(The name of the writing and the meaning borrowed from a book (Jono) of great writer Heidi Jaatinen. Please read her book also!)

 

It was a lovely evening when I met some of my choir mates again after the semester break. Immediately I got dragn into an interesting conversations. This is likely what happened.

 

Me: Hi!

Grace: Hi Urra (some of these africans can't tell the difference between the letters L and R, so I am quite often called as Urra, or Urla or Ulra, but atleast I already got used to this in Namibia)!

Me: I visited you once last week, but when you didn't open the door I tried if it was open and then I noticed that you were sleeping inside, so I just left and....

Grace (interrupting me): I have been trying to visit you twice! My brother really demands me to visit you, all the time he is calling and asking me to visit you...

 

Then Grace hugged me. And hugged and hugged, all over again. I was little bit amazed, untill she put her hand in her heart and started to speak again.

 

Grace: Urra, how old are you?

Me (as a not suprised, I have already used to that this question usually comes when I least expect it to come): Nina miaka ishirini na nane (=I am twenty eight years).

Grace: Oh, that's good! I just asked that I can tell him. He is twenty four, so the difference between you is not too big!

Me: Öö..

Grace (pressing her hand even tighter against her brest): You know, he never even thought before to take an european wife. But when she saw you... Now he doesen't even think anything else than you!

Me: Öhm... Grace, who excactly are you talking about?

Grace: My brother of course. You saw him, when we were coming from the Tengeru market together! You were outside!

Me: Oh yes, I think I remember.. (I remember that I was washing dishes and Grace went over with some guy and I greeted them as always in here if you don't want to be extremely rude. That's all.)

Grace: Now he is praying for nights and days that you will soon become his wife! He also said I can already start to call you as my sister in law!

Me: Hm.. (As a very very confused). Well I think I would like to really know my husband before the marridge and I don't even remember how your brother look's like.

Grace (now as confused also): Well, he is tall.

Me: Ok... So, see you later then.

Grace: Haya, kwa heri.

 

And she hugged me twice again. Then after maybe an minute and half came an other choir member, a tenor whose name I don't even know yet.

 

Tenor: Habari za jioni? (=How are you in this evening?)

Me: Nzuri sana. (=Very well).

Tenor: What are you doing..? Oh, you'r in facebook. Who are you chatting with?

Me: My sister Anna and my friend Amanda.

Tenor: Oh, not with your husband?

Me: I don't have a husband.

Tenor: Can I be your husband?

Me (mumbling): It seems you can only be my husband number two...

Tenor: What did you say?

Me: Nothing.

 

And then he had to go to the studio to record some stemmas. I stayed in the computer class, which is located next to the studio and continued chatting with these interesting stories with Amanda and Anna. After some while, this husband nro two came back to me.

 

Tenor: Is your mum in Facebook?

Me: Öhm, yes she is... Why did you ask that?

Tenor: Can I see her picture?

Me: Ok.

 

Then we watched all my mum's maybe five pictures, which she has loaded up there. In some of them was also my dad and the whole family. Immediately after seeing the pictures husband nro two stood up, said: ”thank you”, looked happy and went away.

 

Next day we had our first choir rehearsals. Usually we sit in the rehearsals so that the sopranos are sitting in the first row, altos in the second, tenors in the third and fourth and basses in the back. But, this time I had a very special place. I was sitting between my new sister-in-law (who is a soprano) in the altos second row (I have been singing mostly alto) and the husbend number two (tenor). I asked the tenor why exactly he is sitting in the altos place and he said that because he doesen't have word's (some of the tenors had them too, I am sure of that, because it was a new song). And by the sister-in-law I was againg being hugged harder than ever. There was also one boy in the bass row, who blinked his eyes to me every time I happened to look at his side. OMG, Is this the husband number three or am I already paranoid with these guys in here?

 

Next rehearsals went quite well. My sister-in-law hugged me only once and husbands number two and three were both missing. I could concentrate to sing and enjoy and teach the alto stemmas to Sanna, who is an exchange student from Sweden and joined the choir now. After the rehearsals our leader (who is also a music student) yelled that he wanted to talk with me before I leave.

 

Leader (smelling strongly alcohol, what I recognised at this moment): Urra, you were singing very well today, I could hear that (what I strongly suspect because of everybody are almost yelling as loud as they can and I was not singing SO loud in that time even).

Me: Asante sana.

Leader: I want you to sing a solo.

Me: Oh.. Do you mean a solo song in our concerts in Nairobi (we are going to sing to Nairobi during easter)?

Leader: Well.. You can do that too... But I mean in a swahili song!

Me: Which song then?

Leader: Any song. Pick a song.

Me: But... Grace is so happy to sing the solos.. (my sister-in-law is usually the women soloist) And I don't mind to sing only the choir parts.

Leader: No, I want you to sing a solo. Maybe this one (and he was pointing a song which Grace has MADE HERSELF).

Me: No, I can't take that one, that is Grace's song! She made it herself. Of course she will sing the solos in that one!!

Leader: Ok, pick another one.

Me (searching the only song from our song”book”, which solo part I actually remember somehow): Ok, I can try this one. Maybe Grace can then help me to learn it.

Leader: Ok, good!

 

And then he also hugged me and didn't want to let me go. But I somehow get rid of him, whished good night and went away.

 

And then came the next rehearsals of that and I tried to sing the solo. I was singing to the mic and Grace sang next to me to help me still because of the song is quite fast and there are lot's of words in it. After my solos everybody were clapping their hands to me. I went quietly to my own place in the second row.

 

After the rehearsals four (new) boys wanted to talk with me. I had a line in front of me. They all wanted to congratulate me for the solo and teach me more to sing in swahili. After we got apart from them, I asked to Sanna if she would like to have some of my husband candidates, because I have quite an amount of them already. Maybe the boys will notice themselfs after an while that there is also another white lady in there, who even doesen't have a line yet.