Hasty Notes from Minibus Rides
4.03.20
Don't worry. This won't be another side project of mine.
I feel like I have to many of those at the moment, and I'm barely getting anything done properly.
I was recently reminded that I'm not guaranteed the time or luxury of putting my stories together for some sort of future formal publication.
But since most of them are just that- stories-I'll just be pouring them as consistently as I can.
Some time ago, I realized that I think more clearly when I'm taking long minibus rides. We're about to see whether that's true.
So I'll share these little raw entries on my IG stories/feed around twice a week (that's how many times I take long minibus rides to my university).
You may see ramblings about what happened in the minibus, the loud music the chauffeur decided to play through tired, wheezing speakers, and perhaps a limited list of smells that I'll be registering on my way to campus and back.
I tried doing something productive in my minibus journeys for years now.
But I'm usually either cranky from having to wake up in the morning or tired after a long day in campus.
And sometimes, simply looking out and registering the buildings that rush past me can be relaxing. That can be enough. So when I'm that zoned out, I'll probably not bother with writing anything.
But I invite you to do these hasty entries with me, wherever you are. The human condition is a terrible thing to experience alone.
So, share the mundane, the nagging and, the irritating with me over at my Instagram. If you want to start writing, vomiting words about your everyday experiences could help you start this habit. If you're a writer going through writer's block, this exercise could help you lubricate your mental engine again.
Your necessary-to-waste minutes-or hours-don't have to happen in minibus rides. Your helpless place could be the dentist's office, a boring compulsory course, or queues of any kind. Either way, feel free to join me.
Who knows? This could turn into a messy compilation of sorts.
-w
By: @wintaassefa
4.03.20
Don't worry. This won't be another side project of mine.
I feel like I have to many of those at the moment, and I'm barely getting anything done properly.
I was recently reminded that I'm not guaranteed the time or luxury of putting my stories together for some sort of future formal publication.
But since most of them are just that- stories-I'll just be pouring them as consistently as I can.
Some time ago, I realized that I think more clearly when I'm taking long minibus rides. We're about to see whether that's true.
So I'll share these little raw entries on my IG stories/feed around twice a week (that's how many times I take long minibus rides to my university).
You may see ramblings about what happened in the minibus, the loud music the chauffeur decided to play through tired, wheezing speakers, and perhaps a limited list of smells that I'll be registering on my way to campus and back.
I tried doing something productive in my minibus journeys for years now.
But I'm usually either cranky from having to wake up in the morning or tired after a long day in campus.
And sometimes, simply looking out and registering the buildings that rush past me can be relaxing. That can be enough. So when I'm that zoned out, I'll probably not bother with writing anything.
But I invite you to do these hasty entries with me, wherever you are. The human condition is a terrible thing to experience alone.
So, share the mundane, the nagging and, the irritating with me over at my Instagram. If you want to start writing, vomiting words about your everyday experiences could help you start this habit. If you're a writer going through writer's block, this exercise could help you lubricate your mental engine again.
Your necessary-to-waste minutes-or hours-don't have to happen in minibus rides. Your helpless place could be the dentist's office, a boring compulsory course, or queues of any kind. Either way, feel free to join me.
Who knows? This could turn into a messy compilation of sorts.
-w
By: @wintaassefa
11.03.20
hasty notes from minibus rides (2)
I had no sleep last night and the last time I ate anything was around 5 a.m. It's already 3:40 p.m. and my stomach had been producing strange sounds throughout the day. I was trying to fart as discreetly as possible during my thesis presentation and meeting. I don't know how that went.
Now, the driver is going on a highway in what I guess is a neighborhood called Bulgaria.
We already passed by dusty plants displays and parking lots. I think the driver is taking the longer route from Mexico to Bole either to avoid the traffic police or the traffic jam.
Despite everything, I think this is still the only city in which you can travel from a central American country to an Eastern European one in minutes.
-w
(part 1/-) hasty notes from minibus rides
By: @wintaassefa
hasty notes from minibus rides (2)
I had no sleep last night and the last time I ate anything was around 5 a.m. It's already 3:40 p.m. and my stomach had been producing strange sounds throughout the day. I was trying to fart as discreetly as possible during my thesis presentation and meeting. I don't know how that went.
