From:      Robel
To:          Munit
Subject:  I've always hated this "subject" thing you know … how the hell do you narrow down two pages of nonsense into one concise line? Technology does have it's flaws …

Puh! Puh! Puh! Puh! Puh! Guud iko new bakish, lik and gets ke'gimash new yetsafshiw. The editors must be grinning in fits of jovial ecstasy right about now… :-)

Lemanignawim, wudd Munit, it was good of you to respond to my train of thought so expeditiously. It was nice that you mentioned ESA in your foray into Ethiocentric cyber-fermatawoch. The power of Ethiopian networking on this side of the Atlantic never ceases to amaze me. You know, it really is true what they say about six degrees of separation. It doesn't matter how large the population is burgeoning nowadays. Somehow, the internet, telelphone, and ya hulu tirke mirke has managed to bring us all closer and closer by the minute. And the ethio chatrooms! How can one slight those precious moments of typing guramayle in a frenzy of excitement at recognizing a nickname ("Oh! Weyne tadiyeeee, QuantaRas52 is online!" or flooding the chat module with copy-pastes of "Arrrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiiiiiffffffffffffffffffff98!!!"). Call me paranoid, in a way, but the fact that this world is just too damn small scares the gehannem out of me.

Today was a good day. Min iKebaTiralehu, it's 4.02am. I mean, YESTERDAY was a good day. It's always comforting to find one more Ethiopian who goes to the same school and shares your misery. Bicha, the funny thing is, I was staring at her for a while (of course, they say staring is rude, but who cares what people say anyway), and the girl looked like she was getting uncomfortable by my scrutiny. I was only trying to make sure that she was tikikilegna habesha. Imiballa meslwat new meselegn, she hurriedly picked up her books and papers and started leaving the library. But, Munit, you know how curiosity gets the better of people sometimes. So I quickly left after her, caught up, and asked her where she was from. Obviously, of course, she confirmed my speculations. Immediately, amarignawin maQelaTef jemerkwa! And she had this look of utter amazement on her face. Then she said, and I quote: "Indeeee, you're Ethiopian, ante! Bete'amir abesha atmeslim. You look black!" I look black? What, I'm not supposed to look black? Lenegerus, I managed to guise my irritation at the comment with a smiley, and promised I would keep in touch. But, let me backtrack (even though it has as much to do with technology as the nail on my big toe does with Liberia's national deficit) to the moment where she said, "you look black." Maybe I shouldn't be spending too much time on this, but it's not as trivial a topic as many people think it is. I am black. And I'm Ethiopian. My citizenship in no way makes me less of a black man! You know, Ivy League doesn't necessarily instill common sense into someone …

Wey mekera … bicha I just had to vent to someone about that little annoying incident.

On another note, though, that midterm went well thankfully. Meaning, of course, that everybody did terrible, which pulled down the mean, so what would be an F any other day in any other class is now a decent B/C+ Wey iDile! Apparently, I'm trying to use this as some kind of transition to the topic of the technology TaTa fenTaTa. One of the things that I've noticed is that there is usually a genuine excitement at stumbling across another Ethiopian's homepage, or managing to wring a link out of them after 2 minutes of a trivial dialogue in IRC. Granted, this "excitement" could often be some people's desperate lunge at hooking up with a hopefully appealing person. But I have a feeling it's also more than that. It evokes some kind of comforting feeling – almost like an ishuRuRu, especially to us college kids – to realize that Ethiopian presence online is growing extremely fast, with the likes of ESA, PAHA, SELEDA, and the ever increasing amount of personal homepages (read: the ridiculously garish ones with a handful of pictures and a joniya-ful of Ethiocentric graphics and animations…). That is exactly what makes me want to pursue a career in startup internet companies, web graphics, and the like within the Ethiopian community – you get to bring your fellow abeshas together, and hey, birrum yihen yahil metfo aydelem Speaking of money … I have so much deep-seated fury at how over-rated it's become nowadays, but I won't get into it now. I need to ration out my writing. Demo behuala what if I can't contribute an Entry 4? Idme'liken ke'SELEDA gar dibibiKosh siCHawet linor? Bechirash!

So, I'll cut this short, and head out to the class that I'm already late for.

Take care and do write back soon.

R.

