Blast from the Past

So since this blog is new, I thought I'd take the time to revisit some of my favorite Misadventures...

1. Random non-Ethiopian lady:  kid sister and I passed by her house and she stopped me mid-stride and asked if I was Ethiopian
2. George Mason:  mom, kid sister, and I were walking together touring the university...Ethiopian man was walking towards us...gave me the "are you Ethiopian?" look...I gave the "I might be Ethiopian if you ask me" look back to him lol.  

 He asked if I spoke Amharic; he was DENIED.

• Tale of the Gas Station Sir

• Me:  Hi, $10 on #2 please.
• Sir:  ...Are you Ethiopian?
• Me:  *laughs* No, sorry.
• Sir:  Are you sure?
• Me:  YES?
• Sir:  *gives suspect look...and then my change* Are you sure??
• Me:  YES.
• Sir:  *smiles in disbelief* okay... 

In retrospect, I should have said yes...could have gotten free gas smh.  However, I was actually quite annoyed with his questioning of my Ethiopian-ness.  Who lies about beingEthiopian!?  Or rather, who lies about not being Ethiopian?!  Fool.
In retrospect, I probably could have gotten a free sandwich smh.  Thatisall.

• Tale of the Overly Enthusiastic Ethiopian Lady

• Me:  *walks to bathroom*
• Lady:  *walks up behind me* asks (in an overly enthusiastic tone) "DO YOU SPEAK AMHARIC??!"
• Me: *startled but flattered* no, sorry
• Lady:  *visibly disappointed* ok *sad face*

I ended up getting that job, and now everyday she looks at me and smiles...I'm sure secretly wishing I was Ethiopian so we could speak secret Amharic codes to each other.   this is one of my favorites because her enthusiasm was hilarious!  I didn't even see her coming...it was almost like I was some kid of Ethiopian magnet to her or something lol.  I was actually sad that I had to break her heart and tell her I wasn't Ethiopian haha!  There's another Ethiopian guy that works with me...he always gives me the look but never says anything about me being Ethiopian.  The two of them speak to each other in Amharic all the time.  I wish I could join in the fun :(

On a Journey (back?) to Africa

Welcome to the Misadventures of Secret Ethiopian Girl!

I decided to start this blog to journey my life as a faux Ethiopian-American growing up in mainstream USA.  I figured I have so many fabulous interactions with real Ethiopians that I might as well make record of them to share with my friends lol1  Those of you who know me, know these happen quite often. 

*I will also write things on behalf of my Ethiopian alter ego, Addis, from time to time.*

I suppose I'll start this misadventure tale with the truth about my heritage...at least from what I know, which may or may not be accurate haha!

Just to set the record straight, I'm not (to my knowledge) Ethiopian at all.  Technically I'm just "regular" black, although my father is part Choctaw Native American, which may explain some of my "Ethiopian-looking" features.  

I know the "regular" black part is vague, but like many Americans, my real African ancestry has been lost in time smh...

My mother is never mistaken for anything other than black, which is a good thing, considering that's what she is lol.  But my father, sister, and I are apparently quite an eclectic mix of ethnicities.  My father is often mistaken for West Indian due to his small facial features and "white people" nose.  My sister, on the other hand, is mistaken for being half white (although her nappy hair would have been a dead give away for me smh).  And I...oh man...I've been mistaken for the following things, none of which I see when I look in the mirror lol: 

• Dominican
• Eskimo
• Eritrean 
• Ethiopian 
• Pakistani
• "middle eastern"
• West Indian 
• Sri Lankan

I know I know...that last one was ridic smh...I judged the hell out of the person that said that to me, in case you were wondering.  I used to get Dominican when I was younger; perhaps I've outgrown my Dominican-ness?  Who knows.  And people thought I was an "Eskimo" when I was a baby because of my hair - I know, that one's kinda weird too. 

The others are recent.  I don't see any of these when I look in the mirror, but I've people have been mistaking me for these cultures for the past...MY WHOLE LIFE!  But the real reason you all are here is because you enjoy hearing about my Misadventures as a Secret Ethiopian Girl!  That's by far the most common thing I'm mistaken as.  As I always say, "if Ethiopian people say you're Ethiopian, you might be Ethiopian...".  I've never taken it as an insult though; they're by my favorite African country and I happen to think the women are absolutely gorgeous - therefore I always take it as a compliment :)  I've taken quite a liking to Amharic music, and although I can say the words to the song, I haven't the slightest idea what I'm saying haha!  I just hope I don't accidentally hex myself :/

This song seems pretty good though :)

So, now that we've covered my ethnic life history, on to the stories...