Now, the driver is going on a highway in what I guess is a neighborhood called Bulgaria.
We already passed by dusty plants displays and parking lots. I think the driver is taking the longer route from Mexico to Bole either to avoid the traffic police or the traffic jam.
Despite everything, I think this is still the only city in which you can travel from a central American country to an Eastern European one in minutes.
-w
(part 1/-) hasty notes from minibus rides
By: @wintaassefa
12.03.20
hasty notes from minibus rides (3)
My friend told me that today's class was very important. I got his text last minute. So, I consumed half a dish of tomatoes, garlic and chilli with injera and left my house shortly after that. I went to the Unity University gate hoping to find a minibus there. That place had turned into an informal minibus stop, and a place of false hopes.
The sun's behaving like the merciless nuclear beast it is. I cover my forehead with my hand. It's a little past noon so, no building can provide relief. No large trees loom there either.
I really didn't want to take the uphill walk and catch a technically full minibus to the official minibus stop. Another alternative is taking a ten minute walk to another unofficial Bole stop near the Bob Marley roundabout.
So I waited some more.
Attending the class is mandatory, but from how our class representative phrased it, I wasn't sure whether she meant you must attend early or you must attend, even if not early.
Still, I waited.
And in a couple of minutes, I spotted a minibus on the road across from me. I could see the redaat hanging from outside its window but couldn't hear what he was saying. It looked like he was calling people though. The minibusses that come here either go to Bole-Mexico, or Megenana. So, I waved at him and I think he waved back.
Then I heard him say, 'Bole-Mexico'
I thanked God.
I believe it's ridiculous to thank Him for lubricating my daily routines when He'd actually given me His life to live. But I did it anyway.
I ran across the road, saw a young lady move to make space for me and hopped onto the edge of her seat.
-w
(part 3/--)
By: @wintaassefa
hasty notes from minibus rides (3)
My friend told me that today's class was very important. I got his text last minute. So, I consumed half a dish of tomatoes, garlic and chilli with injera and left my house shortly after that. I went to the Unity University gate hoping to find a minibus there. That place had turned into an informal minibus stop, and a place of false hopes.
The sun's behaving like the merciless nuclear beast it is. I cover my forehead with my hand. It's a little past noon so, no building can provide relief. No large trees loom there either.
I really didn't want to take the uphill walk and catch a technically full minibus to the official minibus stop. Another alternative is taking a ten minute walk to another unofficial Bole stop near the Bob Marley roundabout.
So I waited some more.
Attending the class is mandatory, but from how our class representative phrased it, I wasn't sure whether she meant you must attend early or you must attend, even if not early.
Still, I waited.
And in a couple of minutes, I spotted a minibus on the road across from me. I could see the redaat hanging from outside its window but couldn't hear what he was saying. It looked like he was calling people though. The minibusses that come here either go to Bole-Mexico, or Megenana. So, I waved at him and I think he waved back.
Then I heard him say, 'Bole-Mexico'
I thanked God.
I believe it's ridiculous to thank Him for lubricating my daily routines when He'd actually given me His life to live. But I did it anyway.
I ran across the road, saw a young lady move to make space for me and hopped onto the edge of her seat.
-w
(part 3/--)
By: @wintaassefa
Forwarded from Romha Z.
OPEN 🎤🎤🎤 NIGHT
@MA RESTAURANT
#SATURDAY #MARCH #14 #12pmlocaltime
#Music
#Dj
#magitians
#singers
#Dancers
#painters
#comedians
All of em at one place
BROUGHT TO YOU BY
@chimpeventpromotion
@chimpeventpromotion
0951090991/0912732176
@MA RESTAURANT
#SATURDAY #MARCH #14 #12pmlocaltime
#Music
#Dj
#magitians
#singers
#Dancers
#painters
#comedians
All of em at one place
BROUGHT TO YOU BY
@chimpeventpromotion
@chimpeventpromotion
0951090991/0912732176
Coronavirus in Ethiopia
Some myths about this virus had been going around on social media lately. And I didn’t want this to turn into a statistics page. But this virus had been part of people’s reality in several countries so far.
