Our friends in Amboseli bid us farewell, grasping Henderson water bottles and waving goodbye. We all shared many hopes and promises to return next year. We were given gifts to bring back to our students as a “thank you” from the community for the beautiful animal adaptation books. We were overwhelmed with gratitude!
We hopped a plane to the Maasai Mara and were off to our next adventure. As we touched down, a “journey” of giraffes welcomed us gracefully striding across the open savannah. We exited the plane and another delightful surprise awaited us. We were greeted by the familiar friendly face of Wilson Pere who traveled from Mara Porini to Porini Lion (a considerable distance) just to be our “mwalimu” in the Mara.
He picked up right where we left off last year with a Swahili and Maa linguistics quiz for Terri and Danielle. ELL “professor” Mwalimu Naramat (Danielle) aced with flying colors, however Special Education teacher Mwalimu Nasarian (Terri) scraped by, causing Mwalimu Wilson to demand Terri take out her journal and begin necessary review. A very diligent student, Terri obliged. She did get her revenge later and taught Wilson a bit of her own “native tongue”. Unfortunately, Wilson became quickly proficient in this very particular way of speaking, resulting in many humorous exchanges.
An excerpt from Terri’s journal below…
Swahili –
“Jambo. Habari yako?” “Hello. How are you?”
“Mwzuri sana.” “Very fine.”
“Asanti sana” “Thank you very much!”
Maa –
“Sopa” “Hello. How are you?”
“Yupa” “Fine.”
“Ashe Oleng” “Thank you.”
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