Saturday, April 18, 2009
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Royal breakup
Royal breakup for 'Real' Housewife
Saturday, April 11th 2009, 4:00 AM
Loud/Getty LuAnn de Lesseps attends the launch party for "Project Green Prom" at Whole Foods Market Tribeca.
The fairy-tale marriage of Countess LuAnn de Lesseps is crumbling over a princess.
The mysterious Ethiopian beauty at the center of the divorce between Bravo's "The Real Housewives of New York" star and her husband, Count Alexandre de Lesseps, has been unmasked as Princess Kemeria Abajobir Abajifar, reports Ethioplanet.com.
She is the descendant of King Abajifar, the last ruler of a powerful kingdom in the Gibe region of Ethiopia, the Ethiopian news Web site said.
An unnamed source said it was the wish of both the princess and Count Lesseps, 59, that she no longer be identified as "the Ethiopian woman" but rather with her royal credentials.
It was last month that de Lesseps, 43, discovered her husband of 16 years was serious with another woman in Geneva. She said she was "blindsided" by the news and added that she found out after the count sent her an e-mail.
"I just think some people aren't good at confrontation," she said.
The former model, who has a book due out next week titled "Class with the Countess," told People magazine that she quietly separated from her husband more than three months ago but felt "ashamed" when news of his infidelity broke.
"It's been like a death," she told People. "You go through anger, bereavement. It's really an end to a part of your life."
She and the count have two children: Noel, 12, and Victoria, 14.
Friday, April 3, 2009
ሰላም ነው!!!
ሰላም ነው እንዴት ነው? ይመስገን ይህን ታህል አልን ፤ይህ ሳምንት በጣም አስገርሞኝ እንድተነፍስላችሁ የዳዳኝ ነገር ቢኖር "የሰላም ነው" ነገር ነው ።ጓደኞቼንም ሆነ ማንኛውንም ሰው ሰላም ማለት ከጀመርኩበት ግዜ ጀምሮ አፌ ላይ የሚመጣው የሰላምታ አሰጣጥ ሰላም ነው !! የሚለው የሰላምታ አሰጣጥ አይነት ነው። ለማውቀው ሰው ሁሉ ነው የምለው ምናልባት በእድሜ ለገፉ ሰዎች ወይም እንግዶች እና አክብሮት በሞያችው ለሚቸራቸው ሰዎች ካልሆን በቀር በየጊዜው የማገኘውን ሰው ሁሉ የምለው ሰላም ነው!!! ነው ታዲያ በዚህ ሳምንት ውስጥ ነው አብሮኝ የሚሰራ አማርኛ ተናጋሪ ሰው አለ ታዲያ ይህ ሰው በጨዋታ መሃል ሰላም ነው የሚለው ሰላምታ አሰጣጥ በቅርብ ጊዜ የተለመደ እንደሆን አስረግጦ ነገረኝ ፤ ባይገርማችሁ እንደዚህ አይነት ነገር ሲያጋጥምኝ የመጀመሪያዬ ነው በእሱ አባባል የዚህ ትውልድ ልጆች ናችሁ ይህንን "ሰላም ነው" የሚለውን የስላምታ አሰጣጥ የምትከተሉት አለኝ በርግጥ እኔ ከዚህ ትውልድ በፊት ስላልነበርኩኝ ስለ ድሮ ሰላምታ አስጣጥ ይህ ነው ብዬ የምለው ነገር የለም ነገር ግን በርግጠኝነት የምናገረው ነገር ቢኖር "ሰላም ነው" የሚለው ሰላምታ አስጣጥ በጣም የተለመደ መሆኑን ነው እስኪ እርሶ የሰላምታ እሰጣጦቻችን ላይ ያለዎትን አሉታዊም ሆነ አዎንታዊ አስተያየት በግርጌ ማስታወሻ ላይ ያስፍሩ መልካም የስራ ሳምንት።
Sunday, March 22, 2009
An ethiopian's inside view of an ancient land
"Sululta Girl" is one of the striking images on view in a new exhibit at Howard Community College.
