Verbal Oddities

Many things are just a little different here, and some of them are verbal.

First, there are what I call "Britishisms".  It's not just the spelling of words like metre and colour, but words that strike my American ear strangely.  Like "revision", which is used as I use "review".  When I first heard, "I am doing revisions with my class today", I thought, "Huh?  What are you changing?"     Another one is "invigilate", which is used as I would use "proctor"--to supervise students taking a test.

And, of course, there is the often-used phrase "doing our level best", which is at least understandable.  As a math teacher, I even like it better than the American claim of giving 110% of one's effort.    

Then there are words that give me pause because they are not used with the same implication as at home.  The usage of "somehow" and "somewhere" are the biggest offenders.  As in, "I live down there, somewhere."  The speaker does know where he lives, but doesn't feel like being specific.  Or, "Somehow, I am a student teacher."  The speaker isn't casting doubt on his abilities or making a statement about how he came to be a student teacher.  It just seems to be a meaningless tag word, like some of us use "so".

So,...finally, there are the gasps.  When I am talking with a person, usually a woman, she will often utter short gasps.  It's startling, to say the least, because what I am saying is not frightening or momentous.  It took awhile, but I finally realized that the gasps are just acknowledgement, like we would say "uh-huh".

But all of these expressions are becoming more familiar, so don't be surprised if you hear me utter them, when I return home in 18 months' time.  Of course, I might also be spouting Swahili occasionally too, calling mangoes "maembe" and chicken "kuku".  (Great word for chicken, don't you think?)

Tutaonana!

What We Eat

 

I was recently asked what we eat, here.  The short answer is:  lots of rice.  But we also eat other things.

Our school provides lunch and a mid-morning tea break (Thank you British colonialism!) on school days. Tea is hot, sweet tea with maandazi, which can best be described as deep-fried plain muffins. Two days a week at lunch we eat beans and rice and two days a week we eat pilau, which is seasoned rice with a few small bits of beef in it. On Wednesdays we eat ugali, which is corn meal cooked with water until it has the look and consistency of stiff, grainy mashed potatoes. This is served with beef and gravy. The beef chunks come complete with bones and cartilage. Side dishes are always either overcooked greens or a cabbage salad. Often bananas or orange slices are served as well. These lunches are a nice, convenient perk, if a bit tedious.

 
Breakfast at home is usually a peanut butter sandwich and sometimes a boiled egg. For dinner I cook pasta primavera or hot dogs (available at our local shop and called "sausages".) I often cook thinly-sliced pan-fried potatoes with scrambled eggs. Once in a while I can get ground beef, which I can make into hamburger patties or serve in a tomato sauce over pasta. I have started buying a chicken on weekends, especially if we don't make the trip into Arusha. (See the blog titled "Chicken and Eggs").

When we do get to the big city we treat ourselves to a nice meal. There are a number of good restaurants in Arusha. Our favorite is an Indian place where we usually order chicken dishes.  The proprietor is an amiable and friendly man who went to a university in the UK, and  took over the restaurant when his father died.  His newest project is origami folding of paper napkins.  Last time we ate there the colorful napkins looked like short-sleeved sport shirts.

There is a lot of fresh produce available here. We eat mangoes, bananas, pineapples, papaya, watermelon, and even plums and grapes when they are in season. We can also get yogurt.

All in all, not a bad diet. I miss eating fish. Fresh-water fish is the best bet here in our small town, but it is mainly available deep-fried by mamas on street corners. I miss salmon filets. And sushi. And Thai food. And cheese. And nice, greasy Italian subs. Does that make me a spoiled American? Maybe, but there it is.