Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Ihud be’iger, Sunday by foot



qas be’qas inqulal be’igru yeheydal… little by little, an egg goes by foot…

*

After unpacking and showering, I slept most of Day 1.

Above activity was repeated on Day 3.

Accordingly, my Uncle was able to remark gently, complimenting my display of fortitude on Day 2 as our car first inched through the traffic jam of Piassa, and then snaked through the dusty throngs of stuff-hawkers, stuff-shoppers and the occasional donkey or sheep crowding the streets of Merkato --- “You have to be crazy to go to Merkato on your second day in Addis.”

*

Day 4, Sunday, I took to the streets – be’iger, by foot



Sunday, June 07, 2015

Good Apples, Big Apples, Rotten Apples… and New Flowers


The blogosphere is as different nine years later as Addis Ababa is.

The both have seen tremendous “development” – or growth – or, simply, change.


The Day of the Downfall of the Derg


I arrived in Addis around six o’clock on the morning of Thursday, May 28, 2015 -- or, twelve o’clock by Ethiopian time, which (rather sanely) is oriented to sunrise and sunset (even if somewhat metaphorically).

And while I don’t know the date by the Ethiopian calendar rather than Gregorian, I do know that the day that I arrived was --- The Day of the Downfall of the Derg.

All the banks were closed for the national holiday. I couldn’t exchange any of that cash that I carried close on my person to the other side of the world.



Tuesday, June 02, 2015

Background

To You, Friends of the Diaspora,

Below are two stories providing a brief background as to why I grew motivated to return to Addis Abeba… and am writing from there now – “as we speak”.

(For background on the background, see after the stories.)

May these stories find and leave you well! Cheers,

sämra r.g.

The Voyage, The Journey, The Quest


How do I start? Where do we begin?

ze’teyn amet bohala, ze’teyn amet befeet,
ena, iziga neyn…

nine years later, nine years before,
and, here i am…

And, it’s a good place to be. So, why don’t we take it from…