My Classes

I figure that since this is my last week of classes, I should probably do a little post on what I've taken so far this semester.

First off, I've taken first semester of Kiswahili. Ninapenda Kiswahili kwa sababu lugha ni rahisi (I like Swahili because the language is easy). We know it as Swahili in the States, but it's called Kiswahili as the "Ki" denotes a language. For example, Kiswahili, Kikamba, Kingereza (English), etc. Luckily, there is little you have to change between verb tenses, making the language pretty easy to pick up. On the other hand, using it in the city is a little different. For one, Sheng. Sheng is the slang language of Kenya with a mix of English and Swahili, hence its name. Despite this, I've been able to put together sentences pretty well and can do basic things like bargain, order, etc. in Kiswahili with a little Sheng thrown in so I can pretend like I know what I'm doing.

For example, the normal Nairobi greeting involves either "Mambo", to which you respond "Poa" or "Habari gani/leo/etc." to which you respond "Mzuri". However, Sheng is "Sasa", to which you respond "Fit" (pronounced feet). That and using the word "bao" which means 20 shillings is helpful when using the matatus.

In addition to Kiswahili, I've taken a class on development and another on country analysis. For development, we've looked at how Kenya has developed since colonialism, and how modes of development have played a role in Kenya. For country analysis, we've studied the country of Kenya as a whole, learning about the people, politics and history of the country. For this class, we have a professor named Dr. Jonyo who is one of the funniest people I've ever met. He has his name monogrammed on all his shirts, and he also loves to tell outrageous stories.

Another aspect of our class time has been having guest lecturers. We've had guests come and talk on such varying topics as women in Islam, community development and my personal favorite who we had today, a ethnomusicologist. He talked to us about the basics of Kenya singing, dancing and instrument playing. We learned about the basic instruments of traditional Kenya music, as well as a few songs and even got to get up and learn how to dance a few moves. It was fun!

I hope that you are all doing well, and enjoying a Wisconsin March day!