What do you do with your tongue?

 

Our Classroom

Fish at the Market

Practicing Kiswahili

Octopus at the Market!

What do you do with your tongue?  For days now we have been trying to get the correct pronunciation of “j” in Swahili.  While most of the other letters of the alphabet are straightforward and easy to pronounce, for some reason, “j” is nearly impossible for us wazungu.  It’s a cross between a “y” and a “j” and I’m fairly certain that there is no correct pronunciation.  We have gotten so many different suggestions from so many different people that it’s crazy!  Finally, today in class someone asked the teacher, “What are you doing with your tongue when you pronounce “j”?”.  That made us all crack up, and while the teacher tried to explain it to us, we still don’t really understand.  Anyhow, by the time Swahili class is over, we are all extremely burned out and just want to curl up in a ball and take a nap.  Usually we are all “Swahili-ed out” by that time and aren’t very talkative.  Today we learned possessives “my, your, his, her, their” and how to talk about our families (brother, sister, ages, names, etc.).  I must say, we are getting pretty good!  This morning I was walking to the dorm when I was stopped by a Tanzanian lady who said hello and asked me how I was.  She then proceeded to ask me where I was from, what my name was, and where I was going (all in Swahili).  And I was able to successfully understand and answer all of her questions!  Then this afternoon we sat down with some of the dormitory staff and chatted with them for a while in Swahili.  And this evening while I was studying at the cafeteria, the kitchen workers came over and studied with me, teaching me new words, and learning their English equivalents.  Overall, it’s awesome that the people here are so willing to teach and to communicate with you.  I can’t even imagine what it would be like if nobody wanted to speak Kiswahili! 

This afternoon we ventured out to Ubungo, a nearby town with a market.  This market was fairly different than that at Mwenge, and contained more roadside stands than permanent shops.  I would compare it to a flea market, or a giant goodwill.  They had tons of clothes (mostly used), shoes, toothbrushes, soap, household items, jewelry, fruits, and vegetables.  I bought some bananas, a pair of athletic shorts for 6000 shillings ($4.00), and a dressy scarf for 2000 shillings ($1.50).  I am very excited about the shorts, only because I have one pair at the moment, and they have been getting quite dirty!  We’ve been hanging out a lot with Ryan and Bailey, the two students who are on the Lutheran Consortium Program.  Ryan is from St. Olaf and Bailey is from Concordia.  It’s nice to have some new faces around here! 

I think this week we are all in a little bit of a slump.  Everyone is still extremely happy to be here, but the “new and exciting” part has passed and now we have quite a bit of down time.  However, I’m not missing anything too much and we are managing just fine here. 

I thought I would give you guys a list of things that I have learned so far about Tanzania:

1.        People here do not pronounce it Tan-zah-NEE-ah, instead, they pronounce it Tan-ZAY-neeah

2.       Tanzanians talk extremely quietly.  It is nearly impossible to hear what they are saying!

3.       Swahili is a game of call and response.  Unlike in English, there is only one response to a question, rather than several responses.  For example: Hujambo? (How are you) Sijambo (I am fine).  There is literally no other response than that.  Apparently, you cannot be bad, or sad, or mad, you can only be fine.   Or mambo (hello), poa (hello).   Or habari gani (How are things), nzuri (fine). 

4.       Tanzanians eat using toothpicks.  Yes, that’s right, toothpicks.  You cut with a toothpick, stab with a toothpick, and eat with a toothpick.  Basically, it’s the poor man’s fork. 

5.       Large bills will get you in trouble at the cafeteria.  They DO NOT like to give change there. 

6.       Everything except for cheese is available here.  Forget what they said about pens, conditioner, and school supplies being available.  Those are available everywhere.  However, cheese and milk are not. 

7.       Tanzanians are willing to teach you anything when it comes to Swahili.  They all want to be your friend and get extremely excited when you speak to them in their language.

8.       Toilet paper is a luxury.  Public restrooms and restaurants often have squat toilets, and most of the time they do not have toilet paper in them.

9.       If you don’t like rice, you are doomed.  Rice for lunch, rice for dinner, rice for snack.  Rice, rice, rice. 
10.  Tanzanians drive on the right side of the road.  I'm sure it has to do with colonization by Britain somewhere way back when, but it's very confusing when you are trying to figure out what side of the road to walk on!