Walking around the city of Mombasa with gothic-pale skin one tends to stand out. Especially if you happened to be joined by two other whities. People are constantly trying to get our attention (they must recognize me from my blog) and yell out almost anything to do so. It has been a weird adjustment to have to rudely ignore people in the street but I am getting adept at this. Here is a list of some of the common and not-so-common things people have yelled at me (or us) in the street here:
1. Mzungu! (white person) - very common
2. Howayu??? - all the time
3. I love you
4. I like you
5. Obama! (I'm assuming that they were trying to build a quick rapport and not that I resemble the American president)
6. Norway? Norway! Norwaaay! - just once, apparently I'm *that* white
7. Ca va? Ca va bien.
8. Excuse me! Excuse me! Arrrrrgghhhhhhh!
Hi-C and I sat in on the classroom/nursery school next door to our office in to observe a child's performance in class. We were treated to a lesson about petticoats that was addressed to a group of co-ed five-year-olds. For those who don't know what a petticoat is - fear not - I was in the same circumstance as you just yesterday. It is not, in fact, a coat of any sort. It is a slip or some form of undergarment that goes under a skirt but over the panties. The teacher called out during a lesson about how we get ready in the morning and what we wear "And WHY do we wear a petticoat??? In case we sit carelessly and our legs should open!"
1. Mzungu! (white person) - very common
2. Howayu??? - all the time
3. I love you
4. I like you
5. Obama! (I'm assuming that they were trying to build a quick rapport and not that I resemble the American president)
6. Norway? Norway! Norwaaay! - just once, apparently I'm *that* white
7. Ca va? Ca va bien.
8. Excuse me! Excuse me! Arrrrrgghhhhhhh!
Hi-C and I sat in on the classroom/nursery school next door to our office in to observe a child's performance in class. We were treated to a lesson about petticoats that was addressed to a group of co-ed five-year-olds. For those who don't know what a petticoat is - fear not - I was in the same circumstance as you just yesterday. It is not, in fact, a coat of any sort. It is a slip or some form of undergarment that goes under a skirt but over the panties. The teacher called out during a lesson about how we get ready in the morning and what we wear "And WHY do we wear a petticoat??? In case we sit carelessly and our legs should open!"
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