Settling In

We’re staying at the Floral Hostel for the next four months while we are in language school. It is a guesthouse run by the Consulata Sisters. Two nuns from Italy manage the complex. And complex it is. There is a chapel that offers morning Mass at 6:30 am and weekend Masses. This morning when we attended there were probably about 50 people there, probably two-thirds of them nuns.

Next to the chapel is the dining hall where we take our meals with other paying guests. Breakfast is served at 7:00, lunch at 1:00 and supper at 6:45. The food is placed on a table in the center of the dining room. You fill your own plates and find an empty table to eat. It is a great way to meet other people. This morning we ate with Sister Elizabeth. She is an Italian nun who has been here for ten years. She works in one of the five slums here in Nairobi. Although she is a nurse in Italy, she must take courses for ten months before she can be a registered nurse here. Because the matatu drivers are on strike, public transportation is limited for the next few days. It is too far a distance and too dangerous for her to get to school, so she has moved here until the strike is over.

John and I are in a double room with our own bathroom while Mary is right next door. Our wing is the only wing that allows men. There is another huge building that houses female students that are attending colleges. I’m guessing there are at least 100 girls. They have their own separate dining room. Then there are other support buildings that contain kitchens, laundry, etc.

Today was our first day of language school. It’s called the Anglican Church of Kenya Language and Orientation School. It was originally established in 1965 to train missionaries to speak the national language, Kiswahali, and other local tribal languages. It’s about a half a mile away from where we are staying and took us less than 20 minutes to walk there.

It was a typical first day of class meaning we didn’t do much except go over expectations, schedule, and syllabus. It also didn’t take long for us to take the entrance exam. We are in the correct course, Basic Kiswahali. I could only answer the first three questions! Our schedule will be 9:00 until 10:30 class, 10:30 – 11:00 tea break where we are expected to practice with other students, 11:00 to 12:30 class, 12:30 until 2:00 is lunch and the last class is from 2:00 until 4:00. There will be a different teacher for each class section during the day. We’ll be getting plenty of exercise since we will be walking back to Flora for lunch. That should make two miles a day!

One of the instructors made the comment, “We might not be able to wipe out mother tongue interference.” How true that is. Often we complain that we are not able to understand nonnative English speakers because they don’t pronounce words correctly. Why not? Because they have trouble forming some sounds because they haven’t spent their lifetimes making them. That would be mother tongue interference!

Tomorrow the real work will begin.