Thanks for showing up! I totally appreciate your readership.
I actually do. This sounds sarcastic but it’s not and I can definitely explain
my tone. It’s because I just had 1.5 beers on not an empty stomach but
certainly not on a full stomach. Okay, on a 2 chiapati and 1 stoney’s ginger
beer stomach. That combined with the fact that I spent most of today (Sunday
when I’m writing this) inside working on a proposal has got me feeling sassy.
I
did go outside for a couple of walks today and walks around Bunda town (a small
town for sure) as a white person has inspired the following lists (and further
contributed to my sassiness).
Top 5 things you can yell out to me that I will not respond
to:
1. Hey baby – yup, definitely not going to reply to that
2. I love you – still really not going to get me to turn my head
3. Hey, someone over here wants to talk to you – really? Someone in general or someone I know? Oh right, someone in general, I’m gonna take a pass.
4. Mzungu/Wazungu – means white person or white people – this one is a grey area – if it’s kids, there is a chance I’ll reply or smile or say Mambo – which means what’s up? – but really I try to just keep walking and not look around. My boss sometimes responds with moAfrica – which was like our sometimes tried tactic in Lesotho – replying with Masotho! – people really hate it…but somehow it doesn’t seem to get the point across.
5. Hey you! – I don’t know, I wouldn’t respond to this at home so I’m not going to here
1. Hey baby – yup, definitely not going to reply to that
2. I love you – still really not going to get me to turn my head
3. Hey, someone over here wants to talk to you – really? Someone in general or someone I know? Oh right, someone in general, I’m gonna take a pass.
4. Mzungu/Wazungu – means white person or white people – this one is a grey area – if it’s kids, there is a chance I’ll reply or smile or say Mambo – which means what’s up? – but really I try to just keep walking and not look around. My boss sometimes responds with moAfrica – which was like our sometimes tried tactic in Lesotho – replying with Masotho! – people really hate it…but somehow it doesn’t seem to get the point across.
5. Hey you! – I don’t know, I wouldn’t respond to this at home so I’m not going to here
Top 5 things you can yell out to me that stand a chance
(turns out there are 6):
1. Hey, hi! – this happened this evening from a guy driving by on a boda boda aka motorbike so there really wasn’t time to respond but was pretty funny and reasonable.
2. Good morning/Good afternoon – especially coming from kids (if they get the time of day right) I’ll probably engage.
3. Hello my sister – this seems like a respectful greeting and I can’t ignore everybody so I’ll often go for it…and likely regret it shortly after because my reply tends to be met with a version of hey baby or a string of Kiswahili words that I do not understand but suggest I should stick around and hang out and often include mazungu.
4. Rafiki – this means friend and well okay fine who can resist responding to a holler out of ‘friend!’?/a character from the lion king (note: you know more Swahili than you think). Not me apparently. So far it hasn’t ended too badly.
5. Selama – The Kiswahili version of Selam – a perfectly respectful way to greet someone
Habari – simply and respectfully ‘how are you?’ – this one takes me a minute sometimes though so I often accidently ignore/don’t respond to people who say this to me – I’m on the case now though so can respond with ‘nzuri’ (good) when I’m ready.
1. Hey, hi! – this happened this evening from a guy driving by on a boda boda aka motorbike so there really wasn’t time to respond but was pretty funny and reasonable.
2. Good morning/Good afternoon – especially coming from kids (if they get the time of day right) I’ll probably engage.
3. Hello my sister – this seems like a respectful greeting and I can’t ignore everybody so I’ll often go for it…and likely regret it shortly after because my reply tends to be met with a version of hey baby or a string of Kiswahili words that I do not understand but suggest I should stick around and hang out and often include mazungu.
4. Rafiki – this means friend and well okay fine who can resist responding to a holler out of ‘friend!’?/a character from the lion king (note: you know more Swahili than you think). Not me apparently. So far it hasn’t ended too badly.
5. Selama – The Kiswahili version of Selam – a perfectly respectful way to greet someone
Habari – simply and respectfully ‘how are you?’ – this one takes me a minute sometimes though so I often accidently ignore/don’t respond to people who say this to me – I’m on the case now though so can respond with ‘nzuri’ (good) when I’m ready.
This list really sounds pretentious now – like I am deciding
who deserves a response and who does not and that whether I do respond is
actually important to people. I guess it’s really about my experience being in
a place where I stand out and how best to handle it. I don’t want to encourage
people to yell stuff at anyone who looks different (is white) and I also don’t
want to be rude. I pretty much apply the same rules here as I do at home – if
you’re a guy and you’re yelling stuff at me or whistling at me, I’m not going
to turn my head. If you’re an older lady or man, I’ll give you a polite nod,
maybe a smile and possibly a ‘habari’ or ‘selama’ in respectful greeting –
whether you have done so or not (this often elicits a whole lot of nothing). If
you’re a kid or a gang of kids, totally depends on my mood. Girls have a better
shot because in my mind and experience they get ignored a lot more anyway so if
we can smile at each other then sure, why not. Most of this whole exercise with
all ages and sexes results in a lot of laughs in my general direction.
As a young Ghanaian high schooler in suburban Canada once said to a
teacher friend of mine “I’m just trying to blend in.” It’s totally going aces.
*Side story – in Ethiopia I get called farenji (evolved from
French) or China!! Because the Chinese are doing some major road and
electricity building in the part of the country where CPAR works. (Other Asians
are not differentiated so maybe they dislike being called ‘China’ more than I
do – I don’t dislike it that much, it’s just incorrect).
Hopefully photos to follow...internet here is not on my team.
So glad to read your ramblings! Happy you have friendships and coffee to sustain you!
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