And Life

It is a new time, for me. I have completed my challenge of bringing my parents here in Ethiopia, from their long years of exile, refuge, and migration, to the West. 

I have a lot to do. First, the Kidist Foods Expanded Project will continue, although it might take longer to initiate.

I have also been contacting Addis Ababa arts and cultural institutions to set up a gallery, an art exhibit, of my works as well as those of the artists I've met in Addis.

And thirdly, although not last, and neither least, writing.

I will collect information for my memoir, and also for my larger work Reclaiming Beauty: Saving Our Western Civilization. This latter is a continuation of my 10-year blog project Reclaiming Beauty: Saving Our Western Civilization, and will be a concise version in book form. The memoir will also be in book form.

These are exciting times!

Death and the Young Boy

Ababa dehna nechew?

Is Dad ok?

This young boy, to the right with the white shirt, asked about my father, whom he is used to seeing in the compound that we live (a community of highrise apartments in the "suburbs" of Addis Ababa).

He came with a group of boys for the annual "Buhe," a religious and cultural holiday which precedes the Ethiopian New Year in September. It also signifies, culturally, the end of the rainy season, the kiremt, and that heavy rain, with the resounding thunder that I heard so frequently this kiremt.

To keep him calm, I said that he (my father) was fine.

I will see him soon, again, in the compound. I will tell him.

The photo I took is of the second time a group came (this time different from the first), but the young boy, whose name is Ze-Michael - of the lineage of the archangel Michael) - came along too. 

This time he was more subdued. Possibly, his family informed him of my father's death.

I gave him a hug, and thanked him, and blessed him, for asking after my father. 

But, I left him alone.

I will find him in the compound, and tell him

Buhe is a joyous, fun (yes fun, and it is kids having fun not the juvenile adult "kids" who love to talk of "fun"), and festive.

There is the traditional song that the young boys sing, clever verses that they add onto with the times, and where their listeners, whom they inform with their loud singing, rhythmic pounding of sticks, their hand clapping, and often a small drum.

They would receive home-baked Buhe bread (or equally delicious store-bought) or dollar coins, which the leader collects and evenly distributes to his orchestra.

I gave them, both times, ten Ethiopian birr, two birr apiece. They will get rich! Or at least they can buy all the candy that they want.

Addendum:

I saw this young boy, Ze-Michael, yesterday afternoon, patrolling the small park around the compound, accompanying young children, and making sure they are OK, leader that he is.

I told him that "Ababa" is now in the hands of God, and that we pray for him every day, and we ask that he pray for us too.

I am sure the boy's family told him, and in his astute and sharp way, he showed a glimmer of knowledge, which he quickly camouflaged with piety.

My mother was with me - we were doing our daily "once round" (her directions) of the garden. The boy recognized her, and immediately fell to his knees, to kiss her feet. This is the tradition of humility toward elders, and especially elders who need our care.

This beautiful boy did everything right.

"Come back and visit us!" I told him. "Just knock on our door."

"It is your home." - Betih new.

We left him then to his twelve-year-old self (I asked! "How old are YOU?").

We have a sure neighbor, and a careful caretaker.

Saturday, August 5, 2023 Sea'lite Mihret Cathedral, Addis Ababa

Priests Praying

Early dawn, Monday-Saturday, and even earlier on Sunday, the nearby Ethiopian Orthodox Tawahedo Church plays via loudspeakers, chants, prayers, and readings from the variou Books of the Bible.

It used to annoy me.

But, it is a borrowed strategy, from other groups, to broadcast the Word of God to the masses, in the early dawn hours. For me, dawn is the magical hour. That is when I get up - at 4:45am - to start my work uniterrupted and in peace by 5am, with a cup of Joe in hand, and with the presence of God that I may not write the wrong words.

These dawn "broadcasts" set me for the day, fearless, and protected by God Himself. 

I've alwyas said that the Ethiopian Christians KNEW how to find the environment that lets them live their lives through God, to be fearless, and to march on. 

