Saturday 26 November 2011

End



Note for the folks at home: the magic of the internet has begun its slow march across rural Kenya. This has been made possible by a number of technological revolutions in the recent past. First, electricity (usually sourced by hydroelectric or geothermal plants) has become more common in the 'bigger' towns throughout rural Kenya. Next, with available electricity, computers (usually fairly ancient Windows machines) are finding their ways into schools and businesses. Finally, portable pay-as-you-go "key drive" modems (using the existing mobile phone networks --- also becoming very common) bring the web right into the hands of the very confused rural users. Next challenge: explaining "lolcats".

Friday 18 November 2011

Bullfighting



Note for the folks at home: As all of my knowledge on traditional bull fighting is second-hand (at best), I can't guarantee the accuracy of any of this additional information: bull fighting is a tradition of the Luhya tribe, which originated around the Kakamega region in western Kenya. The fight is not to the death; a winner is decided long before one of the bulls dies. The bulls are, according to all of the sources I can find, given controlled substances, but my colleague (pictured above) is the only source attesting that this substance is Marijuana, and not some form of traditional alcoholic brew.
And a note for mom: please ignore the image of two high bulls above.

Friday 11 November 2011

American Phrases



Note for the folks at home: while American slang is nearly nonexistent in Kenya, it's impossible to overlook the existence of "Sheng". Sheng is, nominally, a colloquial mixture of English and Kiswahili most popular, not surprisingly, with the youth of Kenya. In practice, it seems to be something much more complex and sinister. So far, I've documented reversed syllables ("kuja hapa", 'come here', becoming "jaku paha"), flagrantly extended ending vowels ("ugali", a popular Kenyan food, becoming "ugalaio"), and the total deconstruction of English to what I can only term 'AIM Speak' ("hi iz u cmn 2 da prti?") as 'legitimate' examples of Sheng.

Saturday 5 November 2011

Super!



Note for the folks at home: Kisamburu is the local "mother tongue" of Maralal, the native language spoken by the indigenous people of the region: the Samburu tribe. "Supa" is the standard greeting, to which the response, "oyie", should be given in a slightly rising inflection... something I've yet to master to the point where it doesn't cause my listeners to laugh/cringe. Other Kisamburu phrases: "supa deyi", "serian" (both greetings), and "kara lmalimoi" ("I am a teacher"). The lone syllable "eh" is a tremendously common part of speech. It seems to have a great deal of conflicting meanings, to the point where one can't help but think it was invented with the sole purpose of confusing foreigners.