whoopsy.......

Okay, this is not the update I promised yet. I have to run back to work soon or they'll get suspicious! But I just HAD to put this up immediately...

So I've been working really hard to improve my Swahili here on the coast. I've hired a tutor to work w/ me 3x a week and I've started trying to incorporate Swahili into my daily life, at work and at home. Last night I was home with my 16 year old sister, 7 year old bro, my mom and the baby. My mom had bought this special kind of bread that is sooo delicious--it tastes a bit like coconut flan...except more bread-like. Anyway, she told me the name of this bread in Tanzania (where she's originally from) is "mkate wa kumimina". I wanted to remember what she said, but the last word was new and gave me some trouble. So I said...out loud...to everyone: "okay, so the bread is called mkate wa......ku..ma..nina? Kumanina right?"

I knew as soon as the words left my mouth that I had said something completely ridiculous because my bro looked shocked, my sister and mom looked at each other with surprise, and then EVERYONE cracked up with mildly nervous laughter. It only took me about 4 seconds to realize that I had inadvertantly said an EXTREMELY vulgar swear word. Roughly translated, "kumanina" means "your mother's pussy". I had learned it from my friend Ashley's host-brother in Nairobi a few weeks ago because he kept yelling it at people while we were driving! Up until that moment, I hadn't even REMEMBERED I knew it. I was horrified that I'd said such a thing to my very Muslim family!!! Luckily, they thought it was funny and they understand that I'm learning and that I will make slip ups like that occasionally. But I do think from now on I'm just going to call that bread "mkate wa nazi" (coconut bread) to avoid any future problems!

I promise to write a long post about life on the coast soon. Promise promise promise.

Oh, and YAY OBAMA! His win was the greatest birthday present I could've ever asked for. Love you all! :)