Sammy G, July 8, 2002

This year's 8^th annual Dehai Retreat was held at Ripley’s Cedar Lakes. It was once again a total success. One thing that stood out from the start was the new faces. I noticed a steady increase in new comers. Of course, there were many usual suspects roaming around familiar territory. The total attendees this year was around 80 which was a slight drop from the past few years.

I enjoyed chitchatting with the newbies. New faces are more fun simply because they seem so much more impressed and more at leisure than the old geezers. And another good thing about kicking it live with the newbies is I'd avoid a potentially drab and confrontational encounter with the usual suspects. I’m talking about avoiding stuff like: getting bogged-down on heated political discussions; not embarrassing the old geezers with why they didn’t invite you to their 9^th child’s baptism once again; or why their last year's retreat jokes really sucked; or how on earth they keep getting lost during a hiking expedition that seemed to last for only 2 minutes, etc.

On a serious note, the highlight of the Retreat was Mulu’s memorial ceremony (tezkar?). Close friends and Retreaters at large delivered touching tributes to one of Dehai Retreat’s fondest memories. We lost our own Mulu Weldekiros. She passed away due to sudden and unexpected illness on her recent visit to Asmara. A tree was planted in her memory at Cedar Lakes near the coffee ceremony site (adjacent to the Cafeteria).

As usual, the retreat program started on Friday night with fireside humor and jokes. Retreaters told funny and interesting stories. Even our ambassador told a couple "waza ms qum-neger". He topped his performance with a skillful display of soccer the next morning at the sports event.

On Saturday morning, we raised the Eritrean flag with the national anthem and an inspiring song from the "mieda" days, entitled "SnAtna." And then we were off to hiking. No one was reported "lost" this year. Even if there were any, their whereabouts would still be unknown. Actually, local papers reported that a black person was spotted at Ripley on July 4^th weekend. But it turned out to be Secretary of State Colin Powell.

Saturday’s sports program was lovely. Not only because the weather was so cooperative—an ideal temperature of around 78 degrees throughout the weekend— but also, this year, the usual activities such as tennis, basketball, volleyball and soccer were well attended, both from spectators and players point of view.

One common complaint was that the sports program was too short. It was 10:30 ‘till Noon. I tend to agree! But others thought we were simply suffering from the usual "time flies when you are having fun" syndrome. Well, yes, that, too. But I think we can cut short the rest of the day’s programs and augment the sports schedule. My suggestion would be: flag-raising ceremony on Saturday morning, a hearty breakfast, then sports, and skip lunch to do an intense Warsai-Yikalo Campaign session, then sports, coffee ceremony or sports, and then some more sports, sleep and then flag lowering ceremony on Sunday morning. (I might be unreasonable. After all, I do realize that this is Dehai Retreat and not Eritrean Soccer Tournament).

You see, Ripley, WA is too much of a fun and wonderful place to be doing anything else! It was no wonder that even the US President and Colin Powell, out of a million and one towns in the entire country that they could have been at, chose Ripley, WA instead for their Independence Day visit. I definitely agree with their choice of town. Ripley is full of gracious and patriotic Americans, tasty-pure water and peace of mind, something the two men need most these days. Well, may be not pure water.

This year, Ripley’s Cedar Lakes Conference Center was host to several notable Eritreans such as Zerai Haile, Elias Amare, G-Man, Drs. Ghimay, Ghidewon, Ephrem and, of course, Ambassador Girma. They adorned Saturday evening with educational seminars and presentations. There simply are not that many Eritrean occasions where you come out so enlightened. I hope others will elaborate on this program. I’d do a disservice if I tried to briefly summarize it. Besides, as one of the helpers, I spent more time preparing for some of the events than actually attending them. Alas!

Did I also mention DJ Yonas? Just when we thought the aforementioned programs were long but interesting, the ensuing guayla rocked all night long and it was an absolute fun….specially for those who were dancing and holding a glass of wine at the same time. Speaking of which, where do people get such drinks? All I saw at the "Bar BiniYoni" was water, soda and some, ahhhem,….Ripley suwa.

Anyway, an overriding sentiment during this year’s event was the serene and jubilant mood of the participants. Almost everyone talked about next year and how it could and should be even better than this year's Dehai Retreat. From the enthusiasm and valuable feedback that was gleaned, I came out convinced that Dehai Retreat 2003 will be one of a kind. Mark my words.

However, another common complaint was the long drive to Ripley. But what’s so bad about 5 to 10 driving hours? I’d drive 5 days to take part in such a noble event! Well, may be 4 or 1:-). But that’s how many hours most of us drive back and forth to work— per week, that is— half hour per day, one way. That would be 5 driving hours right there:-). OK, OK, may be that was not such a good example, but I still think the distance complaint is so lame.

So as you can see, Dehai Retreat 2002 once again brought together wonderful Eritreans who enjoyed their time and each other to the max. It was a fantastic synergy of funniness, fun, functions in a fast moving weekend! The Eritrean saying "weza-ms-qumneger" sums it up well.

Copyright © Dehai Retreat 2000. All Rights Reserved.
For problems or questions regarding this web contact Dehai Retreat Organizers.
Last updated: July 28, 2002.