The Last Post (from Caroline)
on Phil and Caroline (Eritrea), 16/Dec/2009 12:47, 34 days ago
So we reach the time to write a last blog. It doesn’t seem that long since the setting up of the blog one afternoon in the UK two years ago. At that time it seemed like a good way to keep family and friends in touch with what we were doing without having to write countless cut and paste emails. It’s turned into less and more. Less because we probably haven’t put in enough day-to-day details to keep family and friends informed and entertained, more because I feel we ended up trying to express some of the feelings we have for this country, confused that they are, and then only half succeeding.Some of the many things I shall remember about Eritrea:The beauty, kindness, and generosity of spirit in the face of all adversity, of her peopleThe dedication of teachers, working against tremendous odds, to prepare children for the future.The feeling of a very small hand shaking mine as a two year old that I’ve said hello to automatically completes the polite greeting she sees her elders do.Being greeted as old friends with the requisite five-minute hello acknowledgment by all the regulars we see on our way to and from work.Being able to sit outside under a blue sky at Modka for my coffee break of cappuccino and pizza for eleven and a half months of the year.The ruins of the old city at MassawaBananasTomatoesMousebirdsEaglesI’ve been told many times about the euphoria and optimism that gripped the country in the 1990s, after the successful end to the Struggles of the previous 30 years. Eritrea, I send you my love and hopes that these dreams become a reality.C