2021 Travel the World - Week 2

I started a 50-week series in 2019 that I called Travel the World. Each week of the series I visited a randomly-selected country, sharing bits of information about that country. I then chose one tidbit of information about that week's country as inspiration for a card. As I explored those 50 countries in 2019, I knew I would continue on until I've visited every one of the 195 countries in the world, so I continued the series in 2020 and here I am in 2021, the third year of traveling the world. 

This week's country is...

Eritrea

Eritrea is a small country in the horn of Africa. It borders Ethiopia, Djibouti, and the Red Sea. 

The country has approximately 620 miles of coastline.

Eritrea is a beautiful, hot and sunny country in East Africa.

The country's the terrain here is mixed, with coastal desert plains in the east, hills in the northwest, flat-to-rolling plains in the southwest and highlands in the south and centre.

Geographically speaking, Eritrea is about half the size of the United Kingdom.

Its residents are known as Eritreans.

Eritrea has never held a presidential or national election since gaining its independence from Ethiopia in 1993.

Being a multi-ethnic nation, Eritrea ten languages. Constitutionally, there is no preference for one language over another. 

The lowest point in Eritrea is Denakil Depression, which is also one of the hottest places on earth.

Eritrea after Egypt has the second-highest archeological historical discoveries in Africa. The number of archeological sites in the country which was 45,000 previously has now increased to 80,000.

Adulis is a port city in Eritrea that was founded by the Greeks in 600.

The institutions of higher education in Eritrea are few, and the only university, Asmara University, admits a limited number of students. In the rural areas most people take up farming, which does not presuppose any formal education. The better-off families and those with relatives abroad try to send their children to the United States or Europe for further education and work.

Eritreans pride themselves on being hard working and resilient, and they show great social responsibility. Respect for elders and authority is deeply rooted.

The Fiat Tagliero service station attracts attention because of its overstretched wings  which span several feet without any support. Some say it resembles an airplane.

Eritrea is home to elephants, manatees, aardvarks, bushbabies, hares, hedgehogs, panthers, lions, leopards, hyenas, polecats, foxes, wild dogs, donkeys, otters, warthogs, giraffes and gazelles!

There are 14,000 known fish species living in Eritrea's waters and 17% of them are found nowhere else.

Of the 250 species of coral found in Eritrea’s waters, around 20% are endemic and thus aren’t found anywhere else in the world!

With an elevation of 9,997 feet above sea level, Dega Mountain has the highest peak in Eritrea. 

The Eritrean economy is totally dependent upon agricultural production. Over 75 percent of the population lives in the rural areas and conducts subsistence agricultural production, whereas 20 percent is estimated to be traders and workers. 

Eritrea grows vegetables, lentils, sorghum, cotton, corn, sisal and tobacco; they also rear livestock, including goats, and catch fish.

The main exports include gold and other minerals, livestock, textiles, food, sorghum and small manufactures.

Eritreans enjoy playing sports, especially football. Their national football team is known as the Red Sea Boys.

They also participate in basketball, cycling, and athletics (track and field). Outdoor activities include fishing and snorkeling.

Coffee is an important ingredient of Eritrean social life. Making a good cup of coffee, Eritreans say, requires both patience and skill. The commonly accepted method of making coffee suggests the need for both: coffee beans are roasted in a skillet or oven, pounded and ground with a mortar and pestle, and then poured into a pot that is half full of cold water and, sometimes, ginger root. After the mix is boiled, it is poured through an oxtail filter and served in small porcelain cups with sugar cubes.

My inspiration for this week's card is based on this fact about Eritrea... Popcorn is often enjoyed as an accompaniment to coffee.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today!

Stamp/Die Set: MFT Soda Pop and The Project Bin Just Poppin' stamped with Memento Lady Bug and Tuxedo Black inks and colored minimally with Copic Markers

Paper: Cougar 110# White, Recollections Black, and SU Real Red CS and DP from my scrap file

Dies/Punch: Rubbernecker Nested Rectangle Stitch die, Stampin' UP! Circles die and Banner punch, and Taylored Expressions Thanks die

Embellishments: Eyelet Outlet Enamel Dots