About me

I was born in a small town called Debre Sina, an ancient town found at 192Km north of Addis. It is known by the popular caves, through which the road passes, located at the entrance of the town. There are three of them, known to be constructed at the time of the Italian invasion. It is through this town that we can travel to the northern towns of Ethiopia, such as Dessie.

However, I didn't stay at Debre Sina for a long time. I came to Addis when I was 5. After coming to Addis, I joined Medhanealem Primary and Junior High School. I studied there up to grade 8. Then I joined a neighbouring school called Medhanealem Secondary School where I completed grade 12 and took the Ethiopian School Leaving Certificate Examination(ESLCE).

After completing high school, I joined the Faculty of Science at the Addis Ababa Univerysity where I completed my freshman courses. At the end of my freshman studies, I joined the Department of Computer Science at the Faculty of Science. In 2003 I graduated with a B. Sc. in Computer Science (by this time the Department of Computer Science has detached itself from the Faculty of Science and become part of the newly founded Faculty of Informatics).

Immediately after graduation (i.e in 2004), I joined the School of Graduate Studies at the Addis Ababa University to continue my graduate studies in Computer Science. The graduate program in Computer Science was launched in 2003, hence I was in the second batch. After two years of study, I completed my study and graduated with an M. Sc. in Computer Science in july, 2005. You can read about my areas of interest in my thesis page.

Hobbies

Most of my time up to now has been spent on education and work related stuff. But with the little time I have left, I would like to read books (mainly fiction and biographies, joke books, and history books). Movies also account for a considerable amount of my spare time (comedy, drama, and science fiction). I also like TV sitcoms (like Friends). I never want to miss an episode (but unfortunately that is/was not the case). Another thing that has become an important aspect of my life is music. I'm almost always listening to music. There is not a specific genre that I like the most. There are music I like and deslike from all genres. From Ethiopian music, I like tizita (Mohamud, Bezawork) and ambasel (Maritu) music very much. Other than that, I like the musics of Tilahun, Muluken and Neway. But in gerenral, I like instrumental music. I'm usually not interested in the lyrics. It is the composition of the rhythm that impresses me.

I've always wanted to learn to play the Piano and to read musical notes but so far I couldn't make the effort to do it. But I'm sure I'll learn them both very soon.

From sports, I like table tennis very much. And also I like jogging early in the morning. I also enjoy indoor games such as checkers and chess, though I'm not very good at them.

Another interest of mine is to learn languages. Currently I'm studying French (for over a year and half) at Alliance Ethio-Française. In the future, I want to learn as many languages as I can because I believe language is a very powerful tool that everyone should have.

Other activities

When I have the time, I would like to go hiking with my friends as often as possible. Whenever hiking is not possible, I'd like to walk (long walks). In addition, I like to visit museums and historic places. I also want to visit as many cities/towns (both in Ethiopia and abroad) as I can. So far I've succeeded in visiting Bahir Dar (Tis Abay + lake Tana), Gondar (The Castle of Fasil), Arbaminch (The Crocodile Ranch + The Springs + lakes Abaya and Chamo), Dilla, Awasa (lake Awasa, partially), Lake Langano, Jimma (Aba Jiffar's palace) and Wonchi (the Wonchi Crater Lake). I have plans to visit Lalibela in the near future.

I believe I've said almost everything there's to say about me. If you want to discuss with me on any of the things I wrote about or some other issue, please do not hesitate to contact me. Thank you!