And now that it’s here too, I guess we can learn something from those places and from other outbreaks in the past:
1. If you have a fever and a dry cough, followed by fatigue and shortness of breath, stay home. Don’t go to work; don’t go to the store; don’t ride public transportation. If you can work from home, do that.
2. The C.D.C. also recommends you avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands.
3. When washing hands, wet them, scrub with soap, and get between your fingers and under your nails. Wash for at least 20 seconds.
4. Alcohol-based hand sanitizers, which should be rubbed in for about 20 seconds, can also work, but the gel must contain at least 60 percent alcohol. Otherwise, it won't work.
5. Also, clean “high-touch” surfaces, like phones, tablets and handles. Apple recommends using 70 percent isopropyl alcohol, wiping gently. I got that purple stuff from a pharmacy near my home some time ago (for unrelated reasons)
And yet:
6. Covid-19 appears to kill a lot less people than SARS or MERS, other coronaviruses that mainly broke out in Chine and Saudi Arabia respectively.
I was still in Saudi Arabia when the MERS outbreak happened around 2012, and it sounded like it was only a matter of time before it took over the world. I started covering my face with my head scarf even though I knew that wasn't one of the recommended precautions. But like most things, that too had come to pass.
7. Finding vaccinations seems to be taking less time: After the SARS outbreak in 2003, it took researchers about 20 months to get a vaccine ready for human trials. (The vaccine was never needed, because the disease was eventually contained.)
By the time of the Zika outbreak in 2015, researchers brought the vaccine development timeline down to 6 months.
Now, they hope that work from past outbreaks will help cut the time it takes even more.
8. More than half of the people who have been infected globally have already recovered.
9. Wearing a face mask is not a guarantee that you won’t get sick – viruses can also transmit through the eyes and tiny viral particles, known as aerosols, can penetrate masks.
However, masks are effective at capturing droplets, which is a main transmission route of coronavirus.
If you are likely to be in close contact with someone infected, a mask cuts the chance of the disease being passed on. If you’re showing symptoms of coronavirus, or have been diagnosed, wearing a mask can also protect people who are more vulnerable, like the elderly and people with respiratory complications.
(I’m aware that this too is social media. So please, double-check the information you get before passing it on-even these ones if you will. It’s such a chaotic planet we inhabit though, isn’t it? Stay blessed, folks.)
Sources: www.nytimes.com, theguardian.com
@wintaassefa
Some myths about this virus had been going around on social media lately. And I didn’t want this to turn into a statistics page. But this virus had been part of people’s reality in several countries so far.
And now that it’s here too, I guess we can learn something from those places and from other outbreaks in the past:
1. If you have a fever and a dry cough, followed by fatigue and shortness of breath, stay home. Don’t go to work; don’t go to the store; don’t ride public transportation. If you can work from home, do that.
2. The C.D.C. also recommends you avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands.
3. When washing hands, wet them, scrub with soap, and get between your fingers and under your nails. Wash for at least 20 seconds.
4. Alcohol-based hand sanitizers, which should be rubbed in for about 20 seconds, can also work, but the gel must contain at least 60 percent alcohol. Otherwise, it won't work.
5. Also, clean “high-touch” surfaces, like phones, tablets and handles. Apple recommends using 70 percent isopropyl alcohol, wiping gently. I got that purple stuff from a pharmacy near my home some time ago (for unrelated reasons)
And yet:
6. Covid-19 appears to kill a lot less people than SARS or MERS, other coronaviruses that mainly broke out in Chine and Saudi Arabia respectively.
I was still in Saudi Arabia when the MERS outbreak happened around 2012, and it sounded like it was only a matter of time before it took over the world. I started covering my face with my head scarf even though I knew that wasn't one of the recommended precautions. But like most things, that too had come to pass.
7. Finding vaccinations seems to be taking less time: After the SARS outbreak in 2003, it took researchers about 20 months to get a vaccine ready for human trials. (The vaccine was never needed, because the disease was eventually contained.)
By the time of the Zika outbreak in 2015, researchers brought the vaccine development timeline down to 6 months.
Now, they hope that work from past outbreaks will help cut the time it takes even more.
