I am finally finished with the three weeks of Peace Corps workshops, and it feels great to be home. When I arrived back to my site, my neighbors were beyond excited with my return. They had some of the students help me clean my house, and they did an amazing job. They swept, scrubbed the floors, and dusted everything. I don’t think my house has ever been so clean – I am so grateful for my awesome neighbors. I did say in my last post that I was worried I was going to find some critters in my house and/or latrine. Well, I had reason to be worried. There was a dead and decomposing rat in my latrine. It was actually STUCK to the floor and my neighbors had to scrape it off. It smelled like death in my latrine; I was gagging. They then scrubbed the floors, so now it’s back to its clean self. Phew!
During my three weeks away, I realized my whole training group has started to pick up a few Ugandan phrases. While sometimes we are joking, sometimes we cannot help talking like a Ugandan. In order to understand, I think that I need to teach you a little Ugandan English:
1. Greetings are more than just a simple “How are you?” Here is how a typical greeting will go with a random person on the road:
A: “How are you?”
B: “I’m fine”
A: “Mmm.”
B: “How are you?”
A: “I’m fine.”
B: “Mmmm.”
A: “How is there?”
B: “Good. How is home?”
A: “Fine. Well done.”
B: “Mmm. Thank you for your work.”
A: “Mmm.”
A: “Mmm.”
From there you can continue down the road. And, yes, the “Mmms” are essential in every greeting. I actually usually say “mmm” when someone speaks to me in Lugwere and I don’t understand. In most cases, it will suffice!
2. You will find yourself saying all of these phrases constantly if you are in Uganda an extended period of time:
- Well done
- Thank you for your work
- It’s okay
- Eh, sorry (sorry is pronounced more like soddy”
- “You first wait” or “You first come”
- If something is broken – it’s “spoiled”.
- If your phone battery is dead – it’s “finished”
- If a restaurant ran out of French fries, which are chips here, then the chips are “over”.
3. I feel like I should elaborate on some of these phrases. For instance, “it’s okay” is the response to everything. When I tell my neighbor that I’m off to Mbale to do some grocery shopping, he or she will usually say, “It’s okay.” If I ask a question, and I’m not understood, then the response will just be “it’s okay.” It’s a universal response to anything.
4. “Eh, soddy” can be used in all contexts. For example: If you’re sick, you drop your pen, you trip, your phone battery is finished, or if your computer is spoiled.
A: “My mom has the flu.”
B: “Ehh, soddy. I missed your call because my phone is finished.”
A: “Eh, soddy.”
Person A drops their pencil accidentally.
B: “Eh, soddy.”
You get the picture.
5. If you are gone for a long time, then people will tell you that you have been “lost.” Since I was gone for three weeks at workshops, people keep coming by to tell me, “Ah! You have been lost.”
6. Statements can always be turned into questions. “The phone is what? It is spoiled.” “The food is what? The food is over.” “I am what? I am hungry.” This is a nasty habit we have all picked up – it started out as a joke, but now most of can’t help speaking in statements/questions.
7. When you return home, some people say “well be back” instead of saying, “welcome back.” We have not started saying this, but we all want to know why this is said.
For all the people reading this that have been to Uganda, I know you’re thinking, “yup, totally!” For everyone else, I’m sure you’re thinking, “huh?” All I have to say is, come visit me and you will understand completely. Otherwise, in two years you will start to notice that I sometimes speak like this myself. Kind of like when I picked up a little bit of a Midwestern accent when I went to UW.
This blog post is now what? Finished.
Can't wait to visit n hear it myself :)
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