Visual Arts: An Ethiopian's inside view of an ancient land
By Mike Giuliano
Posted 3/19/09
An ancient civilization still lives in "Andarge Asfaw: Ethiopia from the Heart." This Ethiopian-born, Washington-based photographer is exhibiting 44 color and black-and-white images at Howard Community College.
The cultural continuity is seen most overtly in the photos documenting the deeply rooted Christian culture in Ethiopia.
One of the most resonant photos is "Ethiopian Cross." This tightly cropped shot features a large, ornately detailed metal cross being held in black hands that serve as a human reminder of Christianity in Africa. It's significant that these hands hold the cross across the person's face and nearly obscure it, because the cross amounts to the person's identity.
Churches are among the most frequent subjects in the show. An aerial view of the cross-shaped "Bete Giyorgis Church, Lalibela" reinforces the way in which devotion is stamped onto the very landscape. Interior views include "Inside Genet Mariam Church," whose cave-like walls are painted with portraits of saints.
The vast, dry landscape is featured in many other shots. One of the photographer's compositional strategies is to emphasize a single tree dominating its beautifully barren surroundings, as in "Sunrise in Baher Dar" and "Acacia Tree."
Long shots of villages convey how their thatch-roofed houses and stone walls have an organic connection to the landscape. Similarly, human beings walk paths that have been taken for thousands of years. In "Father and Son Beginning the Day," those two figures are seen walking away from us and into an enormous landscape. Although the boy turns around to look in the direction of the photographer, he and his father continue to drive their cattle down the road.
The exhibit includes its share of single portraits and also a few gatherings in which you get a sense of social life. Surely the busiest shot in the show is "Tree of Life (Gondar Market)." It features colorfully dressed vendors setting up under the branches of a big tree.
Even with the shade that tree provides, it's telling that some of the people gathered in Gondar Market hold up umbrellas to provide further shelter from the sun. This scene speaks to the vitality of a very old culture that values the umbrella as well as the cross.
"Andarge Asfaw: Ethiopia from the Heart" remains in Howard Community College's Rouse Company Foundation Gallery through April 18. There is a reception and gallery talk March 19, 6- 8 p.m. Call 410-772-4189 or go to www.howardcc.edu.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Monday, December 29, 2008
Arrests made in alleged kidnapping, bank robbery scheme
By Freeman KlopottExaminer Staff Writer 12/29/08 A District man and a Silver Spring man have been charged for their alleged roles in a kidnapping and bank robbery scheme that stretched from Friday night through Saturday, Maryland State Police said Sunday.
Friday evening, Yohannes Surafel, 24, of the District, and Yosef Tadele, 23, of Silver Spring, followed a SunTrust Bank employee from a Silver Spring branch to her Clinton home, police said. As the woman made her way inside the house around 7:30 p.m., police said the two men attacked her. Yosef Tadele, 23, of Silver Spring, stands accused of kidnapping a Clinton family and attempting to rob a bank. Courtesy photo
They tied up the woman and her husband with electric cords and held them and their two sons, ages 8 and 11, all night, police said. Saturday morning, police said Surafel forced all four family members into a car and made the woman’s husband drive them to the bank, which Surafel planned to rob.
On the way to the bank the husband saw a state trooper and began driving erratically to get his attention. When the trooper pulled over the family’s car around 7:30 a.m., he noticed someone in the back seat making furtive movements, police said.
The father told the trooper that the man in back had a gun, police said. The trooper pulled out his sidearm and promptly arrested Surafel. Police then went to the family’s home on the 6800 block of Briarcliff Drive. They arrived around 10 a.m. and, expecting an armed Tadele inside, formed a perimeter around the house. At 1 p.m. they entered the house only to discover Tadele had already left.
Tadele, however, later met with investigators and was taken into custody a little before 5 a.m. Sunday, police said. He has been charged with four counts of conspiracy to commit first-degree assault, two counts of kidnapping and conspiracy to commit armed robbery, among other charges.
