Beloved Ethiopia

Thirteen months of sunshine
Is where on earth you'll find
Brotherhood of humanity
Peace of mind for your insanity
Of green pastures from ages old
With rich traditions and stories told
Of evil eyes and ancient streams
Powerful men and influential Queens
Do you hear its calling
Of rushing hot springs
And towering cities on hills
the swaying of Eucalyptus trees
The ferment of honey from bees
Voices of the market women calls
Similar to warm water falls
The smell of Buna/pastry shops
Overlooking majestic mountain tops
Rural livestock graze the feilds
While dimming light, night steals
The covered sky fill stars reveal
A country of intrigue and mystique
Its people proud, determined and meek
Hearts bitter sweet to what they see
And what they know life could be
This place of hidden treasure
In which no power could measure
Its timeless assent stature
Living free is all that matters
Free of propaganda shown
A calling from land and the air above
To remind me of its true love
To be all that I am, woman or man
With all that I have and all that I plan
It calls me to rise
To give back and to strive
To better myself after my completed search
Then to my brothers of birth and common earth.

Beloved Ethiopia, Art in its Written Form, by Petrina Yemane, www.amazon.com

Descriptive Me

The most I could ask from writing this blog is that it will keep you motivated to do more than you thought you could. If as simple as, making you happy about who you are, then it moves me to know that I have done some good for someone else. In my last post I had written a poem (Who am I?) about what I desired my character to become. I am so much more assertive; as there was a time I never spoke up for myself. There was a particular instance I remember, where I worked on a team that gossiped ferociously about me. They nit-picked everything I did. After a few years, the manager gave me my own office but I still had to open their office early in the morning. Mind you I lived the farthest. One day (around the time I was writing the book) I opened the office as usual and later heard all the ways I could have done this better and that better. I usually said something like, "o.k, I'll try my best to do better next time". But this time I said in a cool, confident tone, "If you do not like the way I opened the office feel free to do it yourself. I will be in my office".

It never dawned on me to say that before. Now don't go getting yourself fired. My point is that self searching does a lot of good. After such a victory I thought what else do I need to change about myself. I was on a self questual high, I just made that term up, and this time wanted to work on my self esteem. So I wrote about my outside appearance. We are our biggest critics.
There are so many things I focus on that I do not like about myself. So I decided to only focus on my features in a positive light and out came Descriptive Me which I was going to title My, My, My. (You'll see why). After reciting it so many times I have an attitude when reading it aloud, especially after it won an award. For me it really helped in how I see myself today. It's of utmost important that you are comfortable within your own skin. Appreciating yourself helps you to go beyond what you are capable of; the theme of this site.

My skin is black and oh so sexy,
My mind is sharp, way beyond my years,
My hair is gently tossed across
and my legs always bring stares.

My eyes are mysterious to peer in,
My nose is index touchable,
My feet are too ambitious
and my hips are sashay swayable.

My ears are small, but always bejeweled,
My arm's embraces never die,
My hands were created to create
and my voice is honey high.

Descriptive Me, By Petrina Yemane, Art in its Written Form

Who am I?

I wrote a poem for theraputic purposes. I felt I was not confident and wrote a poem that was absolutely, unlike my character. It was extemely difficult to put on paper. I even went to three spoken word/poetry cafe's to recit it; which brought my confidence to a whole different level and helped me to be more assertive. I suggest you try writing something about youreslf as though it is your alter ego. Then practice or even memorize it. Watch yourself change.

"Who am I? I am me in the face of adversity.
I am young. I am woman. I am mankind.
I am determined at any risk, I must thrive.

Who am I? I am dreams. A manifested prayer.
I am a believer, in the mist of opposition,
I will step forward, look challenge in the eye,
with unwavering surprise, I will succeed.
I am strong. I am intellegent.
I am who you say I cannot be for I love me.

Who am I? I am mortal. I am fragile and will compensate
for this shelter of clay. I am a series of models before me
with stengths and flaws and features of pride,
integrity and tradition. In this battle I will win,
with persuasive sincerity and a self-image of accomplishment.

