Firstly, I should like to play for you the song Nakupenda Malaika sung by South African singer Miriam Makeba
I got to know this song during the 11 years I was working in Eastern and Southern Africa and the song means a lot to me. Nakupenda Malaika means “I love you my angel” It is a melodious but sad song about a young man in love with a woman whom he is unable to marry because he cannot afford the bride price.
The words of the song are in the Swahili language and of particular interest to me is the word ”nakupenda” which breaks down as under:
Na meaning “I”
Ku meaning “you” and
Penda meaning “love”
The construction is on the same lines as the French “je t’aime” which also means “I love you.”
I find it interesting that such a construction exists in a tribal language.
My daughter Deborah’s love of sun tan
Secondly, my daughter Deborah, who came to party 80 from the UK, is half Indian. Most Indians would prefer to have lighter skins and in India there is a mass market for skin lightening creams. But Deborah is different and whenever she comes to stay with me she heads straight for the swimming pool and lies on the banana lounge to try and get as much sun tan as possible. On her most recent trip, after 2 days of sun tanning herself, we compared the tan on our forearms and found that my suntan was significantly darker than hers. Deborah was downhearted at this discovery and wondered how this could be! Here is the answer. In the warmer months I expose my forearms to the sun 2 or 3 times a week while playing tennis. And have been doing this for decades.
Take care!
Robin
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