Keren Eritrea - October 3rd 2005

 

In the bus to Keren I sit next to a teacher for the Hagaz Technical School. I I ever visit Hagaz, I HAVE to visit their technical school. There is a tea break in Baluwa. In front of the three restaurants, around a giant stone, is a small market. Children are selling foul (peanuts) and atar (roasted chick peas). The roots of a tree on the other side of the road serve to create a small stall where a woman is selling beles (cactus fruits).

In Keren I am happy to meet Elen and her daughters Hidat and Rahel in their bar restaurant Stuttgart. I drink some mineral water and start my walk to Mariam Dearit. From a distance I see a monk walking to a dwelling at the back of the orchard. It is the director of this holy place. When I walk back to Keren, he invites me to join him in his Toyota pickup. I tell him of this and last years visits to the shrine and the miracle I witnessed. "You have to write about it", he suggests.

During their lunch break, I visit Hansu and Afworki. We drink tea and eat some bread. Hansu starts preparing the room for me. I tell her I will not stay, unless I will not catch a bus back to Asmara. "You will find a bus, but you are welcome to stay in our house. Our house is your house, you know that."

After my visit to Hansu and Afworki, I deliver some packages and I do my best to find the people I pictured during my previous visit, to give them their copies. The gesture is appreciated.

When I pass the Keren grain market, a lady asks me to drink tea with her. My mission in Keren is finished, so I join her and two men that drink tea. When I leave the market and walk in the direction of some workshops, I observe a very modest bar and decide to enter it. It belongs to the same lady that invited me for tea. God must have guided me to this place. I drink two more cups of tea. No pictures please.

I spend the rest of the afternoon walking through the streets around the market. At 4 o'clock in the afternoon I return to the bus station. No problem to find a bus to Asmara.   .

 

Children selling atar (roasted peas) and foul (peanuts).
Tea break at Baluwa (road to Keren) Eritrea.

Women selling beles (cactus fruits) - Adi Teclezan Eritrea.

Giro Fiori Square - Keren Eritrea.

Muslim boy - Keren Eritrea.

Entrance to the compound of Mariam Dearit - Keren Eritrea.

Landscape - Keren Eritrea.

"Sorana! (picture us!)". Children going to school - Keren Eritrea.

Market - Keren Eritrea.

Yohanna - Keren Eritrea.

St. Antonio Catholic Church - Keren Eritrea.