Hi friends! Well, for a bit of comic relief, this week I thought I’d share a couple funny language mix-ups I made. Of the dozens I could share about, I’ll just choose two of the most recent.

The other day I was down in Kariakoo (downtown part of Dar that is very congested) talking with a shop owner, helping a friend buy a piece of material. We talked some, built a bit of relationship, then I asked the price and she gave me a high price (kama kawaida). I looked at her, and meant to say, “Oh mama, unahitaji kupunguza.” (You need to reduce the price.) Maybe I was tired or something, because what came out was, “Oh mama, unahitaji kupumzika!” (Mama, you need to lay down and take a nap!)

A few weeks ago, Dominik our night guard (who only speaks Swahili) told me he had “mchango,” and wanted money. I looked it up in the dictionary, and found that it meant “intestinal worms.” So I gave him some dawa (worm medicine) we had, and was happy we could help. He smiled, and went back to work. The next two days, the medicine was left just sitting at his station. When I asked him why he didn’t take it, he just nodded and said God helped him (Mungu ananisaidia). A couple weeks later, I was with Domi and George (our language teacher). I asked George about it, and Domi proceeded to tell him a story that had George rolling holding his sides. It ends up “mchango” has two meanings. It can mean worms, but in this case it meant a collection of money for the family. He was asking me for money to give his family, and I happily gave him worm medicine. OK, we’re on a journey! Hopefully we can keep laughing at ourselves, cause we’re in good company as there sure are plenty of Africans laughing at us.

Pressing on, Eric