"You Are Lost!"

            I returned from Queen Elizabeth National Park a few days ago and just realized I haven’t updated this thing in a few weeks. Time flies when you’re having fun, I suppose.

            Uganda’s national languages are English and Swahili, although in the area I’m in, Luganda is more common.  For the most part, you can get around with English in Kampala, but there are certain phrases and customs that are necessary in order to not sound like a tourist. My Lusoga/Luganda is poor at best. These languages are very different sounding from English and 80% of the time I speak Spanish before finding the right word in the Luganda. It’s comical, but I find the different expressions in English much more entertaining.

            I left Sanyu for three days to meet the Service-Learning Team and travel to Queen Elizabeth National Park. The drive was long, the animals were big, and I had to use an Epi Pen on one of my supervisors who had an anaphylactic reaction to a sting.

Elephant

Rafiki

SO MANY LIONS

So….. On my return to the children’s home I was greeted with, “You are lost!” This phrase that means “I haven’t seen you in awhile”.  It’s a goofy experience when bunches of people are telling you, “You are lost” when you know exactly where you are.

One of my favorite things about Uganda is you can walk down the street, trip on a rock, and a stranger on the other side of the road will apologize. It’s a way of expressing sympathy rather than taking responsibility for a wrongdoing. It’s the most popular word when babies fall while learning to walk, but it’s not like they push them over.

Even amongst my friends we often get confused when speaking the same language. “Happening” is similar to “Going Out”, “You Look Smart” is “Well Dressed”, “Benching” is “Shacking”, and “Are We Together?” means “Are We On The Same Page” (Embarrassing when you think you’re being asked on a date, clearly, not on the same page).

Lost in translation, happily back home at Sanyu.