The stories. __________________ Cali Xuseen THE BARBER: Close shaves, savagery and the smell of peace I never thought the era of enjoyment under the former regime of Siad Barre would be replaced by blood and a dog's life. During that time I was a barber at Uruba, Somalia’s favourite tourist hotel on the edge of Mogadishu beach. It was a place of luxury where the cool breeze and the rich men converged. There was all sorts of wine and dancing. I earned $10 a day, which was enough to pay for food and water for the family. One dollar was only 150 Somali shillings at the time. In 1991, civil war broke out and the hotel Uruba was looted. I had to take a mirror and a chair to the port and that was my makeshift barber shop. Eight out of 10 customers never paid me. Militiamen just came in, had their hair cut and disappeared. Asking for money would obviously have led to a bullet in my head. The dollar went up to 6,000 Somali shillings, so life was expensive and civil war intensified. The port itself was looted and I had to take the mirror and the chair again to continue business under a tree in the western part of the city. One day heavy shelling and fighting took place. I ran home but could not see my family. There was no telephone and eventually I got tired of searching for my wife and six kids. They were hopelessly trapped in another part of the city. They also got tired of looking for me. Life became very painful and everywhere there was blood and flesh. To survive, I continued cutting hair. I could hardly get half a dollar a day but a plate of rice in the cheapest restaurant was about $3. There was terror, hunger and worry for missing families. Most people became gunmen, robbing to eat, but for me a pair of scissors was the only weapon I had. My wife thought I had died, so she married another man and bore him a daughter. In 1992, the U.S. forces (UNISOM peacekeepers) arrived in Mogadishu. We felt some relief. The dollar went down to 3,000. Food was affordable. But the threats and killing continued for years. Many barbers were killed just because of repeatedly asking for payment. I will never forget the pain and terror of the fighting. Many professors, doctors and ordinary people were killed in front of my eyes. So many people were killed -- like flies -- that we sometimes buried a dozen of them in a shallow hole like rubbish. Sometimes, I shout in my sleep late at night. I see their faces pleading, ‘Please, don’t kill me, I’m innocent’. After three years the U.S. peacemakers pulled out and soon life got worse. Life became expensive again. Robbing and the killing of people from minority clans was the order of the day. Hunger and tears continued up to 1996. After that, life improved and I could earn enough from my business to live. The happiest moment in my life was when I was reunited with my wife and six kids in 2003. Messages were conveyed through people we both knew and my wife heard I was alive. She divorced the other husband and came to me with seven children, including that man’s daughter. In 2006, the Islamists emerged and began fighting. The dollar rate rose as high as 30,000 Somali shillings. The Islamist period was undoubtedly the worst. Girls were forcibly married, property looted and innocent ones beheaded under the pretext of imposing Islamic sharia law. This Al-Shabaab used minority clans like the Somali Bantu to behead people. Al-Shabaab shot my oldest son in the head. They knew he was a former soldier. I live in a government-controlled area and I am sure they will behead me if they see me. I smell peace now. I think this is the only year we have real hope, but I am sure life will not be as good as in the 1990s under the Siad Barre regime. Who can get that life? All the luxury places like hotel Uruba have been wrecked. I now receive about 20 customers a day and charge each $1. Twenty dollars is enough to cover khat, cigarettes, the family’s needs and to pay secondary schools fees for my two kids. Xigasho

Xaafadda Siigaale bas ee ka arkaa cajalka inta hore ee degmada Hodan dhan maxaa u tiri hee. Anigana gurigeena ku yaalo agagaarka Isgoyska Bakaaraha ka raadinaaye. Siigaale iyo greater Bermuuda area mar walba dagaalada raago dhacaan meesha ugu xun ka dhacaan waa iyada. Gurigeena oo ku yaalay Isgoyska Bakaaraha mar walbana waxa Siigaale ka dhaco lee ku dhaco. Waxaa u maleeyaa inaa arko iskooladii Dhagaxtuur iyo Hodan oo ku agyaalay Isgoyska Dabka iyo Shaneemo Hodan.

Reer Turki iyo dowladoodada -- gaar ahaan wasiirkooda koowaad iyo wasiiradisa iyo reerahooda -- wey wada mahadsanyihiin. Eebbana ha ugu abaalgudo -- aamiin, aamiin.

Soomaalicentric, Ciid maa saas ugu xiiso qabtaa. Xalwada ma kaaga soo dhiibaa Islii, though. But xalwada qurbaha laga helo ayaa ka macaan kuwa inta ku arkay. Naasir/, waa hore Islii kugu dambeysee, saaxiib. Isku sanad baxnay, I guess. Bal mar kale soo booqo. About the 'money laundering, prostitution and drugs,' personally I think it is over-exaggerated. If sending lacagaha through xawaaladaha is 'money laundering' then by all means it is. Drug problem kama jiro if seriously jaadka dadka cuno la dhaho drug problems waaye. But Soomaali meelee ku badantahay jaad wuu yaalaa, and this country ayuuba ka baxaa jaadkaasna. Dad jirkooda iska gadana wey jiraan, laakiinse saas uma badno. Dhif dhif haa. Basaska still waa sidoodii, oo hip hop images and other American idols ku wada sawiran, inkastoo loud music ee shidi jireen laga joojiye, but sometimes wey shidaan.

"The folks who make this website what it is. The tireless nomads who view SOL as their own piece of the net!" So says a group's description. Who are they? Maanta lee arkee.

