Limol #8

Bright and early 5k this AM. Felt slow but had lots to think about. I dropped off the medicine for little Dabi and she wasn't looking very good. I don't think her parents are caring for her and I was a bit angry at her father for letting her wound get so dirty. She looks stiff and I'm worried she's getting sicker. 

On the run I was thinking about the verbs and about how there might be evidence for clitics. Some post nominal morphology seems to be closer to the noun than other postpositions, but they don't harmonize with the noun, suggesting a distinction between suffix and clitic perhaps? I'll write a squib up today.

I got back home and did some work in Wagiba's garden, then showered and washed some clothes. As I was finishing up, the village erupted with "Käza! Käza! Käza da aittan!" A crocodile! A crocodile had been caught! I grabbed a video camera and followed the young men down the narrow bush track to the creek. It was my first time down this trail and I stayed right behind Jerry who pointed out interesting plants, and commentated on what people were talking about or doing as we were all going to see the crocodile. Along the way, we crossed a creek on a bush log and in our hurry, I slipped and fell off into the water. Amazingly, a man reached down and lifted me out of the river, and I was below his feet on the bank. Unworldly strong... I wasn't too hurt - just shaken up - and none of my equipment got spoiled. I was mostly embarrassed. No time to waste though because - crocodile! 

We made it deep into the swamp and there he was - huge animal! The men surrounded it in a circle, the trap had snared him with a rope around his neck. They all had clubs and one man had an axe. He climbed in the tree above and bashed its head until he died. Difficult to watch. Then they dragged him out - it was huge! The men dragged him about a kilometer or so with a rope out of the swamp and there made a stretcher to carry him back. The mood was high, everyone was laughing and playing and sitting on the crocodile. The skin looked unblemished so they hope to make some money off it in Daru. 

Finally on the stretcher, the crocodile made its way to the village. It was very heavy, I helped carry for about one minute and I had to stop. The men are extremely strong. Grace helped carry for much longer. All the way back, the men sang the crocodile song which Donae sang for us last year. It was beautiful hearing so many people sing it and so loudly! When people stopped singing the men carrying said "The crocodile is heavy! Keep singing!" And the men not carrying would say, "We are almost to the village! You can make it!" I filmed the entire 2.5 hours of excitement and hope to use it for some elicitation in the next few weeks. What fun!