Africa

[Visited: January 2004]

One of the great things of traveling is meeting new people. This is fairly easy in Eritrea. People are almost always interested in visitors, perhaps because they are still coming in low numbers. Sitting in a bus, your neighbour will try to talk to you. Walking in a street, people might approach you and ask you about your background. People are genuinely curious about their visitors. Perhaps especially since traveling for them is, for many practical reasons, impossible, they see foreigners as their only way of contact with a remote world. This is true especially in times when their borders are closed.
Wherever I went in Eritrea, it struck me that the people would approach me, would ask me questions, would help me out. At the same time, they would not bother me too much, leave me alone when I wanted to. I often felt handicapped, not speaking any of the local languages, and limited to using European languages in efforts to talk to people. It is true that some people, especially youngsters in the larger towns, speak English, and older people sometimes still speak a surprisingly good Italian, but otherwise, I often felt a clear language barrier hampering my contact with the locals.
When they were speaking a language I understood, they confessed me their opinion about the government, always negative, talked about the problems and the future of their country, expressed their desire for the wars to be over, their wish to build up a country. The youngsters were remarkably keen to studying, investing in their future. Although the situation in their country is not easy, I always felt safe in Eritrea, often greeted with smiles. It is to these people that I dedicate this story.

Around the World in 80 Clicks

Personal travel impressions both in words and images from Eritrean people (Eritrea). Clicking on the pictures enlarges them and enables you to send the picture as a free e-card or download it for personal use, for instance, on your weblog. Or click on the map above to visit more places close to Eritrean people.
Read more about this site.

Eritrean people > Eritrea > Africa

[Visited: January 2004]

Around the World in 80 Clicks