While at the College Park state police barracks, Surafel attempted to hang himself using his shirt, police said. The duty officer discovered him and thwarted the suicide attempt. Surafel has been released from the hospital and charged with four counts of first-degree assault, four counts of kidnapping and conspiracy to commit armed robbery, among other charges.
Police said they believed a third suspect joined the two men in the escapade and are trying to determine his identity.
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Ethiopian eatery comes to Hyattsville
Zewdi Tsegay of Burtonsville, who works near the Hyattsville restaurant, said the food is delicious and authentic.
"It's home," said Tsegay, who is Ethiopian, about why she visits Shagga. "This area needed to have an Ethiopian restaurant and [needs] more ethnic restaurants."
With their restaurant sitting just north of the coming EYA Arts District Hyattsville, Shagga owners Kelem and Adama Lemu hope it will be a good fit for the development that's set to come to the Route 1 corridor.
Also scheduled to open at Arts District Hyattsville are Busboys and Poets and a Thai restaurant.
"We didn't see any other Ethiopian restaurants in that neighborhood," said Kelem Lema. "The area needed us – or we needed it."
Her husband said they hope to benefit from the residents and businesses that will come with the redevelopment of the Hyattsville area.
"We're assuming it will create business for us. Plus, we're the only Ethiopian restaurant in the area. I'm pretty sure we're the first in P.G.," he said.
Adama Lemu said they hope to be a neighborhood restaurant where residents will come with their families.
He said they also plan to install wireless Internet for their customers in the near future.
Shagga, which Adama Lemu said is a variation of "better" or "good" in his language of Amharic, began as a coffee shop in June but the Lemas saw that their customers wanted more than Ethiopian coffee and sambusas – a traditional appetizer made of dough shells filled with vegetables and either chicken, beef or lentils. They decided to add a full restaurant and bar a few months later.
Kelem Lemu said she and her husband decided a few years ago they wanted to open an Ethiopian restaurant somewhere near their Berwyn Heights home.
"I've always loved to cook," said Kelem Lem, who cooked most nights at home. "I learned from my mother. She was a good cook. And I also learned some things at a few restaurants where I worked before."
Kelem Lemu trains all of Shagga's cooks herself, while Adama Lema, who also owns an airport transportation service, said he stays out of the kitchen.
"Sometimes I cook [at home] but my food is not like hers," he said of his wife.
Kelem Lemu said she decided to fill the menu with typical authentic Ethiopian food.
For breakfast, the restaurant offers traditional Ethiopian fare like firfir (a beef stew in red pepper sauce) and kinchu (crushed wheat with butter and chili powder) and even egg sandwiches to go with its house blend Ethiopian coffee – Shagga Harar or other coffee drinks.
"I wanted it to make sure it was like real Ethiopian cuisine," she said.
Bags of the coffee are also available for purchase. Shagga offers a $6.95 lunch special from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday that Kelem Lemu said has been very popular.
Dinner entrees include a number of chicken, lamb, beef and vegetarian dishes.
Kelem Lemu said besides sambusa appetizers, one of the most popular dishes is kitfo ($11), which is steak tartar seasoned with chili powder and herbed butter served raw, medium or well-done.
Alice Smith, who recently moved to northeast Washington, D.C., from Baltimore, said she just stumbled upon the restaurant while in search of a nice, local, eat-in restaurant last week.
"It's important for me to eat local, but there are not many restaurants that aren't franchises around here," she said.
Tsegay also said she is glad to have a little taste of home so close to her office. She said she usually gets her favorite Ethiopian dish, yebeg tibbs – a lamb dish, when she visits Shagga.
"They lived up to my expectations and then some," she said.
Shagga Coffee
and Restaurant
6040 Baltimore Ave., Hyattsville
Phone: 240-296-3030
Hours: Monday through Thursday, 6:30 a.m. to
10 p.m.; Friday, 6:30 a.m. to
11 p.m.; Saturday, 7:30 a.m.
to 11 p.m.; Sunday, 8 a.m. to
9 p.m.
Maryland Community Newspapers Online