Dana’s Avenue

Well, our presentation Tuesday went really well. Ours was popular simply because people got to eat.

We no sooner got finished with class when we learned we had to do another presentation next Tuesday. I was so happy it was over just to find out it starts all over again! But. I’ve already decided what to do for my next presentation and I’m kind of excited about it. I found an easy Christmas craft I can lead us all through in Swahili. I looked up all my missing vocabulary today and I’m ready to prepare the rest of what I’ll say - generally anyway.

The craft is to make Christmas greeting cards. I don’t have any supplies here with me really so I had to be very creative in my thinking. I’m going to get colored paper from town. It’s pretty thin so not ideal for cards but sometimes you have to use what you can get. I’m pretty sure I can get red paper and hopefully some green and blue. That will be the card itself. Then I’m going to take regular white paper and have people fold and cut it to make a snowflake that will then attach to the outside of the card. I’ll also try to find markers in town (called ‘maka peni’ in Swahili) to write on the cards with. They’re pretty simple but at least the class will be interactive. I don’t want to stand up and talk for 30 minutes with everyone sitting there bored to tears. And a bonus is they’ll have something to take away with them. Again, it’s nothing fancy, but it’s something…

I’d like to have the snowflake decorated with glitter (even though it’s sooooo messy) but there is no noun for glitter in Swahili. When I found that out I realized I probably wouldn’t be finding it in town either. They’ll just have to be plain white then. And we avoid the clean up - and finding that one piece of glitter still stuck to the side of my nose days later…

So tomorrow is regular class.  I believe Friday and Monday are days we can prepare for our presentations.  Next Tuesday are the presentations and Wednesday is graduation and our “test”.  It’s called the “oral proficiency evaluation”.  We’ll have a conversation with a teacher for about 30 minutes.  He said we may write a little something too.  The only thing about it all that makes me nervous - besides the idea of being tested itself - is that the conversation is recorded and sent to SIL.  Yikes.  But.  Once that’s over, it’s completely over, and we’ll be ready to pack up and leave this campsite.

Tomorrow we all have our big language project presentations.  That’ll be a fun day of class.  Jonathan and I are hosting “Jiko la Mama Clinton” (Kitchen of… Mama (that’s me) Clinton (that’s what one of the teachers preliminarily named our son) - no, that’s NOT going to be his name).  We’re going to teach the “audience” to cook Kraft macaroni and cheese (in Swahili, of course).  Too bad they can’t ever cook it because they can’t get it here but oh well.  It’ll be fun to cook and eat it.  We got a family size box in one of our care packages so we’ll have plenty to serve to our guests.

One girl is going to teach us a game and then we’ll all play it.  Fun.  Another girl is going to talk to us about the cultural differences between America and Tanzania.  Interesting.  And there’s another guy presenting but I’m not sure what he’s doing.

After tomorrow we only have 5 more days of class because our last day will be our little “graduation”.  At some point we’re supposed to be tested as well but I haven’t heard when that’s going to happen.  They’re brilliant how they test us too.  No written exercises or papers to prepare.  We’ll sit down with one of the head teachers and have a conversation with him.  What better way to test our knowledge than to see if we can listen to Swahili, understand it, and respond by using Swahili.  Makes sense to me!  I think they record us and send it to the SIL main office too.  Gulp.  There they give us a “level” of where we are.

But of course the learning has just begun.  We’ll continue to gain through using it in real life - building on the foundation we’ve received here.  I’m surprised how much of a language you can learn in merely 16 weeks!

(Meaning:  Time is flying.)

Now that we’re on the homestretch of language learning I sometimes have a hard time focusing.  Not all the time.  But occasionally.  We only have 3 1/2 weeks left and we’re doing mainly review, reading, and conversing.  Last week we memorized the Lord’s Prayer in Swahili.  That was fun and surprisingly I still remember it!

At the beginning of classes, they threw so much at us that it was like taking a drink of water from a fire hose!  Today the teacher explained a concept and I thought, “Well, that’s simple enough.”  When every single thing was new to me I couldn’t have understood even something that now seems easy.  I’d let myself get antsy if I didn’t realize just how fast time is going to go.  It has gone by so fast already and I know that 3 1/2 weeks passing will go by in a blink of an eye.