Who am I? I am an extention of humanity;
a division of the sum of two's. I am bold.
I am caring. I am persistant. I am
the fragrance of success."


Who am I? by Petrina Fergus-Yemane, Art in its Written Form, ISBN: I-4196-1716-8

Ambition

I spoke to someone today who I haven't spoke to in a very long time. I was happy to hear they were doing well. She moved due to her ambition to do something her friends thought was basically impossible. Even I thought in the back of my head. That is not possible. Even after what I accomplished for this site, I doubted someone else's dream could be done. She has made great sacrifices for her dreams to be accomplished and it drives her to accomplish it despite what anyone thinks.

Ambition means to seek after earnestly, to aspire, to desire some sort of achievement. Synonyms are aspiration, aim, goal, yearning, longing, drive or force (dictionary.com). The word that stands out for me is "drive". One of the definitions for drive is "a vigorous onward course". What vigorous onward course are you moving towards? What is hidden or dug deep within, that you desire to bring to fruitation? What hinders you from carrying it out? Who hinders you from carrying it out? What time frame can you plan in to accomplish this action? How simple or difficult is it for you? How long have you been wanting to do it? How can you get the tools needed for this to happen? What self reflection do you need to have in taking a step towards your goal? I hope these questions have been helpful in getting you started or getting you to complete what you desire to do or finish. Lastly, do you really know what you are capable of?

3rd Pic from our AA Trip

One of the highlights of the trip was going to see pink Flamingos. What an adventure. I couldn't tell you the story without mentioning our fearless tour guild. A young boy who nominated himself. We said no the first time and then were aggressive several times after, demanding that we could find the Flamingos on our own at the riverbed. We were afraid that he would get hurt as he kept jumping to ride in the back of our SUV. He was persistent! We were finally rid of him as we thought and made a wrong turn into the mountains. Heading back we went into a riverbed which it was hard for the SUV to get out of. We stood outside in fear of the fact that this would happen. After getting back in the SUV we again went down a road that was so dilapidated, we tilted as we drove and could have tipped over. Then here comes the persistent young boy who told us we needed him and we did not listen. He jumped on and he was hired. Thank God because we had no idea of the importance of his help. Once he got us there, we had to park a good distance because the SUV could sink in the sand, there were leaches in the water so you could not swim, and some other tid bit. The picture does not due justice to the actual scenery. It took my breath away. We tipped our young tour guide and I left learning from him the meaning of persistence that I had never seen in all my life. We were very impressed with him even though in the beginning we were so set that we did not need him. Sometimes life introduces people to you in this light and then later you are so grateful for them.

2nd Set of Pics from AA Trip

Here are some more pictures from our wonderful trip. I can't wait to go back.




The pictures on the right and left were taken at Sodere. Melaku and Iyasu are feeding the many monkeys that roam around naturally. The picture on your right is Melaku creating drives and naming them. This one is called "Free". The one in the middle is priceless as this is Musa and myself at Langano. Musa has been working there for 50 years. He has a lot of wisdom and history of the country. He also gave us a fascinating tour of old ruins.

This is me with the organization for women and children in the after school program. The picture on the right is a Sponsorship Wall for children, to support them in donations for books, clothes and education. Below is Melaku and Iyasu donating their toys. Mike and the boys went to the historic museum at Addis Ababa University; the former Emperor's Palace of Haile Salessie.

1st Set of Pics from AATrip

We are back to our schedule but still refreshed from our trip. Our tans are gone, I finally finished the old pile of work that was on my desk. I am pretty caught up now. I was able to spend some time with my friends, the children are doing well in school. We actually came back just when they have to take exams for specialized schools and summer programs. Mike downloaded the pictures, so I wanted to include a few here.

The picture to the left is a shot of a lion we took in a Addis Ababa zoo. This next picture is of the funniest monkey ever who was the only one to be out of his home. He was such a ham when it came to taking pictures. The next picture is of me and my niece catching "dinner", the picture of us and the sheep. Then Iyasu joins the local children in sheep riding; poor sheep.

Our stay at Langano was nice as well. I took a picture of white horses just roaming the resort grounds. I'll send more pics later.