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Two months....
August 9, 2010

Guess what! Only nine weeks to go as of last Tuesday! Still ages really, but when I think back to when I’d been here for two months and had ten to go... gosh.

A LOT has happened since my last email (yeah I know I always say that...)

Stuff and things
August 9, 2010

THE NEW ME
I've been given a Balanta name... Almamu wanted to give me one, but before he could, one of the guys, Timbana, (Tim, our first language teacher) gave me some options...

  • Diana:'shy'
  • Wingaba:'don't hate me'
  • Ntchomba: 'I will not allow it'

But those ones didn't thrill me at all!  Fortunately Almamu arrived just in time before they decided to name me Wingaba forever (it sounds waaay to much like a character from Star Wars for my taste, not to mention the meaning!)... and gave me Kusuma, which means Happiness :-)

I see with my bicycle
August 9, 2010

Hello hello hello hello!

I am so very happy to be emailing you!  It has been SO hard to not be able to communicate, although a lovely random man with an internet-capable cellphone let me use it to read some emails a few weeks ago... I'm sorry to say this will be a bit epic, so for all you skim readers out there, be warned.  But I will try and do the old 'headings' thing so you can just skip to the good bits.
 
Esperanca English Club
So we have now been teaching for five weeks... and have one and a half weeks to go before our three week break.

I - like - big - butts and I cannot lie...
August 9, 2010

So...  What happens if you speak Kiriol at school?  You get beaten 10 times.  Yes that's right, you can only speak Portuguese or suffer the consequences.

FOUR HOURS AND COUNTING
That's how long we sat on log benches for church on Sunday!  They do a long service once a month, and fast, and pray, but the benches are upsidedown half-logs so it's curved, with no back, and VERY hard to sit on for more than a few minutes!  I never thought I'd say this, but big butts are starting to seem very desirable - either that, or we need a cushion!