Today, May 16th, has been very long day.
I awoke at 5:30 a.m. to finish packing for the trip. Every morning Harun is the first child who goes to school and he catches his school bus around 7:00 a.m. Normally, I make breakfast for him and pack his lunch. However, today Ubah was generous enough to help him to get ready and off to school.
When you are raising teenagers in America anytime that you can have conversation with them is sacred time. I drive Hanad to school every morning, and I always look forward to the 15 minutes we have together. At times he is chatty and shares with me how his previous day went, what he is thinking and grappling with, and I just listen. He taught me how to be a better listener, because if I don’t listen intently I may miss some of things he wants to talk to me about. Some days he does not say much. I learned to live with the silence. My father would have not have been happy if I rode in the car with him and said nothing. He would have read my silence as defying his authority. Raising children in American is a whole different ball game than how we were raised in Somalia. For me to be an effective parent with Hanad I have to be skilled in both the old the new cultures.
After I dropped him to school I went to the office and officially welcomed the Somali Scandinavian guests at 8:00 a.m. Ismahan, who is our program administrator and staff writer, was already there working hard in preparation for the group. Here are a couple of photos from our meeting:
I had a very engaging conversation with them and left the office around 10:00 a.m to get to the airport. ADC staff gave the delegates a tour of the Somali-Minnesotan malls and later held a reception for them at ADC at 5:00 p.m.
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The trip was long but pleasant. My layover was at the Dulles airport where I boarded Scandinavian Airlines to Copenhagen. I landed in Copenhagen at 7:00 a.m. and caught a train to Malmo where I was meeting my local host. The Copenhagen International Airport is very modern and clean. And the train was fast, on time, and neat. My trip from Copenhagen International Airport to Malmo took less than 25 minutes.
Malmo is a fascinating city. It has blend of old and new industries. I will say more about Malmo soon.
I just checked into my hotel room in Hamlstad and I am scheduled to speak tomorrow at the Integration conference. Stay tuned for more about the conference, my visits, and all people who are hosting me throughout this trip.
As always, if you ever feel I have made a mistake or unintentionally offended anyone, please let me know via hsamatar@adcminnesota.org. Feedback is always appreciated.
Thank you for traveling with me and I do appreciate you reading my blog and interacting with me.
Graciously,
Hussein Samatar
Executive Director
