Limol #4

Second 5k in Limol! I ran down to the canoe place again and made it all the way to the border between the grasslands and the swamp. The run was pretty uneventful. I only saw one person, a man who has been ostracized by the community, but he was friendly. I felt more confident of my footing this morning so had time to think about other things like (i) what to do for Grace's birthday on November 13, (ii) which verbs to elicit today, and (iii) what chores needed doing. 

When I came back, Grace and I went straight on a water run to a new well with very nice water. Some young men helped us which was nice because we had to pull the water up a very steep hill. They took the roller and we carried two buckets on our heads. Very heavy. 

I've come back to this post on Friday because I fell asleep before finishing. I'm pretty exhausted once I get to my little sanctuary in my room. I brought myself a small mosquito tent that zips closed and has a full bottom to keep away both mosquitos and the huge spiders that live in the house. I also spray a mixture of peppermint oil and water around the room every evening for extra protection (thanks Mama!). I sleep much more soundly this year than I have in the past. 

Today was eventful in a few ways. I skipped the run this morning and raked the lawn instead. Work was very exciting for a Friday. Lauren's fresh eyes drew my attention to a vowel harmony pattern that I hadn't seen before. I elicited it out and it works just like expected: roots with high vowels (i, u) trigger suffixes with high vowels (-iyu) while roots with mid vowels (e, o) trigger suffixes with mid vowels (-eyo). I looked at the vowels in Praat and it's pretty clear! So much more to elicit and look for on Monday.

We had our first big first aid emergency today. Donai, the wonderful, elder, crocodile killing lady from next door who cooks us sweet potatoes, cut herself very badly with a machete on her pointer finger across the knuckle. It looked very deep (to the bone perhaps) but very clean. I was too afraid to put iodine or neosporin on it because I thought it was too deep, but I irrigated it with a syringe and we taped it shut steri-strip style and put a splint on it so she won't bend her finger. Then another old woman from our other neighbor side came over with sharp pains to the stomach. We couldn't diagnose her properly so we just gave her some pain relief, some clean water, rice and bananas and we are hoping it's constipation or maybe giyardia, which we can try to treat. Otherwise she will need to go to Upiara or Daru on a boat.

We got some really nice stories today besides and Lauren is doing so well with the people here. Her Ende is improving so much - it's really amazing. My Ende had also gotten really good. I can have conversations with people now. Still far to go. 

Saturday tomorrow... will run all the way to the canoe place to see how far it is. Then will do some work and maybe some botanical illustration in the afternoon :)

Oh and happy ten year anniversary to me and A today! So sad to miss it but I got some sweet messages on the satellite phone :)

Kate