Asmara Eritrea - May 25th 2007

 

In the morning I prepare for tomorrow's trip to Keren, which means buying a large bottle of potable water and loading my rucksack, including the travel permit and a few copies of this paper, to leave at the checkpoints, to save time.

There is some appointments in the Expo area and in offices in the center of Asmara to be kept. I drink cappuccino's with some local businessmen. Linking them to my information pages will be beneficial to the both of us, and Eritrea as a whole.

At the Himbol exchange bureau I change some Euro notes into Nakfa to make sure there will not be any financial problem (in case I have to return by taxi).

In the tailor's shop I collect the teddy bear. Tesfai finished two small cloth. He is proud of the result, and tells me it was not easy to make a shirt this small. I must admit the print on the cloth looks better on a ladies dress, but it looks good, as a souvenir.

Today is Naomi's birthday in the afternoon and Luwam's birthday in the evening. I spend the rest of the morning and the early afternoon in the center, looking for some nice presents.

I take the number 12 bus from Cinema Roma to Sembel and spend a few hours with Yordanos and Fessehaye and the rest of the family, to celebrate the birthday of Naomi. We drink coffee and a birthday cake is the center of the ceremony, that is recorded on VHS (Fessehaye's profession is freelance cameraman).

In the evening I celebrate the birthday of Luwam, alone, getting drunk in Bar Diana in Harnet Avenue. Luwam is celebrating her birthday with her friends, outside the house.

 

One of the winners of the sports competition - Asmara Eritrea.

Faghiena Recreation Center, Restaurant and Bar - Expo Asmara Eritrea.

Dawit Mesfun (Real Estate and Brokerage) - Asmara Eritrea.

Sweet Asmara Caffe - Harnet Avenue Asmara Eritrea.

Decorated Himbol exchange office - Bahti Meskerem Asmara Eritrea.

Tailor made clothes for "is it a boy or a girl?".

Celebrating Naomi's second birthday - Asmara Eritrea.

Rahwa and her one year old son - Asmara Eritrea.

Colorful shop decorations - Asmara Eritrea.

Red Sea Trading Corporation by night - Asmara Eritrea.

Mussie, lady bartender Bar Diana - Asmara Eritrea.