Writing POC 101

Eritrean/Ethiopian Characters - @heckinyukari

I was born in America, but I can say 100% that I am a habesha (Ethiopian/Eritrean for those of you who don't know.) My mother came from the Tigray region of Ethiopia and went to school in Addis Ababa, while my dad stayed in Massawa, Eritrea until he went to college. I'm here to educate you guys on what living in a habesha household is actually like, and attempt to shatter some.

Stereotypes

Contrary to popular belief, not all habeshas are poor. There are definetly a lot who live in poverty, but there's a fair amount who have a nice life.

As a matter of fact, my "Ethiopia house" is a lot better than my "American house." In America, I live in your average tract home, while in Ethiopia, our (our meaning my extended family) house has 3 stories, 7 bedrooms, horses, a maid, and a guard.

In rural communites, it is not the norm to kidnap children to become brides, especially now that it is a punishable offense that is actively enforced. While it may happen once in a while, it is definetly not as common as it was a while back.

Parents

Oh, habesha parents. I've been in a love-hate relationship with them since I've learned the word "no." On one hand, they can be the most caring parents out there, but on the other, they are overprotective,

strict, and hot tempered. I'm not sure about others, but my parents are always comparing me to my other habesha friends, who always seem to be politer, smarter, and more well-behaved than me. Interestingly enough, my friends are alwayd being compared to me. They are also all about those grades, and want me to become either a doctor or lawyer, with engineer and MBA just barely cutting it. They can be pretty religous, which leads me to:

Religion

The majority of habeshas are religious, and are usually Sunni Muslim or Orthodox Christian, but there is also a strong Orthodox Jewish and Protestant Christian population as well. No matter what religion they are in, habeshas take it very seriously, and usually name their children pertaining to their religion which leads us to,

Naming

In Ethiopia/Eritrea, the order of names is First Name Father's Name, meaning if you were named Sue and your dad's name was Tom, your name would be Sue Tom. Outside of those countries, people usually just use their fathers last name (even though there are a few who still use the old way). Also, wives don't usually adopt their husband's surname after marriage.

For first names, there are a lot of habeshas who use "English" first names. I'm a habesha Christina, my sister is an Amanda, and I know habesha Lucys, Marcuses, Abigails, Helenas, and Lillians. But if you want to include a native name, here are some suggestions:

-Biblical names (Daniel, Samuel, Helen, Elsa) are always popular but sometimes are spelled differently (Hana, Rahel, Amanuel, Abeneezer)

-Some popular girl names in Amharic (language spoken primarily in Ethiopia are Aster, Liya (like the model), Feven (works in tigrinya too) Mekdes, and Ruth (like the singer).

-Some popular girl ones in Tigriniya (spoken primarily in Eritrea) are Laila/Leila, Mariam, and Sophia with the Muslim population and Danayit, Selam, and Haben with the Christians.

-In both countries,"modern" girl names such as Eliana, Soliana, Sabrina, and Nadya are on the rise (the last one for the Muslim popularion in particular).

Lifestyle

Habesha LOVE to party. Be it weddings, engagement parties, baby showers, birthdays....we'll be there, most likely with money for a present because we forgot to buy a gift (or is that just my parents?) We have lots of traditional dances, some which are very fun but very hard (like the Gurage style of dancing and Eskista)

Other stuff

When greeting, we kiss three times on the cheek.

Some phrases in Amharic are "selam" (hello) "dinanesh" (how are you) "ishi" (okay) and "yene konjo"(my pretty. While it may not sound like it, that phrase is uses ALL THE TIME).

Some phrases in Tigrinya are " cemay welike" (meaning how are you,and it's pronounced k-eh-may weh-il-kee. This is not an accurate pronunciation, as ot requires a strong accent to say these words, but it will do.) "selam" (same as in Amharic) "haray" (okay, pronounces har-eye) and shikorina (the tigrinya equivalent of yene konjo, meaning sweetie).

I hope you found this helpful! :)

Ciao! (bye in tigrinya,,same as in Italian)