This afternoon, I finished grading papers and walked next door to find Eta and several of her cousin sisters sitting in the shade of a mogea (bush apple) tree with lots of little ones around. Several people were gathering oranges to take on the Kosko tonight, Eta was working on stringing tiny black shells for a necklace for me, but more than anything I walked into a sweet extended family gathering. I wanted to get the lyrics to a song that our neighbors have been singing a lot lately, so the ladies helped me write down the words.
Then I grabbed a baby and plopped down on the mat next to the little ones. I wasn't too worried about him relieving himself on me (this time!) because he had just watered his mom. His mom, Melody, went off to the garden to harvest cassava, and I heard Eta use the word usually meaning "dig.” So, I asked why she used that word instead of the word meaning "pluck,” which is usually used for cassava. If Eta could have blushed, she would have. I was just trying to figure out why she chose that verb, but the ladies were very gracious and told me that I was actually right! Laitima soon came and plopped herself down in my lap in the vacancy that baby Noel left. Yay for baby steps in language learning while holding lots of babies!
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