Kiswahili

It's the 26th of April of 2025. At Tim Hortons café, in the morning, whilst I was drinking my Classic Lemonade and eating a croissant, I met two young Kenyan men, who were lining up to the till. We talked about their language Swahili—Kiswahili. I said how its staccato beauty reminds me of Japanese! Then our conversation led to safari tours, rustic Zanzibar, and our voyages throughout the world.

A sunny day it was, this 30th of April of 2025. I walked several times to Tim Hortons café, here on Lulu Island, to enjoy various teas with oat milk, a Classic Lemonade, and a Turkey Bacon Club Sandwich. I went also to Starbucks café to enjoy an Iced Cherry Chai with oat milk. My Filipino friends, the baristas Anna and Jam, were there. At home, my family received a guest from Kenya: Moko. We talked about Swahili—or Kiswahili. She said that in neighbouring Zanzibar in Tanzania, one spoke a prestige dialect of Swahili. I recounted my fantasy of one day visiting Zanzibar. "Why not a safari tour?" she added. Yes, such would be nice, too—the fun countryside! Kenya is like the Philippines, we agreed, as many people might speak a local language, a regional language, a national language, and an international language. At home, in my bedroom, I could hear my Fijian neighbours, who are Cantonese, East Indian, and Black Caribbean in blending, chatting away!

The national language of the Republic is Kiswahili.