Back in Asmara

Our South African sojourn is over and we are back at work. We spent about a week in total in Cape Town and travelled around the Western Cape for the remainder with a 3-night stay at a game reserve being the highlight, animals in the wild are pretty amazing really. South Africa as a country has a lot going for it in terms of natural resources and infrastructure but a long way to go to fully remove all the legacies of apartheid. In essence two societies run in parallel with non-whites still largely living in townships. Furthermore the same labels (Black, Coloured, White) are still used by people to refer to themselves let alone others. It seems to us that integration will take a few generations to achieve but efforts are being made. On the other hand Cape Town is a place where we could live and SA really is a fascinating country.

Here in Asmara, 15 new VSO volunteers have arrived and are just finishing their "In-Country Training" so a big welcome to them and best wishes for a productive placement. It seems our doom and gloom posting about the lack of Lamba (Kerosene) for cooking was a little premature since it is available again now - probably due to falling oil prices on the global markets. We have also been assured that VSO is working to secure a supply in case of future scarcity. There is also a strong rumour that Asmara Beer is about to re-appear, we've heard that one before, though.

After you're in a place for a while you get a bit blase about what's under your nose. We've been raving about the wildlife we saw in South Africa but I was hanging out the washing the other morning and idly watching a large bird circling an adjacent garden menacingly ... it was a tawny eagle and they seem to be very common over Asmara just now, it's just brilliant the way they can hang in the air. When I asked one of my colleagues if he knew why there seem to be a lot of them low in the skies at this time of year he said "Young Asmarinos don't notice that kind of thing, we're too busy watching girls." - I'm not sure if that was a gentle reprimand, an insult or just an observation.

P