THEM DAYS

Glossary 1. Cha mama na baba- A Kenyan game in which children used to play by immitating the roles of a father and mother; pretending to have kids and even participating in household chores. 2. Statehouse- house made by children participating in “cha mama na baba" through creativity, it can be built from broken umbrellas, sheets or even big carton boxes 3. Kashata- "kashata" is a snack that's a cross between a candy and a cookie. Kashata is a popular snack of Swahili origin. They are usually made with peanuts or grated coconut, or both. They are cooked either on the stove or over a fire. 4. Chapatti- a thin pancake of unleavened wholemeal bread cooked on a griddle. 5. “Sam,ni fair kweli chenye tunafanyiwa kila siku?"- Sam, is it really fair how we are treated everyday? 6. Hapana, but atatoka tu na sisi tutaongoza- No, but he'll transit from power and we will lead. 7. Aaai tunateseka hadi lini?-huh! until when will we stop suffering. 8. Mimi naona tufanye Sandra rafiki yetu ndio tuwe watoto wake time ya cha Baba na Mama- I suppose that we should make Sandra our friend so that we can be her children during the “Cha Baba and Mama game" 9. Zack anaskizanga Sandra sana- Zack really listens to Sandra. 10. Na si wewe ni mjanja- You're really smart. 11. Lakini tutafanya aje awe rafiki yetu?- But what shall we do to win her friendship? 12. Si tutashare chochote tulicho nacho kila wakati- We will share all that we have with her each and every time. 13. Kati/Stopu: this is a game which needed at least two players and a ball made from socks, paper bags or wet newspapers (the hardest of them all). The aim of this game was to play for as long as you could avoid getting hit by the ball. There were varying versions where you would be required to build a tower from soda bottle-tops, aim for a certain total number or take out as many opposing team members to emerge as the winning team and many others depending on where you were from. 14. Blada: Blada was made from cutting out an inch wide, extra-long tyre tube and linking it to make a complete cycle that was then used as the main star of the game to challenge our flexibility. This was a game that was played at home and in school. It involved at least two children, or one child and a grill that represented a spot on each side of the blada (or elastic as it is now known). 15. Brikicho: This was a version of hide and seek that involved kids shouting “brikicho, bantura” and kids dispersed into different hiding places trying to stay hidden for as long as possible. 16. Draughts: this was primarily “chess for dummies”, though it required serious skill to ensure that you entrapped your opponent at your earliest convenience. All it needed was a cardboard square with a coloured grid carefully marked onto it with a ruler and a biro pen. We used bottle tops for pawns. 17. Bano: this was a game that involved marbles, and dusty ground level enough to smoothly put your marbles into designated holes. Keen visual-spatial intelligence and mathematical genius were must-haves in this game. 18. Three sticks: nowadays known as “hop-step-and-jump”, this game tested the limits of your ascension into the skies, only to land where your little feet could carry you. We referred to the people that jumped the furthest as “daddy longlegs” (like the spider) 19. Start/Stop: also referred to as “Animal kingdom”, this was a great indoor game, reserved mostly during power rationing during the heavy rainy season. It involved pen, paper, and proper knowledge of all things alphabetical ranging from names, cars, and countries. 20. Wacha tu- expressing approval or excitement /Yowza. 21. Ulithanieko nitasahau kuwa ulitopoa unka“Luhya accent" [Zack's Mom]- You thought I'd forget that you made a bore on the flour pack? 22. Pole sitarutieko “Luhya accent" [Zack]- I'm sorry I'll not commit the same fault again. 23. Machirani saitieni “Luhya accent" [Zack]- Neighbours!! Hheeelp!! 24. Waite kama walikuzaa [Zack's Mom]- call them if they gave birth to you. 25. Feyaa [Kenyan name for catapult]- Catapult. 26. Nyama choma- is a specialty of grilled goat meat, very popular in Kenya where it is considered the national dish. 27. Kiraka- leather pad. 28. Yako haigongi poa sababu ya kiraka- yours does not hit well because of the leather pad. 29. Mrogi feyaa- [Bird] Red-bellied paradise Flycatcher)Terpsiphone rufiventer. 30. Mzungururuko- a game that entailed several girls turning around with their eyes closed of which only two girls were to keep their eyes open. Their roles were to slap and pinch the girls who had turned around as many times simultaneously after they laid down only left to guess who had slapped and pinched them. If they guessed wrong they would go to hell. 31. Ndoano: fish hook. 32. Mnyongororo: worm. 33. Duff mpararo: swimming in dirty water especially in rivers. 34. Mutarakwa: Mexican cypress/ Cupressus lusitanica. 35. Guru: master of a certain knowledge or field. 36. Mandazi: A form of fried bread that originated on the Swahili Coast. It is also known as bofrot or puff puff in Western African countries such as Ghana and Nigeria. It is one of the principal dishes in the cuisine of the Swahili people who inhabit the Coastal Region of Kenya and Tanzania. Thank you, I place the glossary at the beginning to save the reader the work of flipping back to the glossary. -Oliver Maina Bazil