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Asmarinos
The hugely proud old men of the Eritrean capital Asmara call themselves Asmarinos. With their European suits, classic hats and hand-made leather shoes they enjoy their daily macchiato in one of the many coffee-bars.
In their youth, under Italian colonial rule in the 1930's, the Asmarinos were not allowed to enjoy such pleasures. The palm-lined Independence Avenue with its almost surreal Italian landscape was then called Viale Mussolini and totally off limits to the Indigenos. Today this dark side of the Italian occupation seems almost forgotten. The old Asmarinos are proud they still speak Italian and follow in many ways an Italian lifestyle - most visible in their dress code, reminiscent of Italian gentlemen of a bygone age.