Essence of DOPE
Posts tagged Addis Ababa
Habesha Mailbag
Feb 3rd
Welcome back for Habesha Mailbag 2.0
This is the second edition of the Habesha Mailbag; last week’s mailbag was a smashing success, time to build on the success.
by Teddy Fikre written: Friday, January 3rd, 2012
This is the second edition of the Habesha Mailbag; last week’s mailbag was a smashing success, time to build on the success.
Alright sewoch, endet nachew? Melkam Arb, Happy Friday, I bet you are ready to get the weekend popping after a long week of working. I feel you boo boos (yeah I know that is a bit feminine, but I am making it masculine). Anyway, it’s that time of the week where I interact with my readers and see what we come up with together. I am sure to laugh my Qit off while reading their questions and comments and then laugh my Qit off again while responding—what can I say, I know how to make myself laugh.
Now before we get to the emails. Since this is an article inspired by Bill Simmons, let me take a quick attempt to be a sports pundit. My prediction for the Super Bowl is that the little blue giants (aka the New York Viagra) will lose to the New England More >
DevelopeFail
Jan 23rd
We are becoming a country of Marie Antoinettes, most Ethiopians yell on Facebook to let them eat injera while they eat the finest kitfo.
by Teddy Fikre written: Monday, January 23rd, 2012
There is a great debate going on back home in Ethiopia and in the Diaspora about the pace of progress and the significance that this pace has when placed in context of the overall governance of the Meles cabal. To be honest, this topic is a toxic landmine, no matter what position you take on this topic, you are sure to get your legs blown off by the enmity of pro or anti-government lynch mobs. To be honest, there not too much room for nuance or honest discussion on this issue. But you know me, I like to tap dance in landmines and pop my collars in hurricanes, so let me go meto gena in on this topic.
Yeah I know, I always like to introduce an opening paragraph by cracking a joke or two, but to be honest, this is a dead serious conversation, so time for sober assessment on this issue. It is true that Ethiopia’s pace of development in the past 20 years has been astronomical by any More >
Confessions of an Apologetic Habesha Man
Jan 12th
So I adapted, I let the scorn of immature girls barely old enough to wear training bras haunt me for the next 20 years.
by Teddy Fikre written: Thursday, January 12th, 2012
So yesterday, after much anxiety and buna searching, I finally got up the courage and strength to write an article blasting the Ethiopian women in the Diaspora for being a collection of finger snapping and neck popping bulls. It took a lot to write that scathing article, and trust me; I caught quite a lot of flak from the ladies after popping in Side A of that cassette in BC radio and listening to my arsenic aimed at their eyes. Fortunately however, as much as I was scorned for my willingness to put most Ethiopian women in the same boat, I did not lose 80% of my followers on twitter nor 75% of my women friend on Facebook. In fact, I actually gained a couple in the process. Who knew having the courage to speak on taboo subjects could gain you the admiration of folk throughout the ether.
So it with that in mind that I have decided to flip the cassette in BC radio and put it on side B More >
Dis.R.E.S.P.E.C.T.
Jan 11th
Forget a four carat diamond; a man who loves his woman would gladly travel to Saturn and pinch a ring from that planet and put it on the finger of his lover.
by Teddy Fikre written: Wednesday, January 11th, 2012
Do I really want to get in on this? Really, do I want to lose 80% of my lady readers and 75% of my lady friends on twitter? Is it worth it to make a point only to end up in the end having a sharp point of a woman’s fingertip all in my cornea? This I pondered over 3 cups of buna and four cigarettes. But as always, I throw caution to the wind, I pop my collars in the middle of hurricanes. Time to go meto gena in on this topic and see what the consequences will be once I bleed my pen dry from her black ink.
So you, ask me what is the topic that has me so anxious that I would contemplate for hours before writing this article? Well the topic is that of respect—or the lack there of—that Ethiopian women in the Diaspora display towards Ethiopian men. Oh no, did you just spill your atmit all over More >
Art Continues to Flourish in Addis
Sep 3rd
Around 40 established and young artists displayed works of paintings, sculptures, installations, bronze castings and wood carvings.
