It Goes Both Ways
Djibouti, February 8, 2012
Salaroche

While comparing life in Saudi Arabia with life in Djibouti over the Internet with a friend the other day, I agreed with him in that life in Saudi Arabia is not a walk in the park for most westerners.

First there's the question of the extreme separation of the sexes, then there's the total absence of alcoholic beverages, and the lack of western-style continuity in the daily endeavors because of the daily breaks for prayer can be a burden for some too. Life in that kingdom is definitely not an easy pill to swallow for most of us and the only sweetener that helps it go down seems to be money: Salaries over there are excellent by western standards and they're entirely tax-free.

Life in Djibouti is not a piece of cake either, but it's clearly more pleasant than it is across the Red Sea. In Djibouti city the separation of the sexes is minimal and alcoholic beverages are available in a few different bars, restaurants, and liquor stores, but there's also no western-style continuity in the daily endeavors because of the different daily prayers.

Two out of three is not bad, so, so far, thumbs up for Djibouti.

But one problem we have here that they don't have in Saudi Arabia is street beggars. I've been here for two months already and hardly any day goes by that I don't have some beggar harassing me for money. Then, whenever I go out at night, there's always some guys who talk to me in French or English, or even in Italian or Japanese (do I look Japanese to you?) trying to establish a conversation that may lead to my finally handing some money to them for one reason or another.

As you can imagine, there comes a time when you get fed up with that whole situation and your attitude starts to change. Then your heart stops bleeding at the sight of those malnourished toddlers practically hanging from their mothers' shoulders while their mothers seem to have their arms perennially stretched forward like frozen in a begging gesture, and you no longer pay much attention to them.

In time, you eventually fall into a daily routine that includes walking down the same streets, which necessarily entails coming across the same beggars every day. At that point you know which beggars you're going to find along your way, but those beggars also know you're not going to give them any money, so their insistence wanes to the point in which, hopefully, eventually they just let you be.

Being harassed for money on a daily basis by the same beggars is not a fun experience for anyone, but I guess that being turned down on a daily basis by the same person is not a fun experience for any beggar either. It goes both ways.

In the meantime, life goes on at the Horn of Africa. On the professional level, and according to their written comments, my students are getting much more information from me than they bargained for and, for my part, I'm gathering a good amount of information from them about their culture and that of some of the neighboring countries as well.

I guess that goes both ways too.

Salaroche