Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Tuesday January 22, 2013. Temperature: -21 degrees Celsius (-5.8 degrees Farenheit). Yours truly: en route from point A to point B, on foot, all layered up as advised by the morning news, including my version of snow boots: So, en route on foot, I spot the very bus I need. It’s closer to … More “Running” Woman
Would it be presumptuous of me to claim that I know a thing or two about being a child of divorce? Not of the parental kind (although I do remember praying for that once, in a moment of adolescent lunacy). I mean the best friend divorce. Some friendships are like marriages in how deep and … More Aftermath
When my soon-to-be landlords told me that there was going to be an Ethiopian lady moving in downstairs in a month, they said it like it was a good thing. I wasn’t exactly thrilled, to say the least. I kind of hoped it wouldn’t happen. I even considered not taking the place, even though it was … More Whiffed
I’ve been doing a little experiment lately. A “social” experiment, I think it’s called. I’ve been introducing myself as “Rebka”. The idea has been in my mind for some time. Back in the Fall of 2010 I actually looked into legally changing it from “Rebecca” to “Rebka”. I would have, too, except that the law … More Call Me…?
Today, in commemoration of Austrian National Day which also happens to be when, twenty years ago, I unsuspectingly stepped aboard this vehicule de transport… and set off an adventure beyond my wildest imaginations – one that continues to this day – I offer up this little attempt at immortality which I penned thirteen years into said … More Memory Lane
So here I am with my birthday suit on under my store-bought outfit, having spent the better part of the day wearing just the former and contemplating how, when I was little, my parents had a house, a car, two children, jobs in offices with other people and even some honorary pets that cruised in … More Catching Spirit
What is labor but the agonized concentration of body and mind in squeezing out what has taken months (or years, depending on how you think about it) to develop, through the tiniest door of opportunity? A door that seems so poorly designed for the size of the job, the volume of the output, that it … More Hold the Door!
There’s this joke about an American who went to Washington D.C to teach English to new immigrants from Ethiopia. He ended up learning Amharic instead. When you can do an entire transaction at Starbucks in Amharic (granted, the store in question is right outside the arrivals gate at Dulles Airport) and even add to the … More Shock of the New
Abay is not just the name of the river which springs from the heart of Ethiopia, cuts through Sudan and Egypt, and ends in the way of all rivers big and small. It is also the name by which I best knew my grandfather. Officially, he was known by the more intimidating Shaleka – chief … More How a Dam Works
I can be a flirty type as long as it doesn’t involve people. Ideas is where the chemistry happens. There’s one in particular, which started off as a little harmless flirtation, then bloomed into a full blown on-again off-again thing that’s been going on for years. It never works out, of course, for reasons x, … More The Twisted Edge
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