Fatty, Fatty, Hamburger Paddy!

When I was in Ethiopia and Kenya for vacation, I stayed with extremely hospital Ethiopian and Kenyan friends. They delighted to make lots of food for me and felt sad and disappointed if I didn’t have at least two large helpings at every meal. As well as this, they drove me around everywhere so I wasn’t exercising much and sort of skimped on taking my normal vitamins. The result was a little added weight. I never weighed myself, but my guess is somewhere between 5 and 8 pounds. I could tell something was a little different, but my clothes were only slightly tighter. I was hopeful none of my friends back in Djibouti would notice. No such luck. The first Djiboutian friend I saw hugged me, looked me over and said “Wow Hannah! What happened to you? You got so fat!” After she finished laughing, she exclaimed “You look great! Now you are truly beautiful.”

Now it was my turn to laugh as I imagined an American friend bluntly telling me how fat I’ve gotten in one breath and how beautiful I look in the next. But in this culture, a little fat makes you more appealing. When so many women are stick thin, a little meat on the bones is a good thing I guess. None of my western friends made any mention or seemed to take any notice of this change, but almost all my close Djiboutian friends commented on my weight. I overheard our houseworker telling my roommate “My goodness, Hannah has really gotten fat hasn’t she?” I yelled from the other room “Hey! I can hear you and I am not fat!” She laughed and kept saying the Somali equivalent of “Fattie fattie Hannah! You’re such a fattie!" She also told me quite delightedly "Now I look like the young single woman and you look like the fat old married woman!” Trying to hide my laughter, I grabbed a wet towel and hit her butt with it before we both collapsed on the ground in fits of laughter. But I still maintain I am not fat, the most I will consent to is only a slight extra pudginess at best. :)

I don't even know how friends can see any difference in weight since the clothes I normally wear are so long and loose I've practically got enough room for another person. They all say they can see it in my cheeks. Judge for yourself. The picture on the top is my "thin picture". It was taken last winter when my Mom came to visit. Many people commented during this time that I looked like I was losing weight. Some even asked if I was sick, but I was fine--just working a lot. The picture on the bottom is my "fat picture", taken recently while I was visiting a Masaai village in Kenya towards the end of my "eating frenzy." Personally, I don't see it but I seem to get more compliments now that I am "fat."

"Do You Speak English Too?!"

Earlier this summer, I moved to a new neighborhood. In the old one, most people spoke French and many of our neighbors were foreigners. In the new place, it’s all Somalis. As far as I know, my roommate and I are the only foreigners in our section. And since she is South American and is often mistaken for an Arab, I am the only white person in our area. So I rarely speak English when I’m in our neighborhood. Usually at shops and little restaurants, I practice my Somali or resort to French if I can’t make myself understood otherwise. I usually also wear Somali or Arab clothes, so many people ask if I am either Arab, or a French woman married to a Somali (or a single French woman looking for a Somali husband). The other day, I saw one of my students on the street and we started talking in English. A woman from one of the nearby shops who I had only spoken French and Somali to exclaimed in English, “Wow!!! You mean you speak English too?” I laughed and said “Yes, of course! ”
“That’s great! You speak really well. Did you learn here in Djibouti?”
“Umm, no actually. I learned in the US.”
“Oh really? How long did you study?”
“I been working on it about 24 years now.” She looked at me curiously and said “But you don’t look that old.” I laughed and said “Auntie, I’m American and English is my mother tongue! Didn’t you know?”
“No!” she laughed. “It’s just that you seem so Djiboutian. I just thought you were French and had learned English and Somali.”
We both cracked up, but I still can’t tell if this is a compliment to my French or an insult to my English. :)