Sometimes one just has to smile benignly when walking (or driving) through the streets of Hargeisa, the dusty capital of what some people call "africas best kept secret". Although maybe forgotten by the international community, Somaliland still keeps its share of "internationalism" - or maybe "transnationalism", since goods from other countries across the globe are not simply shipped in, but rather adopted according to how they fit best to the Somaliland environment. After having lived in Somaliland for seven months, I am still not tired of looking out of the window and hunting with my eyes and camera "well known and still somehow oddly modified" features and objects, as for instance the "pizza hut" restaurant, the petrol pump (somebody out there who can identify the language used on it?), or theice cream kiosk, which is showing certain similarities with Eskimo Ice, a well known icebrand from Europe.
Which language is it?
Surely not Somali (If it would be Somali it would have to have at least five X, some krsh and crs, some double vowels, and an insha allah at the end - but thats another story)
Any hint will be mostly appreciated!
I simply liked the painting - but I have to say that no matter when i passed by the place, I never saw anybody walking out of the bar with an icecream smiling like the one above!
To be continued...
