Happy birthday to me!

After going to bed last night around 2, I woke up bright and early with the morning sun shining through my very large windows probably somewhere around 7am. Its nearly impossible to sleep late in this room; close the curtains and its burning hot, open them and its like the sun is emanating from my room. Anyway, we got a late start this morning having breakfast in the hotel as per usual, but with a start time of 10:00am. We hit the streets around 10:45, walking to the area of town with main markets. The markets here are huge and include grains, fruit, vegetables, trinkets, and other household items like laundry detergent, cooking oil, toilet paper, etc.

The grain section was the most fascinating for us because of its vast size and the fact that we really have no idea what most of the grains are. The grains are contained in huge grain bags of which I cannot even begin to estimate the weight. Maybe 500 lbs, standing on end with the top open. Walking through the grain section, we simply admired the different colors and tried to snap some pictures. It was interesting how we were received while taking photos of the grains. Some of the women selling (and they are all women) welcome us to look and take pictures while others, although very few, very much dislike our picture taking. We struck up conversation with several different grain-sellers and learned what some of the grains were. We both ended up buying some grain--myself a spice and Hannah some colorful lentils. I'm not sure if we can even bring these back to the US, but it was fun to get and talk with the people. Also, after buying something, we were more inclined to take pictures with the grain-sellers permission.

We walked through the fruit section as well getting lessons from the locals on the different fruits here. We both ended up buying some guava fruit to try since that is something that is very common here that neither of us have had. In buying what we did, we initially weren't sure if we were getting ripped off because the prices that we were being quoted seemed quite high. But, later I learned that, in fact, food here is just very expensive. Another reason the vast majority of people here are quite thin.

After a long walk through the city which included an inappropriate stop at the very large orthodox Christian church (inappropriate because we entered without wearing traditional clothing AND without taking off our shoes--something that we learned later in the day we should have done), we headed back to the hotel to meet Hannah's intern, Henoch, who took us for a traditional coffee ceremony. He took us to his "sister's" house (actually his cousin) where we were, for the first time, able to see a traditional villa where most people live. She is married with 5 children and she is going back to school in nursing to learn to be a midwife. We were quickly served Asmara beer after arriving (which I was thrilled about--NOT!) and were able to sit for several hours and just talk and learn about the Eritrean way of life. The coffee ceremony came within about an hour of arriving and was done by the female servant that, I think, lives there. They explained that a true traditional ceremony involved a more formal sitting arrangement and the participants wearing traditional clothing. We had none of that, but it was very interesting nonetheless.

In making the coffee, the coffee beans are first cooked over the stove until they smoke. At this point, they are brought into the main area where we are made to smell the smoke. Then, they are ground and the coffee making materials are brought into the main room. The coffee is put into a sort-of vase with a circular end and a thin round spout. Water is then poured into the vase and the coffee is cooked over coals. It is then served in small ceramic cups on a tiny saucer with a tiny spoon with the cup about the size of a 1/3 cup in the US. It is poured over a LOT of sugar and served. I found it to be quite good with a very strong sugary flavor coupled with the bitter taste of strong coffee. It is akin to espresso with a LOT of sugar in it. They continue to serve it until the coffee in the vase is completely used. Thus, I had likely the equivalent of 4 shots of espresso today. ZZZZZttttt zttttttt....I'm on fire! That coupled with the beer that I forced myself to drink so as to not be rude, I'm sure I'll be having palpitations tonight. :)

After the coffee ceremony, we were served what they consider to be a snack, which involved more traditional food including injera with carrots, potatoes, and chick pea mash (name?). I am loving the traditional food here--I could eat this all the time. It is so much better here than back home. It is funny because Henoch seemed so surprised that we liked the food. I guess its not so great for him because that is what he nearly always eats. Basically everyone eats this way throughout the week except for Sunday when something different might be served. Because the bread, injera, is eaten with nearly every meal, it must be made very frequently. The process of making it involves three days of preparation. The grain teff, sorghum, and water are mixed together and the mixture is allowed to sit for a period of time--a couple of days or so. Then at some point, the mixture is taken and put on a giant circular griddle that basically every household has to cook the bread. Again, I liken it to cooking pancakes or crepes.

Throughout the afternoon and evening we talked with Henoch about the details of his life as an Eritrean including the food, education, holiday traditions, clothing, etc. I will trump my last post and say that this was my favorite day thusfar here in Eritrea. It was so interesting to hear about life from an Eritrean in a very real and candid way. We were also able to meet this particular section of his family and to see how they lived, which was very eye-opening. This was a very memorable way to spend my 28th!