Greetings!
Unfortunately, this blog will be brief- I am awaiting a flight that I secretly hope is canceled... our original flight out canceled and at this point, spending another day here wouldn't be bad at all.
To update, we went out to a village less than 5k from the border with Somalia. On the way, we past multiple sites of interest, two of significance being a camel bone yard and a Djiboutian golf course!?! The latter was nothing but dirt with a few flags in various places. Not to anyone's surprise, it looked as though it would be easy to get a tee time... no one was on the course... perhaps for the past few months!
We arrived in the village with a larger contingency of marines (force protection) and a bunch of public affairs from all branches. We set up at a school and had a great show. Unlike Hol Hol, they let the villagers come in closer (although, the Djiboutian police in our entourage carry sticks to keep the children back...) and we were able to interact and hopefully make a more relevant connection. This mission served multiple purposes- here they are in no particular order:
-Balance the military image in the area- the marines patrol this region with gun trucks- keeping Al-Qaeda on the other side of the border. By bringing a good, interactive show to the village, trust was built and lines of communication were opened.
-Give the marines a platform to address concerns with the village elders and have that information passed down to everyone at once. In this case, there was an instance where a child had a toy gun some days ago- if children get the idea of pointing toy weapons at the marines, there could be an unfortunate incident. The interpreter was able to address this concern all at once while there's a festive attitude.
-Provide another opportunity to bring water and supplies to the villagers. This seems incredibly important, as far as I am concerned.
I am hoping to get my hands on the photos taken by the Army PA folks- they took a lot of photos that will surely be stunning. These trips to the villages were experiences I will never forget.
After the village performance, we returned to the camp and set up for our evening gig at the cantina. This show was a lot of fun, gave us a chance to get the people we worked and traveled with over the past few days up on stage, and we were able to enjoy a tasty beverage or two (or three...) during the show. Camp Lemonier, in my opinion, was our best stop.
This morning, we were escorted downtown to shop. A few observations:
Khat is everywhere. It's a narcotic- a plant that is chewed and among other things, turns everyone's teeth green. There is a lot of history, social issues, and political issues involving khat, but I'll have to save that for a later time.
So many Djiboutian women are beautiful- very stunning facial structures and smiles. It is hard to photograph women, however, due to cultural restraints. The men on the other hand, not as attractive- this being confirmed by our two female singers.
As we prepare to leave, I can only hope our government, other governments and non-governmental organizations continue to do the right thing in places such as Djibouti. While the military's role here, in the big picture, is to provide long term security for ourselves, as I mentioned before, the byproduct can be a good thing for those less fortunate. As a point of clarification, I personally do not believe we should attempt to change a culture, only help provide better living standards, health care, and a stable life. From what I witnessed first hand, the marines are very knowledgeable and respectful of the local customs and cultures, and are doing the right thing.
On to the terminal to catch what may be the most uncomfortable ride of the deployment. Hurray!
J-
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