Rain

It’s been raining almost constantly here for 48 hours, unusual compared to the rainy seasons of the last few years but I’m assured by Eritreans that it is normal. Everyone is still very happy about the abundance of water pouring from the sky, but it is getting cold. The altitude here means that the absence of sun for even a short time makes the temperatures plummet and that they are doing. I’m writing this wearing 4 layers, a fleece jacket and a woolly scarf. Feels like a British summer.
The Eritreans, while welcoming the rain, also see it as valid excuse for not going out. Work, school, stops until the rain does. None of this braving it out, just stay at home until it stops. Fine when it does its normal thing of a few hours (see, I am adapting) but it should be interesting to see what happens if our present deluge persists for a few more days.

There was yet another wedding of a VSO volunteer to an Eritrean at the weekend. That’s 4 in the (almost) two years we’ve been here.

C

The Eritrea Festival

This week is the week of the Eritrea Festival at the Asmara Expo ground. It's a week in which Eritrean companies and organisations put on displays of their work and in which there are various attractions such as small reconstructions of village life and dancing by the various ethnic groups which make up the people of this surprisingly diverse country.

To our shame we failed to go along in 2008 (although we almost felt as if we were there as the music from the festival can be heard very loudly in our house,) but this year we were determined and so we duly set out on the walk to expo which only takes about 20 minutes from where we live - yes we were lazy last year and it only costs 3 Nakfa to get in.

It turns out to be a great way to spend a few hours - we were particularly impressed with the Rashaida and Kunama (two of Eritrea's lowland ethnic groups) music and dancing and, in true Eritrean style, everyone we met was very friendly. We also ate at one of the food tents - whole fish cooked over an open fire with flat bread.

Storked
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Last time we managed to write anything I went into a jumbled ramble about Eritrean birdlife and mentioned a slight altercation between a group of storks. Well there has now been a major development (our lives are so exciting just now). A pair of storks has selected one of our palm trees as a nesting site! So now there's lots of toing and froing and there's none of this pussy footing around with small twigs and feathers for lining - it's full steam ahead with whole branches and anything else they can find. Currently the nest is just taking shape - we'll keep you posted as to it's progress and if they are subsequently any young.

P