Happy New Year!

Welcome to 2003!

Here is how to party like you were in Eritrea: 

Start with spicy food, (killing a goat would have been the first step if we had one), 

continue with coffee making and end with a dance.

  

Four steps to make your very own Eritrean coffee ceremony:

1. Roast the beans on the stove top (my sources say it would be better over open fire, but that wasnt really an option)

2. Grind the beans in an authentic mortar and pestle from Ethiopia (thank you Evan)

3. Add hot water

4. Enjoy with popcorn

This would definitely be considered trying something new if you ask me! In Eritrea they will judge a girl to see if she is wife material by her coffee making skills. I think I will have to practice a couple more times before I pass that test, but the results weren't too bad actually, probably thanks to good teamwork. 

When the clock struck twelve we went out into the streets to celebrate with a "Hoiya, hoiya" dance session and light procession by the fountain, followed by a group picture. 

And no, we are not a cult, just internationals putting their own twist to an Eritrean tradition. Next year we might even get that goat... 

Here is my wish list for the new year:

- A SLR camera to take pretty pictures 

- Polaroid film from the impossible project

And the New Years resolutions will have to be my four simple goals.

Current project: French bread

Details will follow.