By Caroline W. Foster, Carleton College
As part of our curricula here in Botswana we have been being taught Setswana, one of the two official languages of Botswana – the other one being English. I have particularly enjoyed this experience, even though I have no natural talent when it comes to learning languages. It’s been very rewarding to actually use what we have learned in class with the locals that we interact with. Learning Setswana has added another layer to our cultural understanding. It also provides a lot of entertainment for any escort guide that has to watch us struggle through the pronunciation.
For instance, one of the first words we learned was ‘Dumela’. If you are addressing a woman it is ‘Dumela Mma’ and if addressing a man it is ‘Dumela Rra’(roll the ‘r’). It is the English equivalent is ‘Hello’ but ‘Dumela’ has a much larger meaning than just a simple greeting. It means that ‘I acknowledge you’ and ‘I see you as my equal’. From my experience in Botswana, greeting each other is very important here. Even when we are on transect, we always stop to say ‘Dumela!’ to the many safari vehicles that pass us and exchange at least a brief ‘Le kae?’ (What’s up?).
When greeting someone in person, another important part is the hand gestures. When shaking hands, you place one hand on the crook of your elbow of the arm that is reaching out. This symbolizes that you are offering both your hands and therefore you are showing your respect and equality. This gesture is also used when receiving an item from another. Another difference in shaking hands, is instead of just grasping each other’s hands, while keeping your thumbs in contact you move your palms up and down. This can be followed by a touch of shoulders.
If the conversation continues, we are often asked “O tswa kae?” or “Where are you from?”. The response for us would be “Ke tswa United States.” Occasionally we are asked to specify where in the USA. Thanks to President Barack Obama, when I say I’m from Chicago, many people know of it.
Beyond greetings a common phrase we say in camp is “Monate!”. It’s a slang term that means “Sweet!” or “Great!”. If something is really great, then it’s “Monate thata!”. Something we NEVER say is “Go tsididi”, meaning it is cold. As someone who grew up in Chicago winters, I never thought I would say that 85 degrees feels cool but now I do! We have recently had slight reprieve from the heat with the start of the rainy season. In Setswana, rain is “pula”. This is also the term used for the currency here in Botswana. Water here is equivalent to money in a country where half of it is desert. The blue in the Botswana flag actually is meant to represent water.
We are now entering the last third of the semester and it will not be long before we have to say “Gosiame” to this beautiful country we have gotten to call our home for the past 3 months. It will be hard to break the habit, when we are home, of yelling “Dijo di bodule” when food is ready or exclaiming “Monate thata!” whenever anything is as wonderful and this experience has been in our lives.