ሄሎ፡ መን ክብል፧ ᎐᎐᎐ማማ ጸብሒ ትሰርሕ ኣላ᎐᎐᎐

 እቲ ቀደም ግዜ፡ ዘመነ እኒእኒ ሕምባሻ`ከሎ እምኒ፡ ኣብ ሓንቲ ዓዲ ሓደ ንጉስ ነበረ። እዛ ዓዲ`ዚኣ፡ ኣዚያ ሃብታምን ዕድልትን ነበረት፤ መቸም ህዝባ ብሓጎስን ተድላን ይነባበር፡ እንስሳታታ ብሰላምን ምርድዳእን ይብልዑን ይበላልዑን፡ ዝናማታ ብግዚኦም ይምላለሱን ነበሩ። ብኩለንትናኣ ባህ ተብል ዓዲ ነበረት። እንታይ`ሞ፡ ዘራጊት ዘላተን ከብቲ`ዶ ጽሩይ ማይ ይሰትያ፧ 

Alrighty, what's the above you say? How about we start by greeting each other? (Three pecks on alternating chicks - starting from right - while shaking hands simultaneously.) Then, we sit down while repeatedly asking about each other's well-being. ("How's family?", "The young ones, are they OK?", "How's family?", "How's..."). And before I ask you whether you want it or not, I'll make you a cup of spiced tea, or even better, we will drink 4-5 rounds of strong coffee on tiny cups that have no handles!

How your coffee will be served...

Greetings! And welcome to this week's post. The topic? Something to do with identity and "third choice" and honoring parents and heritage. So, I'll be trying to answer the prompt as you hang on to the reading.

Now, to the first part of the prompt - regarding children honoring their heritage while leaving the things they don't approve of - I'd hate to repeat what others have elaborated on here. The general consensus seems to be - yes, I read some of what the others wrote - that each person has to tailor his/her own identity. Subtract the things you don't like or that are unrepresentative of you as an individual; add those that are the opposite. There is no way around. The basic idea here is that it is your responsibility, if not duty, that you live your life to the fullest - seeking the things that make you happy as a person - following your virtues. Seems like an easy thing? Not so much. Not understanding that is the major reason behind people's identity crises.

That said, the second part of the prompt, which is more specific to the person, takes me back to the opening of this post. That is my language - called Tigrinya - written in the beginning of this post. It's not particularly hard for me since I didn't leave my home country, Eritrea, until my pre-teen years. I grew up reading, writing and speaking it and I will continue to do that. It is one of those things you cannot just lose. Its complex form makes it even more interesting to hang-on to. And no, Google Translate won't help you here. :)
           

A typical Eritrean/Ethiopian mother

Having been brought up in a culture that is little known by others, I constantly have to answer questions like, "Where are you from?" here in the US and other places that I have been to. Sometimes my witty side shows up and I give ridiculous answers for my own amusement, as I see the inquirers' faces change from 'inquisitive' to 'I-am-sure-you-are-not-from-that-place-but-I'll-just-give-you-this-nod-of-the-head'. Most times, however, when I answer correctly, the face I get is complicated. It goes something like: Whoa-dude-!-I-have-no-idea-what-you-just-said-and-I-probably-never-will-but-I'm-going-to-keep-asking-you-again-and-again-until-you-yourself-start-doubting-whether-you-are-saying-your-own-county's-name-the-right-way-and-then-finally-after-about-the-fourth-time-that-you'll-have-said-it-you'll-give-me-an-introductory-Geography-lesson-to-help-me-visualize-your-country's-location. Well, enough said.

So, to sum it all up: race, ethnicity, nationality, culture, religion etc are like paint. They are a finish to how you look to others but have no say whatsoever to who you are; at least not to me. As attributes, it is a good practice to select and keep those pieces of your custom, religion etc that will be constructive in the long run. This is especially so here in the United States. Originality does not mean keeping it to the way your ancestors did it; rather, it is customizing a template that's present to help you.

Psss... 

The title translates "Hello, who is it? ... Mom is in the kitchen cooking...". 

The first paragraph translates:
Once upon a time, when bread was like the rocks (a traditional expression symbolizing "good days long past"), there was a king in a certain kingdom. It was a gifted place full of resources; its people living in harmony and peace; its animals hunting and being hunted in peace (?) and a generally beautiful place to live. Alas, a herd with an agitator never drinks clear water....