Next showing of "The Mzungu" in 5 minutes!
Sometimes I think that the 2nd goal of PC (to help people get to know American culture better) should be rephrased to resemble something like, "you are being sent to this village in the middle of nowhere in order to entertain the locals". Because that is generally what it feels like most of the time. And usually I don't mind it all that much, just because seeing the reactions of people are quite often just too funny-I'm entertained just as much as they are!
When I go walking around (especially in more rural parts), you'll have almost everyone calling to the other people in the compound as you walk by, saying "Hey! Come look at the mzungu!" and of course this happens more or less every single day, several times a day. Those, I've just come to ignore, because they're just annoying.
But my favorite game is when I'm sitting in a cafe, matatu or wherever. Someone comes in, and says either to their companion or as a general announcement to the whole room, "Whoah, a mzungu!" (or some permutation thereof). Of course they're saying this in Kiswahili or Kimeru, and it never occurs to them that the mzungu just might know that they're talking about her. (Never mind that the word 'mzungu' is pretty striking, and even people who don't speak any Kiswa at all know at that point that people are talking about them). So there are a few fun ways of dealing with this scenario. Say I'm in a matatu. Sometimes I'll turn to the person who's talking to me, and tell them that yes, I am a mzungu, and I'm on my way home. I love watching the confused expressions on their faces; A mzungu who speaks Kiswahili!? Who thought of such a thing? Otherwise I'll keep quiet & pretend that I didn't hear, but on my way out of the matatu, I'll tell the tout (the guy who takes the money from people and serves the role of general public menace in other diverse and interesting ways) to let me out at the next road, or something else, just so they realize that I probably knew they were talking about me. Not that they really care- me speaking Kiswahili just serves to liven up the story that they're going to tell the family over dinner. Because a mzungu is interesting, but a mzungu speaking Kiswa is closer to 'circus freak' & deserves repeated retelling to numerous people. And I feel that I am doing a service, in that we're both being entertained.
But now that I've actually started to put some effort into learning Kimeru (a really bizarre language, I've got 2 new unpronouncable vowels to learn!), I've begun to imagine the new, fun possibilities that this could offer! I've already started thanking people when I get off matatu in Kimeru, and it's great watching the people inside nearly pee their pants as the matatu drives away.
So yeah, that is the way that I entertain myself these days. You take what you can get.
When I go walking around (especially in more rural parts), you'll have almost everyone calling to the other people in the compound as you walk by, saying "Hey! Come look at the mzungu!" and of course this happens more or less every single day, several times a day. Those, I've just come to ignore, because they're just annoying.
But my favorite game is when I'm sitting in a cafe, matatu or wherever. Someone comes in, and says either to their companion or as a general announcement to the whole room, "Whoah, a mzungu!" (or some permutation thereof). Of course they're saying this in Kiswahili or Kimeru, and it never occurs to them that the mzungu just might know that they're talking about her. (Never mind that the word 'mzungu' is pretty striking, and even people who don't speak any Kiswa at all know at that point that people are talking about them). So there are a few fun ways of dealing with this scenario. Say I'm in a matatu. Sometimes I'll turn to the person who's talking to me, and tell them that yes, I am a mzungu, and I'm on my way home. I love watching the confused expressions on their faces; A mzungu who speaks Kiswahili!? Who thought of such a thing? Otherwise I'll keep quiet & pretend that I didn't hear, but on my way out of the matatu, I'll tell the tout (the guy who takes the money from people and serves the role of general public menace in other diverse and interesting ways) to let me out at the next road, or something else, just so they realize that I probably knew they were talking about me. Not that they really care- me speaking Kiswahili just serves to liven up the story that they're going to tell the family over dinner. Because a mzungu is interesting, but a mzungu speaking Kiswa is closer to 'circus freak' & deserves repeated retelling to numerous people. And I feel that I am doing a service, in that we're both being entertained.
But now that I've actually started to put some effort into learning Kimeru (a really bizarre language, I've got 2 new unpronouncable vowels to learn!), I've begun to imagine the new, fun possibilities that this could offer! I've already started thanking people when I get off matatu in Kimeru, and it's great watching the people inside nearly pee their pants as the matatu drives away.
So yeah, that is the way that I entertain myself these days. You take what you can get.
posted by Erin @ 8:06 AM
1 Comments:
At 10:15 AM,
Anonymous said…
EJ, You might note that this is not limited to your situation. Anyplace where you are obviously different (the Orient, Europe, Middle East), people will notice you and say "Look at the ...." in their native language. Same thing when little kids see a handicapped person. If you respond to them in their language, they actually appreciate it. ANND you can create some interesting situations. Sometimes they are embarrassed, which they should be.
As far as the "saving face" situation in an earlier post, again that is an Oriental trait. "Oriental" not necessarily being limited to Japanese, Chinese, etc. It's meant in a more worldly concept. Yes, it's annoying when you want a straight answer and you will waste a lot of time until you realize that they don't really want to do that. Once they see some gelt from their efforts, maybe they'll get more interested.
Hang in there ... once you catch on to all the quirks it will be time to move on. Cheers Rich in NH
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