Somali Western Culture Trends are becoming more visible every single day in the streets of Mogadishu and Hargeisa because the world is now a small village connected by the internet and social media. You see the young people wearing clothes that look like they belong in New York or London instead of the traditional macawiis or dirac that our grandparents loved so much.
This shift is not just about the clothes we wear but it is also about how we talk and the food we choose to eat in the new cafes opening up in every corner. For many elders these Somali Western Culture Trends are a bit scary because they feel like the old way of living is disappearing forever under the pressure of foreign ideas. But for the youth it is just a way to feel modern and connected to the rest of the world while they try to build a future after many years of trouble in the land.
The language shift and Somali Western Culture Trends
One of the most obvious signs of these Somali Western Culture Trends is the way the Somali language is changing among the students and the workers in the big offices. You will hear a mix of Somali and English words in every sentence and sometimes the kids find it hard to speak their mother tongue without using foreign slang they learned from TikTok or YouTube.
This change in communication is a big part of the Somali Western Culture Trends that makes the older generation feel like they are talking to strangers in their own homes. Even the music and the poems that used to be the soul of our nation are now being replaced by hip hop and pop beats that follow the western style of making art.
Changes in family values and social life
The way families spend time together is also being hit by these Somali Western Culture Trends as people become more focused on their individual lives rather than the big clan or the neighbors. In the past everyone knew what was happening in the house next door and people helped each other with everything from cooking to building a fence. Now with the rise of Somali Western Culture Trends you see people staying inside their rooms more often looking at their screens and talking to friends in other countries instead of their own siblings. This move toward a more private life is a major shift for a society that was built on sharing and being together through thick and thin.
The new face of food and fashion
If you look at the new businesses in the cities you will see that burgers and pizzas are becoming more popular than the traditional bariis and hilib that we have eaten for centuries. These Somali Western Culture Trends in the kitchen show that the taste of the people is moving toward fast food which is seen as a sign of being wealthy or modern.
The same thing is happening in fashion where young women are trying new styles of hijab that look more like western outfits while men are moving away from traditional hats to baseball caps. These Somali Western Culture Trends are changing the look of our markets and our streets and it makes the country feel very different from how it was thirty years ago.
The influence of the diaspora on local habits
We also have to talk about how the millions of people living in Europe and America are bringing back Somali Western Culture Trends when they come to visit or invest in the country. They bring new ways of doing business and new ideas about how a city should look and how people should behave in public places. While this brings a lot of money and new technology it also pushes the Somali Western Culture Trends deeper into the hearts of those who never left the country.
People see the success of the diaspora and they try to copy their lifestyle thinking it is the only way to be successful in the twenty first century. It is a complex mix of being proud of our roots and wanting to be part of the global movement at the same time.
It is important to find a balance between taking the good things from the west like medicine and technology and keeping our own values that make us unique as a people. These Somali Western Culture Trends are not all bad but if we lose our language and our manners we will lose our identity as a nation. We should be smart enough to use the new tools of the world without forgetting the lessons our ancestors taught us under the trees. The future of the country depends on how we manage these changes and if we can keep our soul while we join the modern world.
Read Also: Somali Traditions and the beauty of religious rituals
In the end we can see that change is something that no one can stop especially in the age of the internet where everything is shared in a second. We hope that the next generation will be able to take the best parts of the Somali Western Culture Trends while still holding onto the beautiful parts of our own history. A tree without roots cannot stand against the wind and the same is true for a people who forget where they came from. Let us be a nation that is modern in its mind but traditional in its heart for the sake of our children.
