Early this morning Mrs Jennifer left for school to complete work that she had pending, I did not start classes today untill 11am so after a hearty sleep in and another glorious shower I was surprised to find that I was not alone in the house, This was my first introduction to Gloria the house maid, servant, cleaner, washer woman a lady of many description really, jack of all house trades. She greeted me with a shy but sincere smile and proceeded to make quite the fuss over me, again it was an uncomfortable feeling so she in turn was shocked when I helped with the dishes, made my own bed and so forth. Gloria did however manage to make me some form of african chai tea.. banana and marmalade toast, accompanied by fresh mango, what a breakfast! The fruit over here is to die for, the mangos, bananas, puapua, pineapples, watermellon a whole host of others, all of these are larger, jucier and full of so much more flavour then those that New Zealand imports.. seriously you would not believe the size of some of the pineapples, eating this fruit is a mix of eating and drinking.
Anyway I tried to make as much conversation as I could manage in swahili with Gloria and in return she practised her english which I admit was at a far better level then my Swahili. Still everyone tells me I am picking up swahili sooo fast, they all love to encourage me and I have many teachers. I learn alot of street language, the words I learn often brings laughter and looks of surprise from the locals as they cannot believe a foreigner would know such things. Nearby to my flat, I have become very good friends with the local supply store owner, I have dubbed him 'prince' as he is 'the man', prince is about my age, he speaks broken english and has made it his mission to teach me the most hip forms of the swahili language possible, he is a true street king, with many connections, a good friend to have, he always gives me great prices on all types of goods in return for my repeat visits. Another reason my swahili is comming along at such a rate is due to my good friend and assistant Mr thai. Mr Thai is one of my assistants at the school, he helps me during sports electives, he used to be a cleaner at the school and has worked his way up to become an assistant teacher, he aims to study education and become fully qualified, Mr Thai really is a good man and is one of my good friends, he's cool to hang with and we joke alot in both languages. Mr Thai has just recently gotten married and is looking to start living the dream, he is so happy with his situation, its awesome to see. like prince Mr Thai is another main resource for learning the language, because he speaks english well and is persistent if I ask him how to say anything by the end of the day I go home saying it, I learn all the handshakes and ins and outs, he gets quite a sense of accomplishement when I arrive the next day to converse with him in his own tongue. Every man, woman and child at my school enthusiasticly greets me everyday for a laugh and if I encounter a new word or phrase I always stop and ask, or awkwardly try (often incorrectly) to reply. I want to learn as much swahili as I can before I leave and only hope I have the likes of Mr Thai around to help me out.
Tomorrow Nina is due to return to China, so we are having a large pot luck dinner in her honour at her house, beside the pool. It will be sad to see her go as she was such a bright spark and was especially very kind toward me, anyway thats traveling, great people come and great people go, I hope to stay in touch. Im making a traditional Swahili fish dish with the help of Mariam and I look foward to tasting and experiencing everyones efforts, pot lucks are amazing in any culture, but when many nationalities come together everyone is really in for a treat! I think tonight if my counting is correct there will be 10 different nationalites present, almost our own UN, I promise to keep climate change on the agenda...
No comments:
Post a Comment