HENOK SPACIAL DENTAL CLINIC

Are they going to see your teeth in the moon?

Today going around in Addis I have found out this very big advertisement. Here sometimes is very funny to read the advertisements. I know English is not our language and also we use other alphabets that I spoke about before. I think that the main problem is that we need to transliterate many times from and to English and sometimes we lose something in the middle.

I would like people check the spelling before to make this kind of big advertisements!

THE GAME OF THE STONES

There is a game that one or more children play in etiopia. The requirements are very simple: to have from six to eight small stones.

In the beginning there are all stones on the ground and one of them in the hand. The player throw the stone in the air and pick up a stone from the ground and also the one he throw before it touch the ground. Every time have to repeat the same until all the  stones of the ground are in the hand. If she or he  makes a mistake has to start again or if they are more the turn changes.

Now you have a new thing to try, enjoy yourself!

GUITARS

As I told in about me I’m learning guitar. This year I got the chance to start in a good school and I’m so happy about that.

I had the very great luck that someone carried me a guitar from abroad (thank you!) and I’m OK, but some of the other students are dreaming to get a guitar.

Here in Ethiopia the guitars are so fake and so expensive the most of the times. I would like to ask if there is someone coming here to help us. We DO NOT WANT to get a guitar for free, we just would like to be able to buy a guitar abroad (it means cheaper price and best quality). But we need someone to carry the guitar and to advance the payment. After, once we meet here, we can give the price of the guitar in birr.

If there is someone willing to help please contact me at natidread@gmail.com

Thanks!!

PLACE WORDS

All is continuously moving and we need to indicate where the things are. It can be useful to know some words of placement!

EZIH                           Here

EZAH                         There

LAY                            On

WEST                         Inside

WECHI                       Outside

HUALA                      Behind

FIT                              In fromt

TACH                         Under

GRA                           Left

KEGN                         Right

Idea: you could play with the children asking YET ALLE… where is… and answering with this words.

ENKUTATASH

The 11st of September is in Ethiopia the 1st of Meskerem, the firs Ethiopian month. The people normally make wishes and fix their goals for the New Year.

Normally children (males) make draws of flowers or saints and go door to door offering them. People use to give them some money. With that money they use to buy something special to eat or may be material for the school that will start in a short time.

The girls instead the last day of the year use to carry a kebero, a kind of drum and they go door to door singing traditional songs for Enkutatash and also the people of the houses give them bread or some money.

So,  happy new year, MELKAM ADDIS AMET!!

TRADITIONAL FRIGE

In many countryes people is used to have electric power everywhere, even there is people used to have a sort of fridge in the car.

Here in Ethiopia is not that easy but sometimes is even more effective.

In this picture you can see those bottles that have around a rope. This rope is not a casual thing, is just a way to get cold water. May be it sounds estrange but is true. If someone wet the rope with water and put the item under the sun the evaporation of the water in the rope makes the water inside the bottle cold.

There is the simplest version introducing a small bottle in a wet sock. Put it under the hottest sun and you will get fresh water!

ADVENTURE TRAILS

Now is rainy season and all Addis Ababa is under construction. It means that one have to know which streets are open and which one are not, where is possible to pass and where is not any more.

In addition to this one have to know that there is mud everywhere and is difficult to keep clean before enter in the school or in the working place. Is also a good moment for the shoe shiners because most of the people need a cleaning of the shoes.

The other day I was walking somewhere, the street was nearly closed also for the pedestrians, and the only way to pass was throw a bridge made of wood entering in a building under construction to exit in another side of it. Old women were scared to pass there but there was not any alternative and they did.

REALLY ADVENTURE TRAILS!!

OTHER DAILY WORDS

OTHER DAILY WORDS

Let me teach you some useful expressions that you can use with your child in the beginning to understand each other.

If there is a bar between the first word is for male, the second is for female.

DEKEMEH/DEKEMESH?                                          are you tired?

ERBOHAL/ERBOSHAL?                                            Are you hungry?

ENKELF YMETAL?                                                    Are you falling asleep?

MECHAWET TEFELEGALEH/TEFELEGIYALESH? Do you want to play?

TEWEDALEH/ TEWEDJALESH?                              Do you like it?

ATWEDEM/ ATWEDJIM?                                         Don’t you like it?

Anyway if you have more suggestions or questions about words, I’ll be happy to translate for you!

HALF A HOUSE

HALF A HOUSE

In this moment In Addis Abeba a lot of places are under construction or demolition. Some places the government is demolishing huge areas to construct new buildings and houses for the people. Other places they are making the roads larger or now it is under construction the city train in many parts of the city.

Sometimes it means that the people have to change completely the place they live, other times only a part of the house have to be demolished. In this last case in a very short period of time the inhabitants of that house or shop have to rebuild the wall and to adapt the space remaining to their necessities.

Is really surprising to see how fast the things change and how fast the people adapt themselves to a new situation. Even building with more stores change their face in very short times!

MORINGA, THE RICHNESS OF THE SOUTH

Moringa, or Shiferraw in Amharic, is a tree cultivated mainly in the south of Ethiopia. In Konso was part of the main tradition because for a man was necessary to own a certain number of moringa trees to be able to get marry. It was a way to make sure that the family was going to have enough resources to live.

The leaves of moringa tree are used as in the foreign countries are used the spinach, the difference is that in Konso , for example, people use to eat moringa daily.

