Capuccino

I woke up this morning 50 minutes before my alarm and later learned that for whatever reason I was an hour ahead of local time. I went to wake Hannah up this morning at what I thought was 9am, but learned that it was actually 8am. Its a little funny considering the title of my last post. I am pretty firm in knowing the current time now--currently it is 12:45pm here and 4:45am back home. I think.

I went to bed last night with the door to my balcony open and I woke up with the sun shining in to my room from the east. My curtains are yellow as is the blanket on my bed, so my room appeared to be glowing when I woke up. Quite the welcome way to wake up on my first day here. I thought I would be smart and get up before my alarm today so that I could turn on the water heater for my shower. Unfortunately, I ended up turning my water heater OFF, so I had the joy of taking a cold extraordinarily fast shower this morning. I think I have quite a bit of conditioner residue in my hair due to the rushed nature of my rinsing.

Last night Teddy told us that he would pick us up late today--whenever we called him. Unfortunately however, that was not the case and instead Dr. Andu, the dean of the medical school here was at our hotel bright and early at 8am to pick us up. He called the room, so we quickly got ready. I was rushed even more by my nice cold shower. We met him in the hotel restaurant where he seemed very relaxed and didn't mind that we went ahead and had breakfast. Even at breakfast I could already tell quite the difference in the Eritrean people. They are remarkably relaxed--in no hurry and on no schedule to get things done. It is so refreshing coming from a place where I always feel stressed and like I should always be doing something. The default here is to take a break and relax.

Hannah ordered and egg for breakfast which came with toast and a banana. I had a piece of toast with their jelly. The bread seemed so hearty. They made fresh squeezed orange juice for use, and this was absolutely delicious. Something I could definitely get used to.

After breakfast, we drove with Dr. Andu to the medical center where the medical school and hospitals are. On this short trip we got to see more of the city. The architecture is very distinct and reminds me of Italian villas or southern Spain. Everything is very close and within walking distance, which will be good for Hannah and me getting to work each day. The place is so pedestrian friendly, which seems funny to say because very few people have cars relative to the population. There are people walking the streets everywhere. Above all, the people have an air of friendliness. The city is also remarkably clean and has a very safe air to it. The buildings are left with the windows and doors open without a second thought.

At Dr. Andu's office, we sat down to get our paperwork in order so that we could go to the Ministry of Health to get our permission to practice medicine. There was a problem with getting all of the documentation that we needed for today because the minister was at a meeting all day. We will return tomorrow and hopefully with have everything together then to be able to start. We thus got the second half of the day to wander the city, which is nice since Hannah and I are still so jet-lagged.

Before taking us back to our hotel, Dr. Andu took us for a Capuccino at a cafe on one of the main streets. Being a previous Italian colony, Eritrea is known for its coffee and also apparently has very good Italian food. I will say that the Capuccino that he bought us was absolutely the best I have ever had. I did add a good 3 tsp of sugar to it, but with that it was amazing. Much milder than what we are used to getting at Starbucks and actually pleasurable to drink without the bitterness I'm used to. It was also a nice pick-me-up because I am so jet-lagged. Dr. Andu talked to us quite a bit at the cafe about the politics of Eritrea and how the American media tries to influence the culture here. It was quite interesting, but Hannah and I could not understand everything he was saying unfortunately. One lesson he did leave us with though was that Eritreans have a very relaxed culture except when they drive--they drive like maniacs.

So, now I am sitting on the roof top of our hotel in the 75 degree weather in the beautiful sun enjoying the day. This place is absolutely beautiful with its architecture, the people, the blooming flowers, and the quietness. There is no traffic noise. I can hear the sounds of the music--maybe Muslim call to prayer--kids playing, roosters crowing, birds chirping. I could get used to this.