Aad iyo aad ugu mahadsanyihiin, Eebbana ha ugu abaalmariyo -- aamiin, aamiin. Turkiga iyo Soomaaliya do to this day have a historical, special relationship, since waagii Axmed Gurey Cismaaniyiinta xiriirla la lahaa.

Today's blog: Soon in Islii First Soon aan ku soomo in Afrika since 1996. In fact, it was during Soonka aan ka tago Nayroobi in that year. It really feels wonderful meel Soomaalida aad ugu badantahay ku soontid, waa iska Xamar meeshaan, very much like a post-war Xamar. One downside of Soonka -- albeit being a bit minor and that which I forgot it would happen-- waa candhuufta dadka tufaayaan. Meel Soomaali ku badantahay oo wada sooman maxaa ka sugee. Candhuuf xaaqo miiran meelba ku tufaayaan, una darantahay markee ku tufaan on the pavements. Caadi ayeeba la tahay, darn. It is my major beef of Soonka in here. Otherwise it is wonderful to be in an environment where you can really feel soonkaaga maadaama dadkaaga Soomaaliyeed wada sooman ku dhex jirtid.

I met this Soomaali dude in Calgary, Alberta, last year who, along with two others, arrived from Hong Kong a few months earlier. It was said he had Hong Kongese 'girlfriend' impregnated back in Hong Kong.

Eating soor iyo maraq suqaar camal ah with moos for suxuur now. Bahal caag kooka qaboob agteyda taalaa, just in case. Who eats qamadi for suxuur? Wah.

Aamiin ayaa leeyahay ducooyinkiina, waana ku wada mahadsantihiin dhammaantiinaba. Mar kale mahad Eebba.

Soon wanaagsan dhamaan horta. Soonkii iigu horeeye aan Afrika ku soomo waaye soonkaan since '96. In fact, I left Nayroobi during Ramadaan in that year. I hope Soon iyo ciid la dareemaayo inay noqoto since Islii is practically a Soomaali city itself. About suxuurta, xalay waxaa ku suxuurtay canjeero, caleen, suugo iyo mashed potato -- all provided free by the hotel I am staying at. There was some mishaari, but caloosheyda boos uma heynin cunideeda.

Waa wada mahadsantihiin dhamaantiina. Aamiin ayaa wada leenahay ducooyinkiinana. Mar kale mahadsanidiin.

Today's blog: Bankiyada iyo Islii Islii by far has more banks per square kilometre than any other land in Kenya. In my rough last count, there are no less than fourteen multinational and national banks within a few blocks from one another in Islii. Banking here is very lucrative. Soomaalis being Muslimiin, they open non-interest accruing banking accounts, both saving and chequing that are charged $5 for Kenyan shilling account or $10 for U. S. dollar account per month. Lacagtee dhigtaana waa laga sii isticmaalaa and they get nothing in back. Even in Canada, the banking account charges are nothing near that. Aad ayaa loogu faa'ideystay Soomaalida iyo lacagtooda. That is why even that famed British Barclays bank just opened another new, sparkling branch in the heart of Islii, just across from the 6th St. masaajid.

Nina, adaa mudan. Centric, you are so interested knowing meeshee deganyihiin miyaa. Last I heard labada lammaane isguursaday waxee deganaayeen Westlands. Os, not really, but I am here for now.

Waa runtaa, Nina. Soomaaliya la'aanteed adduunka waxee nala noqoneysaa cusbo, xawaaji, sanjabiil iyo basbaas ka wada maqan waaye.

Who?

Ms. Centric, isdaji nooh, see camal. Aaliya, soonka markuu soo dhowyahay maalmihii laguugu lahaa iska gudeysaa miyaa. You should have done that in Febraayo or Janaayo, more easier. By the way, meeqo saac ayaa soonkaan la afuri doonaa? 9:30 pm?

Ha dhawoow, ha dhaaf, ha gal, ha mood.

Muqdisho oo saakay Gurmad waji cusub leh laga bilaabay Shacab isxilqaamay ayaa albaabada xaafadaha gaaracaya isla markaana ka soo ururinaya qoysaska canjeero duban oo diyaarsan taasoo dhibanayaasha loo marinayo saliid iyo sonkar sidaasina ay ku cunayaan. Dadka gurmadkan fidinaya ayaa ah dhalinyaro iyo haween waxaana muuqaneysa in waji cusub oo gargaar ay noqoneyso talaabadan. Mudooyinkanba shacabka Soomaaliyeed waxa ay wadeen qorshayaal ay iskood isugu gurmanayeen, waxaana laga dareemayay dhaqdhaqaaqyada gargaarka xaafadaha iyo degmooyinka magaalada, iyadoona inta badan dadaalada ay hogaaminayaan dhalinyarada iyo jameecooyinka masaajida. Talaabooyinka ay isku gargaarayaan shacabka ayaa waxa ay muujineysaa sida shacabka ay diyaarka ugu yihiin in ay is kaalmeeyaan oo la daryeelo shacabka dhiban. Xigasho

Canjeero maa saas ugu xiistay? Anigana inta wey iga bad badatay, for I hadn't eaten it for a week. I eat it once in a while.

Wey suurowdaa, weyna dhici kartaa ee Eebba ha naga qabto shartooda.

Today's pictorial blog: Yaa guess gareyn karo meeshaan? Waa makiinadii cajiinka Suuqa Bakaaraha oo Islii loo soo raray. Islii's only supermarket, Galmart The original Waayaha Cusub studio. Waa meeshee ka bilaabeen. No, you can't find the group in this tiny studio now.