The language of the birds

When we lived in Kenya,

a million years ago,

my father had to go and work somewhere

for a few months.
He was an engineer.

I know he went someplace near Lake Tanganyika,I think,

but not sure of exactly where,

I was very young!!!

Anyway, he would come home at the weekends and we would go and pick him up

at the airport,

which was actually a strip of land that had been cleared

to allow the planes to come in.

I remember him telling us about hearing the Africans talking outside his room, or maybe it was a tent,

at night, in their local dialect,

which I presume was not one he understood.

They greeted eachother.....

one man said,

"No-ovo"

and the other replied,

Ne-ess-a.

We all spoke Swahili,

fluently, we don't anymore!

well, my father was known to get some words a little mixed up,

and once in a while he would ask

if his potatoes had been polished.

The word for potato and shoes

are very similar,

so I guess he could be forgiven the mistake!!!

Like when we were in Paris on holiday one year,

we got lost and my mother insisted

that he ask for directions from one of the policemen.

My father stuck his head out of the window and yelled,

"Cochon, cochon".....

instead of

"argent".....officer,

the former means...

pig!!!

So, I was sitting outside and two crows showed up in the trees across the street.

One said

UH OH

and the other said

UH UH

and I was reminded of my

father.

My father had the most amazing name

of anyone I have ever known.

His parents couldn't make up their minds so they named him

Jack Albany Clarence Kipling Barnes...

but we just called him

Dad.

(edited
ok so it was Lake Victoria
he was away for a year
and
his name was the fashion
of the day.)
:)