There is a couple here going to Mbeya in 2 weeks who have offered to take our excess “stuff” to the SIL office to be stored while we’re gone.  This is a HUGE help!  So we’ll need to start deciding what to leave behind and what to take with us.  Once we’ve made those decisions we’ll have to start - gulp - packing.  Yikes!  We have SO moved into this banda!  It’s like the person who has lived in the same house 20 years moving.  Scary!  (Well, not that bad - but it feels that bad. )

I’m excited though to think that in less than a month we’ll be back home to stay for a while.  I have to remember it’s going to be COLD and pack accordingly!!  I’ve made a mental list of foods that I want when I’m home (there goes that “watch what you eat” plan).  I also have all these things I want to bake with my mom - things I either remember her making for me or us making together when I was a kid.  I was going to ask her if I could help her decorate the house for Christmas but then remembered we’d be there only a week before Christmas.  :)  (Maybe I’ll pack a few things up and then take them back out…okay…maybe not…)

But back to reality…  At least I don’t have homework tonight.

The man who runs the campsite where we’re staying was talking to us about our Swahili. He grew up in Tanzania and the school has been meeting here a long time now so he’s seen a lot of people come through.

I was telling him how I just don’t tend to talk much (especially to strangers) in English, much less in Swahili. On top of that Jonathan talks a lot (he was shocked at that statement) so it makes it even less of a necessity for me to do it. Jonathan then told him how my vocabulary was good though and that was his weak area.

The man explained that the vocabulary comes with time and the biggest hurdle for most people is to actually begin speaking. So that’s my challenge. Just take a deep breath and speak to people. Even if I’m going to mess up. Even if I’m not sure of my sentence structure. Even if… I’m scared… Of course, I have to actually think of something to say too which is my biggest problem. Small talk just isn’t my thing.

I did have a couple moments last week though. People here greet each other like crazy so I’m used to doing the usual “habari za (insert various words here)” with the response “nzuri”. Same old, same old. One morning I had to go back to the room for something and I saw one of the workers. She began speaking and all I thought was that I’d wait until she finished to say “nzuri” but as she spoke I realized she didn’t say “habari za” anything. Eek! That’s when I started paying attention! I heard the word “ufunguo” (key) and “safisha” (clean). She needed the key to our banda so she could come in and clean. Ah! I stopped walking and told her (in Swahili) that I needed to go to the banda (so I need the key myself) but that I would return. We understood each other and it was great. (Simple sentences but still - it was great.) Jonathan not being there with me helped because he would have undoubtedly handled the situation for us.

There’s another worker here who has invited us to her home. It is in the low 90’s now during the day with a very strong sun so the 45 minute one-way walk (then another one back) is going to be quite a challenge for me. Last week I had a head and chest cold so we decided I should stay and rest instead of trying to make that journey. We walked up to her to explain and Jonathan didn’t say a word. He just stood there and looked at me. Gulp. I guess I’m telling her. And I did! I told her about my cold and that I was unable to make that walk. She understood and said that I needed to rest and that the sun was strong. Yep. All that in Swahili.

Of course, last night a guard said something and for the life of me I couldn’t understand him. Finally I did but even then I was just guessing. Some people just talk kind of “different” and sort of mumble too.

Not that I’ve totally gone over my hurdle but I’m running full steam forward and it’s in sight. One day I’ll leap right over it.

Today our class assignment is that we go to town to take care of some sort of “business”… in Swahili of course.  So we took the opportunity to go to the doctor for a prenatal checkup.  It’s been 5 weeks since my last one.

I had a great report!  My last 2 checkups I’ve “gotten in trouble” for not drinking enough water so I have been vigilant about upping that and today I was in the clear.  My iron was low at my last appointment so I’ve been taking iron pills.  Today my iron levels were great.  My blood pressure is still normal and I still don’t have any swelling.  The only “bad” thing was my weight gain.  I’ve gained 4 kilos (almost 9 pounds) in 5 weeks.  That sweet nurse said, “Haiwezikani!”  That means, “It’s impossible!”  AH!  What?!  Well.  Not impossible apparently.  I joked with her that I needed to stop eating.  She got very serious on me then and told me that if I stop eating, the baby will stop growing.  Right.  It’s hard to joke in Swahili…  The baby’s heartbeat was good too.  I wasn’t much worried about that though as much as he moves around now!  So, overall I’m doing well.  I did email the doctor in Dar to see if she had any concern about my weight gain.  My body looks absolutely no different except my tummy.  Jonathan and I may fit another walk into our days.  It would be a nice time together anyway.  Otherwise, I’m just not going to overly worry about it.

