). More to follow as the days unfold.