HH: I was sous-chef. I didn’t realize I was a budding chef. It was a slightly different version, but I’d already worked as a sous-chef with my mother and brother. After those two years, when I realized that no one would be coming, I ate hot dogs, Doritos and pizza. Gas station food became my survival strategy.
LA: What do you mean by survival tool?
HH: It was my fuel. After school I would go to Mr. Henry’s Gas Station. He knew Hawa would want a hotlink so I walked over right away. Make sure you don’t make Hawa’s bread too thick. Remove the crust for her.
LA: Please tell me where you are in the US.
HH: I was raised in Seattle, Washington.
LA: There was a Somalian population there? Did you know of any Somalian communities?
HH: When I arrived in Seattle it wasn’t just me, but also the Cambodians and the Russians. Also, there were the Eritreans, Ethiopians, Sudanese and Somalis. My elementary was so multicultural. It’s just that since I arrived in the U.S. I’ve had a lot of diversity, whether it’s Somalis, or others.
LA: Do you have any memories of your mother’s family in Oslo?
HH: Well, it’s kind of both. They were among the first to migrate to Norway and there was not a large Somali population. Why does this happen? When there is migration, the government will often place you right in the middle, downtown. So my family grew-up in a neighborhood called Gronland. Downtown Oslo is now awash with Somalis, just walking around. They now have a healthy Somali community.
LA: Oslo must be a home away from home for you and your family.
HH: Totally. Yeah, totally. They’re Norwegian. They fight in Norwegian. They grew up there. Some of them were even born there. They have gone to school there. Some of them have Norwegian spouses.
My last trip to Somalia took place in 1991. My father lives there and my brother visits every year. My little sister goes. She’s bringing her kids with her to go and see him. There were some of us who hadn’t seen my father since I left Kenya. I took everyone to Turkey, Istanbul, because that was the only way we could get my dad a visa.
LA: It’s interesting, because I also know people who have families. I am thinking of a close friend who has family in Iran, and Istanbul is where they meet.
