After listening to my feeble attempt to speak conversational German, a European-born friend said to me with a grin, "It's not about speaking. It's about understanding."


I knew exactly what he meant, because the conversation he overheard could only be translated in the following manner:


Me: How are you doing?
German-speaking counterpart: Fine. Are you enjoying your trip?

Me: I'm fabulous newspaper, but thank you for the orange juice and velvet scarf.
German-speaking counterpart: I'm sorry, but I don't understand what you are saying.

Me: Me also, when you skate crazy along federal dictionaries.


The point is, you can think you understand things, without really understanding them at all.





Now, I've never claimed to understand everything that comes out of the mouths of Bahamians, but I think I have a pretty good ear when it comes to figuring it out. Most of the time, the issue is simply one of language inflection and emphasis.


For example, I'm accustomed to hearing telephone numbers recited to me using the following cadence: 555 (pause) 1212. Simple, right? First three numbers, pause, then second four numbers.


However, the Bahamas did not use exchanges such as 555- or 392- or 393- until relatively recently. Prior to that, phone numbers in the Bahamas were some form of five digits: 4-5678, or 2-7591.


As a result, older folks in the Bahamas got in the habit of this kind of cadence when repeating a phone number: 2-7-5-9-1.


No pause. Rapid-fire succession of five numbers.


And, despite the introduction of US-styled phone numbers such as (please note: the following numbers are completely and utterly made up by me, with no conscious connection to any real phone number in the Bahamas. If one happens to be your phone number and people you don't know start calling you to asking you to recite a series of old telephone numbers, I apologize beforehand), some folks here still use the old-style telephone number cadence.


So, when I first arrived in the Bahamas, and had the occasion to ask for a telephone number from one of these people, it was unnerving. My ears were completely unaccustomed to what I call The Five Number Rapid Fire, and it threw me for a loop.


I got the distinct feeling of standing on the edge of a cliff with my toes hanging over the edge and trying to balance, as the cadence I was listening to contrasted sharply with everything I've ever known or been taught about a telephone number and how it should sound when spoken.


Here is how such a conversation would typically go:


Me: James, do you have the number for Mister G's Incredible Basket of Dough?
James: Yep. I know it by heart. It's 32 (insert disconcerting long pause here) 4-9-2-7-6 (The Five Number Rapid Fire. Ratta-tat-tat, like a Tommy Gun)

Me: Aaayyyyyyeeeeee! I'm falling!!


But that's a subject for another day.


The real reason I wanted to post today is to show you this:

I saw this on the side of building here in Nassau, where, apparently, they take care of kids. Again, I think I have a pretty good understanding of what Bahamians mean when they say things.


And I understand perfectly how a child care center could provide or facilitate Protection, Strength, and Guidance.


However, for the life of me, I can't figure out what Covering means and how that relates to a child-care center.


It most certainly has something to do with my understanding.


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