News from Asmara

Asmara Feb 20th 2009

I’m hoping to be able to post something here every 2 weeks or so and maybe even post a picture or two if technology allows. So here are some musings after nearly three weeks in Asmara.

Climate

The weather is almost perfect. Mostly blue sunny skies, with the odd fluffy cloud, and day time temperatures of about 20 *c. It will get hotter but just right at the moment. It does cool down quite a bit during the evening/night but not too much. The wind picks up during the afternoons, which is fine in town but it means that dust/sand blows around a good bit in the villages.

The people

The Eritreans are extremely friendly and very welcoming. Many have a good level of English and even those who don’t speak much or any at all still manage to make you feel really welcome. I know it's a bit of a cliche but the children and beautiful and a lot of the women are really striking too. The men would be much improved if it weren't for the tash.
It's common for both men and women to hold hands when walking or chatting but very unusual for couples to show physical affection in public. The men also have this funny shoulder bump greeting...dates back to war times. They are a very quietly spoken people. I've not heard a raised voice yet, a real contrast from Spain in that sense.


Asmara

Asmara reminds me a lot of old Havana. It has lots of beautiful Italian Villas and great art deco style buildings but most could do with a lick of paint. The centre is quite compact and fairly easy to get around and the best bit is that it has hundreds of cafes and cake shops..a legacy of Italian rule. There is a large market area selling mostly fruit/ veg, cereals and spices..it has a real Arabic air about it.


Food and drink

Black tea with a dash of lemon and loads of sugar is the national drink. Cappuchinos and machiatos are common in Asmara but not in villages. Coffee ceremonies are apparently quite common on special occasions. They last for about 2 hours and you’re expected to have a minimum of 3 shots of very strong expresso type coffee. Well, I won’t be able to do that after 5pm or I won’t sleep. Apparently until recently there was Eritrean beer, rum and an aniseed type drink but production stopped a few months ago. Most alcohol is now imported and it costs a fortune…so won’t be bothering with drink then.

In Asmara there seems to be a mixture of restaurants serving local food or Italian/fast food…so we’ve been having more pizzas than injera which is the main local dish. It’s an acquired taste and I’ll need to acquire it soon as there’ll be no pizzas where I’m going! The market has lots of bananas, oranges, papayas and guavas as well as potatoes, tomatoes, pumpkin and spinach and other seasonal veg. Some of the older volunteers got very excited last week when they heard there was some brocoli in town! You can buy pasta and rice in the bigger supermarkets and fish and meat somewhere else. I think I’ll be a veggie for now though. There’s a place that makes wonderful mixed fruit juices with icecream which’ll be a treat whenever I’m in town.


Transport
Considering Asmara is the capital city here, there are not a lot of private cars on the roads. There are lots of buses, jeeps, trucks, bikes, pedestrians, donkeys, goats and the odd camel. The city buses are very cheap and are always packed and I mean packed. They splutter out lots of black fumes which is apparently due to the high altitude of the city. Someone was explaining that the fuel doesn’t have enough oxygen to burn properly. I’m getting used to cycling on less oxygen and trying not to breathe in the bus and lorry fumes. Eritreans are super cyclists and often win international medals. The city is often closed to traffic on Sunday mornings as there are cycles races through town.