The worries and hopes

My best friend, Brhan Saeed,   travelled to Australia at the end of November and since then I have been living on my own. So, this New Year, I did not have a flatmate to celebrate with. So, I went to my friends’ house to celebrate with them.

The New Year celebration started at around midnight. Before the celebration started, everyone managed to call their families and relatives in Eritrea. After the calls, everyone seemed to be overwhelmed by nostalgia. I did not cry like my some of my friends did, but I am homesick too. I am specifically thinking about my father who has endured so much this year.

I am specifically thinking about my father who has endured so much this year.

I had been super busy throughout the last year. I was working and studying fulltime and had no spare time for myself. However, I, enjoyed my work and studies very much.

I am also thrilled that my fiancée safely emigrated to Sudan. After a long year in Sawa military camp, she escaped Eritrea and is now in Khartoum. She arrived in Khartoum on 26 December 2014, just four days ago. I am super happy that I can now talk to her every day on the internet. This is a turning in our future plans of reuniting in a safe country.

It’s dinner and celebration time now; I will stop here and join my friends for Eritrean dishes. And then coffee. These are our ways of invoking calm emotions.

About the author

Hyab Yohannes

I work as a research associate and academic coordinator for CUSP N+, and I hold a PhD in The Realities of Eritrean Refugees in a Carceral Age from the University of Glasgow. My research focuses on decoloniality, and I am an Eritrean-UK citizen.

© 2024. Hyab T. Yohannes.