There are a lot of things that I hear in passing on a daily basis that are ‘normal’ for me now, but I wanted to share some of them with you in the hopes that you will find them mildly entertaining. If you don’t—well, maybe our senses of humor are different. Or maybe I’ve just been living in Africa too long and these things really aren’t funny at all.
Some of the things written below are what I hear every day, and some of them are unique instances that made me laugh in the moment. Some are the titles of conversations that I’ve had at teacher’s meetings (lasting anywhere from ten minutes to two hours), and some are common phrases that happen because most of the time, I’m not speaking to a native English speaker (I feel that it is necessary to add that it would be a good idea for someone with fluent Kinyarwanda to write a blog entry about all the mistakes and amusing things that I say in Kinya—challenge?). Just yesterday I attended a church service, and had to have the sermon translated into my ‘special’ Kinyarwanda…not my finest moment. Anyways, enjoy:
“When I try to hear English, it is like I am a dog sitting on the ground scratching his ear”.–a coworker of mine, who acted out the dog as a clarification. I responded that it was the same for me when I try to understand Kinyarwanda.
“Book of faces”–another way to say Facebook. This is one I hear all. The. Time.
“Do you eat porridge or do you drink it?” –an hour-long staff meeting conversation.
“Can you give me chalks?” –most days in the staff room. It has become even more of a joke since I have corrected the mistake so many times.
“Do all Americans shave their heads?”–a question that I almost always answer with an emphatic ‘yes’.
“Why do Americans like to talk to animals?”
“Why don’t you want a salary?”
“In America, I know that everyone is rich.”–When I try to combat this statement, I am almost always told that ‘I lie’.
Well, that’s all that I can think of for the moment—I’ll post more when I think of them!
Fun