Keren - November 24 2009

 

At 6:15 I am awakened by the animals of Keren, who start their morning conversation, and Hansu preparing breakfast in her small outside kitchen on the premises of her residence on the road to Cuif Cuifit.

A traditional coffee ceremony is a cozy start of the day. The cat walks around our chairs in the garden meowing for some food. I throw some pieces of bread in her direction, wondering what Hansu will think of my generosity towards the cat.

It is not easy to find bread in the shops of Keren. Hansu and Afworki are doing their best to find me bread. Hansu knows I am not fond of injera.

"I think she is very hungry. Maybe she will remember me eternally if I bring her some meat this evening" is my suggestion. Hansu replies "All the people is to laugh at you if you buy food for the cat."

The discussion is typical for the enormous welfare gap between Eritrea, and my home country (The Netherlands). I tell Hansu that the Dutch grocery stores will sell some 20 - 30 different kind of cat foods, and that the cats are usually have a belly like mine.

I hope Hansu will not regard my suggestion to bring something for the cat an insult. It is difficult to ignore the constant meowing of the meager cat. I guess it is better to leave the feeding to Hansu.

I walk from the Hansu and Afworki house to the center (Giro Fiori) and from there the road to Afabet, to visit the shrine of Mariam Dearit. Camels loaded with straw, and women with heavily loaded donkeys pass me on the sandy road through the outskirts of Keren.

On the holy premises of Mariam Dearit workers are constructing a narrow concrete lane from the entrance to the tree. I have no idea of its purpose. I guess I will know in 2011 when I will visit the Festival on May 29.

I take off my shoes to enter the small chapel in the tree, where a women is silently praying. I pray with her. For Eritrea, for the health of all women and their babies, to say thank you for last years miracles and for my own health.

In the donation box I leave a few hundred Nakfa's and from the roots of the baobab tree I take some holy sand to bring back to The Netherlands.

Instead of walking back home, I decide to turn to the left when I leave the Mariam Dearit compound, and walk the dirt road to Hamel Malo. Nobody told me the distance to Hamel Malo, so I decide to make it a one hour walk, so I can easily return. Small health problems make it necessary to avoid risky adventures.

In bar and fast food restaurant Tnsaie Midry Babur at the Keren bus station, I enjoy some lemon and zeitun juices, and I order three gift packs with four donuts each, to share with several friends that I will visit, and with Hansu and Afworki.

In a Muslim restaurant in the center of Keren, I have a vegetarian dish called foul. The dish is served with local water. No tourist should ever drink it, but by now I am almost an Eritrean, not afraid for the local bacteria.

Taxi drivers offer me their services. "We will bring to any place you want to visit." But I prefer to walk. It is the perfect way to explore Keren, and enjoy the people and their daily life. And I have seen all popular places many times by now. The only surprises will be meeting new people, and have a short chat.

In bar Stuttgart I enjoy cool mai gaz (sparkling mineral water) and araki (the local equivalent of the Italian sambuca, an anise-flavored liqueur). The araki will create an unfavorable environment for the local bacteria.

With Hidat, one of the three female family members exploiting  Bar Stuttgart I walk through the center of Keren, talking about one thing and another, and having drinks on the pavement of the Red Sea Hotel on the Giro Fiori.

In the evening Hansu makes delicious shiro (a chickpea stew) for diner. I use some bread as a spoon, instead of the injera. The day ends as it began, with a traditional coffee ceremony with Hansu, her mother and the cat.

 

The road to the Mariam Dearit shrine - Keren Eritrea.

Carrying the harvest to the market - Keren Eritrea.

Muslim graveyard - Road to the Mariam Dearit shrine - Keren Eritrea.

Entrance to the Mariam Dearit compound - Keren Eritrea.

"Come no nearer. Take off your sandals, for the place where you are
 standing is holy ground" (Ex.3.5) - St Mariam Dearit Keren Eritrea.

Shrine set in a baobab tree -St Mariam Dearit Keren Eritrea.

Orange orchard - St Mariam Dearit Keren Eritrea.

Road to Hamel Malo - St Mariam Dearit Keren Eritrea.

Crossing a dry river bed - Road to Hamel Malo Eritrea.

Commercial Bank of Eritrea - Giro Fiori Keren Eritrea.

Hansu's cat warming itself against the fornello - Keren Eritrea.