The Wedding and Leqso Issue

Here's a Melekia for you!

It turns out we Ethiopians have had a long tradition of conveniently "forgetting" our age. In pursuit of a semblance of uniformity, the Ethiopian Statistical Authority (let's call them IneNa debari yeqebelE assessa azazhoch*) has developed a new matrix to trap their hapless survey victims...here are a few examples:

If you were born when:	You are about:
Haile Selassie I was named Gara Muleta Dejazmach (1897)	98
Leul Ras Makonnen died (1898)	97
AtsE Menilik died (1906)	89
Ye Hidar Beshta swept the land (1911)	84
Ethiopia joined the UN (1916)	79
Negist Zewditu died (1922)	73
The Welwel Gitchit happened (1927)	68
Ethiopian Martyrs' Day took place (*Sema'itat*) (1929)	66
Abune Basilios became Ze Liqe PaPas (1943)	52
The *ShenquTE* famine hit (1950)	45
Mengistu and GrmamE Neway's attempted their coup (1953)	42
Derg decreed *Ye ketema bEt'na nbret* (1967)	28
The first population and house survey census took place (1976)	19
EPDRF took control in Addis Abeba (1983)	12
Second census took place (1987)	8

by the way, if you've ever done a qebelE assessa, you are soooo over 37.

So the great SELEDA (feeble we) minds ran around looking for our own melekia, and here's what we got...

If you remember ever:	You are at least:
Taking rhumba lessons from Mary ArmidE	In your roaring 80s
Referring to the neighborhood near the original entrance of Menilik Ghibbi one facing the Hilton as Fiit Ber	Enjoying your *Tureta*
If you remember calling it Menilik Ghibbi	Waaaay retired
Railing against the extravagant artificial waterfall cascading down the terraced pools in front of the ECA building	A Pan-Africanist in your 50s
Worrying about going to the *Idget Be Hbret Zemecha*	A *Feri Frifarri* 44
Dancing at Osibisa Night Club	A *CHefari* 45
Running from police who were using tear gas or water cannons (instead of bullets to break up student protests)	A *reevo* in your 48
Parades with floats in Addis Abeba for Fasika	A *yeqorebe/bech* 38
Ever attended Good Shepherd High School	Ye *ferenj haymanoteNa* 38
The words to the *ItyoPya Tiqdem* song	A *qebele*fied 35
Remember when ICS was ACS	A *molqaqa* (or wannabe) 33
Hopped on Anbessa Autobus #5 today thinking you're heading towards Bole	One *yalefebat/bet* 30+
Agreed the 10th anniversary of the Revolution defined citywide mirth	In your unbelievable 20s

Have a few such tricks up your sleeve? We at Seleda would love to get your contributions to help us all get a little more truth into our game! Send us your melekia'och at editors@seleda.com.