The Mzungu learns Lumasaaba

Mulembe readers! Whitey (now Mzungu rather than gringo, but equally assured I’m not to take offense) is at it again, this time for a 5 month stint teaching in Uganda, East Africa. I’m currently being oriented to the language, culture, and expectations of the job in Kampala, the nation’s capital before shipping out to Mbale, the second largest city in the east of the country this weekend.

The weather here is perfect with temps generally in the 70s-80s. I‘ve spent the week adjusting to the humidity, however, which leaves me drenched in sweat at the start of meetings each morning from the 400m uphill climb. This is hilarious to my new hosts who consider the weather ‘cold’ currently (Saipan cold, anyone?) and peel off a jacket when arriving to work to reveal full suits underneath. I get a friendly prodding from Eric each morning that maybe I’m sweating a little less today. On day one of orientation, he proudly announced that Ugandans are known to be the friendliest people in the world, with 57% of respondents to a 2017 BBC poll giving the highest rating (compared to 26% average globally) and no respondents rating it negatively.  So far in my experience, I have no reason to doubt him (but I did look up the stat in order to report it accurately here).

Today I had my first lesson in Lumasaaba, a Bantu language with multiple dialects spoken by over 2 million people in East Africa. Gisu is the dialect most common to the eastern region of Uganda where I will be working.  My friendly language instructor greets me with “Mulembe Mike - I’m Frances, but you can call me Mango… not orange.” Mulembe, meaning “peace,” as I’ll soon learn, is just the beginning of an extended greeting ritual that should be conducted each day upon first meeting your co-workers. I’m told this exchange is an important part of building rapport with coworkers and patients alike. For your enjoyment (and my practice) I’ll share it with you here!

Mulembe Mike - Mulembe Frances

Nakhusimile (glad to see you) - ninase nakhusimile (also glad to see you)

Wakonele uryena (how did you sleep?) - nakonele bulayi (I slept well)

Bengo baryena (how are they at home?) - bengo balayi (they are well at home)

Wakinyala (thank you for your works/well done) - ninawe wakinyala (also thank you)

Frances and I repeated this exchange maybe a dozen times until he was satisfied that I was sufficiently versed in this important greeting. Then he tells me, “or you can just say Kamakhuwa? (any news?) to which the appropriate reply is Kasila! (Nothing!/no news!). He says, “I didn’t want to teach you that first because then you might get lazy.” At which point I stifled a laugh. 

While at first glance there may not seem to be much rhyme or reason to the exchange above, my patient tutor broke down all the words into their roots until I was beginning to see a pattern and able to create short sentences of my own. The language is largely phonetic, so Frances was pleased with my pronunciation given my experience with Spanish. Verb conjugation continues to pose a challenge, but there’s more lessons to come. Wish me luck!