Lost in Translation

We were surprised to find that many people in Ethiopia speak English quite well. English is taught as a class in the elementary grades then high school classes are taught completely in English. Despite this, English is still people's second language and a few translations are, shall we say, creatively interpreted.



Who can say, "run on sentence"? This was some very helpful information about why we absolutely cannot pay for our hotel with a check.



This system of lock and key was brand new to us. The doorman demonstrated and there were these very helpful instructions and yet for some reason we struggled every time we tried to get into our room.



Warning: This toy may lead to underage "inebriety".



The very pregnant mommy here is fortunately "happily" about her situation.



Ummm, is "Japy" in any way an acceptable adjective?

 

And our favorite story from the trip, "The Banana Fruit". We ate at a nice restaurant at our hotel in Gondar. They had a three course meal menu with a few options for each course. The dessert section listed, orange zest cake or banana fruit. C.O. assumed the banana fruit was another type of cake but was sorely mistaken. I laughed as I ate my delicious orange cake.

~AnnMarie