My favourite Swahili word

After six lessons of Swahili, I have decided upon my favourite Swahili word. I don’t have a favourite English word, so why have a favourite Swahili word I really don’t know – I just do.

The word is “karibu,” pronounced with an emphasis on the “i” so as not to sound like any form of Canadian wildlife. The direct translation is simply “welcome,” yet its uses seem to be boundless – you literally hear it spoken thousands of times each day. When you walk into a shop, you hear “karibu.” When you are inviting someone to a social event, you say “karibu.” When you are offering to share food with someone, you say “karibu.” There are many other examples as well:
Karibu ndani [welcome inside]: “Come on in!”
Karibu tena [welcome again]: “Come again!”
Karibu kiti [welcome chair]: “Have a seat!”
Karibu Tanzania: self-explanatory

Although there are English equivalents to all of these phrases, the common use of the welcome seems to create a gracious conversational atmosphere that doesn’t exist with English. Any international person living in Tanzania will tell you that Tanzanians are some of the most welcoming people they have encountered. They are proud to invite you into their homes and places of work, regardless of how big or small their home may be, or whether they own a supermarket or sell vegetables along the road. This idea of welcoming is evident in the culture, but especially pronounced in conversation and language. It would be nice to incorporate “karibu” into my vocabulary back in Canada, but its likeness to “caribou” would likely lead to some strange situations…