After visiting five villages, driving for over twelve hours, writing down 950 Wagi words and phrases, and talking to more people than I can count . . . it's back to life in the office.
One of my jobs on this survey was the "Language Use" questionnaire. Basically, we want to know who speaks which languages, when, where, and to whom. Knowing how often people (especially kids) speak the Wagi language helps us get an idea of how likely it is that people will still be using Wagi fifty years from now. In some places in PNG, kids are speaking Tok Pisin (the trade language) more than their local language. In these places there is a chance that when today's kids grow up, their local language might be lost.
Papua New Guinea has both millipedes and centipedes that are longer than my index finger and nearly as wide. The difference (besides the number of legs?) is that millipedes are round and harmless and centipedes are flat and extremely poisonous. If you make them angry they excrete a poisonous juice that burns you and is apparently extremely painful. A woman who has had three children and been burned by a centipede said that she would rather give birth again than be burned by a centipede again.
One morning I was taking down my mosquito net when my arm brushed against my shirt and it was cold. My shirt, not my arm. Looking down, I discovered that the feeling of cold came from the hard shiny back of a millipede, crawling up my side! In terror, not remembering which variety was more painful than childbirth, I shook it off and stood there trembling. Sara, my generally unflappable teammate, informed me that it was harmless and scooted it outside with her water bottle.
Since the Wagi language area is close to Madang (one of the largest towns in PNG) there were roads leading to every village and we were able to drive the whole way. Also, because Madang town was so close, people had a lot more stuff than they generally do in more remote villages. We saw TVs, a stereo system complete with speakers, a digital camera, electric lights, a refrigerator, and even a shower! (Yes, it was outside with a tarp for walls . . . but still!) It was an odd feeling to walk into a village house and have our hostess ask if we would like to put our fruit in the refrigerator. And during a church service someone's cell phone rang!
One of my jobs on this survey was the "Language Use" questionnaire. Basically, we want to know who speaks which languages, when, where, and to whom. Knowing how often people (especially kids) speak the Wagi language helps us get an idea of how likely it is that people will still be using Wagi fifty years from now. In some places in PNG, kids are speaking Tok Pisin (the trade language) more than their local language. In these places there is a chance that when today's kids grow up, their local language might be lost.
Papua New Guinea has both millipedes and centipedes that are longer than my index finger and nearly as wide. The difference (besides the number of legs?) is that millipedes are round and harmless and centipedes are flat and extremely poisonous. If you make them angry they excrete a poisonous juice that burns you and is apparently extremely painful. A woman who has had three children and been burned by a centipede said that she would rather give birth again than be burned by a centipede again.One morning I was taking down my mosquito net when my arm brushed against my shirt and it was cold. My shirt, not my arm. Looking down, I discovered that the feeling of cold came from the hard shiny back of a millipede, crawling up my side! In terror, not remembering which variety was more painful than childbirth, I shook it off and stood there trembling. Sara, my generally unflappable teammate, informed me that it was harmless and scooted it outside with her water bottle.
As always, we were welcomed into every village and given loads of amazing food. How's this for a fabulous breakfast?
2 comments:
Nice post! Lots of verbal and visual information. Thanks.
GAD, TX
P.S. Any interesting earthworms?
YUM.
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