fadhi-ku-dirir in Minneapolis

[codetalker]

MINNEAPOLIS, MN (The McGill Report) - When the hubbub settles, as it eventually will so that the group can take stock of the newcomer, pull out a small notebook and tell the group you want to know the meaning of a new Somali phrase you have learned.

 

Jot down these words on the paper: "fadhi ku dirir."

 

Nonchalantly throw the piece of paper to the middle of the table. Now, sit back and enjoy the gale of laughter that ensues. In particular, note how all the men at the table (Somali women avoid this Starbucks) look at each other self-consciously as they finish laughing and whisper to each other in Somali.

Read on...

[Urban]

 

^any SOL members there???

[Odey-Abdulle]

Originally posted by the-urban-hang-suite:

 

^any SOL members there???

did u understand aflayrshayaal abadkay maarag waxaad moodaa in layiri diyaarado hawada kumaqan soodajiya afkay cirka uwada taagayaan. hadaan awood uleeyahay tiket speet ah ayaan siin lahaa.

[J.Lee]

He then tells the story of a Somali journalist who once asked the mayor of Minneapolis, "Why don't you help Somalis in your city?" Upon which the mayor answered: "How can I help people when each group I meet discredits the other group that just left my office?"

LooooooooooooooL.

 

It's only funny because it's truly depressing.

[Wiilo]

^any SOL members there???

 

Goood Question, i bet you could find one or two in there...

 

How fascinating is this...Rag waawaayn oo dantoodii iyo familkoodii laga soo tagay guri ee isugu yimaaday maqaayad inay kaga sheekeeyaan reer hebal aa reer habel ka fiican ama hebel aa siyaasadiisa ka fiican hebel. It is very disappointing to see what these guys are doing. I just wonder if some Somali men are here in the Westren countries lingering around the Starbucks having Fadhi-ku dirir talks, and some are back home killing people for no obvious reasons, what are the roles of women? I guess it is our turn to do something. Very Very disappionting situation waaye wallaahi... :mad: :mad: :mad:

 

 

Go figure:..........

[Dhimbil]

Let them enjoy in peace people. Waa rageedii!

[Dhubad.]

Actually it is a good way of curbing the stress ! Let them enjoy.

[Modesty]

It's actually somali culture too for men to sit at tea shops, they have many biibitos here in somalia where they chew qhat and drink tea 10 times a day and talk about siyaasadow.

[opportunist]

^^ what a rotten culture, could do with a make over, Its about time we called the reality TV producers to make a reality nail bitting Episode of somalis In Maqaaxi and what the topic of discussion would be:D

[Miskiin-Macruuf-Aqiyaar]

That was a year ago; another year later, another newspaper features waxaa qarsan jirnay.

 

Tiffany Corrine Dow

Minneapolis-St.Paul Star Tribune

March 03, 2007

 

In gathering spots worldwide, Somalis catch up on news of home and engage in generally good-natured "fighting while squatting.

"

 

Yassin Issa lives in London, but when he first visited his wife and daughter in St. Paul last fall, he soon was drawn to a coffee shop at 25th and Riverside Avs. in Minneapolis that he'd heard about an ocean away.

 

Word among Somalis was that the Riverside Starbucks captures the spirit of gathering spots across Western Europe and North America where Somalis forced to leave their war-torn country exchange news and views of their native land and connect with each other across continents.

 

Issa, 45, an officer with London's Metropolitan Police and a native of northern Somalia, said Somalis in Minnesota are less volatile than those who frequent the cafeterias he patrols in Central London.

 

"Here it's more liberal. People, they talk and they discuss and they laugh," said Issa, who was separated from his wife during resettlement. In Great Britain, he said, it is better to be quiet if you disagree with something a speaker is saying. But in Minnesota, the speakers are "not waging any conflict at all."

 

The main attraction at the Riverside Starbucks is lively debate about culture and politics. They meet to discuss centuries-old clan rivalries that run deep as bone marrow and to maintain an oral tradition of exchanging information.

 

Every day, 20 to 40 Somali men play a game of musical chairs, grouping around tables and snatching open seats, as they shuffle in and out of the Riverside Starbucks from opening until closing.

 

They say their daily prayers in a hallway between the coffee shop and the adjacent Bruegger's Bagels. A sign at the end of the hall warns them to be careful because the door opens frequently.

 

Omar Jamal, 35, is a vocal supporter of Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf and a fixture in the local Somali community who goes to Starbucks every day -- even though other men provoke him into "crossfire" by attacking his political positions. This is known as "fadhi ku dirir," or "fighting while squatting," Jamal said Americans have a similar practice: It's called talk radio.

 

Somalis present their opinions as if on a debate team, said former Somali Prime Minister Ali Galaydh, who was a visiting professor at the Humphrey Institute in Minneapolis. Somalis have an oral culture, said Galaydh -- they had no written language until 1972.

 

"Your point will be most persuasive the more allusions [it has] in terms of poetry, in terms of story and anecdotal stuff," Galaydh said.

