10 Questions

Out of Africa

Halpin shows some village boys their photos on her digital camera in Nagad, Djibouti. Photos: Army Sgt. Charles A. Siler

Solano Magazine’s production manager at large, Michelle Halpin, was sent on a 14-month deployment with the California Army National Guard in March 2007, five months of which were spent in Africa as a public affairs broadcast journalist. Stationed at Camp Lemonier, Djibouti, Halpin was required to shoot, edit and transmit video to the Digital Video Imagery and Distribution System (DVIDS) in Atlanta, Ga., where her material would become stock footage for public use—e.g., CNN for a news broadcast or the History Channel for a documentary. Halpin finally returned to her Vallejo home at the beginning of May.  

What was the first thing you did upon your return home?
I stopped at Chicken Express’ drive-thru in Vallejo on the way home from the airport.  

How were you perceived overseas as a U.S. citizen?
Some people just automatically loved us; others seemed surprised that they found themselves liking us. To me, we were visibly contradicting some kind of negative American stereotype out there.

Did you ever feel threatened in your endeavors?
As active duty military in a foreign country, you always have to have situational awareness. I was always on alert in the Horn of Africa, but I didn’t feel threatened doing my job on the day-to-day.

What was the most fun you had?
Escorting an all-Kenyan Al-Jazeera English news crew to northern Djibouti was the greatest! It was quite the cultural exchange, talking about growing up in our respective homelands. The drive included stunning natural scenery; we met interesting locals all along the way and saw loads of animals, even baboons—even goats in trees!

What American luxury did you miss the most?
In general: shopping for food, food nutrition labels and having a kitchen where I can cook said food the way I prefer to eat it.

Did you find any new customs America should adopt?
It would be nice to be able to haggle for goods and services rather than always having to pay fixed prices for everything.

Do you plan to get back on an airplane anytime soon?
I love traveling. I can’t wait to head out on the next adventure, but with my husband next time.

Anything you miss about life on the road?
Life is so much simpler in the military when you’re out on the road. Really, the main things you have to worry about are showing up on time in the proper uniform with the proper equipment.

Would you ever return to Djibouti for vacation?
There are so many cool places I still want to visit in Africa that it wouldn’t make sense.

Any tips for someone visiting Africa?
First and foremost, be a good ambassador. You might be the only American somebody ever meets, or the one that changes their minds about Americans in a positive way.

Visit the U.S. Embassy websites for the countries you’re traveling to. They’re the experts in that area and can provide valuable information on what to look out for in that country.

This is Africa we’re talking about. Because of the lack of infrastructure, just assume that just about everything can or will go wrong, so have plans A-D for when transportation, lodging, tours or whatever doesn’t work out. You will have diarrhea, so just accept that fact and move on (and pack a couple packages of Pepto tablets if you’re not prone to backing up and drink lots of water—which will probably not be readily available). Oh, and by the way, not all bottled water is safe to drink (see embassy note above). You will get dirty and wet (from sweat and/or rain). Bring quality, closed-toe shoes that you can walk in, or stand in one place, for long periods of time. At least two pairs, if possible, so you can change out of wet shoes.

Bonus question: What was your most memorable or shocking experience?
The day I was waiting in the Djibouti airport to catch a commercial flight to Ethiopia with another military journalist, an Air Force tech sergeant. We were sitting there chit chatting quietly when a woman approached us carrying a silver box, about one foot in length. She approached very slowly, almost in slow motion, eyes wide and staring us down. She then set the box down a couple feet away from us, and then slowly backed away, very slowly, still with those huge, wide eyes. When she was still approaching us, my buddy and I just kind of stared back at her wondering why she looked so afraid to sit by us. When she set the box down and started to back away from us, and the box, my heart seemingly stopped for a moment as I froze with the thought that her eyes might just be saying, “I’m killing you now and there’s nothing you can do about it.” As she continued to back away from us and the silver box, my buddy whispered something to me to the effect of ‘oh my god, no she didn’t just do that. What is she doing?’ I don’t know if I was able to say anything yet as my eyes were 100% trained on her and I thought something terrible was going to happen any moment. Then she backed her way up to the little bar in the waiting area, still staring at us, quickly turned and ordered a drink, turned back around and stared, slowly approached us again with her drink, picked up the doggone box, then walked away with her drink, sat down nearby and went about her business waiting for the same plane like nothing ever happened. It happened so much faster than it sounds, three minutes from start to finish? I’m not sure. I was practically shaking and sick. My buddy wasn’t doing much better. After a few deep breaths, we decided she just wanted us to watch the box for her while she got something to drink and figured it was safer to have the American strangers “watch” her property than anyone else there and just didn’t know how to ask—then decided to just not even attempt to ask. Talk about a misunderstanding—we thought she wanted to blow us up!

Halpin goes for a camel ride while Al-Jazeera English news broadcaster Mohammed Adow looks on.

 

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