Welcome to Asmara! Thanks to the astonishingly slow speed of the internet in Eritrea, as well as limited access, I unfortunately did not get this blog up and running as early as I was hoping to.

But here it is. So, I'll start out by explaining the title. I imagine most of those reading this already know that I'm writing from Asmara, Eritrea, and probably think that Eritrea is as close to the end of the world as one can get. I personally discovered this when Worldspace satellite radio, which theoretically provides global access, suddenly decided that Eritrea was no longer part of "the world."

But, really, Asmara's not as backwards as one might imagine. My office just got wireless internet, which is why I can finally post something. Most people wear pretty westernized clothing, other than the thin white shalls that are common among women. And we have electricity 24-hours a day, which is more than I can say for the rest of the country. Of course, some times we wish the electricity would be shut off at night, because the local Orthodox Church projects music and chanting from a loud speaker starting as early as 2 or 3 a.m. every night!!

On the other hand, cars share the city streets with donkey and horse drawn carts and people regularly herd their goats and sheep past my house. In addition, as some of you have already heard, people ride bikes with goats tied to their backs!!

Unfortunately, I really need to make this first post fairly short because I am really busy with work. We have to file our memorial (brief) in The Hague next week. Anna, our paralegal and my roommate, is already there, along with Prof. Brilmayer's assistant. The rest of us are busy working from here. But, when I have more time, I will tell you all about my trip to the West.

Ciao,

Hillary