Gotta be creative…

January 10, 2014

One of the hard things in this language is keeping straight who said what or who did what. They have the same pronoun for he/she/it. And all those have the same verb prefixes for the actor of an action and the object of an action. It can get a little complicated. So, as my language […]

None of us know about God. Will you teach us?

February 5, 2013

The Nahuatl have a story about how the world ended. In their version there was just water everywhere. All the people had died and all the trees were gone. There was just one man and his little dog in a canoe. All the people in the world come from that man and his dog. As […]

Uyuli

August 1, 2012

I was checking words with my language helper a few days ago. When I asked her about “uyulí” Agustina gave the definition as “it re-lived.” “Like what, for example?” I asked. “Oh, you know,” answered Agustina, “like if a plant is getting all dry and brown and you think it’s dead, but then it starts […]

An old Nahuatl tale

July 19, 2012

A few days ago, one of our friends told Katie Moore the Nahuatl 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 […]

Baby Wearing

June 24, 2012

Baby wearing is not a new fad. For hundreds, maybe thousands of years, the Nahuatl and other indigenous mothers have been wearing their babies. Here is a 16 year old mother with her one year old: I got to try my hand, or my back, at this ancient practice. Katie was checking language with one […]

This week

June 11, 2012

This week our house became a movie theater – complete with snacks: Tang and animal crackers! The early showing was Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. The second showing was Planet Earth. Both were much enjoyed! This week we studied Nahuatl. We have a language evaluation soon, so we practiced as much as […]

Rural Television: Neighbors

June 8, 2012

When you live in a rural community everyone knows everyone. And, everyone knows everyone’s business. We have learned that there is NOTHING sacred or private in our lives. Our neighbors see when we go to the bathroom in the outhouse. Even at night, they can tell by the flashlight making it’s way to the facilities. […]

A little bit of Nahuatl

May 14, 2012

This is a story I’ve been working on the last couple of days. Test your knowledge of Nahuatl (or see if you can decipher the Spanish mixed in!) Be the first person to tell me what the story is about and I’ll send you a prize!! Just click the “CONTACT” tab above or leave a […]

Wapurú

May 8, 2012

One day, Beni, one of the women of the village stopped by for a little visit with her girls. We always enjoy their visits as they are very expressive and funny. We always learn new words with them and they stretch our knowledge of the language in trying to understand them and talk with them. […]

From Katie: Not straight talking…

March 12, 2012

As we continue to spend hours daily studying the Nahuatl language, it is fun to see things start to take shape and make sense. Several months ago I had written down “amomelahtaketsaliste” as meaning “a lie.” We knew that the verb, to talk, is “taketsa” and “amo” means not. Then, a few weeks ago, while […]