Posted: Friday, August 3, 2010
It has been an important week for Addis’s cultural life as the city has come to declare its emerging artistic identity. The third edition of Art of Ethiopia exhibition took place from the 21st to the 24th of August at Sheraton’s Addis Lalibela Grand Ballroom. One of the largest exhibitions ever held, Art of Ethiopia showcased more than 400 new works created specifically for the occasion. Around 40 established and young artists displayed works of paintings, sculptures, installations, bronze castings and wood carvings.
The exhibition has attracted thousands of visitors and the hotel has seen more than 16,000 visitors during the four-day event. Stylish young women flashing designer bags mingled with bearded artists and men wearing conservative business suits. Organizers say they are very pleased with the number of people attracted to the venue.
One of the artists who participated in the exhibition, Abyalew Assefa told Addis Journal that use of booth space in this year’s edition has been much better than last year’s. “It allowed for the display of larger and small scale works. The space and light have has More >
Russian Sees the Ark of the Convenant
Aug 26th
“The Arc of the Covenant was taken out and it was shown to me. An Ethiopian operator was at the scene and filmed the event.”
by Mikhail Aristov. Posted: Thursday, August 26, 2010
Fyodor Konyukhov. Photo: RIA Novosti
The famous Russian traveler Fyodor Konyukhov has become the first European to see with his own eyes the legendary Arc of the Covenant that preserved the Scrolls received by Moses on the Mount Sinai.
This is the holiest relic of the Coptic Christianity. It has never been shown to any non-consecrated person. Most likely, this may be the reason that led to many theories about the place where it is being preserved. At a chapel in the ancient capital of Ethiopia, Aksum, the Ethiopian priests showed the Arc of the Covenant to Fyodor Konyukhov who has recently been ordained deacon by the Russian Orthodox Church, and is preparing for an African expedition with the blessings of the head of the Russian Orthodox Church Kyrill. Sharing his impression Fyodor Konyukhov has this to say.
“I did not expect it, but the Ethiopians showed me the Arc of the Covenant,” says Fyodor Konyukhov. “It was four O’ clock, and I was with priests at the service. I was More >
Ethiopia, The Remain of Volksvagen
Aug 26th
Much like Ethiopians themselves, who have endured so much as a people, the beetle has endured.
by Matt Gibbs. Posted: Thursday, August 26, 2010
It remains an odd sight to see an old Volkswagen beetle motorcar trundling around Addis Ababa. “Odd,” simply because I associate them with the swinging sixties, a relic of my parents’ generation. “Remains,” because they have been in the country for some time and yet still seem out of place – contrary to the bearing of the proud Ethiopian.
You can’t help but notice them. They are less common than the pervasive blue and white Ladas, used for taxis. But they are far more striking in their old fashioned oranges, limes and beige – probably not repainted since back in the day.
And they hold a special place in the history of Ethiopia. A beetle was the very car that the former Emperor of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie, was taken away in immediately following his dethronement. On the appointed day, he was arrested at his palace and whisked away in the back of yellow vee-dub, reportedly waving regally as the car – sans motorcade – made its way towards his prison where he would die less than a year later.
Since I More >
The Addis Face of Addis Ababa
Aug 26th
If projections of population growth come true, Ethiopia may need 20 new cities of 5m people each by 2050.
Posted: Thursday, August 26, 2010
AMHARIC has no precise word for architecture, but it needs one. Ethiopia’s capital, founded by Emperor Menelik II in 1886, now has 4.6m people but that figure may well double by 2020. Dirk Hebel of Addis Ababa’s revamped architecture school says that “the first thing we do is to sit down with the students for a day and explain what [it] is”.
According to the UN, Addis has one of the higher densities of slum dwellers in the world. But their geographical pattern is unusual. Most African cities separate fairly neatly into poor and rich areas “like a sunny-side-up egg”, with slums spreading out from the rim, says Mr Hebel. But Addis is “more of a scrambled egg”. A lack of crime and a tradition whereby the rich seem to tolerate the poor living among them mean that Addis’s slums often lie in the seams between office buildings and flats in the more affluent parts of the city.
Some cash for the overhaul of the architecture school has come from a technical institute in Zurich, known by its initials ETH. More >