Greetings from Asmara!

So I have arrived in Asmara after a long 20-hour journey from Ali's city in Germany to Franfurt via Rome to Asmara. At the airport two ladies from NUEW, Blainesh and Tsegga came to meet me. From there at 1am, they took me to the house of the other Canadian CIDA intern working here, Lindsey from PEI (she is working for UNDP). She is sharing the house with another Australian woman working with the UN Peacekeeping force. The house I will be staying at for the next short while is very nice, it's located only a 20 minute walk from the downtown, in what appears to be a fairly rich neighbourhood.

This afternoon I found my way downtown with a map, only problem not all the street signs are in English. On my way, lots of cute school children practised their English with me, saying hello and how are you? On my way I also saw all sorts of NGOs and different UN agencies who all have their offices in the city, UNICEF,UNHCR, UNDP, VSO, OXFAM,etc. Most of the store signs and advertising is written in Tigrinya, Arabic and English, as those are the main languages spoken in Asmara. I hope to buy a Tigrinya dictionary and learn some basic phrases, however, it appears as though I will be able to get by with my English.

I am presently at NUEW's main office, and will be meeting with my boss Tsegga later this afternoon to discuss my workplan. It appears as though in the short term my time will be spent helping the women in their preparations for NUEW's 25th anniversary that will be held next week.