What they hear and what we say and vice versa

We often get communications wrong, it’s just hard to understand two kinds of English.

Just now Bill went down to check on the guys who are washing little Topapa, our car (it’s been raining and the car is now red-mud, not blue). One of them said there was a wire in the tire, and it was leaking. “This one,” as they refer to each other, said he could fix it and Bill figured he’d patch it. Then Bill went down later, and the guy had put the spare on. That’s what he meant by fix it. Bill came back, shaking his head about how we get about 80 percent of what we hear.

Here’s another example. On the way home from the airport after dropping off Steve and Bobbie, our driver/friend Elias was talking as usual about the wonders of the USA, how the streets are paved with gold, etc. It was about 10 p.m. and we were driving through downtown Kampala. The bustling businesses on Kampala Road were quiet, their doorways empty. I had a sudden vision of downtown Seattle doorways after hours, and in my usual attempt at reality, I told Elias, “In the US, the homeless would be sleeping in all these doorways.” Whereupon he paused, and then replied, “People here really don’t like homos for some reason …” It took a good five minutes for me to realize he thought I had said “homos,” not “homeless.” Somewhere he had learned (or learnt, as they say) that term for homosexuals. What kind of vision of US city doorways at night must my statement have created for Elias???

Actually, homosexuality is a crime here, and it is taken very seriously. There is a lot of mob justice for things like stealing and adultery: lynchings, beatings and stonings are common, especially outside the city. I don’t know about homosexuality, but I suspect it prompts the same reaction. The American gay friends we have met here are careful. Probably a good idea. Elias has driven some of them, and he wants to be accepting of his mzungu clients!

Anyway, we continue to stumble along. Mpole mpole (slowly by slowly).