jamesinalaska
Member
- Joined
- Feb 9, 2015
- Messages
- 256
The diversity of people you can meet in the Alaskan fishing industry is quite large. I have been working on some upgrades in a couple of canneries the last several months and I have met a number of interesting people with some great life stories. My friend Rabi, a tall, very dark skinned, Somalian refugee and immigrant to America is a good example.
Rabi was assigned as my helper while I worked on the new equipment and so we got the chance to chat quite a bit. We talk about many things including religion, marriage (Rabi claims he has two wives, but I think that story is tall - he only gets phone calls from one woman.), politics of course, money, and firearms and hunting. Rabi is curious about bears in Alaska and I am curious about lions in Africa, so we swap stories. "Have you ever hunted lions Rabi?" I asked one day.
"Oh yes!" He said enthusiastically. "One time only. My brother and me. They are very dangerous, very powerful. They can pick up [a] whole cow and carry away."
Rabi had told me before that his family and extended kin lived a rural life eight hours away from Mogadishu, but when the civil wars erupted even his remote village wasn't able to escape. But before the wars, in happier times, he says he lived pretty peacefully and the only real trouble (aside from the poverty) came from a lion that came around and started dragging off a few of their livestock. Apparently Rabi and his brother decided to put an end to the marauding and set off to dispatch the lion and make a little money too. Rabi said he and his brother tracked the lion for three days, but I do not know if he meant they searched for three days and bivouacked nightly, or if they went off daily from their home on daily scouting missions and returned home nightly. (I know nothing about lions so cannot guess about their ability to travel, but knowing Rabi I would think it was the later.) Anyhow, Rabi says he and his brother found the lion resting but startled it, and the brother then killed it with the family's AK. "Five shots." he said "Bam, Bam, Bam . . . " he said, taking a rifleman's stance.
"You killed an adult, male lion with an AK47?" I asked.
"That is all you need. Everyone in Africa has AK47." he said. "There is nothing better. Except AKM. That is the best."
So, that is Rabi's story. Rabi does like to tell tall stories but I believe he was telling the truth on this one because he says he is still afraid of lions.
Rabi was assigned as my helper while I worked on the new equipment and so we got the chance to chat quite a bit. We talk about many things including religion, marriage (Rabi claims he has two wives, but I think that story is tall - he only gets phone calls from one woman.), politics of course, money, and firearms and hunting. Rabi is curious about bears in Alaska and I am curious about lions in Africa, so we swap stories. "Have you ever hunted lions Rabi?" I asked one day.
"Oh yes!" He said enthusiastically. "One time only. My brother and me. They are very dangerous, very powerful. They can pick up [a] whole cow and carry away."
Rabi had told me before that his family and extended kin lived a rural life eight hours away from Mogadishu, but when the civil wars erupted even his remote village wasn't able to escape. But before the wars, in happier times, he says he lived pretty peacefully and the only real trouble (aside from the poverty) came from a lion that came around and started dragging off a few of their livestock. Apparently Rabi and his brother decided to put an end to the marauding and set off to dispatch the lion and make a little money too. Rabi said he and his brother tracked the lion for three days, but I do not know if he meant they searched for three days and bivouacked nightly, or if they went off daily from their home on daily scouting missions and returned home nightly. (I know nothing about lions so cannot guess about their ability to travel, but knowing Rabi I would think it was the later.) Anyhow, Rabi says he and his brother found the lion resting but startled it, and the brother then killed it with the family's AK. "Five shots." he said "Bam, Bam, Bam . . . " he said, taking a rifleman's stance.
"You killed an adult, male lion with an AK47?" I asked.
"That is all you need. Everyone in Africa has AK47." he said. "There is nothing better. Except AKM. That is the best."
So, that is Rabi's story. Rabi does like to tell tall stories but I believe he was telling the truth on this one because he says he is still afraid of lions.
Thanks for sharing! 
