Of Poetry and Proverbs

A winner has not yet been determined, and it is likely there will be a runoff election between incumbent Wade and Macky Sall. I cleaned my room for this first time in quite awhile, and re organized things to make everything easier. Now that I'm busier with classes, spending time with friends and family, and Partners, it is important to keep home life solid. And then I read.

I read a book of poetry my sister's teacher loaned me (I traded him Memoirs of a Geisha); from a Ugandan poet. Told first through an Acoli wife, and then he westernized husband, it speaks volumes of post colonial struggles with modernization and tradition.

"If my husband insists

What exact time

He should have morning tea

And breakfast,

When exactly to have coffee

And the exact time

For taking the family

photograph -

Lunch-time, tea time,

And supper time -

I must first look at the sun,

The cock must crow

To remind me."

"My husband says

I am useless

Because I waste time,

He quarrels

Because, he says,

I am never punctual.

He says he has no time to waste.

He tells me

Time is money."

Anyone who's heard me discuss "Dakar time" knows that the concept of time is much different here. There was a quote in the introduction to the book that says, "Europeans have watches. Africans have time". It is very appropriate.

And now, a Wolof lesson. I really enjoyed the proverbs we read, and I want to post some of my favorites.

Koo xaar ca la mu gene begg doff-a la fay fekk:If you wait for someone with what he loves most, it's a fool that you will see come.

Am bukki yombene waaye buy xalama jafe: It is easy to capture a hyena, but not one that plays the guitar.

Nit la mu jef la du la mu wax: A man is measured by what he does, not what he says.

Ku amul kilife jinne di sa kilife: One who rejects the normal authority (family, society) falls under the authority of the devil.

Bo gisee lef lefa tax, boo gissee yapp, raba dee: If you see something, there is another thing that is its cause. If you see meat, there is the death of an animal.

Def la nga man, wax la nga xam, boo tedee nelaw: Do only what we can, say only what we know, we sleep peacefully.

Addina Kenda ndo la: The worldly life, it's a journey passed together.