ABSTRACT

If the bureaucracies in which English-speaking expatriates found themselves became settings for the production and reproduction of a homogenized view of Somalis, then here it seems appropriate to consider the context in which the Somalis expatriates knew homogenized their Somaiiness. Certainly not all Somalis who forsook pastoralism to settle in towns did so for the same reasons. People's memories pinpointing exact dates for their introduction to different foodstuffs vary, probably because different foods became important to people differentially, depending on where they were living, what they could afford, and what was available. However, both pasta and oil seem to be two significant markers of change for many Somalis. Some Somalis did occasionally return to the bush, although it may not have been the same bush they had longed for. Abdullahi spells some of this out: The differences between previously and today are the difference between bush and town.