Speaking of lights and the third world...
I was told this story by an American who witnessed the turning on of the lights in a remote village in the Kalahari Desert that had never before had electricity. I should mention that most of the villagers had all, at one time or another, seen a movie in a local town. (Well, "town." It was a small settlement. There was no movie theater, but sometimes movies were shown there on a screen under the stars.)
So in this remote African village, there were wires strung from tree to tree, encircling the school yard. And the locals were gathered together for the big moment, which of course took place after it was thoroughly dark. And when the light bulbs, maybe three or four dozen of them, all went on together, there was a gasp, and excited cries from the crowd of... "Californie! Californie!"
And that brings to mind another light-story. A common exclamation of enthusiasm in Botswana was "Six Mbone!" I didn't know its origin at first, only that for some reason it was customary to say, if one thought something truly splendid, "Six mbone!" (Pronounced Ma bone ee) and I knew that it translated to "Six lights!" , and I knew it meant, "Wow!"
I later learned the origin of the phrase. It seems that at one time there were a number of Edsels in the capital, Gaborone. They were distinguished by the fact that the number and configuration of the lights on the front of the Edsel was striking-- there were six of them, and they were bright. It happened that the Edsel was admired above all other cars, and thus the exclamation that continues long after the Edsel has disappeared-- "Six mbone!" |