This trip to the doctor was different than any of our others though because Jonathan didn’t handle anything for me.  I wouldn’t have let him because I need to practice my Swahili in real life situations… and he had the same idea so that’s good!  I handled the appointment with the receptionist and prepaid (of course).  I spoke to a nurse who was cleaning the waiting room.  I handled the lab time and then did the talking with the nurse during the checkup itself.  She had to ask me a million questions so that was really good practice.  I understood everyone pretty well and they understood me.  The last nurse said that I speak Swahili well.  Heehee…  (I really don’t but for an American I guess I’m doing okay.)  Now there were words here and there that I didn’t know and she would say them in English.  One time she said a word a couple times and I didn’t understand.  Then she said, “Pain.”  Yikes!  What!?  I’m glad she said it in English!  She put this metal funnel thing on my tummy using a little pressure then put her ear on it.  She was listening to the baby’s heartbeat.  Crazy!  Then she got out a little machine to listen to the heartbeat again.  I don’t know why she did it twice unless the little metal thing wasn’t working or something.  Anyway, it was a great time of practice and it really helped my confidence that I was able to communicate there because I can directly compare it to the last time we were there and could hardly say anything and could understand absolutely nothing.  Progress!!

Now we’re at the internet cafe because Jonathan wants to do something online.  I’m sure this is not exactly what the teachers had in mind as we’re just sitting here on our computers…and typing in English but hopefully we won’t be here too long.  We have a little shopping we’d like to get done before we head back for lunch.

Oh and maybe you’ve noticed…  Jonathan figured out how to connect to the internet via his cell phone so we’re able to get online at the campsite now.  That’s why I’ve been able to respond to email more quickly and blog more frequently.  We still have to come to town some though for the big projects because those sort of things are cheaper here.  I do hope to continue keeping you better updated now that I can.  Jonathan has posted a ton of pictures in the photo gallery on our main web page too so check it out!

Nitawaona sasa hivi.  (I will see you soon.)

There are two problems.

One.  I must construct my sentences in very casual English because a lot of what I want to say in Swahili can’t come directly from the English sentence I’m thinking of.  I have to first convert it to a more proper way of saying things.

Two.  Even “good” English can’t be translated literally word for word.  My brain doesn’t like this.  Something about the way I think makes me want to go word by word through my sentence translating it.  Once I get stuck on a word I just stop.  My brain freezes.  And a lot of times the answer is simple.  I’m just thinking too hard about saying the exact English sentence in Swahili.  I’ve got to learn to think more in broad meanings.

But overall, the Swahili is going along well.  Jonathan is still speaking a lot.  I mainly just think in Swahili.  The worst is when I wake up in the middle of the night struggling through Swahili sentences in my mind.  That disturbs my sleep and must stop. 

An interesting thing about Jonathan and I as a couple is that he is better at making complete sentences.  He just can’t remember all the vocabulary.  I, on the other hand, can remember a lot of vocabulary but struggle to construct complete sentences.  So I end up staying quiet, listening to what he’s saying to someone, while he goes on and on every once in a while turning to me and saying, “What’s the word for this?”  And I’ll tell him.  I think I get stage fright sometimes too because when I actually go to speak I’ll sometimes forget the most simple words that I use all the time in class or with Jonathan.  With strangers the words escape me if I’m actually trying to say them myself.  So for now I guess I’ll think in Swahili and settle for being Jonathan’s dictionary. 

A good exercise for me would probably be to translate this blog post into Swahili.

Labda baadaye.  (Maybe later.)

I’m sure you can guess but if you don’t already know it, I’m an introvert and Jonathan is an extrovert.  Jonathan will talk to anyone and not just greet them but talk to them for as long as they’re willing.  I may say hello but that’s usually the end of it and I pass by many strangers throughout my day who I never acknowledge.  I’m not sure Jonathan has ever met a stranger.  I’ve never really thought much of our differences in this area until our trip to Dar. 

I was so excited that we’d be using our Swahili in real life situations.  The practice is very beneficial.  So who do you think benefited most from our activities there?  Hmph.  Jonathan, by far. 

First of all, there’s the extrovert thing.  During every taxi ride there was hardly a quiet moment.  He would chat and chat and chat.  We ended up using the same taxi driver the whole time we were there.  (And since they were such good friends - yeah right - the driver wanted us to help him get to America.  Sigh.)  He made friends with our bus driver and talked to the couple next to us on the bus.  Chatty, chatty, chatty. 

