Wait, hadn’t he said earlier that he studied
medicine? Well, veterinary is animal medicine. And hadn’t the
Ugandan civil war ended years ago? True, the authorities claimed so, but in
reality, the country was extremely dangerous—just today, six people had been
killed, guerrillas were everywhere, trains weren’t running, boats on Lake
Victoria were very unsafe, and they strongly advised me against going there.
Janin Klemenčič (to be continued)
Then his friend appeared— considerably older
and not particularly intelligent-looking. He was also very polite, though his
English was much worse.
Janin Klemenčič (to be continued)
When we entered a building with no sign of a
restaurant, I checked if my knife was still in place.
On the first
floor, you could indeed get a drink, but there were no other guests.
In East Africa, soft drinks and beer are a state
monopoly, and their price in shops is almost the same as in the best hotels.
All other drinks are significantly more expensive.
Janin Klemenčič (to be continued)
I concluded that he was probably the son of wealthy
parents, not often in Nairobi, and thus didn’t see many white people. Well, I
could spare some time—maybe he’d have something interesting to say.
Janin Klemenčič (to be continued)
It comes from the Kiswahili verb kuzunguka:
'to wander around aimlessly, like a mad person.' The Swahili word for a
hangover, kuzungu-zungu ('my head's going round and round'),
comes from the same root.
Travelers wandering around aimlessly and nursing
hangovers? Not much has changed...
Janin Klemenčič (to be continued)
Swahili is a mixture of East African languages,
Arabic, and English.
In Tanzania, Kenya, and parts of neighboring
countries, it is introduced as a second official language because communication
among the multitude of tribal languages would otherwise be difficult.
"Habari?" for
example, is a distorted version of "How are you?"
Janin Klemenčič (to be continued)
