Biniam Girmay: He was ours and he is ours

The three-card Monte, known as Telate-werega, is a classic scam. There is also the Wheel of Fortune, known as In some regions we call it shertek bertek, while in others we call it shetekh-betekh. This is a localized pronunciation of the Arabic shortek-bekhtek, which means “your decision and your luck”.

Near the great mosque of Aghordat, people gathered around a gambling wheel with amateur objects and numbers painted on its edge. For a dime or so, people would spin the wheel until it stopped on a number corresponding to an object on the table: a small comb, a cheap toy, a pair of scissors, a razor blade, etc.

Most people win a folded piece of paper with a prize written on it: Adhak’, which means “laugh” in Arabic. The victim waits to receive the prize; but the scammer tells them they have won. laugh, They had to laugh. The poor villagers would be confused, then laugh and ask for a prize; the laughter, they were told, was the prize.

Carriers of negative energy

You must know people who only bring bad news. They have so much bad news that one would think they would collect it voluntarily. If they hear good news, they shrug their shoulders. Who wants to be happy? Pessimism is their nature, they bring unhappiness, and it is contagious. Be careful; their miserable lives are contagious.

My great-grandmother, God bless her soul, used to call people like this “finger“”.

If you join an elite group of superpatriots, it will be very different, but like the other group, you will have a false sense of excitement. At politically organized events and festivals, you will not only laugh, but also dance! Contrary to the reality around you, you will believe that everything is great and will get better! It is like a potent, mind-altering substance that is still legal. It is the real patriots who laugh at the funny characters, but laughter is the price you have to pay to enjoy yourself and the false happiness; but that is only under the rule of the People’s Front for Democracy and Justice.

Motivational speakers inspire people to stay positive. It works well for those who are willing to change. But those who prefer a pessimistic world of anger and paranoia find it difficult to change—Even reams of motivational speeches can’t get them to adopt a positive attitude. They seem to be saying: I need my sadness. I need my paranoia. I need my skepticism and my deliberately scrunched-up face. I love it.

Cycling

When I was a kid, Suleiman Abdulrahman had a corner shop in Asmara, close to where I lived with my relatives. Suleiman was a shoemaker who was married to a relative of mine. He was a well-known cyclist, like Gigante, Salambini, Gerezgher and others.

I thought you just had to grow up a little bit to be a champion, but I had to deal with bikes that were much bigger than me.

As an adult, I quickly learned some showmanship skills. I pushed the bike quickly and then jumped on it like a cowboy on a horse.

When I was in the armed struggle, I hadn’t seen a bicycle for years, let alone ridden one. But once I met a Karen man on a bicycle in Halib-Mentel. He allowed me to ride, I handed my bag to a colleague, and the show began. Everyone in the village, except for three shops, came out to watch. From their looks, I think they thought I was going to fall. Maybe they forgot that I was a city boy, only to see me in rags and like a fighter. Well, I must put on an impressive show. I pushed the bicycle quickly and jumped on it. Cheers. Then I rode a long way and returned at high speed, putting my foot on the steering wheel, skidding and trying some tricks. It was a great show.

Thanks to me, Biniyam Guilmay won the Tour de France. When the Tour de France staff called me, I told them that I wanted the young Eritrean cyclist Guilmay to win; I refused to participate. They asked, “What if he doesn’t win? You must participate in the race and make sure Eritrea wins”. Even Isaias called and begged me to participate. I refused, “No, I have made up my mind, this young man must win, I withdraw from any race, I don’t want to compete with young people.”

I could feel his anger: “Why are you teaching young people the wrong lessons?”

“I won’t, do you want me to keep running until I’m as old as Haile Selassie? You have to do the same thing, abdicate and hand over your power – how long do you want to rule? You have had enough.” He turned off the phone.My ears“”.

Now I am delighted that Biniyam won the fight, which I watched on a cinema-sized TV in a sports bar. Biniyam is an excellent trainee; he did exactly what I had trained him to do.

I ordered sodas for all the patrons in the bar, paid the bill, and then went out into the street, carrying the Popular Front flag and walking through the city center in a T-shirt, scarf, hat, and pants. I looked like a clown who had escaped from the circus. I yelled, “Beanie. Beanie. Beanie.”

While the victory was a relief to Eritreans, I resented it because the PDMJF would treat Biniyam’s victory as something that only concerned them; if you were against the regime, you had nothing to do with the victory – only the PDMJF would get the credit for the victory. But I didn’t care, I had trained Biniyam, we were both from my hometown of Karen. In fact, his father and I went to school together; I grew up in the same neighborhood as his mother.

See! That’s how I react to the empty shirts and the racists behind the microphone who are more interested in turning him into someone other than Eritrean. His father is from Adigrat and his mother is from another grat, or vice versa!

I hope those small minded, narrow minded, empty heads will put down their arrogance and stop their hypocrisy; Biniyam dedicated his victory to Eritrea and Africa and he called me yesterday to apologize for not mentioning Karen. He promised to dedicate his victory to Karen the next time he wins the “Round the World Cycling Race” – he asked me to tell you. That’s why I’m giving you the inside scoop.

Whoa, troublemaker, localist, racist, worry about your insanity. Keep him away from your toxicity. We don’t want him to be poisoned by you; he might forget to pedal his bike. We’re not done yet. Do you know Bailey?

Bair, aka Pele, shot to fame in the 1958 World Cup semi-final and championship and remained at the top of the world celebrity list until his retirement in 1977, 19 years after he was officially declared Brazil’s national treasure. I don’t want to bore you with what and how Pele benefited Brazil. But I want to remind you that Biniyam has the same opportunity and Eritrea can benefit greatly from him – as long as they keep him away from the Red Sea Company of the People’s Democratic Justice Party. Biniyam will be the Pele of Brazil. Mark my words.