“I’m cool as a goat”

“I’m cool as a goat”

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Languages is definitely not my strongest thing. I learned couple of phrases in Swahili prior to my Kilimanjaro trip, just enough to ask some basic questions. Here is my “I’m cool as a goat” story for you, my  own Monty Python “my hovercraft is full of eels” moment.

“I’m cool as a goat”

kili_porters_tent
Porters resting in the tent, Karanga Camp, Lemosho trail

I was wondering around the camp after dinner on Day 4 of our climb and got into the porters’ tent. They invited me in and offered a cup of tea. They were finishing their dinner. Majority of them didn’t speak any English, so I decided to practice my Swahili.

“Kuku?”(chicken), I asked pointing to the stew.

“Mbuzi”(goat), one of the porters replied.

Word “mbuzi” sounded very familiar; I knew I’ve heard this word (similar to “ndizi”, that means “banana”). I said:

 “Poa kichizy kama mbuzi!”.

The phrase I was trying to say was “Poa kichizy kama ndizi” (popular Swahili conversational phrase, that means “I’m cool as a banana”) Instead, I said, “I’m cool as a goat”. Some guys laughed, the rest looked very confused.  I didn’t understand why they laughed.

I repeated louder: “Poa kichizy kama mbuzi!”.  All of them laughed.

“Poa kichizy kama ndizi.” one of the guys corrected me.

I was so proud that I almost got it right.

“Yes! Yes! Poa kichizy kama ndizi”, I said.

My brain stopped working. “Mbuzi” and “ndizhi”, they sound so similar, one of those words means “banana”.  But which one? And why they make a banana stew?? I was so confused.

“Ndizi?” I asked pointing to a stew plate.

They couldn’t stop laughing, I was laughing too. One of them got up, went outside, and brought back a little green banana.

“Ndizi,” he said pointing to the banana

“Mbuzi”, he said pointing to a plate of stew.

I was even more confused. Then one of the guides who spoke English got into the tent. They had a conversation in Swahili. I had no clue what they were talking about, but I was able to recognize “ndizi”, “mbuzi”, “Poa kichizi kama ndizi”. Finally, the guide looked and me and said:

“Ndizi- banana, mbuzi-goat”.

Languages are fun!

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