Hello from Somaliland!

I arrived at Hargeysa around 10:30am after a nice 5 hour nap in Nairobi. I'm staying at the lovely Ambassador Hotel, room #213. I'm in the the "deluxe" suite, which means I have two fans instead of one. That's right, no A/C in the entire hotel and its already 90 degrees here! Did I mention there is no booze either??? Yikes, would like to have known that back in duty free. Guess I'll be drying out in more ways than one.

Landing was interesting...the runway must have been managed by the DC City Council, because it was full of potholes. Aside from Turkmenistan this is the most out of the way place I think you could visit. Goats and sheep roam the tarmac, while refugees have set up camps along the fence-line. Two of our staff members picked us up so that was nice. The terrain is barren, hard scrapple rock, with big thorny trees dotting the landscape. Its arid so not too much vegetation despite this being the green season. Not sure I've ever seen this level of poverty anywhere. We have limited internet access, but that should improve tomorrow at the office.

The food here is a bit different than I was expecting. Lots of camel and goat on the menu. I opted out for the chicken sandwich today. I've been warned I will be eating camel sometime this week. Strangely enough there is a strong Indian influence in the cuisine, so I may have to try some goat curry before I leave as well. What also struck me was how little the people smoke here. Everywhere I go in the Arab world people are smoking their lungs out, but not here. Not sure if it is economics or religion but its nice to not smell like an ashtray everyday. The people are also very friendly, especially the Kenyans. I can't tell you how many times in just the few hours I was there I heard, "American? Obama good!" In fact even the Somalilanders love Obama. The people are very thankful as well. I was stuck how many people thanked me for coming here. A bit humbling to say the least.