What are these kids saying?

Not surprisingly, our kids absorb bits and pieces of both American culture and Kenyan culture. Sometimes the bits of one culture get mixed up with the pieces of the other culture, which explains why they say things like these:

1. Elise: “Listen, when I shout, I can hear my gecko.”
(geckos here are silent lizards, so she must have meant “echo”)

2. In answer to “What’s your favorite food?”

Anna: “Pizza and beans and ugali.”
Elise: “Lettuce.”
(Really?)

3. Micah and Abi and Maggie: All three of the 2-year-olds are making great strides in verbal communication skills. Their growing vocabularies include words like “chai, habari, and chapati.” Sometimes they still seem to be babbling, but maybe I just don’t understand their Kipsigis words. A Kipsigis househelper told me recently that Abi understands and says “Kay-roh,” which means “Look,” and Micah says “Nyon,” which means “Come.”

4. (Upon seeing this insect, which is called a “Nairobi Eye”):

Anna: “Look! It’s a Nairobi i-pod.”

Maybe next year in the US, someone can teach Anna the difference between a Nairobi Eye and an iPod.