Musungu!

It’s a familiar scene now. I walk through the village to the market to get some bread or whatever. As I walk past villagers’ houses, hordes of kids run out, point at me and scream “Musungu! Musungu! Musungu!” while adults either stare and give the gesture of greeting by clasping their hands together or stare and say “Chungulo (good afternoon)” or just stare. Being the only foreigner in a thirty-kilometer radius, this kind of attention is pretty much unavoidable.

I learned that “musungu” is the local language for “white man.” I was hoping that it may translate to “evil foreigner that breathes fire” or something more dramatic. But no, it just means “white man.”

Man, these people are calling me white? I really should start working on my tan!