Its the Climb

20 June 2011

Writing class. 6:58am. We started this morning like we do half of the mornings, with an SAT writing prompt. This morning’s was: What gives us more pleasure and satisfaction: the pursuit of our desires or the attainment of them?

For sure, I thought they would all relate to the question via the Miley Cyrus song, The Climb: “There’ll always be another mountain. I’m always going to want to make it move. It’s not about what’s waiting on the other siiiiiide. It’s the cliiiimb.” I quote Miley- surely I must be the coolest teacher ever!

TIA. And they are teenagers so I will never be cool (I don’t think people are even cool anymore- what are they nowadays?). Only one student vaguely recognized it after I went through a few more verses (speaking, not singing, don’t worry). Sheesh.

I like the question. I like that Miley song. I am so much more intrigued by the journey to get anywhere than I am about the end product. So, I thought that prompt may be a good prompt for a near-the-end Somaliland reflection.

On some level, I am happiest when I am most uncomfortable. Alaska, for example. I am a beach person- why on earth did I ever pay to live outdoors in Alaska for three late fall/ early winter months??? Why not? I made great friends, learned I could survive just about anything, and am confident I can sit through any Bears home game without ever feeling the howling wind or wet snow, without any beer! I did it to see what I would see and to pick-up a few stories along the way. While I still cannot cross sharing berries with a Grizzly off my bucket list, I have practically given a moose a muffin, have eaten whale blubber, dropped a glove in a composting pit toilet, and sprained my ankle on a dog sled. So much better than a diploma or any ceremony!

Next to ‘How are you?’ and ‘Where you from?’ the most frequently asked question in Somaliland is ‘Why are you here?’ The real answer is for all of the reasons I have never imagined and for all of the situations I never pictured myself in; for the unlikely friendships I encounter along the way and for all the cultural blunders only a smiling white girl can get away with. Why not? I am here for the journey and had no destination in mind. And if some kids learn a little English along the way, all the better.

What has this journey been? First, there was OHare. What story worth retelling does not start in OHare?!? Thankfully this portion is short. Margaret brought K an airplane; and Mike had a ‘red eye,’ therefore Kenai was convinced he was poor. We chatted, played the world’s most intense game of Trouble, and shared a meal. Life was good.

In the car from the Hargeisa airport to the school, I can clearly remember Kenai shouting exclamations about all of the animals. Goats and sheep and donkeys, oh my! He promptly wanted to know the Somali word for all of them. Kiette (director of operations at the time) commented that most people started with ‘hello’ and ‘how are you’ when learning a language, not ‘goat.’ She answered every last question and even partook in the pointing out of all 249 goats between the airport and the school. That is why we came to Somaliland.