Strange Encounters with Small Children...

Today I thought I'd take the opportunity to share three bizarre interactions I have had with Eritrean children over the past month. I don't actually have any photos to go along with this post, but I couldn't bear to publish just text. So, I have decided to add this unrelated photograph of a child Anna and I met in Adi Keih back in early January.

In any case, the first encounter involves a boy who can't be any older than 5 or 6 years old. He attends a school that I pass on my way to work every day. I have now seen this same little boy three times. Each time I've seen him, he has been walking to school with his father. The first time I passed him, he shook my hand and said " buon giorno." I said "buon giorno" back even though I don't speak Italian. Then I waved good-bye, and he and his father proceeded down the street. So the next time I encountered him and he offerred me his hand, I assumed he wanted to shake mine as he had before. Instead, he grabbed my hand, pulled me down to his height (he's pretty strong), and kissed me on the cheek. I was a little stunned by the whole encounter but thought it was adorable enough to share with anyone who would listen. Then, last week, I ran into the same little boy again, and he kissed me again. This kid is absolutely adorable, and I can just tell that he is going to grow up to be quite the heartbreaker.

The next story involves a girl around the age of 12. Before our last filing earlier this month, Lea told Diane and I that we could work from home one morning and then come to the office after lunch. So, I was walking to work around 1:30 on this particular day when I passed a fairly large group of junior high students. As often happens, several of them said hi to me and asked how I was doing. One girl I passed, however, asked me whether I liked her. Since you obviously don't tell a 12-year-old that you don't like her, I said yes and proceeded down the street. But three minutes and several blocks later, this girl caught up with me. She had obviously been running because she was breathing heavily and had to catch her breath before speaking. When she finally did speak, she told me that she likedly me too. And then she just walked with me. I didn't really know what to do, so I asked her what her name was. She told me--Biserat--and then asked my name. After I told her my name, she asked where I lived. I pointed back in the direction I had come from and told her I was on my way to work. Then I asked her if she had school, and she said yes. We then walked in silence for 15-30 seconds until we encountered a couple of her friends. She stopped to talk to them, and I kept walking, assuming that was the end of our conversation. However, after I had gone two blocks, she came running to catch up with me. She then apologized for stopping and losing me. At this point we had reached an intersection where I had to turn towards my office. I asked her where her school was, but she apparently misunderstood me because she just said that she goes to "junior school." Then I told her I had to go, I shook her hand, and I crossed the street.

All in all, it was a fairly bizarre encounter, but I was also really impressed with this girl. Not only was she clearly very gregarious, but her English was excellent for someone her age. I really hope that her spirit and intelligence are not too seriously suppressed by this male dominated society.

My last story involves three very short, hyperactive boys. Actually, these boys might be triplets, except they never slowed down long enough for me to tell. Anyway, they are all very short, and if were going to guess by size alone, I would say they were about 3-year-old. However, they speak some English, which suggests that they are in school. Therefore, they probably have to be at least 6.

So anyway, a couple of weeks ago, I was standing in my backyard when Diane spotted me from the street. She came over to chat, and as she did, she was followed by these three very small boys. We began initially to talk over my back gate, but I eventually let Diane into the yard so she could escape the boys. After talking for awhile, we decided that I would follow Diane home to get something from her house. When we did, these three boys followed us. They not only followed us down the street but also into Diane's yard. In fact, they would have come in the house had Diane not closed the door in their faces. When I left Diane's house, the boys were on the street just outside her yard. Again they chased after me, and as I opened my back gate, they ran past me and into my backyard. And because I had left my backdoor open, they even ran into my house. I followed quickly behind them. When I stepped into my house, they were running around the livingroom. I literally had to chase them out of my house and out of my yard. Oddly, it kind of reminded me of the days when my sisters and I used to chase chickens around our yard in Whitethorn.

I guess that's it for now. I will continue to try to think of things to say. Unfortunately I haven't been getting out to see much of the country recently. Also, with Anna back in the States (she returns in March), I am out an exploration partner. Fortunately, my friend Genet is keeping me well entertained in Anna's absence.

Hi everyone! I'm sorry it's been so long since my last post, and for those of you who have been on the edges of your seats waiting to hear more about my many adventures in Eritrea, I'm afraid you'll have to keep waiting. I just thought that I'd check in and let everyone know that I am still alive and that I have every intention of keeping this blog going. In fact, I am already working on a couple of post ideas. However, I have been extremely busy at work this month (we filed our counter-memorial in the Hague on the fifteenth) and haven't had a chance to write anything. Besides, there's not really anything going on in my life right now. Well, hold on, let me rephrase that: there's not much going on in my life that I want to broadcast over the world wide web, but feel free to send me an email and ask if you're so inclined.

In any case, I promise to return to the blogoshere soon and to share some other fascinating tidbits about life in the Horn of Africa. In the meantime, I'll leave you with this picture my friend Niklas (a Swedish guy who works for OCHA and was on assignment in
Eritrea for three weeks at the end of December and the beginning of January) sent me of "the UN life." What that means ... I'll let you decide. What I will say is that for Niklas, being on mission is like being on vacation from his real life. While he is usually a sober vegan, when he's on mission, he drinks, smokes, and eats meat (three things he did a lot of in Asmara). Unfortunately, my experience here has shown me that a lot of UN employees take the same approach, even when they are in the same place for multiple years. As a result, they tend to do things that I don't think they would do in their "real lives." But I won't get into that now. Maybe later.

For now, I bid you all farewell, and I promise to return soon.