It’s been a while since I’ve written- so sorry about that!! :( I hope you are all doing really well. I miss you lots!!!
1) India Update:
- Kahani- that’s the language I’ve been learning the past several months- it’s about equal to the amount of Hindi I know. It’s similar, has a lot of similar vocabulary, but also some words that are completely different. An interesting thing about the verbs. In Hindi sometimes the “command” form is the past tense in Kumaoni. For example, in
Hindi, “karo” would mean, “Do it” but in Kumaoni if you say, “Oo kamr saf karo” – that would mean, “He cleaned the room.” Anyway, I still have lots to learn. Spending time out in the village helps my language so much…though it doesn’t help my stomach!!! Some villages I go to don’t have proper bathrooms, and sometimes the water I’m given is the same water the cows drink from…but all of that just adds to the excitement of being here- Village life- I love it. I really enjoy it- fetching water, carrying large bundles of fresh cut grass 45 minutes up a steep mountain on the top of my head…there’s no end to the excitement! Of course, I know if I were to live here for months at a time, I might think otherwise, but at least for now, it’s a joy to be out with the village folk!
- The storying work…it’s going well. We have 12 stories we’ve been working on – There is quite a lot of working involved…making the stories, recording them, getting them back-translated (from Kahani into English, just to make sure we didn’t miss anything), testing the stories- (playing them for people and asking them questions, as well as checking to see if they can remember the stories), re-doing the story if it was too confusing at first, re-back-translating, re-testing, sending to our supervisors, re-testing, etc, etc, etc….It’s a lot of work…We are hoping to get a lot more done in the months of December and January, because mose village folks aren’t doing much then, since it’s too cold to do much work!!! We’ve also been getting some of their cultural stories- did you know that they have certain gods that are representative only of their area? It’s interesting to hear their stories too.
2) Thailand Update: (I’m here right now for some training)
- I went dirtbiking for the second time in Thailand- it was lots of fun- I think I fell more, but I have learned that the main thing when you fall is to get as far away from the bike as possible, so it doesn’t land on top of you (that happened the first time!!!!)
- I also went bungee jumping…that was pretty thrilling!!!
- I’ve also enjoyed two intense games of Frisbee, and will get to play once more next week- I’m going to bring my family along too!!!
- Of course, training is going on too- that’s going well!!! :)
DIRTBIKING! (that’s me on the left!)
3) My parents and Mark and Natatlie are arriving today- I’m SO EXCITED!!! They’ll be here in Thailand for about 10 days, then we all head to India for the trip of their lives!!! We’ll be going to where I live, and yes, getting to take a trip to the village!!! Then we’ll be back in Delhi for some sightseeing! They leave India the day after Thanksgiving.
I would love to hear what’s happening with all of you- please don’t’ forget me over here….I certainly haven’t forgotten you- though I apologize for not writing as often…. I miss you!!
~ Liz
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