Mike and I have been in Columbus too long, or at least hanging out in monochromatic Powell (no offense) and we LOVE cultures and internationals. Okay, Mike works with them every day at his job, but I’ve been hopelessly WHITE this last month or so…. So there are two fun things that are going to change. One, tonight we went over to dinner at a friend’s house in Westerville. They used to live in London and have travelled all over the world, including Argentina and Bosques, in BA (!). So… we had a fabulous time talking with them tonight about missions and unreached people and “the World at our Doorstep” that is here in Columbus. AND, we decided we are going to start the Dinner Club, which is a one-a-month dinner gathering at different restaurants of ethnic cuisine where we get together to eat, talk about that region of the world or people group, and learn a bit! Real laid-back like. We are starting in January with Somalia and are going to eat at Mike’s old boss’ brother’s restaurant (whew, that’s complicated), and have Faysal teach us about Somalia and eat good Somali food with our hands. Yay! So if you live in the Columbus area, and want to eat with us, give us a call! AND, on top of that, Mike’s work started a Somali class, so now I know a bit of Somali! It’s once a week, and we’re just beginning, but I’m learning! And, I love it! I know English (duh) and Spanish, which is somewhat similar, but man, Somali is freakin crazy!!! It’s SOOOOO different. Here’s a taste, and yes i can pronounce it:

Ma nabad baa
Iska warran
Baabuur
Subax wanaagsan
Waa meeqa saac
Magacayga
Magaiis?

And no, I’m not just hitting random things on the keyboard.
For those linguists out there (the rest of you feel free to skip this part), the double vowels indicate holding out the vowel for a longer period of time, the C is silent, the X is pronounced like a Spanish J, and the accent is on the second syllable, with the major stress of the sentence usually on the last or middle word. I’m LOVING this! Oh, and since the teacher is Somali, I’m trying to hear what he’s saying about the language and listen when he speaks, but I also know that as a native speaker, there are unwritten rules of (especially) pronunciation that he isn’t aware he does that will influence correct speaking. Mike tried out some of his new phrases with a couple clients yesterday and they thought it was really cool an American would learn Somali. Which, is exactly why he is doing it.

Well, off to bed.