8. More than half of the people who have been infected globally have already recovered.
9. Wearing a face mask is not a guarantee that you won’t get sick – viruses can also transmit through the eyes and tiny viral particles, known as aerosols, can penetrate masks.
However, masks are effective at capturing droplets, which is a main transmission route of coronavirus.
If you are likely to be in close contact with someone infected, a mask cuts the chance of the disease being passed on. If you’re showing symptoms of coronavirus, or have been diagnosed, wearing a mask can also protect people who are more vulnerable, like the elderly and people with respiratory complications.
(I’m aware that this too is social media. So please, double-check the information you get before passing it on-even these ones if you will. It’s such a chaotic planet we inhabit though, isn’t it? Stay blessed, folks.)
Sources: www.nytimes.com, theguardian.com
@wintaassefa
Forwarded from Ethio-facts 🇪🇹
Mekedonia Homes
Mekedonia Homes is a non-governmental, non-profit organization founded in 2010.
• It was founded by Biniam Belete.
• To date, Mekedonia homes has taken care of more than 2000 elderly and mentally disabled individuals.
If you want to support them, text OK to 8161
Mekedonia Homes is a non-governmental, non-profit organization founded in 2010.
• It was founded by Biniam Belete.
• To date, Mekedonia homes has taken care of more than 2000 elderly and mentally disabled individuals.
If you want to support them, text OK to 8161
a stupid short film
Man, was this fun to make.
I wonder what you guys have been up to lately. I hope it's something less embarrassing than shooting and editing short dramas. It started with a little idea. Then, I started indulging myself and went way overboard.
Still, I like that I contributed a tiny drop to the deep abyss of stupid, non-sense films. Open the video at your own risk.
-w
@wintaassefa
Man, was this fun to make.
I wonder what you guys have been up to lately. I hope it's something less embarrassing than shooting and editing short dramas. It started with a little idea. Then, I started indulging myself and went way overboard.
Still, I like that I contributed a tiny drop to the deep abyss of stupid, non-sense films. Open the video at your own risk.
-w
@wintaassefa
Ladies and gentlemen,
Tune in to Dubai One, if you want to take a look at this movie about Vincent Van Gogh.
It's made of thousands of drawings done in Van Gogh's famous style, and it looks so good.
I don't even know how they're airing this so soon after it was made.
Have a lovely day.
-w
Tune in to Dubai One, if you want to take a look at this movie about Vincent Van Gogh.
It's made of thousands of drawings done in Van Gogh's famous style, and it looks so good.
I don't even know how they're airing this so soon after it was made.
Have a lovely day.
-w
winta
https://youtu.be/L5NzSZRwhxQ
to a baby
I wrote this song for my friends' baby. I think I saw her on the night of her birth day in a brief visit, and was so shocked by how fleshed-out and here she was.
I went to the elevator of that hospital, had a little breakdown there and got back home with so many feelings: fear, horror, self-hatred and confusion. I didn't know what to do with those feelings.
And I think the song came within a week of that.
I was just so scared about someone new being introduced to a world.
So, I wrote the song, came up with some guitar pattern and did a raw shoot during this home-stay season.
Let's hope she sees this someday though.
-w
by: @wintaassefa
I wrote this song for my friends' baby. I think I saw her on the night of her birth day in a brief visit, and was so shocked by how fleshed-out and here she was.
I went to the elevator of that hospital, had a little breakdown there and got back home with so many feelings: fear, horror, self-hatred and confusion. I didn't know what to do with those feelings.
And I think the song came within a week of that.
I was just so scared about someone new being introduced to a world.
So, I wrote the song, came up with some guitar pattern and did a raw shoot during this home-stay season.
Let's hope she sees this someday though.
-w
by: @wintaassefa
What would you like to see more of on this channel?
(you can give multiple answers and hey, thank you for staying on this mess of a channel so far)
(you can give multiple answers and hey, thank you for staying on this mess of a channel so far)
Anonymous Poll
43%
Sand animation videos and tutorials
40%
Throwback stories from Saudi Arabia (with comics/cartoons)
19%
YouTube videos and skits
40%
Original guitar songs
43%
College tales (with comics/cartoons)
38%
Simple sketches with captions
21%
Competitions and engaging content
10%
Other (DM me if you have ideas. I'll credit you inshallah)