Steen: On Greetings

Photo: A house along the road near our hotel. You cannot see it in this picture, but there are 4 cute kids waving at us in the lower left!


o People are very friendly here and often when we are walking up and down the road, they will shout “Habari!” (what’s up?) or “Good afternoon!” to which I respond “Habari!” although I should actually be replying “Nzuri!” or “Njema!” (good). Some people just stare, and I am never sure how to respond, so I will either smile or look ahead again. A few of them, after looking at us for half a minute and making eye contact, will smile and cheerfully say “Habari!” or if they are younger they will say “Shikomoo,” which literally translates to “I kiss your feet” but in reality is just a greeting for someone who is older than you and that you respect. The proper response to that is “Marahaba." Often there is a lot of laughter associated with these greetings as Erin and I try and speak in KiSwahili. Once a schoolgirl in Bukoba touched my hair as she passed me on the street – perhaps she was on a dare by her friends or was just curious to see what it felt like.