Learning more Swahili

Learning more Swahili-

After Kilimanjaro Nolan and I get back to the town of Arusha. We get a well deserved long nights rest and leave our hotel and go check out the town center the following morning. Having already spent 2 days there before Nolan arrived I warned him that the hawkers and hustlers are particularly aggressive. I predicted that as soon as we left our small side street and hit the main drag we’d be approached within a minute. 15 seconds later a guy walks up “just to chat”. Nolan says to the guy “we are just walking to town, already got everything we need and are all good”. The guy takes offense to it and asks what that is supposed to mean. Nolan sticks with polite ambiguity and just says “just means were good”. I normally have a relaxed and friendly demeanor with these people the third world over, but I was still fatigued from the hike and just didn’t want to deal with it that day. I jump in with more a direct definition- “it means don’t try to sell us anything because we aren’t interested, we’ve been here 2 weeks and nobody we’ve met just wants to talk and be friendly, everyone has their hand out in one way or another and we aren’t interested today” he huffs and puffs, flails his arms and starts walking ahead “you guys are messed up, I was just walking the same direction and caught up to meet you. If you don’t want to accept that fine!” We both feel bad and although we know he’s still working his angle we apologize, told him we meant no offense to him personally, but wanted to manage any expectations he may have. We would love to talk and get to know him, but have nothing to offer in return. Cautiously we walk and talk with the guy. We’re not looking for a guide, but we can’t shake him. The one good thing is the new Swahili phrase he taught us “apana asante” meaning no thank you. He says “if you say it in English they know your just a tourist and will keep pestering you. If you use Swahili it shows you’ve been here a while and they’ll usually give up and move on right away”. We add this phrase to our existing Swahili repertoire we picked up on the mountain. As we are walking along a few people approach selling maps, sunglasses, or whatever. Every time we bust out apana asante it works like magic. No argument, no second tries, they just turn and walk away.

Everything is going fine and he’s acting like the homey, he voluntarily walks us through the local market, through the spice section and past the butchers. Whenever he offers to help with pictures or take us to a rooftop for a city view we politely decline because we are just there for a stroll and to take it all in. Finally he says he has to take off and Yahtzee- “can I get a tip for showing you around?”

We knew it was coming eventually and reminded him that he specifically said he wanted nothing from us. That he followed us to “get to know us” on his own accord and that giving him a tip for that goes against the principle of “friendship”. He gets a little pissy and says “how about a coke?” I’m thirsty and just want to get something to drink. “Ok fair enough” I say. “A coke is something I’m happy to buy a friend”. “I don’t want a coke, coke is bad for you” he replies. “Ok how about a bottle of water?”. He shakes his head. “Oh I get it, you want cash so you can buy yourself something to drink, is that it?” “Yes”. I reach in my pocket and hand him 2000 schilling, which is enough for a 6 pack if coke in a local market. He gets pissy again and says it’s not enough, he wants more money. By now Nolan and I have had enough and we’re done with the guy. We start walking away and he’s following saying things like “you guys are cheap! I bet you didn’t even tip your porters on Kilimanjaro!… Give me some more money for giving you a tour of the markets!”… I turn over my shoulder and say what’s obvious to come next- “apana asante”. He walks away blood boiling with cartoon steam coming out of his ears and yells “I knew you were gonna say that!!”

Bob