Yesterday I said my first sentence in Swahili. Ninapenda Kuku. I like chicken.
We had our first assessment/lesson. He assessed Jenna and Whitney and it was pretty clear I had never studied the language. I am really excited though. I am up to 24 words, according to a recent count.
Before Swahili we went to Java House and splurged. It is a restaurant known for its coffee and American-ish food. Whitney and I split a bagel with cream cheese and lox and a chicken quesidilla and Jenna had a veggie melt sandwich. We paid 80 shillings extra for sour cream, which turned out to be some think milky substance. EW. Little reminders that we were still not in the U.S. Whitney and I also had chai-frosties. To end it all we all split a big piece of chocolate cake. It was our three week anniversary : )
When I got home Chipa and I watched "divas live" which is celine dione, shania twain, aretha franklin, mariah carrey, and gloria estefon all singing together. Chipa's favorite singers are the Spice Girls and Madonna. He likes those divas!
I just had my first Anthro of Infectious Diseases class and it was really interesting, but the guys were annoying once again. I am calling that one guy (who seems to be in all my classes), dolphin boy. He is full of fun little irrelevant comments, and also controversial ones, like how Kenya should have just quarentined everyone with HIV/AIDS. Wow.
When I walked out of class there were some men with a lot of toilet seats and I got really excited, because toilet seats are no where to be found at this university (or most places in the city), as well as toilet paper. So maybe we will be getting seats soon, and then paper later? Just wishful thinking...
Tonight I am going to some poetry slam at school that on the poster said "empowering women". I am excited for that.
Well I tried to post this earlier but the internet conveniently stopped working when I did...
I had lunch and halfway through my fruit salad realized it had small chunks of watermelon in it. Just a teeny scratchy throat...nothing serious. Plus Whitney said she knew how to do a tracheotomy with a pen, so nothing to worry about.
I also went to drumming, and now am hanging out at Whitney's...well currently we are at the internet cafe across the street from her place.
I am trying to convince her to come to poetry with me...we will see.
Ninapenda kuku tambien! And also chocolate cake (if I must have cake.)
ReplyDeleteYour splurge sounds divine (except for the faux sour cream. Maybe it really was cream that was sour, as opposed to a different dairy product category altogether.)
That diva show sounds a little scary to me. Poor you. I bet you thought you could escape Bad TV by going to Africa. But NOOOOOOOOOOO, it turns out Bad TV is ubiquitous. It's our #1 export!
So if Bad TV and idiotic classmates are two rude awakenings (and maybe they're not, so feel free to disagree), I'm wondering if you have a top 10 list of rude awakenings, as well as a top 10 list of astonishments (the good kind. not the amazing bad kind.) You know how we Statesiders are. We want top 10 lists. Or top 40 lists. Or middling 23 lists. So give it up. Make it a poem and slam it!
Ninapenda Youyou.
I hope I haven't just said something utterly inappropriate.
(-:
Okay, I have competition for dolphin boy.
ReplyDeleteA guy on my staff, the one from Venezuela, just came in my office and sat down and said, "Do you notice anything different about me?"
Me: "Yes, you changed clothes."
He: "This morning, I poop."
Me: "WHAT???"
He: "This morning, I poop myself."
Me: "OH COME ON!!! I do NOT want to hear that. PLEASE don't tell me things like that."
I turned away from him and started working on an application for a new job. I am not kidding.
He: "I thought you would want to know why I changed my clothes."
Me: "I don't. You are the king of too much information, and I don't want to know any of it."
UH. MUH. GUH!!!
Is there room on your camel safari for me???????
Always good to have a friend who knows how to do a tracheotomy in a pinch. (:
ReplyDeleteIs kuku "chicken" or "I like" (as in kuku for cocopuffs)
I'm feeling pretty lucky about my daily life -- that I don't go to class with dolphin boy and I don't work with poop boy.
clearly I don't have much to say. I love you and I love reading your blog entries. Mama
i must say that i saw that diva show. and it was like, maybe, a little bit, kind of good. (can you tell i'm kind of ashamed?) it was a vh1 special like five years ago. and, honestly, i'll watch anything on vh1.
ReplyDeletethis is all just hilarious! You should do a pilot for a reality show!
ReplyDeleteHey, if you want something to barter with, I could send you at least 4 pairs of jeans... when I was in Senegal, everybody was "gah-gah" for jeans! Lemme know.
mama v
We love reading your blog (and the comments). Everyone is too funny! Sounds like things are getting interesting over there. We can send you something to barter with too -- she's about 3 years old, dark hair, blue eyes and a developing attitude.
ReplyDeleteHahaha, poor Cate...or poor the rest of you I guess.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry about your Venezuelan Co-worker Joy.
Jill, the diva thing was kind of good, you're right, but I can't watch Celine Dionne without laughing.
Mom-kuku means chicken : ) you're funny.
Vicki...jeans are actually huge here, as in everyone has them and wears them, so I Don't know if it will work. Got anything else? : )