Upon moving to Zim, my husband Kurt found it warmly amusing
that many people had a hard time pronouncing the “urt” sound in his name, and often
instead left out the “r.” I have always
called my husband “Kurtie,” but had no idea that would affect how the Shona
interpreted us. We found it hilarious
when we eventually discovered that for over a year our staff and surrounding
loved ones thought I was referring to my husband as “Kuti,” which it turns out
translates into “just because.”
A birthday tee-shirt was in order.
