High in Hell

[Ibtisam]

http://www.esquire.com/features/ESQ0906KHAT_182

 

 

Dev Soni is twenty-two years old and is hovering outside the entrance to a colonial-style office building where his family trades goods between Djibouti and Somalia. He hails from the Indian state of Gujarat -- more than thirteen hundred miles to the east. He looks almost as out of place as I feel, which probably explains his eagerness to strike up a conversation. Although he doesn't chew khat himself, Dev is delighted to share his views on the subject.

 

"There is an Arabic word, tafshan -- it means you're bankrupt," he explains. "Because of the khat, Djibouti and most of its people are tafshan." That's a fairly bold statement, but the facts back him up: According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Djiboutians who chew khat spend nearly a fifth of their household budget on the leaves.

 

"And in addition to the financial problems that this drug creates," Dev adds earnestly, "please keep in mind that if you are eating the khat on a regular basis, your penis will become smaller."

 

 

........When I die and am sent to hell as punishment for all the terrible things I've written about the most maligned place in Africa, I'll crawl off into some dark corner to contemplate my sins. And there I'll run into a group of Djiboutians lounging around on a pile of ratty rugs: Khadar, Awole, Ladir, and eight guys who still insist on being called Omar.

 

There won't be any khat, of course -- the plane only lands in heaven. But there will still be a mabraze, and that's because these guys will be sitting around speculating about what it would be like if they actually had khat. They'll talk about how, when the plane arrives, you can hear the symphony of car horns. They'll reminisce about the tumultuous insanity of the drug derby racing through the slums. And then they'll remind one another what it's like when those who are pure of heart, but also those whose hearts aren't so pure, can all duck through the door, offer up a "Bonjour, mes amis!" and settle down together to shoot the breeze and brouter la salade.

 

 

 

Read more:

http://www.esquire.com/features/ESQ0906KHAT_182#ixzz29IU2FTMm

[sharma-arke451]

@ibti, do you think they do more than inadeero??? Lol

Btw, hw is the life in h town?

[Jacaylbaro]

[Carafaat]

sharma-arke451;879856 wrote:

@ibti, do you think they do more than inadeero??? Lol

Btw, hw is the life in h town?

Djiboutians hold the record, followed by Jigjiga, Borama, Hargeysa comes in the 4th place.

[Ibtisam]

Carafaat record for what? spaced out drugged men wasting their life away and neglecting their families?

 

Sharmaarke I dont understand your question., and what is H town?

[sharma-arke451]

*Ibtisam;880165 wrote:

Sharmaarke I dont understand your question., and what is H town?

h town is hargeisa,,,,,,,,

[Abu-Salman]

Ah, that old article I read in a US Black magazine long ago and one of the reasons I avoid the press: birds dropping of heat, everyone seems flying high or gesturing about sex, invented or totally inaccurate "facts" etc.

Of course the more exotic the place, the easier to lie and project all of one's fantasms...

 

Ibtisam, there are far more serious blogs out there about qat

[Ibtisam]

I know- but no one reads them- not sensational enough. I thought this was a well written fiction meets facts. Kind like the sun articles- just better written.