They built Ethiopia thus, the Ethiopia that is cited numerous times in the Bible. They are, agaisnt ALL odds, protecting and maintaining Ethiopia thus.

The Organic Formation of a Region

Portrait Painting of Emperor Yekuno Amlak

17th Century

This is exactly how the Ethiopian communities formed, and especially the Amhara society (which I call the Amhara civilization).

The Organic Formation of a Region.

Read on for more at this enlightening website.

And scroll down here for "related topics of interest," including:

- All Classes Should Have Elites

- The City and Its Nobility

- The Organic Formation of Feudalism

1931-2023

[Photos By: KPA]

Yellow roses and Sea'lite Mihret Kidist Mariam Cathedral, Addis Ababa.

Ato Paulos Asrat: 1931-2023

Hibiscus Tree With Flowers

Hibiscus Tree With Flowers

[Photo By: KPA]

The "Girum Shai" brand also sells hibiscus teabags. It  is not my favorite "flavor" but it has an interesting citrusy taste.

Here is my design version of the hibiscus flower.

Hibiscus

Design By: KPA

Summer Pink Begonia in Mississauga

Pink Begonia

[Photo By: KPA]

It is now mid-summer in Canada, and even in the summer heat, we have a display of flowers.

Here are potted begonia, about which I blogged here, which fare well in the heat, and give us their beautiful colors to contemplate.

These pink and white flowers give a slightly tropical feel to the heat-waved Mississauga.

This tiny parkette is right across from the Civic Centre (Celebration Square), and far enough to be a quiet and peaceful respite. The concrete slabs were designed to be "benches," and I often sit beneath one of the birch trees, which are in their full-leaved summer regalia, which provide a gentle flow of a summer's breeze. [More at the link above.] 

In contrast, it is mid-"winter" - kiremt - here in Addis, and the rains and roaring thunder give us another side of nature.

The rains are much needed here, and they go on through August, until the September Spring - Tseday - when the whole country is covered in the beautiful yellow flowers. The clever Amhara also use that flower, and that month, as the New Year, celebrated by all Ethiopians. More then!

Real Progress

Real Progress

[Photo By: KPA]

Contrary to popular intellectual belief, building is good. 

It gives jobs.

It adds room for people to live, to perform commerce, to attend schooling, to save, and much more.

The running opinion is that it adds congestion. But ordinary people are not so stupid, and they eventually weigh the balance, and demand their construction barons toe some line - if anything by NOT buying.

And Ethiopians are not so stupid. Most people live with their families. The women I talk to (preparing for my Kidist Foods Expanded Project) talk about adjusting their homes to fit their families, which includes several generations. 

Why not build, and thus why not buy? And why not rent, even? People need homes!

This construction I photographed (ab0ve) from my apartment across the street started about six months ago, when I moved into my building. The noise was difficult, often starting as early as 6:30am.

But, I am lucky. I always get up pre-dawn, and finish my most thought-consuming tasks in early dawn. That way, I make no judgment errors in my decisions. And I haven't.

It is interesting, and fun, to watch. And somehow, the laborers avoid the torrential rains, and do just enough (I presume) for the day, to keep on track. Sometimes, they break out into chant.

They are, as far as I can gather, Oromo men, day laborers.

The building next to it, which is a part residential, part commercial building, lights up in the evening with diffuse yellow light (each bulb placed by a window) giving the area a beautiful glow, which is progressively dimmed through the night.

Now, most of the exterior is done, and today I saw the workmen (laborers) bringing in window panes.

I asked, a couple of days ago: "How Long!!!"

The foreman laughed, and said, probably by Inqutatash, the Ethiopian New Year, in September.

Then, I will have been here, in Addis Ababa, a year!

