Eggplant-ville

September 20, 2012

Last week I got a chance to visit a nearby town called Egglplant in Spanish. I didn’t see any purple vegetables, but there were tons and tons of trees with a tropical fruit called guayabas. I grew up eating those (and enjoy them) but this version was a little tarter than I’m used to. I took a […]

You’re…WHAT?

September 12, 2012

My language helper got a case of the giggles the other day while I checked some verbs. I was running through my list quickly and didn’t pay attention to a stress marker. Big deal, right? Instead of saying “I take care” I said “I am poop.” Trust me, I’ll get put the emphasis on the […]

Look, Ma, I’m Floating!

August 31, 2012

After a somewhat warm and sweaty language session at Andrea’s house, I asked her daughter Natalie if she wanted to go to the creek. There were only a few days left before school started again, and she had been begging me to go. Andrea surprised me by saying she would come, too. She said, “I […]

Fake It

August 18, 2012

Here is an example of the Fake-It-Til-You-Make-It approach to practicing a tribal language. We had some out-of-town visitors in our village and I walked up to one older couple and said hi. After a bit, the conversation went like this: Me: (painfully) They said that you might want to borrow some blankets from me. Cute […]

Rainy Season

July 24, 2012

It’s Raining, It’s Pouring… Rainy season has arrived, bringing with it green fields, full creeks, and a landscape filled with flowers. We are getting to experience some of the season’s fun, like hiking to look for mushrooms, milking the cows for cheese-making, and learning the names of plants that appear once a year. Because the […]

After the World Was Lost

July 19, 2012

A few days ago, my language helper told me the tale of the first man and woman. It’s a fascinating story that echoes some of the Nahuatl values and points of view. I’m sure you’ll recognize some familiar imagery, as well. When the world was lost, it filled with water. Everything was gone. And when […]

June Update

June 23, 2012

We’re Hitting Dung For the past few weeks Rachel and I have been working, along with several neighborhood ladies, to get our house stuccoed before the rains come. Naturally, we tried to learn a little while we worked. I kept asking my friend Andrea, “What are we doing now?” At one point she said, “Tiwihtehtí […]

May 24, 2012

Cramming for My Test As always, time is ticking right along, and with a dental clinic in April and a work team in May, it surprised me to realize that June is just around the corner. During the beginning of that month, our consultant will be coming to town to give our team language tests. […]

Merry Christmas from Las Moras!

December 16, 2011

Merry Christmas from Mexico! Our team is currently out in the city completing the paperwork necessary to stay and minister in this country. We are enjoying the hot showers, cold drinks, and internet that go along with civilization. Besides filling out forms, we will do some canning, buy supplies, and get ready for our return […]

November Update

December 6, 2011

Mucha Chamba… Mucha chamba is a Spanish mountain phrase that means “lots of work” and is a great way of describing our team’s last month. We arrived in Las Moras in late October and jumped right into cleaning the house, moving adobe bricks, and getting ready for a work team. When they arrived, things really […]