<>Week 1- Culture<>

"Somali children must memorize their lineage: this is more important than almost anything. Whenever a Somali meets a stranger, they ask each toher 'Who are you?' They trace back their separate ancestries until they find a common forefather." (4)

I found this very interesting because a lot of Ayaan's family do leave their clan in the desert and goes into the city, where in order to find hospitality. Finding a commonplace in a bloodline means that you offer each other food and hospitality. The Children are forced to memorize their bloodlines of 800 years prior. If I had to do that, I would fail miserable, considering my memory isn't my faithful servant. When we travel in modern day American culture, we can seek hospitality from mostly close family, such as aunts, uncles, cousins. I can't even begin to imagine how weird it would be to introduce yourself to someone and begin listing off your ancestors in search of one in common to see if is okay to be hospitable. I think that the level of devotion to ones clan is so important that it not only affects the hospitality aspect, but can also be shown to cause other conflicts.