5k Kate

Had to skip my run this morning because of heavy rain - it made the trail very slippery. I did however walk nearly 7km with a heavy load to and from the canoe spot on my first fishing trip! Everyone went, but our fishing party was Wagiba, Wendy, Lauren. Grace, and me. Many other woman and small girls also walked down with us to go fishing. When we got to the canoe place, we bailed the rain water out of the canoes, spent a little time digging in the mud for worms, then settled in to Wagibas big canoe and took off. Others were throwing lines but we were going to drag a net to catch fish. Riding in the canoe was beautiful but frightening. I was so worried I would topple out.  I helped Wagiba throw out the net properly, we tied one end to a stick in the mud then paddled out into the clear part of the swamp tossing the net out as we went and back to the stick in a big circle. One side of the net had floaters and the other had sinkers. Then with the circle complete, you drag the net in f...

Another early morning run in before the heat. It's been higher than 90 degrees every day and well into the evening. It was a good way to start the day - much better than yesterday.  Yesterday I thought I might go on a run, but stayed in instead. I'm glad I did because the young boy with burns over half of his body came over again. He had fallen into a fire at the washing place. I had put a loose cloth over the burn gel the previous night to try to keep it clean but when he came in the morning, the third degree burns had stuck to the cloth, the second degree burns had all grown blisters and the first degree were more visible. I cried because I knew I couldn't help him. Grace helped take the bandages off. We gave him some more pain medicine and sent him with his mom to Upiara. It really tore me up inside, especially because I don't know if Upiara can care for him and his mom doesn't have a way to get to Daru. Grace and I comforted one another and sent some messages on...

Second Sunday. I can't believe the second week has come and gone. I've gotten into a running routine of warming up on my walk to little Dabi's house to give her her medicine at 6am and then a quick out and back run, back to Dabi's to pick up our plate and spoon and a cool down back home. Lately this has been followed by a water run around 7am with Grace. We take one of the big water rollers and a bucket and walk first to our friend Mecklyn's house who expertly ties a nice long rope onto our bucket. We then walk down to the new well, which is close to the health post that is being built. The well is deep so one of us throws the bucket in and the other pushes it down with a stick. Then we have to yank the bucket up and out in such a way so that the bucket doesn't hit the sides of the well which are covered in clay. We pour about six or seven buckets to fill the roller and then Grace and I both pull the roller back up the steep inclined path to the road. It's s...

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 ...

Beautiful but hot run to the canoe place late this morning. The canoe place is 3.33 km away from the edge of the village. I ran to the end then back to where Grace and Lauren were walking behind and back again for a little more than 5k. I felt strong and didn't walk, but it was very hot.  It's a Saturday today and the goal is to rest but I just want to work. There is a big community meeting happening today and Joshua and Saly came from Malam to see us. After lunch with them I took a nice long nap in the hammock with my computer. I wrote up some pages on vowel harmony and fell asleep. When I woke up it was nearly evening. Grace and I attempted to pass out cooking oil in a plastic funnel but it failed. I took Joshua to rerecord a story of his fathers but a loud fight with lots of yelling started so we paused.  Then a man came by asking for some medicine for his daughter who got a terrible cut on her buttock from a shovel (we learned later that he had hit her). Fortunately we wen...

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 ...