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| After months of deliberation, lack of interest and a slooooooooooow internet connection (though it is "high speed" for here) I have decided to bid adieu to Xanga. It was fun while it lasted and I wish all you bloggers well. I don't think I will replace it with another blog or website. I have a Facebook account but I look at it only as a way to keep up with other people. Those who would like to keep up with me are already on my ministry newsletter list or have my email address. That is plenty enough for me. I hope to hear from you all and see your names often in my inbox. r ps on a similar note: in an attempt to spend less time on the computer, my millsberry, aim and aol accounts will soon also go caput. that leaves facebook and skype and my hotmail and work email accounts. still a lot but at least less than it is now. | | |
| You know you have been living in a foreign country for a while when...
Today I went out shopping with my friend Peggy, who happens to be a 70-year-old American lady who insists on me calling her "Grandma". She wanted to come to the market closest to my house to just "take her time" and "window shop" in the touristy section. This particular market is the most famous for tourists, often making it over-crowded and over-priced compared to other markets. All the sights and sounds, the crowds of people and the annoying tourists tend to overwhelm me, so I try to avoid trips there as much as possible. I have my one lady who sells me note-cards and office supplies and I thoroughly enjoy stopping to talk with her, but otherwise I do my best to get in, buy my supplies and get out as fast as I can. Today was the longest I have ever spent at the market and, consequently, I began to see it through slightly different eyes. Peggy, though she only knows a couple of words in the language (e.g. "yes", "no", "Grandma"), thoroughly enjoyed talking with the people there. She was true to her purpose in coming and was very slow in looking at things and interacting with the sellers. I helped her to buy some things, bargaining in the language to get us a lower price (tourists get cheated big time and, by speaking even simple words and phrases in the national language, the prices dropped significantly). But I also just watched her navigate her way around the market, which isn't familiar to her, interacting with those she met. It was good for me. I was starting to feel more comfortable, both in speaking to strangers and in speaking mostly the national language to the sellers. As I was bargaining for a monkey statue Peggy wanted she meandered around the corner to look at something else. To get her attention I called out "Yey" which means "Grandma" in the language. She responded; the sellers thought it was so funny that they offered an even bigger discount. :O)
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| Dengue Fever... looks like my roommate has it (not contagious; usually not life-threatening, but it is supposed to make you feel like you will die). Pray for her! me | | |
| Job Description: Treasurer, Media Documenter, PR and… PB? In January I had the privilege of going with the language survey team on one of their field work journeys. My job during the trip was to take care of the finances, paying whomever needed to be paid (e.g. drivers), keeping records of all expenses and to take pictures of the survey work being done. We went to a village somewhat far from the biggest provincial city (2 hours over rough dirt roads on motos plus a 15-minute boat ride across the river). The people seemed to quite act reticent, if not skeptical, in our presence. The underlying question seemed to be “Why are you here and what do you want with us?” I had the tendency to make some of the children cry just from walking nearby or looking at them. Eventually I was able to take some digital pictures and, to their amazement, immediately show the pictures to the people. It was obvious that the adults had seen cameras before because they posed for the pictures. The children may or may not have seen cameras, but it seemed that neither adult nor child was familiar with the digital camera. Children erupted in squeals of delight at seeing themselves in the camera. Adults smiled and pointed to others around them. They wanted me to take their pictures as well. I had learned a couple local words from a boy that also spoke some of the national language. Those words were the bridge to learning more words. Between taking pictures of the surveyors and their interviewees I took some pictures of everyday things in the village. Soon I was able to bond with an old lady who taught me some of their language. I showed my pictures to the old lady and she taught me the words for them: dog, chicken, house, etc. From another village lady (who was drunk) I mimicked some other words that, from the reaction of others around, probably were words I would never want to say in English. Oh well. The most unique role that I had on this trip had to do with using… the forest. Once we found a place that had the least amount of thorns and was fairly well hidden from view, we discovered another problem. It was because of this problem that my city-loving friend requested my presence on all of her forest journeys: the village came with its own sanitation system in the form of happily grunting, hungry pigs. Each time I would walk out with her, willingly honor her request “don’t look at me!” and watch/listen out for the excited oinkers. When they did come around I was to yell at them, throw sticks at them or lunge toward them until they went away, if only for a few moments. Thus, my role went from Treasurer and Media Documenter (aka picture taker) to Public Relations and PB... that's right, Pig Bouncer. | | |
| internet has officially died at my house. i can now only use the office internet which is even slower. le sigh. at least i will be out of the house more often. but now my skype lifeline has been cut. no more calling home to mom and dad whenever i want. at least the culture shock has settled down some. also, after leaving the country for a couple of weeks i have learned to appreciate a few things a little better. still hate the nasty, gawking men. i need to buy a new wedding band and get a man (or at least a picture of me with a guy). | | |
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