It hasn’t been difficult at all to communicate with Ugandans here as English is spoken quite fluently by many. But there are many phrases and sayings, colloquialisms if you will, that are endemic to Uganda as with anywhere you go. I know the way I speak sounds funny to them too so I’ve made some adjustments and I’ve been doing it for so long now that it’s natural and I don’t really notice I’m doing it. I’ve always been a bit of a parrot. What will happen when I get back to the States. Will I quickly revert to my old ways or will I keep talking the way I have been here for a while before slowly settling into my old vernacular? Many of these “Ugandanisms” I’ll call them, have become very dear to me and I’d like to keep a hold of them. The beauty of getting to know a new place is learning a new way of looking at things and the slang will often contain that unique angle on life. “How is the going?” and, “How is your good life?” are my top two favorite greetings. “Nice time!” is a common way of saying, “see you later” often with a “well done” thrown in for good measure. “Eehhh” with a descending tone, like you would say while you’re thinking, is a standard way of saying yes here. Perhaps the biggest change I’ve made in my speech, something I learned from Amber, is emphasizing my “t’s” when talking. This seems to go a long way in helping a Ugandan to understand what you are saying but it sounds pretty wierd.
I often hear people using a mixture of Runyankole (the local language) and English. In Runyankole, as in English, there are some rules and exceptions to them. One of these rules is used when a word sometimes will have an “L” sound and sometimes will have an “R” sound (just like “I before E except after C” doesn’t always work). This has created some fun effects when applied to English. There’s a shop in town that advertises selling photos “with flames”. There’s a truck driving around with a great big “Rastafalian” painted across the front in the red, green and gold rasta colors. I often see a boda boda go by with an advertisement on the back for “Papalazzi Photography”. “God bress you”, and “I’ll play for you”, are common phrases used at church. The best one is when our friends Drew and Erin saw a something run across the road in front of their car and when asking their Ugandan driver what it was he called it a squealer. After some thought, they realized what he meant. It was a squirrel.
One thing I’ll probably never be able to explain fully or understand is “The What”. When a Ugandan is talking they will frequently interject the monologue with this question and then answer the question. There is a pause but it’s too fast to answer. The question is rhetorical. For example, “After going shopping for the trip we are going to do what? We are going to pack for the trip.” Another example, “I want to show you my what? My house, so we are going to do what? We are going to walk there now.” It seems pointless, doesn’t it? But it happens a lot. Some of our muzungu friends equate it to our “umm” that is to say they are thinking about what they are saying as they are saying it, but that explanation is somewhat unsatisfactory to me. I think it is a device used to distinguish the speaker from the listener. It creates an “I am the teacher and you are my student” relationship. I think that might be a lot of the reason for it. Ugandans have a reputation of being very proud and this may be another manifestation of their pride. It’s just my humble opinion, though, I have no idea what the real reason for “The What” is.
A lot of the clothes people wear here have come from far away. It took me a long time to realize why I was seeing a lot of AIG shirts and Fly Emirates shirts. They’re the chief sponsors of Manchester United and Arsenal football teams. But when I ran into a guy wearing a jersey from my 4th grade soccer team at the gas station the other day I was a little surprised. The guy wearing it did not speak English but was willing to have his picture taken.
This man is hauling a bunch of matoke, an important staple, to the market. A bunch will sell for maybe 5000 Ush or 2.50 US, and last about a week in a household of 4. Some people I’ve seen live so far from the market, and in such hilly countryside, that they can push only 1 bunch of matoke at a time walking as far as 19km to the market, taking most of a day. Others I’ve seen can push 6 bunches at a time and make more than 1 trip to the market in a day, thus greatly increasing their hourly wage. Day to day living can be very different from village to village due to these differing conditions. It’s such an easy climate to live in but living is still a struggle. Our friend Danny, who recently went back to the states, has some great insight on this topic. See the link to his blog at the upper right hand corner of this page (Lynn And Danny’s Excellent Adventure) Miss you guys!
This may sound strange coming from me but I like to golf. I can count the number of times I’ve been golfing on my fingers and all but once they have been right here in my own backyard in Mbarara. It’s a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon. The cost is low (5000 Ush per person = $2.50 US and 2000 Ush per person tip for the caddy is standard) and the dress code is not enforced. It’s a 9 hole course but made 18 by using different places for teeing off. You have to watch for traffic as there are as many as 6 places where you are hitting over a road, and the neighborhood has no scruples about crossing the course for a shortcut. For clubs we borrow a friends, an Irish father named Charlie who has lived in Mbarara for some 20+ years. The set is incomplete and ancient, but I can’t complain. There’s me hitting one out of the park just before the gallery goes wild. The kids in the background are watching the game to learn how to be caddy’s and if we lose a ball they will find it for us, for a small fee of course. I’m going to miss playing golf because in the US it’s way too expensive and just not going to be the same.
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