La Dolce Vita

We're in Asmara, Eritrea, a surreal place in the northeast corner of Africa. Eritrea was once part of "The Cradle of Humanity", home to prehistoric peoples like the famous Lucy from back around 4,500,000 BC or so. More recently, it was colonized by Italy, then the British, and used to be part of Ethiopia, but managed to fight 'em all off and declared independence in 1993. Somehow the place has managed to integrate these diverse parts of its history into a seamless Afro-Italian mix. It's like being in a Fellini film starring Pam Grier and Richard Roundtree . The streets are tree-lined, safe and peaceful, unlike any other African capital city I've seen. People sit in outdoor cafes and sip cappuccinos (really good cappuccinos), speaking in Tigrinya, but greeting each other with three kisses on the cheek and saying "Ciao" as they depart. The main culinary choices are injera and shiro (spongy bread and chickpea puree), and pizza margherita. And somehow it all totally works together. We've been taken in by an impossibly beautiful woman named Eden who once lived in Houston and knows a former colleague of Meg's father (continuing our streak of receiving massive amounts of hospitality from people who barely know us).

Meg just started her three-week medical rotation today (that's #2 for the year). She's hoping that she'll make it through the day without collapsing and pooping on herself. I have faith in her. I'm kicking it in town for the next week before leaving for Ethiopia to meet my college roommate Zanja for 2 weeks of adventures.

Yesterday was the 6-month anniversary of the beginning of the trip. Whoa! We're celebrating tonight by drinking some wine we brought from Italy and cooking up some Annie's Mac and Cheese that Mama Pearson brought us all the way from America. Over the next week, while Meg's working, I'm gonna try to clear out some time to reflect on all that's happened since we began the journey. So for all you loyal blog checkers, I'll be posting a new story every day to try to make up for all those multi-week stretches where we couldn't get to the internet. For now, scroll down for Meg's brother's take on our travels together, and to get ready for our upcoming karaoke party (T-minus 8 weeks!). Ciao.

--rahul