Its been a coupe of weeks of being out here. If you inbox me I can show you some of what I am dealign with here. Anyway, life in the countryside forces you to wake up early even as the winter temperatures of Zimbabwe drop further. As someone put it recently, "When July came along, God decided to put Zimbabwe in heaven's refrigerator because he was concerned it was getting rotten." My fellow country folk do know how to make self deprecating jokes, and then keep persevering. Being at the farm for long stretches of time allows for integration with the community and for some interesting adventures and conversations. One of my favorite features of these conversations is the dropping of big English words at unexpected moments in conversation like someone name dropping. Evidence of "I went to school even though I am old and am in the rural areas, I still got a sharp mind."
Growing up, I used to find this use of these big English words emulable, then later too showy, unnecessary, and unhelpful. This was even underlined in my life by - I believe - a cool English Alive story (A Ministry of Education curriculum mandated read for elementary school kids). I remember reading about this Nigerian guy who came from the USA to officially open a building he had sponsored in his village. His village chief was first to speak, throwing around big words that no one understood but as he spoke people would nod and hum in agreement and when he finished they stopped short of giving him a standing ovation. They reserved it for their sponsor of course. Their sponsor, the US based youngman stood up and spoke in simple English that everyone understood but the people kept murmuring how he was supposed to be US educated and how unimpressed they were; but they understood every word he uttered. Such is how it felt when people used big words in conversations and we all pretended to understand.
Recently the word “Kakistrocracy” found its way into a conversation I was having. Now, as a humble man I accepted my lack of knowledge of the word's meaning which added to the pride and joy of the old geezers I was conversing with. For those who do not comprehend, a Kakistocracy is a state or society governed by its least suitable or competent citizens. Now you may surmise what people were saying about their own government as these words were sprinkled into our conversation. I can't repeat it here because there are laws and I am a law abiding citizen. Anyway, as I stated before, I used to look down on such big words as used in common conversation rather than an academic text, but something about this one word struck me this day. Could have been the sound of it, or the way it was dropped in conversation I can't place my finger on it. All I can understand is that in the moment I heard it and it was defined, I now knew its meaning and found myself longing to use it in a sentence with as many people as possible. I am like someone who finds a fun meme and can't wait to text it to someone as a reply to a message. Like a dad joke waiting for its right moment to kill it. It feels strange to want to do what I have looked down upon for a long time.
I have long posited that commenting on something from the outside lends itself to misunderstandings by the commentator. It’s one of the reasons I seldom trust people who comment on a faith they never subscribed to. It can be baffling to consider how in Bhudism one's desired end is to become nothing, so they dont reincarnate when they day. Like a flame blwon out that you can neither tell whether it went north, or south, or east, or west but its simply, gone. Such is the death of one who has reached Nirvana. (I know right, you thought it was all about being zen.) It can be strange to consider a virgin birth if one is not a Christian. I mean biology makes it strange. Looking in from the outside lends itself to the phenomena that is like explaining strange concepts that exist in my language but have no equivalent at all in another language. Like trying to tell a Dothraki the meaning of the words apology and sorry. Its like telling people that 'this is my mother because he is my uncle who is a brother to my mother.' (Sekuru hanzvadzi yaAmai, ndiAmai vako) But when you are looking in and around from the the inside, things do get a lot clearer in my opinion or at least different.
For example, lately my English and Shona both are struggling. I am a master of neither. I find myself snapping my fingers rummaging for Shona words in my brain and snapping my fingers ransacking my brain for English ones as well as I speak. I don't know but I can imagine it could be how a child learning to talk may feel as they attempt to be understood. It’s in this space that I am finding that words do take on a different life. It seems they are now as much their sounds as their meaning. Kakistocracy like "Kukaka ngoma" (Making an animal hide drum) or "mukaka" (milk and its double entendre) all these sounds and mischief, converging meanings give the word "Kakistocracy" a nice ring to it. I repeat the word Kakistocracy often in my mind like turning over a decadent piece of candy in side my mouth. There, that's a another word, "decadent." Really beautiful. Yes as someone put it, "My parents slaved away to put me through school so I will speak English when I want ito. In fact, Photosynthesis." So there is that aspect to it, that I went to school for this, I will use it any chance I get unlike the pythagorean theorem. There is another sense to it which is what I hated before, "Showing off" but now I think I am finding it alright. And then there is this new sense to it: Some words ring nice to someone who may not hear it often and especailly as a second language. And when we use those words even in the wrong places, its not an attempt to show off per se, but an attempt to enjoy using a word the same way someone tries to find an excuse to eat a slice of the sumptuous cake that was left over from the birthday party yesterday. Reasons like, its noble to eat dessert before the main meal, or what if we reserve the cake for well behaved kids and I have been well behaved the last 30 minutes.
It’s almost like a word suddenly takes on celebrity status. This week's featured photo is of three guys standing like meerkats on tree stumps looking inside a security wall. I was passing by and could not help but wonder what they were up to. I asked them as I also jumped onto a tree stump. It turns out they were straining to get a look at the Scotland Zimbabwe local team as it trained. To them the Scotland team and its staff were celebrities. One could say these men had been waiting or hoping for the day they could watch Scotland up close not on TV alone or from afar like in a huge stadium. And now they had their chance the same way someone waits or hopes for an opportunity to say, "Kakistocracy," even if it means having to stand the word on a tall tree stump to make it work.
I used to consider it weird and terrible watching ZTV or listening in on Zimbabwean people's conversations as they dropped big English words into their conversations sometimes unnecessarily and sometimes missing the mark. But I believe I was looking in from the outside. Now being a part of the flow, I realise that people may take for granted and find familiar their mother tongue but for us second language speakers, "Te amo" has a nice ring to it, "Je me pelle" echoes with invitation to be spoken even when I want another another plate of food at a restaurant, I may as well start with my name then more food, "nin hao" is a great Mandarin phrase to show off (Bet you thought I want to say "Ni hao" right? Its "nin hao" out of respect) and yes, there is Kakistocracy...I will write it again, Kakistocracy. And now I will head back out there to join the countryside old geezers and drop as many big English words as I can muster so I too look learned but also because some of the words sound so cool and strange sometimes. Mucho gracias for reading this piece and arigato for your support. Ciao!