Emperor Haile Selassie's Legacy - Hilton Addis' 50th Anniversary

Lion of Judah sculpture in the Hilton 

Hotel grounds, Addis Ababa

[Photo By: KPA]

And the pool, with a cross design, in 1969

[Image Source]

Hilton Addis opened in 1969 under Emperor Haile Selassie after Hilton Worldwide signed a 50-year contract with the Ethiopian government. [Source Wikipedia]

Hilton's Inauguration 

November 1969

With Emperor Haile Selassie

[Image Source]

Banner with inauguration photo

Hilton Entranceway

[Photo By: KPA

July 2023]

Hilton commemorated its 50-year anniversary in 2020 (a year later - 1969-2019).

Hilton's 50th, celebrated on January 16, 2020

[Image Source]

My understanding is that the Hotel's contract continues under the same Hilton Worldwide.

Here is one especially delicious dish: a mesir soup (lentil soup) with the berbere - the complex chili power that is part of Ethiopia's dishes. It is served in the Gazebo Restaurant, by the pool.

[Photo By: KPA]

Gazebo By the Pool

[Photo By: KPA]

Green Leaf Ethiopia

[Photo By: KPA]

Green Leaf Ethiopia, a landscaping group (both for outdoor and indoor plants) has this beautiful logo, along with a thoughtful message.

Green Leaf is also a clever name, referring to the "greening" of Ethiopia, which is now a major country-wide tree-planting project. And Green Leaf can be a decorative term, as well as a way to combat the several months of seasonal dry weather. 

More green=more rain=more green, and why not beautiful as well.

Vive La National French Fry Day!

How did I miss this!

Vive La French Fry Day was on July 13 (just a day short of Quatorze Juillet)!

This according to Time Out New York. And you could have had Free French Fries!

I was having French Fries, but in Addis, on July 13!

At Bete Maed, here in Kazanchis.

And with ketchup, no less (Quelle Horreur!).

[Photo Sources: Bete Maed Google Photos]

The fries also come with a green chili paste (qariya). 

We have been redeemed.

Quatorze Juillet in Addis

Bonne Fete!

Happy Quatroze Juillet, today.

The French are busy celebrating the July Fourteenth holiday with military parades and fireworks.

It was 8:03am in Paris as I just got my cafe, which was 9:03am in Addis. 

The parade is to start at 11:00am Paris time - still too early. But an early start is a good thing!

I chose a simple cafe au lait in the beautiful Chez Jean-Pierre.

There were roses on the table, I'm sure for the occasion, and the usual 1970s/80s French popular music was a little louder than usual. The small cafe was festive!

There is a photograph of the Arc de Triomphe on the wall behind me, which is where an imporant part of the defile, the military parade, will take place.

I gave the wait staff a short French cultural lesson, which they enjoyed.

Bonne Fete, tout-le-monde!

Summer Grass by Lake Ontario

We are in the middle of dramatic, thundrous, rains, here in Addis Ababa, but in Ontario, it is mid-summer, and with a heat wave.

The photo below is what I took two summers ago, in Port Credit, by Lake Ontario.

The grass is Queen Anne's Lace, which became one of my designs at Well-Patterned.

Summer Grass by Lake Ontario

[Photo By: KPA]

Trillium and Queen Anne's Lace

[Design by KPA]

From Well-Patterned

The Rains, The Semien Escarpments, and The Amhara

Clouds Above the Simien Mountains

[Image Source]

There are brief, thunderous, minutes of downpour, true to the "kiremt" season of rains before the harvest season in September.

There is something majestic about these rains, which today occurred in early dawn.

There might be some later in the early afternoon, which didn't occur yesterday. Perhaps the wind blew them to another location.

I was thinking of the Simien - the Northern - Mountains, and how those many centuries ago, the group that would eventually found Ethiopia, and cultivate its civilization, becoming the Amhara group (now synonymous with Ethiopia), fared traversing those mountains during this thunderous rain, as they came looking for the ideal, God-given place to found their territory.

They chose the highlands, to make sure that no enemy would arrive unexpected. Their escarpments gave them a permanent, and natural, look-out.

And they succeeded.