One day Rugi offered me some popcorn crumbs from a small plastic bag.
Rugi: Binta, will you chew some beans?
Me: No, I will not.
Rugi: What will happen if you chew it?
Normally, people do not ask "what will happen" if you decline to eat or drink something, but it is actually a very reasonable question for Rugi to ask of me. I cannot drink the water she offers me because my stomach will hurt. I cannot drink the ataya she offers me because I will not sleep. My body is simply full of pecularities.
The popcorn story continues. Rugi and I have returned home and she shows her mom the plastic baggy with popcorn crumbs. The italicized words were said in English.
Rugi: Mamadou bought beans, don't you see?
Fatou: That's not beans, it's puff corn.
Rugi: [slowly, as one does when trying out a word for the first time] Puff corn. I didn't know! Puff corn.
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