My Melody Moment

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Time has come for yet another Melody Moment. Here at my house, we have a watchman at all times. There is one particular one who is here most of the time, and others take shorter shifts to relieve him each day. So this particular guard is named Michael, but everyone around here just calls him Askali. Now I have been seeing Askali almost every day for the past 2 1/2 months right? And this whole time I just call him Askali like everyone else, and when someone says Askali I know exactly who they're talking about. So the other day I was asking my language helper Diana how to tell the taxi man in Luganda, "Stop there where the guard is." Diana replied, "Koma wali awali Askali." Slightly confused, I looked at her and asked how the taxi man would know who I meant. Slightly confused back, she asked what I meant. I tried again. "Diana, how will they know who I'm talking about? Do they all know my guard's name?" Understanding lit in her eyes, and laughter spread throughout her body. Between chuckles, she said, "Askali is the word for watchman or guard! You thought his NAME was Askali?!?!?" I'm sure at that moment I was the reddest muzungu anyone has ever seen. Both of us couldn't stop laughing and giggling for the rest of the afternoon. Yes Diana, I've spent almost 3 months thinking Askali was that man's name. At this moment I'm glad Africans haven't discovered blonde jokes yet, cause I'm sure they would never stop after this.

Comments

  1. JillianOctober 11, 2011 at 10:40 AM

    You crack me up my dear! Pray the day blonde jokes make it to this continent never comes... (Just curious, is his name Askari or Askali?) xx

    ReplyDelete
  2. MelanieOctober 14, 2011 at 4:08 AM

    depends on if you're speaking Swahili or Luganda.... :)

    ReplyDelete

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