Study Abroad

I’m zeroing on my study abroad destination, although I’m still hesitant and feel as if I’m about to tie the knot. I always knew Rio De Jenero wasn’t going to happen, but the thought of it was just too damn dreamy. I can’t believe there is only one program in the entire MIddle East. Imagine that. Africa does a little better with three programs in Ghana, Namibia, and of course South Africa, which I have designated as ‘places not to go to’. I don’t have anything against my South African brothers but the way things have been going on lately, I’m afraid my nomad ass will be mistaken for a shop owner.

That leaves only Ghana and Namibia to choose from the motherland. Namibia’s program is A) in the summer and B) is either for science-y majors or parks/recreation and tourism majors. I wonder why would someone want to go to Namibia of all places to study tourism. I mean, I didn’t even know ‘tourism’ was a major not that long ago. As for Ghana, there is one excellent program that I can choose but I’m not sure if the little comforts I clearly enjoy now will be available, like a reliable electricity, an internet connection, and a food that is not fufu.

But then again, my major isn’t exactly going to take me to a posh office in NY or a business meeting in London. 

What’s Wrong in the World

A painting of Monet sells for $80 million dollars and an incompetent writer is honored (whatever knighthood is) for defaming a holy book, yet we wonder what is wrong with our world. No painting or piece of artifact should sell that much money when so many people are dying from the lack of food. Instead of being ‘honored’, Salman Rushdie should have his books burned. 

It is just amazing the extremes we humans are capable of. 

World Refugee Day

Sometimes we’re so busy that we forget who we are and where we come from -the essentials that make us who we are. By all indication today seemed just another day for me - until I learned just few minutes ago that today, June 20th, is World Refugee Day. How can I forget who I am? How can I forget the millions of people who have been forced to become refugees. Sometimes we humans forget who we are if we stay a place for too long.

I will always feel refugee until the day I can go back to where I’ve come from without fearing anyone. Yet I know I’m one of the very few lucky ones who have gotten a second chance on life. But it’d be irresponsible for those of us who have gotten a chance to forget those unfortunate ones. At least we can remember them in thoughts, if we cannot help.

Believe in the Turks

I’ve been following Euro 2008 like the rest of the world except where I happen to live. I just finished watching the quarter final game between Turkey and Croatia. I’m still gasping for air after fifteen minutes. Croatia scores in the 118th minute out of possible 120 minutes of regulation and two 15-minute extra time. Croatia is beyond exuberant: coaches, staff, and players are hugging, jumping up and down, kissing - going absolutely crazy. The Turkish players are disheartened but not out. The Croatian players come back to the field just to knock around one more minute while imagining the taste of the champagne in the locker-room because they know they are moving to the semi-finals against Germany.

But the Turkish players had other ideas of their own - like tying the score in the next 1 minute and 30 seconds. Of course this seems impossible to the rest of those watching the game. The broadcaster starts to praise the Turkish players for their valiant efforts, overcoming the loss of their main goalkeeper in the last game, and the crushing loss of their superb Captain less than 10 minutes earlier to injury. It all seemed certain that the brave Turkish team was headed back to Istanbul, coming so close to reaching the semi-finals.

I don’t know what you would call what happened in the last 30 seconds of the game but one would have to consider the word ‘miracle’ and its definition in the dictionary. Perhaps feeling assured and too happy to pay attention, the Croatian defense utterly collapses, allowing The Turks to take one last desperate, almost hopeless chance and shot - Boom! Completing three for three come-from-behind victories. In the penalty kicks, the dynamics of the game was once-again in favor for the Turks - the Croatian team was devastatingly broken down, after we-can-reach-the-sky moments of 2 minutes earlier. From an extreme high to an extreme low in the space of 2 minutes, it took its toll on the Croatian team.

On the other end, the Turkish team was on top of the football universe, despite knowing that if they go to the quarter finals they will not have 4 of its starters including its captain plus their main goalkeeper. But they had momentum, six thousand kilowatts of energy, and the endless possibilities…

Turkey goes three-for-three on the penalty kicks while their goalkeeper saves Croatia’s last desperate penalty shot. How did they do it? Perhaps pure luck, determination, and persistence. Perhaps not. Regardless of how the Turks did it, no screen writer could even have come close to imagining the ending of this game. Yet it happened in real life. Believe in the Turks, I’d say. 

