Mzungu

“Mzungu!” I hear this word pretty much all the time. Or I hear “blah blah blah, gibberish, mzungu blah blah” which is even better. Initially, I was told that “Mzungu” roughly means “white person,” which I think is hilarious, because people don’t say “Hey mzungu!” like a greeting, no no, they just shout “white person!” as though alerting all non-whitey’s of the presence of a person who not only looks strange, but may, with some coaxing, be willing to pay you money for something or other. Let’s face it, I do look strange to the kids here, and yes I pay people to do my laundry, drive me places and give me bananas, so the logic is not faulty.
When Christine arrived (my classmate who is doing the IHOP with me) she informed me that “Mzungu” actually translates to “person who walks around in circles.” Well, this is even better! Hey! “person who doesn’t know where the heck she is going!” you want to buy some bananas? Why yes I do, wembale ngo (thank you very much).