February 27, 2006

Poet Laureate Tsegaye Gebre-Medhin

We are deeply saddened by the news of Poet Laureate Tsegaye Gebre-Mehdin's death. This is a tragic loss to all Ethiopians and fans of Ethiopian literature.

Two weeks ago, our own Wegesha had a heart to heart chat with the Poet Laureate at his residence in NYC. Wegesha will post his thoughts on the poet as well as his thoughts on the fruitful discussion. We also promise to post some of the invaluable works of Tsegaye Gebremedhin.

Our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Tsegaye Gebremedhin. His work will live on!

 

 

 

 

 

Posted by yekolotemari at 04:50:06 | Permanent Link | Comments (15) |

February 26, 2006

Venereal disease lexicon

G Y Getahun is the author of Advanced Amharic Lexicon: A Supplement to Concise Amharic-English Dictionaries.

 

Note To The Reader:

We would like the readers of this column to drive its content. Please suggest words that you would like to learn more about and we will let GY Getahun pick the most interesting submission to write on…  [email us or use the comment section]

 

 

To continue reading, click on
Posted by yekolotemari at 18:41:12 | Permanent Link | Comments (5) |

Can we avoid war?

Changes in African politics are painfully slow. We still have the same sort of dictators we had in the past. The only changes are in the tricks they use to exploit and rule their people. This lack of democratic developments leaves one with a feeling of bitterness.

Last week's Ugandan presidential election and the predicted Museveni win was a replay of last year's Ethiopian election. Only newbies to African politics expected anything other than Museveni's victory. These two elections were recent proofs of African leaders' [who came to power through the barrel of the gun] unwillingness to transfer power through a democratic electoral process.

The question of armed insurrection, therefore, becomes a question of time rather than undesired option. People who are desperate for a piece of bread are not going to go hungry and wait for a non-violent solution to come along. We are a long way from breaking this cycle of violence.

The west has failed to criticize and withdraw its support for such regimes in the name of stability and war on terrorism. This short sighted policy may eventually have the reverse effect of creating more Somalias and Iraqs ...

For the sake of our poor people, I pray that all this will be resolved before mayhem. Anything but war!

Posted by yekolotemari at 17:57:12 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

untitled poem

Posted by yekolotemari at 02:12:52 | Permanent Link | Comments (6) |

February 21, 2006

Nations Cup

I have been in love with African soccer since the Roger Milla inspired Cameroon forced a draw with the eventual winners of the 1982 world cup, Italy. Two years later this dominant side which also included N’kono and Abega along side of Milla went to win the Nations cup. In the process, they gave many Africans like me a chance to cheer and look up to one of our own.
The quality of African football has been steadily improving throughout the 80’s and the 90’s. The fact that two African teams, Cameroon and Senegal, have made it as far as the quarter finals of the world cup is an evidence for this. There is no doubt in my mind that Africa’s turn to win the world cup is coming closer.
The recent edition of the Nation’s cup has shown that African teams can be as complete as any of the teams from the top footballing nations. In addition to the traditional attacking football, defense and tactical awareness of many of the teams has improved tremendously. The Ivorian team which went to play Egypt in the final as well as being one of Africa’s representatives in the world cup was a prime example of this. Not only the Ivorian defense was brilliant but they also have dangerous strikers which can be a handful for any defense.
It is unfortunate not to have teams like Cameroon and Senegal in the world cup because they were clearly superior to the other African representatives in the coming world cup [Angola, Togo, and, Ghana]. Then again, it can be refreshing to see the smaller teams of Africa getting their turn to represent the continent that will be watching them closely.
Posted by yekolotemari at 17:47:35 | Permanent Link | Comments (4) |

February 20, 2006

Dare we or dare we not?

By Wegesha
            My cell phone rang as I was stretching over the counter to get my cup of coffee. It was Yekolo on the other line laughing deliriously
“Dude, have you seen the recent email we received?” he was still laughing
“No, I haven’t but if it is this funny I have to turn on my laptop right now.”
“Listen, I think we shook the hive too hard.” He was still laughing
“Are you gonna tell me what it is or do I have to beat it out of you?”
“Somebody is calling you out on your hypocritical bullshit about censorship.”
 
            Yekolo’s blog had barely touched on the topic of censorship on one of its previous posts and we were being asked if we stood by what we had written. Have you noticed just about everything in our country is farcical? Yearly famines that wipe out thousands of people are not considered vulgar but words describing the genitalia are. Indiscriminant killings are not obscene (even to the church) but a word describing the action of procreation is. Censorship of these few words in creative writing is merely a formality for a governing institution that puts censorship criteria on ideas, concepts and thoughts.  Hama Tuma, in his cynically funny book “The Case of the Socialist Witchdoctor”, narrates the story of a man accused of having thoughts of an anarchist and sent to a labor camp during the derg regime of Ethiopia. Only the name has changed and it is now called “Camp Dedessa.” So, to us, the censorship of words considered vulgar is something that will become a non-issue. But before it becomes a non-issue it has to become an issue first. That said, we will leave you with these two poems. One is from the famous poet Solomon Deresa and the other one was sent to us by someone who wishes to remain anonymous.
To see the other poem click on Read More.
 
