Sunday

Sunday morning in Asmara dawns very chilly as usual, but a completely blue sky and sun means the temperature rises pretty quickly. A bit of a lie-in this morning, seems to be the only day we get one. I spend half an hour preparing my writing lesson with Henok while Phil does some revision for his Tigrigna lesson. Both of the lessons are an hour and a half from 11 and then we’re free for the day.

We decided to go for a walk today and follow the old railway line through Asmara. The railway was built by the Italians and originally ran from Massawa on the coast up to Asmara, looped around the city and then went to Keren. The only remaining functioning track is between Asmara and Nefasit (about 10k down the escarpment). We did the steam train journey there and back six months ago and a memorable journey it was. Today’s outing was a bit more mundane as very little of the track remains, in fact we only saw a couple of feet of it where it broke the surface of the dirt track, or in one case the sealed road. The most common use of the old track bed seems to be as a thoroughfare or makeshift football pitch. We almost managed to follow the track to the station but then were stopped by a stone wall which the track had no problem disappearing under so decided to call it a day and go for a cappuccino. The steam train coming up from the coast and winding its way around the art deco buildings of Asmara must have been a wonderful sight although unfortunately probably only the Italians rode the train. I don’t know this for a fact but as only the Italians were allowed to use the main Asmara roads (the Eritreans had to use the back roads) it is probably true. Another method employed by the Italians to keep the locals in their place was that Eritreans were not allowed to study beyond Grade 4 in school. The only positive thing that the British ever did for Eritrea was to include Eritreans in the full educational system.

It’s Christmas in less than a fortnight, I keep forgetting and then get reminded by a decorated Christmas tree in a shop window. It’s a strange thing to see as the Coptic Christmas, which is celebrated here is not until January 7th. The 25th December is a holiday as well so we sort of get a double Christmas.

C