NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

  Lulai continues to speak more and more Chamoru about more and more things.    In her third year, I've been  encouraging her more and more to start responding in Chamoru by playing games, providing commentary in Chamoru to movies or videos she was watching on YouTube, telling stories in Chamoru, reading books.    At first most of her Chamoru was blooming in the areas where I was prompting it.    I would say "nihi ta hugåndo este" and she would start speaking Chamoru in response to the idea that Chamoru has to be used for the game we are about to play.    But in the last week, and in particular since her younger sister has arrived, she has started to use Chamoru more and more organically and unprompted, telling stories in Chamoru that she starts herself and even creating her own games in Chamoru that she now invites me to play.   To give you a good example of the language growth in her, take this character, Lotso from the film Toy S...

When I visited Okinawa last year I was fortunate enough to visit a language school started by a group of activists who are working towards the revitalization of Uchinaguchi or the main dialect of Okinawa. I had met most of them over the years at conferences in the states or on solidarity trips around the Asia-Pacific region. I was impressed with their grassroots efforts and in the year since they even received a small government grant to provide stipends for the community members who were offering their time to teach the classes. In these classes parents and children would work together to learn the language. Unfortunately when I visited last week the school was on vacation and wouldn't start again for several weeks. I thought it would be nice to share some of the photos I took last year. Part of the benefit of these types of trips is not only the inspiration you can feel from seeing people who at work who are committed and dedicated. It is also important to learn about each othe...

Pictures taken from a recent concert for my kids' daycare. Akli'e' went on stage with his class but refused to do anything other than glare. This was an improvement over last year when he went on stage, cried and promptly walked off. Sumahi sang the song "Nanan-Mami" for those attending and also danced to "Time Warp" and "YMCA" with the rest of her class. This is Sumahi's last year in daycare and so she got to wear a cap and gown during the concert. In the fall she'll start attending school.

Este i dos famagu'on-hu. Ti apmam para bai hu hanao para Okinawa. Gof magof hu put i hinanao-hu, lao esta gof mahalang yu' nu i dos famagu'on-hu. Sen kinute este na dos.

Este na videos siha ginnen i Dinana' Christmas para i sagan famagu'on para i dos famagu'on-hu. Todu i famagu'on dipotsi mangahulo' guatu gi me'nan todu i manaina, ya mambaila yan manganta. Egga' na'ya este na video siha. Annok na mungga siha i dos famagu'on-hu.

Gof ya-na i lahi-hu Si Akli'e' ni' kanton tasi. Estaba ya-na umatan i kanton tasi, ya-na matto gi i kanton tasi, ya-na tumancho i kanton tasi, lao ti ya-na mamokkat gi i kanton tasi. Estaba taiguihi lokkue' i che'lu-na Si Sumahi. Achokka' gof ya-na matto gi i kanton tasi, ya-na mahoggue ha'. Ya-na kumuentos put i inai, lao sen mungga gui' pinacha'. Nigap annai hu konne' i dos famagu'on-hu para i kanton tasi Ypao sen na'chalek. I hagga'-hu esta payon gui' nu i inai gi i tasi. Pues gigon ha ripara i tasin unai gi i kanton tasi, malalalgu gui' ensigidas, ya ti apmam mamatiti'nas gui' kasityun unai. Lao i lahi-hu, ahe'. Ha essalaogue i inai. Ha chatge i inai lokkue'. Lao annai hu kena'tohge gui' ilek, "Mungga!!!!!" "Nooooooo!" Pues mata'chong yu', ya hu na'fata'chong i lahi-hu gi i tiyan-hu. Ya kalang un batko gi hilo' i tasi, ma'u'dai gui' giya Gu...

Kada puengge kalang umafulo' este na dos gi i katren-mami. Fihu i dos gumalilek, bumira, yan gumaddon taiguini gi este na litratu. Lao ai adai, guaha na biahi, annai fine'nina makmata' i lahi-hu, ayu na fine'nina na noskuantos na minutos, i mas mangge'. Put hemplo gi i mubi guini gi pappa'.

Below are some random photos and slices of life from my recent trip to South Korea: As if a sign of fate, my hotel in Seoul was just a block away from the South Korean consulate from Swaziland. For those who don't know I spent almost two years living there as a child. At a conference celebrating the 10 year anniversary of the agreement made by both governments of North and South Korea to pursue a path towards their reunification, there were apparently some very famous people there. As you can see from the sea of cameramen on stage shooting a row of VIPs. Although I was sitting in the front row, only one guy took a picture of me. He might of thought I was a Korean soap star. A university student, stands alone amongst a flow of constant traffic. I was told that his sign is protesting the involvement of the South Korean military in the war in Afghanistan. This is an ad for a cemetary (Pine'lo-ku). Mampos ambivalent yu' nu este. I first took a picture of it because it looked ...

Recently, i hagga-hu Sumahi started talking so much, and not just words, but sometimes even short sentences. Usually these sentences deal with demands, for liquids, foods, items, demanding to leave someplace, demanding to go to another place, etc. One of the cutest sentences that she's started using that is not a demand, is when if you say "I love you" to her, she'll respond to you back (if she loves you) with "I Wow You." I've tried to get her to respond to me when I say "Hu guaiya hao," but no such luck. Although she does respond when I say to her "Hu Wow Hao Nene," and when I respond to her saying it with "Hu Wow Hao Lokkue'." One of the ways in which you can tell whether or not Sumahi does indeed "wow" you, is if she'll play with you when you speak to her in Chamorro. Slowly over the past couple months I've taught her a half dozen words, and taught her a corresponding action to each of those words. ...

I watched Shiro's Head: The Legend last week and one of the stupid jokes that I made with people, is that you can't really be sure it was filmed on Guam. As a film which is billed as the first Guam/local major motion picture this might seem stupid, but the joke is that for all the landscape they showed of Guam, there were no political signs! For those of you who don't know why this is an issue, every two or four years (for some races) the roadsides of Guam become crowded with signs for Guam's legislative, mayoral, congressional and gubernatorial races. For most people on Guam, unless they have had the opportunity to meet a candidate at a funeral, party or other public event, these signs are the main way of "getting to know" the candidates. For some the candidate's face is most prominent, making what they are wearing, how their hair looks, or what kind of facial expression they are making crucial in determining whether people feel that they can trust/like...