 

Yusef Yusef, also known as Liban DJ, discovered Somali gathering spots throughout the United States and Canada while promoting his film, "Flight 13," a comic documentary on Somali refugees.

 

"

They're building a government every morning, and before they leave the table they destroy it

[

]," said Liban DJ, a Minneapolis resident who frequents the Riverside Starbucks.

 

Varying interpretations of an unwritten history fuel unrelenting debates between Somalis from different clans, sub-clans and ideologies, Galaydh said. For a half-century, two clans in Somalia, the ***** and the ******, have been swapping power, he said.

 

"You are told your genealogy, just like in the Old Testament: 'So-and-so begat so-and-so,' " said Galaydh. "If you are 5 or 6 years old ... you are told your genealogy, and you commit it to memory."

 

Ali Isse, 41, often drives to the Starbucks from his home in Shoreview or after his workday ends at UCare Minnesota. Isse's mother and father are from rival clans, he said. To him the "fadhi ku dirir" is not about clan rivalry, but about venting as a form of therapy.

 

"Say what you have to say now. Don't take anything home to your family," Isse said. Because Isse has a relative in every city in Somalia, he is one of many information brokers on current events at Starbucks, he said. He calls family members several times a week.

 

"In the morning, first I check what happened on the Internet," Isse said. "So, I see, 'OK, there's an attack happening here. How many people got killed?' and then you make the decision to call based on that."

 

He compares information from Somali, Western, African and Arab media sources. But Somalis get their definitive answers by calling home, Isse said, and gathering in groups to share what they've learned.

 

Missing from the Starbucks debates are women. Amino Abdi, Ali Isse's wife, said women don't have time to socialize because they are busy with children and jobs. Every weekend there is a wedding, Abdi said, typically attended by only the Somali women; the events provide a way for women to exchange information and dress lightly.

 

Galaydh gets daily calls from friends, relatives and political affiliates in Somalia, and says he goes to the Starbucks only for the New York Times. Many Somalis who frequent the shop are avid supporters of President Yusuf, a rival of Galaydh.

 

Neither Isse nor Galaydh has taught his children a genealogy. When Galaydh's son, then 14, was questioned about clan affiliation by an uncle in Somalia, Warsame Galaydh responded that his father was a Democrat

[sax. I too do not know, and never did my old man or hooyo ever tried to. I am glad haddaaba magaca afaraad dhaafsiin karin.]

 

Abdi Omer, 40, an engineer for the city of St. Paul, goes to Starbucks because of its history and good drinks, he said. When the first Somalis immigrated to Minneapolis, this Starbucks was the only place on Riverside to meet, Omer said. As more Somalis came and started businesses, the clans began supporting their respective family-owned restaurants at mealtime, reconvening at the Starbucks afterward.

 

Galaydh said older Somalis are not learning from exposure to "open society, competitive politics, and peaceful dialogue" in America.

 

The crossfire doesn't typically become physical, although Jake Miller, a full-time

Starbucks employee, has witnessed a few coffees fly and one fistfight in the parking lot

. But no non-Somali customers have complained about the Somali gatherings. "

A lot of non-Somalis just sort of look around in awe," he said. "We just say this is like their bar

."

[Crystal_Clear]

ALLAaaaaaah! when early morning on my way to work , i decided to grab a coffee i was driving by Riverside starbucks, and i thought to my self, why not! its early, you won't see those "oodayal" but boy was I in for A suprise! all of sudden 100 somali eyes staring at me, i wanted to run, but too late, i was already in the middle of the line ,Farah_SSI is in front of me looking back, try to see if he knows me, and Ali_Medica is behind me sniffing my Hair , i felt so embarrased! i wanted to die, i couldnt believe it, it was so early! freakin early like 7 am! what the Fa!

[Aaliyyah]

^^Crystal gota admit u have a way with words lol@ sniffing my hair. anyhow Mn aint that different from Toronto. Where men come in packs just to sit and bullshit for hours and stare at every somali sister who enters. so do avoid those kinda coffee shops.

 

 

As the laughter dies down, then ask the group "Are you guys 'fadhi ku dirir?'" The laughter will peak again, and this time notice the vigorous shaking of heads as each man protests "no, no, no," while pointing to other tables around the coffee shop that are filled with debating Somalis.

Boi, did it hit a nerve lol...

 

 

wa salaam

[Hawdgirl]

Hey Crystal Clear

you are funny,

the same thing happened to me

during the summer of 2006, I had

to go to an early training

and I had to drive about 3 hours

I am not a regular coffee drinker, but

on that day I was like what the h*** its just

oneday, and guess what I had the same thought

I was like well "adeerayaal" are not in at the

favorite star bucks as early as that time...i.e

5:30 or perhaps 6am, and guess what

I had to run out of it and go to the Bruegger's Bagels- which obviously doesn't have the same

coffee........ I wish they could go back

and do some road construction back home

coz they have a lot of time in their hands!