Limol #2


Today was our first full day in Limol! Everyone was tired today from the journey. Although many people brought us food from their gardens, Wagiba was too tired to cook for us and so I didn't eat until dinner. We also ran out of water in the morning but had to wait until evening to go to the well. The well is quite far away but has good water.  Anyway this resulted in another "rest day" from running because I couldn't run without eating or drinking. Things will settle in soon :)

My favorite part of today was in the afternoon. Manaleato and Kauga came back from Malam and I ran to them to give them hugs and kisses. Manaleato is wonderful - she has a beautiful spirit and nine sweet children. Her husband, Kauga, is the school teacher. We all gathered at the new language house, which is twice as big as last year. At one point, I brought up the photos from last year that I printed and everyone wanted to see them. I set them out along the tables and big groups of people formed to go through them. Adults and kids were laughing and smiling, remembering the stories from the photos. We were there for hours; there was such a happy, comfortable spirit in the air. I sat near Manaleato and Kauga and did some small elicitations. It felt so natural and everyone was eager to help me learn how Ende works. Lauren is really picking up the language and Grace too.

More tomorrow,
Kate

Comments

  1. ElizabethNovember 21, 2017 at 3:55 PM

    That's great to get a shot of you with the dictionary and some of its major contributors.

    Manaleato is so sweet. Her and Kauga seem like an ideal pair to work with when you haven't eaten or drank for most of the day.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Canberra #2

Just got back from a beautiful sunrise 5k in Canberra. I took off from N&Ps house again today and found a beautiful bike path surrounded on both sides by trees, flowers, and beautiful houses. I saw so many rabbits, some magpies, and even two red and blue parrots! As I was running, I was mostly reminding myself to keep left and to look right before looking left when crossing the streets. I feel like this is a pretty good example of how mentally exhausting it can be to be in a different culture, especially one that's so similar to your own. So much energy spent paying attention to things that others don't even think about. I was also thinking about how grateful I am to N&P for letting me stay in their beautiful house. I am so happy here and they are so kind. I also spent some time being grateful to Grace, who saved me but packing me a mosquito net last minute as I forgot mine in the closet! This year I'm bringing a special pop-up style mosquito "tent", c...
Read more

Limol #19

Got a run in today! Went to the well with Grace and had to sit on the ground to reach the water this morning. We haven't needed a rope the past few days, but now that the village is back the water has gone down quicker. I felt fast and strong on the run. I like this pace because I think it's good for my heart and won't make me too hungry during the day. Meals lately have been mostly yams and sago with sprinkles of pineapple. Fortunately we have a semi steady supply of our favorite bia up bananas that taste like heaven in every bite.  It was another hot one today. Well over 90 and very dry. The flies landed on us in swarms, almost like looking through a cloud when taking notes. I translated quite a few verbs and words for the dictionary and recorded some storybooks. Kauga surprised me today by pulling out 90 story books from the school, all with pictures and space for writing in language! I don't know why he didn't think to show me before. There are nine books alread...
Read more

The land of sago 6/18

This Saturday, I went on a family trip to beat sago with Wagiba, Warama, Tonny, Wendy, Uba, Ibetty, Nicole, Nicky, and Willie.  Although I’ve witnessed sago processing before, I’ve never been actively involved besides carrying the heavy bags back to the village. However, most of the old women in the village seem to think I’m ‘built for sago’. Often when in close proximity to me, they mutter things like, “Ae mälla gullbe” (What a woman!) “Bogo ai dan aoli patkoll bîtne?” (How many sago bundles you think she could beat?!) “Matta? Ddîll?” (Eight? Ten?). This is a very flattering number and makes me forgive the otherwise uncomfortable chatter about my size. So off I went to see just how much sago I could beat. Sago processing involves (1) chopping down the sago palm with an axe, (2) debarking the tree with the use of an axe and a pointed stick, (3) beating the palm’s pith into the consistency of fine wood chips using a tool called an abor, an instrument with one hitting edge the size o...
Read more