Eritrean people,
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Eritrea
Eritrean peopleVisited: January 2004 More pictures of Eritrean people:
These pictures have been tagged with the following tags (clicking on the tag will take you to all pictures on this site with that tag) Africa african brown detail Eritrea Eritrean people face pink woman children door house white christian church dress man park square boy market beach boat street streetlife green red animal treesSearchSearch pages at Traveladventures.org Go directly to:Travel picturesYou can travel the world using images - select your preferred language below:  |  |  |  |  |  MailinglistIf you want to be updated regularly about new stories and pictures: Google EarthClick your way around Eritrea with pictures (needs Google Earth software) Visual GeographyAdvertiseIt is possible to advertise on this travel site. Travel advertisers, ask for more information! SurveyIs there a difference between a traveler and a tourist? View Results |
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.