Moringa can be uses also as a tea, or I guess one day it will be a nutritional complement because is really reach of nutrients, vitamins and mineral salts.

Now here in Addis is starting to be available dried and with the dried leaves is possible to make tea and to add to another food. Do not miss it if you visit Ethiopia!

A GAME FOR BABIES

All over the world the babies discover they new world with joy and a very nice game for them is the one that the adult hide the face behind a book, a fabric or whatever and after discovering the face make happy the child.

Here in Ethiopia in this game is used to say "ayehush" for a girl or "ayehuh" for a baby boy. It means "I have seen you". I am sure the babies will be joyful playing this game and you parents can learn another word in amharic!

have fun!!

QUESTION THAT IS NOT NECESSARY TO ANSWER

The majority of the adoptive parents have the question “will the biological parents want to be in touch with their child or with us?”

I don’t want to be long or to repeat myself. The answer up to now is “yes”. I have seen many families or mothers or other relatives, but all of them keep the child in their mind and they are so happy when they have news about the children.

RED AND GREEN, YELLOW AND BLUE, WHITE AND…

In Ethiopia has start a new fashioh!

In the last few weeks I have notice something funny. Some people has start to wear a new shoes fashion. Here a lot of people wear plastic shoes, and that is not new at all, but now they started to buy two pairs  and to wear one shoe green and the other for example red or yellow. May be some of the people that do this buy two pairs and use one shoe of each color, but I guess that the majority agree with a friend that have the same size to change one of the shoes.

Is it  not funny? May be you can follow the same fashion too

BOMBOLINO BISCUT AND SAMBUSSA

These three ítems are avaliable in every street and place. All of them have something in common, they are cheap, they are fried items. Bombolina has a hole in the middle and is like a donut,  Biscut is  a round fried thing without any hole and normally with a irregular shape, not filled, and sambussa is like a triangle filled with lentils or rice.

When someone is hungry with less than 3 birr can get one of these foods and also provably a tea is sold in the same place. Is a good time to have a break and to have a happy tummy!

ETHIOPIAN QENE

Qene are popular frases that people use to teach the others or to say the daily things with another words… let me make some examples

QES BE QES ENQULAL BEGRU YHEDAL - step by step the eggs run with their legs,  it means at the right time everything arrives

SIROTU YTATEKUT SIROTU YFETAL- if you do it running if you run is going to be destroyed, it means that when someone do something fast is not doing a durable work

YENE TOLO TOLO BET GIRGIDAW SEMBELET-my fast fast house the wall is not a wall. It mans who want to make the things fast is not getting good result.

YEQOTUN EWORDALEW BELA YEBETWAN TALECH-  trying to get the thing I can not get, I lose the thing I had by my side.

BEJ YAZUT WERK KEMEDABE YKOTERAL- having  gold in your hands you wish another thing. Sometimes is easier to wish the things you do not have than the precious things you have with you

THE MEANING OF THE ANIMALS

In every language, I think, the animals are used like bad or good words, in Amharic some animals have a meaning when used to speak to a person, is better to be careful using the words.

WESHA, that means dog mean something like bad person.

DMET, that means cat, normally is used to say that someone is a small person, not important.

GUNDAN, that means ant means almost as the cat.

JEB, that means hyena, normally is used for someone that eat a lot or someone that want everything for himself.

ANBESSA, that means lion, mean someone good and able to do the things well, as the school.

AHYA, that means donkey, normally is someone that don’t like to work.

ASSEST, that means chameleon, is someone you cannot trust.

ANIMALS!

Children normally love animals, if someone wants to teach them Amharic words I think that is a good starting point to make fun with the kids. After it can be performed also the animal voice!

WESHA                      dog

DMET                         cat

AHYA                          donkey

WEF                            bird

FEYEL                                    goat  

  

LAM /BERE                cow/ bull

DORO                         hen or chicken

BEG                            sheep

ETHIOPIAN BIRDS

For the prople that have an special feeling for the birds can be interesting.

In Ethiopia there are many endemic animals, between them the red fox, the walia, the gelada baboons, all them big mamals. Well known everywhere. Instead often the people doesn’t know that there are many birds that are leaving only in ethiopia. There are many web sites where you can find Endemic Birds of Ethiopia.

I am not an expert about birds but one of my favorites is the Prince Ruspoli’s Turaco. See the picture below and enjoy googleing the other  ones!!

WORDS TO TELLTHE FEELINGS

Normally when someone learn a language is not the first thing to learn, but instead are words that are very important in the life… specially in the love stories as the mother and child love.

DESTA                                    Happiness

AZEN                                      Sadness

YDEBERAL                            Is boring

YASTELAL                             Is disgusting

AZNALEW                              I’m sorry

ENKWAN DES ALESH          Congratulations

THE COLORS OF THE FLAG

Before, the colors of the flag were in different order than now, the red was on the top and the green on the bottom. After Menelik the order of the colors has change. During Haile Sellassie Kingdom the flag had a lion on it. During Mengistu Haile Mariam government it was an arm to take its place, and now there is a star. Still now the most of the people like the flag of the lion, that was the symbol of the Solomonic dynasty.

The Ethiopian flag have basically three colors:

Arengwadé (green) means the fertility

Bicha (yellow) means the peace and the church

Kay (red) means the blood of the war