Abel, Fani, na Lydia

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I wrote in a previous entry about Abel, the gardener, and his cute daughter Lydia. Lydia had been deathly afraid of me and Abel and I have only greeted each other. Until yesterday. Sara and Kayli (the two LSU girls) have taken a liking to Lydia so she has slowly warmed up to me. Yesterday, however, we were like friends. It was pretty sweet.

So yesterday, Sara was sitting outside talking to Abel and his wife, Fani, while Lydia was walking around doing her thing. I arrived home and decided to join in on the conversation. They know absolutely no English (we taught them "Hello" and "Goodbye") so everything was conducted in Kiswahili. This was the first full test of my Swahili speaking and listening abilities. So here is the story of their life.

Abel and Fani are both from Malawi. I do not remember the name of their village, but it is near the border with Tanzania. Fani is Abel's second wife. With the first wife, he had a son named Abel who is now 12. The first wife left with his son and gardener Abel does not know where they are. With Fani, Abel has a 6 year old boy named Winston who stayed in Malawi with his grandfather. Lydia was born in Tanzania. Fani is 24 years old and Abel is ... older. Deborah (the house girl) thinks that he is 29.

Since they are from Malawi, their mother tongue is Chichewa. They therefore speak Swahili with a strange accent that reminds me of Elina's (the TA's) French accent. When Abel and Fani speak Swahili, it sounds as if they are gulping over the words. It seems strange to write, but if you heard it, you would think the same thing. Both Abel and Fani were happy when I mentioned that I want to go to Malawi. They are very proud of their country.

Now, just for kicks, here is this entry in Swahili. After, I will have a closing comment in English. For all who wanted to know, this is what Swahili looks like:

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Niliandika katika makala nyingine kuhusu Abel, ambaye ni mkulima wa bustani, na binti yake Lydia. Lydia hajanipenda na Abel na mimi tunasalamana tu. Mpaka jana. Sara na Kayli (wanafunzi wa LSU) wanapenda sana Lydia; kwa hiyo Lydia ameanza kunipenda. Jana, tunafanana na rafiki. Safi.

Jana, Sara alikaa nje na alizungumza na Abel na mke wake, Fani. Kwa pamoja, Lydia alizungukazunguka. Nilipofika nyumbani, nilianza kuzungumza na wao pia. Hawajui Kiingereza (tuliwafundisha "Hello" na "Goodbye") kwa hiyo kila neno lilikuwa kwa Kiswahili. Wakati ule, nilikuwa na jaribio la kwanza langu kwa kusema na kusikiliza kwa Kiswahili. Hapa ni haditho yao.

Abel na Fani wanatoka Malawi. Sifahamu jina la kijiji chao, lakini ni karibu na mpaka wa Tanzania. Fani ni mke wa pili wa Abel. Na mkie wa kwanza, Abel ana mtoto wa kiume. Yeye anaitwa Abel pia na ana miaka kumi na mbili. Mke wa kwanza aliondoka na Abel mdogo na sasa, Abel mkubwa hajui mahali ambako wanako. Na Fani, Abel ana mtoto wa kiume mwingine anayeitwa Winston na ambaye ana miaka sita. Winston anakaa Malawi na babu yake. Lydia alizaliwa Tanzania. Fani ana miaka ishirini na nne. Abel ana ... zaidi. Deborah anafikiri kwamba yeye ana miaka ishirini na tisa.

Kwa sababu wanatoka Malawi, lugha ya mama yao ni Kichewa. Kwa hiyo, wanazungumza kwa Kiswahili na lafudhi ngeni. Lafudhi hii inanikumbusha na lafudhi ya Elina anapozungumza kwa Kisfaransa. Abel na Fani wanapozungumza kwa Kiswahili, Kiswahili chao ni kama mtu fulani anayegugumia juu ya kila neno. Ni kugeni kuiandika, lakini ungeisikia, ungeifikiri pia. Abel na Fani walifurahi niliposema kwamba ninataka kusafiri Malawi. Wanaona fahari nchi yao.

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Writing that in Swahili was a good exercise for me. It made me think and use sentence structures that I don't use very often. Finally, on a much more random note, here is a saying that I found on several t-shirts and which I think is absolutely amazing:
TANZANIA BILA UKIMWI. INAWEZEKANA.
Tanzania without AIDS. It is possible.

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