He's finally off!

We arrived at the wharf a little after seven last night and found the Kosco getting ready to finally head out West!  Our friend Hilda, from Marulaon, was sending some rice to her mom, and we got to chat with her a little bit.

 

Then we found nice spot for Aaron to spread out his mat for the overnight trip. We also found Chief Osborne, one of the men who has participated in the translation training.

 

Aaron and I both are excited that our Lavukal neighbors are using more and more Lavukaleve with us, but we still have a long way to go before we can carry on a fluent conversation with them.  Especially when we are tired.  Aaron said that last time he was in Marulaon, the best conversation he had was with Chief Leonard's son, who is just days younger than Katherine.

 



A six-year-old chooses small words and short phrases, just right for Aaron to carry on a conversation!  The plan this trip is to get over to the Central and Eastern portions of the Russells to hold more orthography workshops and to continue to communicate well with the whole of the language group.  With few ways to stay in touch, the best option is still to physically go visit in each of our twenty villages to update them on the progress of the translation work and to continue to build relationships.

 



 

I just got off the radio with Aaron. He had walked into the door of our house in Marulaon only a few minutes before 8:00.  He found a stinky dead rat in the house and a cracked T-pipe coming out of our rain tank to welcome him.  He plans to take a motor canoe over to Hae Village this afternoon to line up meetings for the weekend.   The ocean is flat and we have gorgeous sunny skies today - thanks for your prayers for safe travel and a productive time for Aaron!