M. Night Shyamalan Must Die

Although I consider myself as a movie aficionado, I never take the time out to write a movie review on this blog. That changes today. Over the weekend I saw The Happening, the new M. Night Shyamalan movie, who is known for making “horror” thrillers. I have to be honest, I wasn’t too keen on seeing this Happening. The only movie of Shyamalan I remember enjoying is The Sixth Sense, only because it had a nice twist at the end and all the symbolism he infused throughout the movie.

But watching The Happening was like a very tired person unable to sleep - waiting for something exciting to Happen for one hour and half, only to see the end credits roll. To his credit, he had a good premise - toxic air causing unexplained “happenings,” albeit a laughable Happenings. But having a science teacher as the main character (Mark Walhberg) and not having him do anything remotely science-y is just absurd and insulting to the audience. Without exaggeration, this is the worst horror/thriller movie I have ever seen and that just makes me want to kill M. Night Shyamalan since I can’t ask for a refund. 

My friend took me to see this film and paid for it but I couldn’t be more infuriated than if I had paid this Shamalam asshole my hard-earned money. He is a thief and the worst writer I have ever seen write multimillion dollar movies. What is more outrageous is how this con-man is allowed to make films while hundreds of fantastic scripts languish in some talented screenwriter’s hard-drive and a bigger number of gifted directors are out of work. I digress…

See The Happening only if you are a student of cinematography, which isn’t Shyamalan’s work; otherwise avoid This Not ‘Happening’ film at all cost. I guess this may arouse some people’s cat-like curiosity to see just how bad this movie is, but if this is the case, wait for the dvd release or google is at your finger tips. Use your imagination, my friend. 

And yes, M. Night Shyamalan Must Die. 

Here We Go Again

Just read a press release that announced the TFG and the opposition reached a “deal” in Djibouti. Ethiopia will withdraw its troops under two conditions: The fighting stops and a U.N. peacekeepers are deployed to Somalia, then, only then will Ethiopia draw its troops from Somalia AFTER the U.N. peacekeepers have already been on the ground for 4 months. 

All I have to say is “In Your Dream!”. 

The cool part is that none of the people who are ACTUALLY fighting Ethiopia and its puppet warlords have any clue what is going on in Djibouti, much less than sign a peace deal. So the international donors are duped into believing that the group who signed the “peace deal” are the representative of the Somali people’s struggle against Ethiopia/TFG and those who continue to fight after the “peace deal” are just a bunch of terrorists that will have to be eliminated at any cost - which of course you guys in the U.N. and U.S./European Union have to fund us to do so. Brilliant! But the thing is, I’ve seen this movie before - I wonder if the U.S./European Union and U.N. donors have? I’m sure a lot of us Somalis can read out loud the dialogues of this movie line by line by heart.

And the sad thing is those group from the opposition who signed this sham photo-op deal are going to get paid handsomely but it leads to a very weakened opposition and the only legitimate opposition against Ethiopia and its warlord thugs. I hate Abdullahi Yusuf, but as a student of political science, I have to admit he’s a brilliant son of a bitch. If only he used his gift for the good of his people.

Realizing Somalia will not get close to peace as long as Abdullahi Yusuf is alive, I’ve put my hopes on peace and stability only after Abdullahi Yusuf is dead and most of his fellow thugs are dead or in jail. I reckon that will take a long time, but I’m hopeful I’d live to see it. 

Switzerland

I happen to come across this article discussing about Switzerland’s citizenship process. Apparently in Switzerland, citizenship is defined by something entirely different than the rest of the 194 countries of the world (including the spanking brand new Kosovo!). Essentially, Switzerland uses what it calls “democracy” citizenship where people who are born in the country (forget those immigrant asswipes) are first put through rigorous “tests” that include language skills, moral character (is he or she a Christian first), and other bullshits that I couldn’t care to list them because they defy logic. In this Dark Age place, the wanna-be citizen’s name is put on a voting ballot, along with his or her description, which essentially is the person’s name and “nationality” as in Turkish or Serbian (in other words, is he or she pure white Swiss). If the person is lucky, he or she maybe “white” enough that the citizens of the town will award him or her citizenship. If they suspect the person’s name is too “foreign” or his/her face is too brown or black, tough luck. No appeals or retakes. 

