Oh my gawd, y'all. Sorry to leave you stranded in Montenegro with those state speeches and spoons tapping on glasses. We got a little snowed in yesterday. Even though it was a snow day and we didn't get to travel, we were still pretty productive. Ellen did a 1,000 piece puzzle all by herself in less than six hours. Who's a super mastermind now?
OK, what say we head to
Djibouti (جيبوتي)? If
Bangkok invaded
Djibouti, would
Greece help?
Waka! Waka! Waka!
it's wayyyyyy over there on the right. the one in red!
Now that we've gotten all of that silliness out of the way... Djiboutui is a tiny little country - about the size of Massachusetts - situated on the horn of Africa at the south end of the
Red Sea. This place is desert-tastic! There's only about 5 inches of rainfall a year, and as a result, only about .04% of their land is arable. Less than half a percent! They've got to import the majority of their food, which makes them trickily dependent on pretty much everyone else in the world.
There's a good bit of ocean life, though. You can find everything from
Whale Sharks, which are totally sweet, to
Manta Rays and
Hammerheads! Those are totally rad, too. Wouldn't it be wild to ride a Manta Ray around?
Djibouti is also home to the crater lake, Lac Assal (
Lake Assal), which is over 500 feet below sea level and is the second lowest land depression in the world after the
Dead Sea!
Average schooling for their citizens is just four years. Imagine that! You'd be going to senior prom at ten years old! Na but really, it's probably because only a quarter of their population receives any education. They still have a 70% literacy rate, though. Sounds as if they are just more efficient educators maybe.
Argh. So, apparently there's no documented history of
Djibouti prior to
France's arrival in the mid-19th century, beyond passing mentions of traders. We find that pretty hard to believe. Perhaps Pinky's research is a bit too shallow, but he can't find anything more substantial than a few sentences describing their history before the French arrived. Weird. You'd figure a nation situated in such a geographically important area would have plenty of documented history. There were plenty of established and powerful civilizations in the area. We really can't fathom why nothing's written. Oral history is prevalent in
Djibouti's nomadic tribes, but we really can't find anything beyond the name of a sultan or two. Bizarre. We guess everyone must've been chewing
khat, like they do today.
yum, illegal/legal plants to chew.
Anyway, in the late 1800's, the French rolled in and hung around for about a hundred years, naming it
French Somaliland, and later the
French Territory of the Afars and the Issas. These are some epic names. They eventually gained independence in 1977, and Hassan Gouled Aptidon, the first president, served until he stepped down in 1999, at 83 years old. He died a few years ago at the age of 90. His nephew succeeded him and serves as president to this day. There was a nasty civil war throughout the 90's over political representation, but it ended in 2001 with the last of the rebels signing peace accords.
nice hat, sir!
With an unemployment rate of 40-50%, there isn't a whole lot going for
Djibouti economically. They pretty much capitalize on there strategic location. Strategic location of Djibouti. That's what's he said! Hoo Wah!
Seriously, though, let's tune in and see what the Djiboutians are listening to. This is an Arab station broadcast throughout the
Levant.
Djibouti only has two domestic radio stations, and neither stream on the internet, so we'll have to listen to this one. It seems pretty good so far, beyond the occasional and completely out of place western song. For example, we just heard awesome Arab stuff transition into Ke$ha. 50% awesome, 50% not awesome.
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