Somo la kiswahili ( Swahili Lesson Number 1)

Karibu!

We have officially been in KENYA for nine days now. I still find myself having moments where I
stopped and think:
1)WOW I am in Kenya
2)WOW I am just beginning one of the most life changing experiences with sixteen of the most amazing individuals I have ever meet
This is my first blog post and I am busting with thoughts, ideas and experiences to share with all of you. This blog post is in tribute to Sammy, the amazing chef of Flamingo Heights. Sammy is a trickster! He is great at teaching Swahili although he has tried to teach me as well as the other Canadians “Hakuna Matatu” instead of “Hakuna Matata”. The thing I love most about Swahili is that it is phonetics. Most times I can guess correctly how a word is spelt and it makes sounding out words MUCH easier than any other language I have ever learned. Sammy, as well as the Y.E.S.S members have been helping us Canadians learn some Swahili words. Here is a brief summary of what we have learned so far:

Moja- one
Mbili-two
Tatu-three
Nne- four
Tano- five
Sita- six
Saba- seven
Nane- eight
Tisa- nine
Ten- kumi
Eleven- kumi na moja
Twenty- ishirini

Sukumawiki- “push the week”, vegetable (looks similar to spinach, but has a very unique flavor)
Nyamachoma- grilled meat
Mandazi- breakfast donut
kuku- chicken
Chakula killikuwa kitamu sana- the food is very delicious

Naije wasee- hey guys, what’s up?
Sawa – do you understand?
Sindio- are you with me?
Sema- talk to me
Poa- cool
Mzuri sana- good
Vipee- how’s it going?
Sasa- hey

Samahenee- excuse me
ndio- yes
Hapana- no
Asante sana- thank you very much
Sawa sawa- okay
Pole pole- slowly
Tafadhali- please
Pole- sorry

Mambo- hi
Karibu- welcome
Jambo- hello
Habari- greetings
Usiku njema- goodnight
Lala salama- sleepwell
Habari ya asubuhi- good morning
Habari ya jioni- good evening
Furaha yakupatana nawewe- it’s nice to meet you
Jina langu ni – my name is
Jina lako ni- what is your name
Habari yako- how are you?
Mzuri sana- I am good
Jewewe- and you?
Kwaheri- goodbye

Hakuna matata- no worries
Badoe- can mean anything, even substitute a name

For the past week we have been busy practice teaching, getting to know each other, learning the teaching material inside and out, and learning pyche games from each other (which can be used in the classrooms!). The Kenyadians taught us Canadians how to count in Swahili by a simple counting game. On Monday afternoon, we all layed down outside on the grass and tired to count to 10 and then 20 in Swahili as a group. The task may sound easy but it actually ended up occupying our attention for quite some time. The trick to the game is we have to count to 10 as a group without communicating who is going to say which number and there can be no order. This past week has been so AMAZING! I have just loved getting to know all the Y.E.S.S members and I am just itching to get into the classrooms. I am super pumped for the next six weeks!



Hadi wakati mwingine!
Till Next time!
deirdre a.k.a dre <3