This process used to be “secret” ballot - as in, if you were voting against, say a Congolese or Turkish guy for the simple reason of you being a racist prick, it would totally hide the real reason. But the Swiss Supreme court overturned this secret ballot about five years ago because it was essentially a way to legitimize discrimination against someone even though he or she may have completely aced the necessary “tests” the government required. Furthermore, the Supreme allowed people who were rejected in the “open” election to get either an appeal or another shot to run for another citizenship election the following year. 

I don’t know what world these Swiss live in but it sure isn’t the 21st century. I thought waiting for five years to become a citizen as an immigrant in the U.S. was too harsh but learning a country like Switzerland existed gives me a whole ‘nother perspective on things. Seeing the two men in the article who know nothing but Switzerland being denied their basic right as human beings through the same process that espouses to bring freedom and justice used as a tool to oppress and denigrate them is just beyond the comprehension of rational people. But at least the Swiss have finally chose a side. 

On a Second Note…

A study released few years ago concluded South Africa is the world’s most xenophobic, most anti-foreign country. Who knew? Maybe that will put a damper on that glorious 2010 World Cup. 

The Shame of South Africa

Of all the places in the world, I don’t know how South Africa has become a country rife with violent xenophobia. During its fight against apartheid, South Africans were welcomed and helped by its neighbors, especially in Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Zambia, where the political and military wing of the ANC largely operated from. Now to see immigrants running away from Zimbabwe being slaughtered by South Africans is nothing sort of disgrace and stain on all South Africans including the gutless government of Thabo Mbeki. 

I don’t care the fact that the violence directed at fellow African migrants is by a tiny group of South Africans, it nonetheless highlights the unwillingness of the larger population to stand up and defend their values by being silent for so damn long. It is interesting that at the beginning of South Africa’s violent xenophobia was initially directed at mainly Somali shops in 2006 in which between 10 to 20 Somali shop owners were murdered. Now that the xenophobia has spread to all African migrants, everyone is paying attention. All South Africans are to be blamed and should be ashamed for letting thugs and mob mentality hijack their country; I have yet to see a single, strong demonstration against this xenophobia and violence against migrants. 

If any people know oppression and injustice, it is South Africans; and if South Africans cannot stand up to mobs and defend migrants, they have surely failed as a people and as the country of justice and equality. 

Famine in Sight in Somalia

Woke up this morning, had a toasted sandwich and a coffee. I logged in online to read the day’s news. The catastrophes of Burma and China are still on the headlines but there is also Safia Ali’s story on the front page of the NYT’s website. The resident of Dagaari, central Somalia and mother of five is dying. She is dying from hunger alone. She hasn’t eaten in seven days. More than likely, her five children will follow too - unless food is delivered right now.

Safia and her children are perfectly healthy but over a year of drought has caused the obliteration of their livelihood - their animals. There is no farm harvest to speak of. Not to mention the violence between the resistance and the Ethiopian military has prevented aid from reaching almost anywhere in southern Somalia. Just couple of weeks ago the next biggest town near Dagaari was bombed by the U.S. military going after Aadan Hashi Ayro, member of Al-shabaab. In retaliation, Al-Shabaab has been going after anything Western, including aid workers.

Although the drought is an act of the Almighty, the violence between the resistance and Ethiopia is hastening the complete annihilation of the Somali people. Most of us Somalis in the diaspora know exactly the ugly face of famine in Somalia. The question now is how long will it take for the international community to realize the perfect tsunami they have created in Somalia with the Ethiopian invasion and ‘War on Terrorism’ double-down? More importantly, will Somalia has to reach the famine catastrophe of 1991 before any attention is paid to Somalia again? 

But then again, thousands of Safia Alis will not get the benefit of an answer to those questions, because more than likely, they would already be dead. And I, more than likely, will block the images of dying Saifa Ali and her children the next time I’m enjoying my french toast and coffee.