The more I read and learn about a specific place or people, the less I realize I truly know. I’m always curious to learn more about the people I walk, wait, and eat beside on a daily basis in the Twin Cities. This curiosity is one of the reason I look at other blogs for cultural insight. In a Somali mall, I am but a witness taking in many sights and sounds that are new to me.
Online there are other insights that I can read, bookmark, and share. Here I can ask questions of complete strangers and quickly gain more understanding or context. Two blogs to highlight…Matt Altstiel’s Academic Life covers an extensive interview with a 22-year old Somali student that provides good insight into the Somali experience in Minneapolis.
“Somalia, as my informant explained, lies at a cultural crossroads much like the United States. Many cultures, including: Saudi, Yemeni, Omoro, Ethiopian, Hubasha, and Italian have mixed together to create the poly-cultural and poly-racial mix that is present day Somalia. She explained that although she would consider herself ethnically Somali, she mentioned that like me, we are ethnically and culturally mixed. In the same way, she reflected that Somali, as a language, has incorporated words and structures from a vast variety of neighboring tongues. “
The other blog I have been reading as of late is from Somali, Shafi Said, and is called Incoherent Thoughts. His blog details the random thoughts of the a student / teaching assistant of Somali descent attending university in the U.K.
