ndizi hizi ni nzuri!

Translation: These bananas are good!

(this is one of the many fun sentences to say...the "n" is pronounced as if you were saying "No")!



Thursday January 17, 08

I have decided to write quickly today as I will have a busy weekend coming up!! :) Just a few things that are new and a few things that I forgot to mention!

Note: I need to correct a word I wrote yesterday: sababu ... it means a reason (not a doubt)!

* On Monday I learned a couple verbs that I forgot to mention that I think are very hmm... significant?!!
~The first is kupenda: to like/love THERE IS NO DIFFERENTIATION!!! I was very stunned by this as there is a VERY big difference!! One teacher told me that if you mean "love" then maybe say it with more emphasis or with more sparkle in your eye! haha My teacher, Elizabeth, said that they borrow the word love from English now though to distinguish between them!

~The second verb is kuna: to be "with/bring with" which means "to have" in English. The language does not have a verb "to have," meaning, to own, because it is a communal culture. They truly value interdependence, community, sharing, and relationships!!! That is a big change from our culture....

*Every Monday we can get a new roll of toilet paper and to my surprise when I opened up my roll... was the color blue!! BLUE toilet paper!! I know. Hard to believe, but it's true. It's more of a greyish blue, but blue nonetheless! :)

*Yesterday I learned the phrase: Haraka Haraka Haina Baraka! It is a Swahili proberb literally translated: Hurrying Hurrying is not a Blessing!
This is definitely something that is opposite of what my life used to be...although I have been getting better the past year (though some may not believe!) this can even apply to my super fast talking...which comes naturally...anyway, it has given me something to think about. However, as I get used to and enjoy "Afrika time" this is much easier to apply to my life here!
~My teacher explained it as: it is better to go slowly the first time and not make mistakes than to say go fast and have to go back and correct...or if someone was running somewhere super fast, it is better to go slow so as not to trip and fall on something.

*This morning at tea we had a new snack: fried plantains!!! Plantains look like mini bananas but taste differently. Swahili has the same word: ndizi for both bananas and plantains!
They fried the plantains, added salt, and the result: literally tastes like french fries!!! :)


That is all for now!! Have a excellent day!

with joy,
Alana :)


Psalm 23: 1-2

"The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not be in want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul"

My translation: The Lord is who guides me, it is He that I follow, for it is not about what I want (because he knows what I NEED).
He makes me a woman of rest in a non-modernized world, he leads me to a distant country, where he restores, revives, and renews my soul.