Names

My name in Swahili is KIMU.  This is the result of 1. many Swahili words end with a vowel; 2. my host mother/former Headmistress could not pronounce Tommy; and 3. nobody can pronounce Jungyul without being uncomfortable.  I didn't realize that my name was spelled so until I checked the attendance, and I saw that the students thought of me as Kimu.

There are three large branches of Swahili names.  Christian (Joshua, Catherine), Muslim (Ramadani, Fatuma), and Tribal (Mwilenga).  And then there are just awesome names.  Here are some of my favorite:

• Prosper
• Perpetua
• Mambo (equivalent to "what's up" colloquially)
• Happy
• Msafiri (traveler)
• Jumanne (Tuesday)
• Mbaraka (man of blessing, or just the first name of OBAMA)
• Goodluck George