Web Page For The Young Ethiopian Professional. Volume I   Issue X


 

Table of Contents

Note from the Editors

The Mail

Top Ten

My Story

Bawza

Addis Rhapsody

House of Pictures

Life Diaries

CHilot Part 2

My Ethiopia

The HellHole Diaries

SELEDA Salutes

SELEDA Survey

Backpage

Comments

Archive

SELEDA e-mail update

 

SELEDA Survey

"What I Miss Most About Home..."

The thing I miss most is Ye-tsadkan qeTero. That "celestial" encounter at a moment of post work/school fatigue while aimlessly wondering around town; to run into a friend(s) which almost always culminates in one fabulous get together. When the getting gets tough and the rat race gnaws deep into the soul, my spirit fantasize for those really, really laid back times that are often impulsive, and pervasive with the deGmo LeAnd hodaye naive attitude. It is coupled by the predictable magnanimity of my fellow country men.

Amare from Maryland, USA.


I miss eating iTir miTin yalech Doro WeT for Christmas.

Hanna, Washington DC


If home is where the heart is, mine would be in St. Paul, MN. I've spent more than half my life there. But wayyy inside me, I ache for the sight of my grandfather, his hand-made cane in tow, his spotless gabi resting on his zoot suit, telling me endless stories about the Italian war... and my grandmother passing by the room and sighing "ahoonim?... albeQam?"

Maybe home is where the soul is.

Tamrat, Los Angeles


The sound of rain beating on a QorQoro Tariya... the winged anbeTa serawit that storms the air in short lived levitation... the surreal lemony golden sunlight that creeps through the openings in the dark receding clouds ['jib welledech' they used to say]... I miss the ubiquitous roadside beQolo roasters... roasting gind beQolo... it was the smell that would greet you as you stepped out of a QorQwasha Fiat taxi at the corner of Sar Betoch in Addis ...

Of course i miss the smell of burning chibbo ... and, gosh, even the popping sounds of the flame. But what I miss more about chibbo mabrat is the rare sense of daring that comes over you as a kid with a whole family [and a whole sefer in their own yards] gathered outdoors in the dark.... probably the only time the howling of hyenas in the distance won't send you running back inside...

Sele, Providence RI


As the song goes,

Wey Addis Abeba, wey arada hoy;
Agerm ende sew ynafqal wey
...

M.Z., Cupertino, CA


"What I miss most .."?

Plenty, my friends.

The celebration of the REAL Ethiopian NEW YEAR is one such felicitous memory. We went to bed early on New year's eve so that we wouldn't miss out on a splinter of the festivities the next day. In the early morning hours, the beautiful neighborhood girls decorated in their lovely yabesha libis and accompanied by the rhythm from a makeshift kebero ushered in the NEW YEAR. "Abeba Ayehush... Lemlem....kebrew Yiqoyun kebrew..."

As if their mere presence was not enough, the ubiquitous carpet of adey abeba and the abfab weather make the western drinking galas resemble ye eqa eqa chewata.

Acham.


I miss the phrases, seemingly banal, yet so laden with meaning that each one carries a thousand memories: "QorQor'yalew! Terrrrrrmuz'yalew! LiwaCH-LiwaCH! MeTregyyya-mewelweyyyya! Kulikulikuli (later more PC as WezaderWezaderWezader)! Qushasha awTu! Ishet, ishet, ishet, ishet. Frrrrrash-assssadashhhhh!"

I miss the games (sung in their original languages at some point, but now irrevocably ye-Addis A'ba gibberish): deeemo... GOAL!!! (ay, nylen!)... seNo-makseNo... suluss bayshesheN .... meharebosh... sei-bil-bankerebabit yader'afash!...Siolo (no) siolo (si!)... amina biyotana .... basketil-balasketil batmeremireN ... ankasé lehulasé ... lupassé lei landeri passé dansé ... imbushé gela ... lubells kokashells evie ivy over ... ité mété yelomi shita ... imebété imebété sint irmija yifeQedilignal? (sost ye-ibab) ... alé oolé -- lébana poliss ...yemiCHawet yemiCHawet ... QunTiCHa le-QunTiCHa ...

LM, Virginia


I miss the comfort of knowing that people actually know me. Know what I am thinking and my thought process; know when I am joking; know how I love playing in the yard with the stubborn wet morning dew that defiantly hung on to those gargantuan rose petals; know that when I laugh hard, I double over... I miss not having to constantly explain myself. I miss the silent communication and assurances of slightly nodded heads... and that subtle gesture of a raised eyebrow in lieu of a hundred words. I miss taking comfort in the unsaid understanding that if I fell, my neighbor would pick me up.

Blaine, Atlanta GA.


Who can't miss being on line at Ambassador and mentally preparing for the elaborate Ethiopian courting procedure known as "yeToffe Tebesa"? ... You strategize where you would sit, who you would talk to, who you would mashkormem, and once in a while, you would watch the movie.

Asseged Alemayeu, Princeton, NJ.



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