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So,
as my time comes to a close, I've been thinking about all the things I’m going to miss
about Kenya. I thought of the funny things that happen due to differences in communication/language,
and I realized that was it’s own blog entry in itself! So I want to
give an example of the kinds of things that happen all the time when there is
just one key word that is being lost in translation. * Disclaimer: For the
record, I take full responsibility for not communicating correctly as I am the
one that needs to learn how to communicate in a way that makes sense to
Kenyans, not the other way around (obviously)! Yet it never ceases to make me laugh at myself
and the situations I get myself in:
At
my house, one of my biggest challenges for me is taking out the trash. I have
only located about 4 locations around the city where there are small bins and
they are usually full. And everytime I have dropped my trash bags into them, I end up getting
called “Al Shabaab!” the terrorist group from Somalia that has been involved in a few incidents in Kenya. It's just a joke because I am obviously not terrorist dropping a bomb in their
bins. However, I avoid using the public trash bins too much
since it attracts so much attention. I’ve asked my neighbor’s househelp
multiple times where I can put my trash, and every time he kindly insists on disposing
of it himself. Since I don’t want to give him my trash all the time, I decided
to figure it out myself. This task ended up A LOT harder than I thought it
would.
I
took 3 big bags of trash and went to the boda boda (bicycle) drivers that hang
out near my place. I knew the word “trash” was probably not used since I’ve
never heard anyone say that, so was expecting to have to figure out how to
explain it. After being here for 6 months I’ve become pretty good at rephrasing
words and changing vocabulary to find common ground. So I said “Do you know
where I can put this trash? garbage?” He looked confused. I searched for another
word and remembered my coworker using “compost pit” so I tried that. He looked
at me and nodded. I said “wapi?” (where). He looked at the bags blankly. So I
tried to act it out by taking a piece of paper out of the bag and putting it on
the ground, and repeated, hoping that would work. “Ohh, Mama Watoto.” He explains. Mama Watoto is a
grocery store. So I asked “I take my garbage to Mama Watoto?” And he gave me a
hesitant nod. So I hopped on the bike and said “twende” (let’s go). In my head
I’m thinking this can’t be right, but figured it’s possible. So he takes me to the entrance of Mama Watoto, I pay him, and I confirm
again “Trash goes in here? Garbage? Compost?” And he nods. So I go to the
security guard (all major businesses have a security guard outside who checks
your bags, probably to prevent any attacks from Al Shabaab though they are not
really a threat in the rural areas of Western Kenya). I awkwardly show him my
stinky bags of trash and say “I was told I can throw my trash, garbage, compost
here.” He looks at me confused and tells me enter and go upstairs. I’ve been
upstairs before and it is mostly office and house supplies. So now I KNOW that
can’t be right… but again, I figure it cooould be possible that they have some kind of trash
disposal up there. So I go upstairs, and up to the nice glass counter show him
my stinky bags of trash and ask again. They look at me confused, perhaps offended that I would bring my trash to them. I give my signature awkward laugh and after much explanation using the words "trash, garbage and compost" in different ways... SUCCESS! “Ooohhhh!! Rubbish!” the men exclaim. We all laugh as I explain my difficulties in figuring out the right word. They tell me it’s around the corner and I finally found it! Of course, when I get there, a woman approaches me and says I was in the wrong place. When I gave her a look of desperation, she smiled and said it was okay. So I figured they were just messing with the confused mzungu.
To
this day, I still struggle to take out my trash, having to choose between
getting called “Al Shabaab” at the bins or traveling further to the disposal
area that I'm still not sure is actually the right place to leave trash. And now that I’m leaving I’m going to miss all these kinds of random
daily challenges!
Here are also a few funny phrases I’ve learned to love:
When I say
“Hi” many people say “I’m fine.” Or “Very fine.”
Boda Bodas
want to take me somewhere they say “Una enda?” (Are you going?)
How people
say “isn’t it?” meaning: “you know what I mean?”
“You are
lost” meaning: “haven’t seen you in a long time!”
On the phone
they say “ehhh” instead of “uh huh”
“You look
smart” –a compliment to say “you look pretty or nice”
When people end a
conversation with “Nice time” meaning “Have a good day!”
