Language

I made it a goal before I came over to Malawi to learn more Chichewa, or at least progress beyond the basic greetings. I am making progress, thanks to the generosity of the VCT counselors and clinic aides at the clinic and the lab technicians in the lab. Each day we focus on one phrase or group of words, so little by little (pang'ono pang'ono) I am understanding more. So far I can answer the questions, "where are you going?", "where are you coming from?", "how are you this morning/afternoon/evening?", "how is the home?", "how many patients did you see today?', and I can give a few commands, such as "I want ___". I just discovered today that when I thought I was saying "stay well" I was really saying "sleep well" which explains why I got so many funny looks since that was my standard parting words at all times of day. Today one of the counselors gave me a dictionary to take home and study and it is fascinating reading. For example, there is a verb that means specifically "to eat (nsima) without relish" (the verb is -sipa). Nsima is in parentheses because to eat usually means to eat nsima, and most Malawians will say that if they haven't eaten nsima then they haven't eaten.

Another interesting feature of Chichewa is the interchangeability of "R" and "L". Sometimes I am called Lillian, sometimes Ririan, and even sometimes "Rillian". The clinic aide made me a list of "transrations" to study. And everyone is still talking about last year's national erections.