Pleasantly Surprised

Here's my list of the top surprisingly pleasant observations I've made over the course of this trip:

1. As almost all drivers in Hargeisa are male, they are extremely accomodating to female drivers, often directing traffic so I can ease my way through
2. Everyone knows everyone; it is not uncommon for the convenience store owner to tell me a story about my father or grandfather
3. Men often show affection to one another in public. They hold hands, kiss eachother on the cheek, embrace, etc.
4. A few years ago, the bridge in Hargeisa was destroyed in a flood. Just this week, a new bridge was opened (see previous post)
5. A national organization, funded by Norway, presented humorous plays and monologyes at an outdoor assembly at Maalim Dawud during which they informed students about the importance of getting tested for HIV/AIDS
6. I ran into young man from a local organization, Asal Youth, in the staff room at Maalim Dawud. He explained the difficulty to collect funding for the new school library as well as his efforts to persuade the owners of a cinema nearby to relocate to prevent students from skipping class to watch movies
7. Almost any price is subject to bargaining - clothes, shoes, etc.
8. There's fast food in Hargeisa! Except it's even more convenient: a man runs to your car and cleans it with a dry cloth for 1000 shillings (less than 20 cents) and you can buy smoothies for less than 50 cents
9. Money exchange, from foreign currency into Somaliland shillings is a huge business. Men stand on the street with huge stacks of money without fear of being robbed
10. On Internationa Women's Day, there was a march near downtown. The women from a local organization talked on the radio about the importance of gender equality and the lack of representation for women in Parliament (less than 1% of representatives are female)