Baktanke

I’m learning Swedish. Well, I’m learning some Swedish words….random ones….ones that come up haphazardly in conversation with my three Swedish roommates who I affectionately refer to as “the Swedes.” Here are a few of them for your reading pleasure.

Glap: “gap”, like the infuriating gap that separates the small metal connections between Therese’s European computer charger and the Ugandan adaptor, causing her to sit there and hold it in the wall or strategically place a chair so that it presses against the conglomeration of converters, just so. Now I hear the dulcet tones of Therese from the other room… “angry rapid Swedish words….glap…more angry Swedish”, and I know exactly what’s going on.
Vig: “Flexible” in the bendy sense, not the “yeah sure, whatever” sense. I made my first pun in Swedish with this word because one of the doctors was saying that here in Uganda its good to be flexible and I said “don’t worry, I’m quite vig.” He didn’t get it, but I was laughing on the inside and I told the Swedes about it later J
Genväg blir senväg: “Short cut becomes long cut.” This happens when you’re running in the morning down our street and instead of taking the road, you try to cut through the dirt trail on the other side of the little gutter next to the road and your path is blocked by a cluster of goats and you have to turn around. Short cut makes long cut when the goats are grazing.
Sävlig: “A bit slow” This one comes up a lot around me....I don’t know why.
Jag har en baktanke: This is my personal favorite, meaning “I have an ulterior motive.” I love this phrase and have been announcing to the Swedish-speaking-world that I am not to be trusted ever since I learned it. My friend Sanje (who is hilarious) has learned to say “well, so do I!” (I don’t know these Swedish words) in response to this declaration and we’ve been exchanging vows of dubious secret intentions for the past several days. Fan-freaking-tastic.

Photos:
Therese and I at Sipi Falls, the most gorgeous place on earth...though you can't tell from this picture
Medical student dinner with Diane (Makarere U medical student) and the Swedes.
Me and Kajsa at Mpanga forrest