 
Posted by yekolotemari at 15:43:31 | Permanent Link | Comments (27) |

February 14, 2006

Robel Vindicated

This is an update by Yoseph Teklemariam on the case of Ethiopia’s first winter Olympian Robel Teklemariam. I am happy to learn that his suspension has been a mistake and that he is ready to take on the world. We are already proud!
yekolotemari
 -----
i am happy to report to one and all that read this blog message board, that my very dedicated and ethiopia-loving brother robel did nothing wrong and has been cleared of the tests administered last week in torino. in fact, all of twelve of the cross-country skiers and dozens more were cleared of any wrong-doing. our family has been in contact with robel every day that he's been in italy. colorado is in fact known as the mile-high state, where he spent several weeks training prior to traveling to italy, and where the cross-country races are taking place in italy (pragelato) are at about the same high level altitude. also, what the IOC consider high is a count of 17, and robel was tested as having 17.2. from the beginning it was a matter of health precautions, and the media and misinformation allowed the talks of EPO and so on to get in the mix.....enough said, robel will be competing this friday at pragelato for the 15km classical! :-) as robel said to us, he was more concerned about the many racers missing their competitions that they trained for the past four years plus over the past weekend and stayed in high spirits since the opening ceremony and even after hearing of the bans, which he learned first from media associates before IOC officials. the Ethiopian Olympic Committee members that have travelled to torino have been nothing but supportive of him and assured robel of a fan base from ethiopia to represent him proudly as he races on friday. we thank you all for the support and encouragement that you've shared. much love and respect
 
~yoseph teklemariam
 

TURIN (Reuters) - Ethiopia's Robel Teklemariam will be allowed to race in the Winter Olympics having been cleared after a five-day suspension for an abnormally high red blood cell count, the International Ski Federation said on Wednesday.

Posted by yekolotemari at 12:30:37 | Permanent Link | Comments (12) |

From tie to pink shorts

There is a stark contrast between the work place etiquette in the east coast and the west coast [software industry]. Hence, it was shocking to find myself being the only one dressed in a suit and tie at a job interview in San Jose, Ca. Before I had a chance to get over my initial reaction, I was put in a conference room where I was met by my first interviewer who came into the room skating on his roller skate bike. I have heard of fairy tale stories of dot com employees coming to work in shorts etc but never had I expected that such attitude outlived the boom days of the dot com. Surprisingly this general sense of freedom was encouraged by the company via extremely flexible working hours, making sports/entertainment facilities available etc

This is a far cry from the work place etiquette at the company I currently work for. The hundreds of silly rules coupled with the regular indoctrination that remind me of the “politika classes” of the derg era Ethiopia, leaves one with very little sense of loyalty or respect to the objective of the work. It took me few months just to get over the fact that I would have to shave every day.

There is not a logical reason why employees should be forced to shave, dress in suit and tie, and, act like Robots when they work in an environment where their interaction with clients is minimal. I have realized that the freedom to work the way I like is much more important than monetary rewards (not that I would work for nothn’). I am now seriously considering moving to the west…. besides who can beat the Cali weather.

Posted by yekolotemari at 03:03:10 | Permanent Link | Comments (2) |

February 12, 2006

The Winter Olympian

Robel Teklemariam was to be the first Ethiopian athlete to represent Ethiopia in the winter Olympics. Many of us in diaspora were proud to see one of us representing the country of our birth in the winter Olympics. His achievement symbolized the success of the Ethiopian diaspora and the unlimited roles that Ethiopians in diaspora can contribute to the development of their country. For this reason, I was extremely disappointed to learn that Robel has been suspended for five days from the ongoing winter Olympics due to the unusually high level of red blood cell count found in his system. This is perhaps an indication of the use of performance enhancing drugs such as EPO that are used to boost the level of one’s endurance. Robel is waiting for the result of a second round of testing which will determine his status in the Olympics. Let us hope that his suspension has been a mistake.
Posted by yekolotemari at 02:51:06 | Permanent Link | Comments (12) |

February 11, 2006

Just when you thought we were sane

By Wegesha  
 
            Human interactions are full of superficial pleasantries. Every morning I show up to work I say “good morning” to a bunch of people on my way to my laboratory but don’t even pause for a second to hear their responses. Every time I meet new people, I say “nice to meet you” but most times I am indifferent about meeting them. If I am requesting anything from another person, even if I am paying for it, I say “please” even though I feel fully entitled to what I am about to receive. Our everyday life is brimming with such pleasantries, we have no clue what other people really think of us and we hardly give ourselves a chance to get to know others. This ignorance keeps us sane. Once in a great while you accidentally find out what others think of you and it challenges your own perception of self.
 
A case or two in point:
 
#1) when I came to New York to attend medical school 5 years ago there was another abesha guy at the same institution 3 years my senior. Being the sociable guy he is, it seemed like half of New York knew who he was. Interestingly, when he finished med school and folks got invitations to his graduation, they all asked “when was this guy ever in med school?” The guy partied every weekend for 4 years with the rest of New York and never once played into the image of the nerdy med student, they thought he was just wasting his life away.
 
#2) recently, at a bar where they had live African music, I run into a few abesha acquaintances who invited me to join them for drinks. I politely declined by telling them I didn’t drink and proceeded towards the stage. Before I had even cleared two feet I heard “I DON’T DRINK! Who is he bullshittin’? When have you ever seen this guy sober? Ha, Ha, Ha…”  
 
            A good friend of mine who had gone back to Ethiopia for a couple of months called me up when she returned to the U.S to let me know she had a book for me. I hadn’t asked for any books from Ethiopia or anywhere else but I was not surprised in the least bit because the friend in question is a woman and as a woman she cares for other people besides herself. Before she sent me the book she said “as I was reading this book I was thinking how much you would enjoy it.” I finally read the book and was compelled to put excerpts from it below because…… well, more on that later. Let me just say it is not for the faint hearted so if you are, stop here and if you are not, you have to fill in the blanks as I don’t think it is appropriate to spell out everything on such a forum. It is enough to say these are actual conversations between prostitutes of Kasanchis (the red-light district of Addis) the author (who also happens to be a journalist) has documented after befriending some of them.
 
TO SEE FULL ARTICLE CLICK ON READ MORE
Posted by yekolotemari at 11:15:58 | Permanent Link | Comments (6) |
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