Whatcha Say?

Far and away, my favorite part about moving to Nigeria has been learning a new culture. This aspect was what I most anticipated as I counted down the hours to takeoff on August 21, 2009. The thrill of hands-on learning made my first 4 months here some of the best of my life.

Fellow expatriates and even some Nigerians have commented on how well I adapted, and how quickly. (But for the grace of God. Thanks, but that's all Him.) I believe God gave me the desire to learn new cultures long before Nigeria was even an option, resulting in my relatively smooth transition.

One of the most obvious ways culture has influenced my daily life is in my vocabulary. Over the Christmas holiday, I laughed with family and friends at my own imitation of a Nigerian accent, and caught myself on more than one occasion responding with Nigerian phrases. The local dialect is known as Nigerian Pidgin English, a slang language.

Top 10 Favorite Pidgin Words and Phrases:
1. Ah-ah: Think of the noise a mother makes when her baby has picked a piece of whatisthat off the floor is about to put it in his mouth. We use it here as a general exclamation. I use it when students disrupt my class, when a salesman charges me too much in the market, or when someone tells me something unfortunate or unbelievable.
2. Haba: This is a similar exclamation, but expresses negative feelings. Something akin to "oh, come on" or "yeah, right."
3. Abeg: Literally means "please" but I usually use it in the sarcastic sense, i.e. "Grade 8, sit in your seats and be quiet, abeg!" Hear how it sounds like "I beg"?
4. Wetin dey happon (pronounced "waitin' day hah-pone"): "What happened?" I said this once to a child crying on the playground. He stopped crying, looked up at me incredulously and asked, "What did you just say?!"
5. Ba: "No." Used similarly to abi. "The fruit is ripe, ba?"
6. Anyhow: Description of disordered behavior. "The taxis drive any-anyhow on the roads."
7. Somehow: Can mean "kind of/sort of" or "weird," depending on context. Actual examples from the classroom: "Do you like that singer?" "Somehow." And also: "Her face was somehow."
8. Bush man/Bush woman: Hehe. My favorite term for name calling. It literally refers to an unsophisticated person, or someone who does unsophisticated things.
9. I'm coming (pronounced "combing"): "I'll be there...either right now, tomorrow, or in 10 years." Also means "I'll be right back." You can say I'm coming regardless of whether you're coming or going; it doesn't matter.
10. Kai: My favorite exclamation, like "Oh my gosh!" I use this one alllllll the time.

We have boots and queues (trunks and lines), biros and biscuits (ballpoint pens and crackers), and occasionally, we have light (electricity). When the electricity is turned off, we say "NEPA took the light."

There are plenty others I can't recall just now, but speaking the language lets others know I'm not as out of place as I may seem.

more on culture later...