Yesterday was Sunday. Normally I’d go to church. However, there was a part of a funeral for my village host dad’s big brother who had died here in town, so I decided to head there before going to church. (And since church lasts several hours, I still got to listen to a good chunk of the sermon even though I got to church 2 1/2 hours after it had started.) So here’s how my day worked out language-wise:
– I got up and spoke in ENGLISH with my new teammates and our other American guest who was spending the night.
– I went to the funeral and spoke in mainly My Language, with a little JULA.
– I stopped by home on the way to church and spoke in JULA with my next-door neighbor.
– I went to church, where the sermon was being preached in FRENCH and translated into JULA. However, I mainly only listened to the FRENCH since I was having to translate it into ENGLISH for a Nigerian guy who attends our church but doesn’t speak FRENCH.
– After church there was a meeting, so I was chatting with friends in JULA as I waited for it to start. The meeting was carried out in FRENCH.
– Then I came home and had lunch with the other Americans, speaking ENGLISH.
– After lunch I took our American guest to go shopping, and while there, I spoke in ENGLISH to her, in FRENCH to the shopkeeper when I wanted my guest to understand, and in JULA when I wanted to barter the price down lower.
– When we got home, I chatted in ENGLISH with my American guest, then was ready for a nap! Maybe this jumping between languages all day had something to do with my level of tiredness?