When Kali joined our family almost two years ago she learned English so fast and stop speaking Amharic so quickly that the little bit of Amharic the rest of learned was soon dropped. Although Tulem speaks English pretty well for being here 5 months, somehow some Amharic lingers. I-deh-LEHM - No - is popular and kwahss - ball. Tulem's favorite Amharic word is bulicay - I have no idea how to actually spell it and we may be pronouncing it incorrectly since we are copying a three year old. A friend in Colin's Sophomore class is Ethiopian and she said it means bad person, but she has assured me it is not a cuss word. Tulem use to say it when he got upset with his siblings. Now they all say it to taunt each other.
Earlier today Tulem was trying to get my 18 year old's attention, but Luke was on the computer and not paying attention. Finally, Tulem yelled, "you bul-i-cay!" And shrieked with delight when Luke got up to chase him!
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