Kitimoto

The title today means "hot seat" . . . but it also means pork . . . I don't know, don't ask why. We have been doing "kitimoto" the past few mornings at kiswahili lessons, in which we have to sit in the hot seat for 5 minutes while our instructors ask us questions on the spot in kiswahili. I didn't do so well today as I had to describe what my family does and I couldn't think of the words for "industrial design" and "finance" . . . not exactly words I'm using every day here . . .
oh, and about the pork thing, I don't know, but apparently if you order barbecued pork at a restaurant here, it's also called "kitimoto" ;)

It's funny how when you are in a foreign country you tend to fall back on whatever foreign language you know- although it is nowhere near the language which you are supposed to be speaking. mOst of us volunteers know at least a bit of another foreign language- many have sudied abroad, or lived or traveled abroad, and most have had some foreign language experience. This being said, many of us are throwing in German, Spanish, Italian, etc. wherever we can't think of the Swahili word for something . . .especially articles! We do this completely subconsciously, and it's pretty hilarious because we'd be way better off if we just threw in English. Most people here know some English- especially those who have attended secondary school. But the thing that throws me off completely, is that my foreign language experience happens to be in Italian and I have visited Italy as soon as last summer. This wouldn't be a problem except that there are strangely some words in Kiswahili that also exist in Italian . . . but in a completely different context.

for example:
Kiswahili: Italian:
mia- means 100 mia, means my or mine
tosha- means full toscia, means cough or cold
tuta, means "we will" tutta, means all or whole
tena, means again tena, means "to have"

. .. and so it seems as if I am in a strange dream in which people are speaking a language which I recognize and which I am familiar with, but I don't understand the meaning.
crazy.



so, here are some interesting facts about Tanzania:

The president is Jakaya Kikwete

The Swahili word for president is "rais" pronounced like rice

The word for rice is "wali", but when it's uncooked its "mchele"

Most Tanzanians are not fond of George Bush, but they love Barak Obama

Many people here are named "Baraka" which means "blessings, or prosperity"

Most people hope Obama gets elected, but they dont' believe Americans will vote for a black president ( I hope to prove them wrong, but we'll see come November .. . and we'll see if that absentee ballot ever gets here)

Tanzanians pronounce it "Tan.zah.KNEE.a" when speaking Kiswahili, but pronounce it "Tan. ZAY. nia. when speaking to English speakers.

okay, I hope you learned something today from my rantings .. . I am doing well here and miss you all very much.

kwa heri,
cristina :)