PS: I couldn't help but notice that you signed your diary entries as "S-M" and you somehow made mention of "chains and whips" (or something to that effect) in your writing … made me think for a while … LOL! But then again, it's the typical male sick mind kickin' into gear! Bey ciao, boobooye, booboo'alem, before I miss the part of the lecture where the professor starts doing the moonwalk (the reasons I go to class … ayiii, shame on me!)

Man abatwa nech yechi Mailer-Daemon yemiluat sateyo who sends me messages about her incompetence at delivering my debdabe? I didn't mean to make you writhe, dear Editors! As we talk about technology, let us remember that as it enriches our lives in unfathomable ways, connecting us, making the world more efficient etc., so does it stab us in the back and twist the knife…right when the deadlines arrive! So here I go. Trying again…with a little touch-up.

Robel, beTam yeQerta, asTebekuh. Good things come to those who wait, they say. Does that make me 'the good'? (Abet gurra!) Eshi! You left me much to think about, yeah? But before I start let me first say that if I hear one more reference to the S-M coincidence...yekrebeh! I know where you live…and if I didn't, thanks to yehae yemenamogesew technology, I could find you down to your building, room number etc.! (Not to nurture your already growing paranoia or anything…) Just stressing your point about how connected a community we're becoming! Second, a quick little tip about how to approach those you think to be Ethiopian, especially women. Staring for an extended amount of time, just watching them, like a hawk seeking its prey (my own mental image), is not a good idea. Next time carry a white…better yet, an Ethiopian flag with you wherever you go :-). As she wasn't obviously Ethiopian, neither were you. The flag might make the connections easier.

But isn't it lovely to know that a venting space is but a screen, a keyboard and a send button away? To know that someone who understands your experiences (my city thinks I am a ganja selling Rastafarian –"Long Live Jah HaileSelassieI! Rasta woman, where the 'oly 'erb?"), who can calm the bitterness, laugh with you and encourage you to have patience and good humor is on the other side. The preconceived notions of many about who / what you might be by the way you talk, look, 'strut your stuff' and where you're coming from are many. To be able to share this with you and other Ethiopians (family included) who have been burdened by the wrath of much ignorance is a luxury that has given me back a lot of my sanity. I no longer talk to myself about the trials of my interactions (outwardly black Rasta woman, inwardly Ethiopian). Thank you technology.

From the dialogues amongst Ethiopian youth on many forums, I'm beginning to see that we are evolving into a multiple-identity of a multi-cultured population. Assimilating to the foreign while holding on to the familiar…and trying not to lose our minds as we struggle to maintain the precarious balance (better you ask me to walk on egg shells than maintain such a balance! TaTa eko new!) In meeting all the Ariff 98's, whoever they might be, from wherever in the world we might be dwelling, we are attempting to keep these connections alive. I would just like to say that the support systems we are forging through these optic connections have been quite appreciated.

It hasn't only been emotional support but these "Ethiocentric cyber-fermatawoch" (to use your terminology, if I may) are now evolving to be a space where we might be able to help other Ethiopian brothers and sisters who are in trying situations and have been fortunate enough as to have access to such means of connections like the Internet. Recently, I found out about a young Ethiopian who, for the first time as far as I know, came out about his HIV positive status here in the States. Through the networks that have been set up by People-to-People there is now a project underway to have him speak and educate as many Ethiopian communities as possible about the HIV/AIDS situation amongst Ethiopians within and without Ethiopia. How long would it have taken to get this across had we not been all connected (and to all reading this, go and see how you might be able to help!)? And as it is a burning urgent issue, the speed of it all is a tremendous blessing…if we use it right. (A recent success would be the Christmas for Orphans project where the connections tied the Ethiopians in Ethiopia and us, scattered beyond!)

Today, I logged on to the computer to find (besides Mailer-Daemon) messages from the ESA (let's get active committees), PPL2PPL (support the young Ethiopian), protests about the acquittal of Amadou Diallo's killers, working women's global strike, peaceful protest at the IMF/World Bank meeting at DC. People are mobilizing, and they are mobilizing at larger scales than ever seen before. The potential is tremendous here!

So Ato. Robel, please do connect us. Be the links, oh-you-many-technology-masters out there. Bring us together under one, big umbrella and let us see / use the potential we have, what a force of change we might turn out to be. Berta! Keep passing those exams and go to class whether there be a moonwalk or not!

Give us cyber-Ethio-Libraries. Let all those who don't know (myself included) learn their proper history even from the remotest, most inaccessible corners of this globe. Bring up the yellow pages, and connect the many dots. In the meantime, keep on keepin' on.

Munit