TsTsTs hoyahoyahoyahoya Ashkwishwishwish iyiweiyiweiyiw rekarekarea

When Ugandan President Museveni came to visit Rwanda, a very long line of cars came roaring down the street, stopping traffic, and preventing one pedestrian from crossing the street. In a rush to cross the street, he shook his head and went "ts ts ts ts ts ts ts ts," an expression I had previous assumed was reserved for finding out an unwed girl was pregnant or one's mother was ill. The "Ts" is not so different than the Jewish/Israeli "Tzs." I think.

Some other communicative sounds used as alternative to words:

When you want to say "no" but really really want to say "no," rather than the classic "oya" which just means "no," you say "Hoyahoyahoyahoyahoyahoya." "It's 'oya' in the infinitive," I was told. "No it's not," another student told me. "It's just what you say when you really want someone to understand 'no.'"

Alternatively: "Ashkwishwishwishwishwish."

For when something is bad or sad or annoying: an alternative to "ts ts ts ts ts" is "iyiweiyiweiyiwe." I love this one, because in Hebrew when something is annoying you can either say "iyiyiyiyiyiyiy" (uyuyuyuyuyuy) or "weiweiweiweiwei." In Kinyarwanda the two it's-sad-or-bad noises are combined.

Alternatively still: rekarekarekarekareka.

And if all is good but something is stinky, I was told I can say, "ahe ahe." But that just may be transliterated or dramatized gagging noises.

Because the line of cars before and after Museveni and Kagame seemed to go on forever, and there were occasional gaps in between them, the policemen told some of us that we could cross if we ran really, really quickly across the street. The cars, though, during these presidential processions, drive at full speed without stopping for anyone, honking the whole time as warning. I crossed but practically got run over, a scary experience.

Ts ts ts ts ts ts ts. I think.