Page 80 - Maya News Today

Woman in a bar like this. >> maya: its forbidden. >> anthony: this is sort of a guy thing? >> maya: its my first time. yeah, guys after work or the farmers. >> marcus: were breaking major rules here. >> maya: and you have all, like, the saints picture there, and were drinking. >> marcus: theres a lot of jesus in the bars. >> anthony: thats the last thing i want to see in a bar. the disapproving gaze of a saint. in 1992, addis emerged from the stifling 17-year grip of a hard-line old-school maois...

>> maya: so there is between, one is really fermented and another one is a medium, so she says we should use the medium one for chicken stew. and you use all the spices. but it is the most important thing. >> anthony: people from gurage, mayas tribal area, run the market, so she knows the language and how to negotiate. i can smell a frightened chicken. >> marcus: yeah. >> anthony: a mile off. here we go. how many do we need? >> marcus: i just think we need three is fine. >> anthony: my mama done...

If i could be honest, you seem conflicted. >> marcus: yeah. theres 1,000 thoughts going through my head. i always feel a little guilty that i got out. >> anthony: if youd stayed, what do you think youd be doing right now? >> marcus: i would have been a farmer or dealt with some type of cattle. >> anthony: im pretty sure you would have been a shit farmer, though, marcus. i really do, i just, i cant see it. okay? youd be the best-dressed goddamned farmer, thats for sure. wheres home for you, man? ...

Mayas dad was all those things, an educated landowner and part of the rural tribal administration from the selassie time. most people who had the means left the country. >> petros: i know this guy who is appointed, you know, as a governor of the region, killed 60 people in the region. in three years time. >> maya: nobody knows when hes coming. >> anthony: right. >> maya: so he could, hed just knock our door and my mom, she gets it every time he comes. he gave her bullets. he tells her, "this bul...

♪ >> anthony: addis is one thing, a city experiencing a renaissance of sorts, an economic boom. outside of the city, the farther away one gets, one is reminded that, in fact, ethiopia remains one of the poorest countries in the world. ♪ marcus and maya come from two completely different tribes, two completely different regions of ethiopia with distinct languages and cultures all their own. maya comes from the gurage region, a more fertile, green, agricultural area than marcuss. its about thr...

Marcus, who looks most comfortable there, though his presence is a befuddlement to the others. men taking care of the meat. oh, bro food traditions, youre everywhere. >> marcus: you know, none of the people that cook here today, like, consider themselves cooks. all of them like -- >> anthony: well, like, in rural communities when you kill a big, you know, a couple of animals, right, everybody in the village has, sort of, a chosen specialty. has, sort of, a chosen specialty. like, "joe bob over t...

Foreign television crew, is reason, or maybe excuse, for a big party, and preparations have already begun. maya slips seamlessly from her other life as a high fashion model back into a more traditional role in village life, working along with an army of other women to prepare what looks like a massive feast. how do they, uh, how do the ladies feel about you cooking, man? >> marcus: ah, this is, you see -- >> anthony: this is causing, uh, serious problems -- >> marcus: no, you already crossed it ...

♪ the azmari are ethiopias original freestyle rappers. theyve been around for centuries, voicing criticism, dissatisfaction, dissent, even when others could not. so, how old? >> marcus: maya, how old is azmari, i would say, what, 2,000 years? >> maya: yeah, its like the first music that we had, right? >> anthony: the trick is, theyve always used a system of lyrical double meanings referred to as "wax," meaning, "the apparent meaning," and "gold," which is, "the underlying" or "real" meaning. p...

Maya, it should be noted, left home at a much later age. theres no question of identity. shes african. shes gurage. and she retains close ties to her family and to her village. >> maya: tony! welcome to gurage. >> anthony: thank you. she was here just last year. its been four years since theyve seen marcus. mayas mother bezunesh and de facto grandmother owl welcome us. when visitors come, everything starts with coffee. traditionally, its served here with a bit of salt, not sugar.

Thank you -- thats good. mayas story differs from marcus in a lot of ways. it was not disease or famine or poverty that drove her and her brother petros to europe and a new life. it was the brutal reality of politics. so, who is your father? >> maya: my dad was my hero and everyones hero in this -- i mean everyone, but my brother could explain a little bit more. >> petros: he was a local chief and also a member of the supreme, or the highest court, you can say. during the haile selassie period h...