Second of all, Jonathan takes care of me extensively in all situations.  He arranged our taxi rides and got us where we needed to go.  He arranged my doctor appointments, talked to the receptionists, and paid the bill.  He got our movie tickets and took charge while we were shopping.  And as usual, I did speak…when it was necessary.  I spoke with the nurses during the process of my appointment.  I greeted the taxi driver and spoke to him a little bit.  And at the movies I got our popcorn while he was getting our tickets.  The only conversing I did outside of that was to say ‘thank you’ a lot.  It’s not like I’m a pampered brat or anything though.  At the doctor and in the taxi (the majority of the time) I was quite ill…something about the heat and the movement.  I threw up in many cars over our the weekend.  So there was a real reason for him to take charge and take care of me…and I’m so grateful to have a husband that is so thoughtful and involved. 

And I guess there is a third reason he has gotten so much practice.  He has confidence and doesn’t worry about making mistakes.  This is probably my weakest point.  There were many times he would ask me “what does this Swahili word mean” or “what is the Swahili word for this English word” and I would know them.  So it’s in my head.  It just doesn’t come out of my mouth much, so when I am in a situation to speak it, my nerves get the best of me and I really stumble over what I’m trying to say.  If they could only read my mind it would go much better.  :) 

So, my goal, I guess, should be to gain confidence.  I’m not sure how to go about doing that but it really will help because one day Jonathan will be working while I shop, take the baby to the doctor, and all the other things that go along with life.  And I know in my heart I can do this.  It’s just a matter of actually doing it.  Feel the fear and do it anyway, right?

As I close this post I can hear Jonathan outside the banda…chatting and joking around with the staff…in Swahili…  He’s so good. 

Brutal honesty here again. Language learning is getting HARD. I guess it was before too but it’s REALLY tough now! I’m still not making it to every class and that may have something to do with it but Jonathan’s having almost as hard a time at it as I am. This week we’ve learned SO MANY new things it’s hard to keep it straight. One of our classmates is keeping his vocabulary list in excel and as of today we have gotten 500 new vocabulary words. Yikes! So pray for us as we continue. We need it!

This one is an African saying:

Haraka, haraka haina baraka.

(Hurry, hurry has no blessing.)

I put my Swahili book down and haven’t looked at it again since my pronunciation lesson.  So, here we go.  Now I’m moving onto greetings.  Courtesy is very important in Africa so not only are there proper greetings but guidelines for who addresses who first and how to address people older rather than younger.

Here’s what I learned today:

Hujambo, bwana?  =  How are you, sir?

Hujambo, bibi?  =  How are you, lady/Mrs/Miss/Ms?

Hujambo, mama?  =  How are you, Mrs/Miss/Ms/mother/woman?

Sijambo  =  I’m fine.

Habari za safari?  =  How is/was your trip?

Habari za asubuhi?  =  How is your morning?

Njema  =  Good

Nzuri  =  Good/Fine

Hamjambo  =  How are you?  (to more than one person)

Hatujambo  =  We’re fine.

Ndugu  =  comrade or friend (used to address that friend emphasizing solidarity of you and that person)  So, if I saw Mya at church I would say, “Hujambo, ndugu?”  And she would say, “Sijambo, ndugu.”  (This word is used [this way] only in Tanzania.)

It is important to use titles when addressing people.  They can be used alone or followed by the person’s name.  Bibi is shortened to Bi. when followed by a person’s name.  (So, I would be called Bi. Dana.)  Where bibi and mama are both used, bibi is slightly more formal, and some use it for younger women.  Bibi is also sometimes used to mean grandmother.  Confused yet?  I am too.  I think I’ll stick with mama until I hear different.

Sometimes a married woman is addressed as Mama followed by the name of her oldest child.  So Jonathan’s mother would be referred to as Mama Charles.  Where two names for someone is used, the second name is usually the name of the person’s father.  So I would be called Bi. Dana Dale.

Well, that’s Dialogue 1.  I’ll be practicing this for some time and then moving onto Dialogue 2.  That next lesson covers visiting someone at their home and telling someone where you’re from.  (In Spanish I would say I’m an Americano.  I’ve peeked ahead and it’s just not that simple in Swahili.)

Stay tuned.