Today began when it was cooler, only 80 degrees. Of course, it got into the 90s pretty quickly but, except for moving between the buildings here at the translation center, we were inside and had fans if needed.
On the work side, we got much of what we wanted/needed to get done in the building where a 3-day"OneStory" workshop will start tomorrow. OneStory (onestory.org) works with mother-tongue speakers to develop and record chronological Bible “story sets” - typically 40 to 60 stories in a two-year period. Mother-tongue speakers spread the stories to others. These story sets form the beginnings of an “oral Bible” to be told and retold for generations. Since the department Julie is part of focuses on oral and visual tools, Julie had taken OneStory training at JAARS in the past.
While the goal today was to install more computer connections near the classroom as well as install a wireless system to cover that building, Corey and I discovered that the fiber optic cables that were installed underground to connect all the buildings with a computer network two years ago (and which we thought were working) were down.
After a couple of Skype calls to our co-workers at JAARS and getting some hardware documentation and great encouragement, we spent hours trying to determine if any of this network could be repaired. While we didn't get the fiber optic equipment working, we did find that an extra standard (copper) network wire had also been run between the buildings. It had never been terminated (sounds violent, doesn't it) so I finished the hookup and we were thrilled to have a working backup network connection to the classroom building. I then finished the wireless installation and secured it so only the instructor could use it.
All of our meals have been eaten so far with the director and his wife. They have been picking up English for a while and are making a wonderful gesture in both using what vocabulary they know and trying to teach some Portuguese words. Corey, who has been here before plus seems to be really good at picking up new words, is able to interact with this couple (and others) well. Me? Well, not only do I have hearing problems but I can't roll an rrrrrr and am severley language-disabled.
So how does one communicate with someone in a language you (aka me) have no knowledge of? I remember that in the original Star Trek series, Captain Kirk and Spock had hand-held universal translators. Flash forward 30 or so years and what do we have? We have Google Translate on the internet, accessed via a netbook (a really small laptop computer, probably 10" wide and weighing about 2 lbs). Corey normally brings it to the meal table and is typing a Portuguese word just spoken by the Director so he knows what has been said and sometimes types a sentence in English so that the computer can tell him what words to speak in Portuguese. Sometimes the director grabs the computer to do the reverse.
And this is how we're resolving problems and planning the next task. I just sit back and think, "How cool!"
(Actually, I was using Google Translate when sending emails to the director over the past several months. It would fun to share some of the odd results. Sometimes a hoot and sometimes a puzzler about what was meant.)
What was also interesting was to discover that the meat in the dish we were served (always with rice) was gazelle. Find any of that in your local grocery store?
We started the day shortly after 8 am and worked until 7:30 pm, finally eating and talking until about 9:30 pm. Tomorrow, after the OneStory class starts and we know the instructors are able to use the Internet, the director will take Corey and me to the capital, Bissau, on the coast for a little shopping for materials and repair parts plus a tour of the other translation center. We return tomorrow late for several more days in Lendem.
Prayer and Praise:
- Praise that we've been able to overcome the surprises so far
- Praise that the entire center now has very good wireless Internet coverage
- Praise that we've not experienced any problems with food, water, heat or bugs
- Prayer for safety to/in/from Bissau. The head of Guinea-Bissau intelligence was killed yesterday, the day after elections.
On the work side, we got much of what we wanted/needed to get done in the building where a 3-day"OneStory" workshop will start tomorrow. OneStory (onestory.org) works with mother-tongue speakers to develop and record chronological Bible “story sets” - typically 40 to 60 stories in a two-year period. Mother-tongue speakers spread the stories to others. These story sets form the beginnings of an “oral Bible” to be told and retold for generations. Since the department Julie is part of focuses on oral and visual tools, Julie had taken OneStory training at JAARS in the past.
While the goal today was to install more computer connections near the classroom as well as install a wireless system to cover that building, Corey and I discovered that the fiber optic cables that were installed underground to connect all the buildings with a computer network two years ago (and which we thought were working) were down.
After a couple of Skype calls to our co-workers at JAARS and getting some hardware documentation and great encouragement, we spent hours trying to determine if any of this network could be repaired. While we didn't get the fiber optic equipment working, we did find that an extra standard (copper) network wire had also been run between the buildings. It had never been terminated (sounds violent, doesn't it) so I finished the hookup and we were thrilled to have a working backup network connection to the classroom building. I then finished the wireless installation and secured it so only the instructor could use it.
All of our meals have been eaten so far with the director and his wife. They have been picking up English for a while and are making a wonderful gesture in both using what vocabulary they know and trying to teach some Portuguese words. Corey, who has been here before plus seems to be really good at picking up new words, is able to interact with this couple (and others) well. Me? Well, not only do I have hearing problems but I can't roll an rrrrrr and am severley language-disabled.
So how does one communicate with someone in a language you (aka me) have no knowledge of? I remember that in the original Star Trek series, Captain Kirk and Spock had hand-held universal translators. Flash forward 30 or so years and what do we have? We have Google Translate on the internet, accessed via a netbook (a really small laptop computer, probably 10" wide and weighing about 2 lbs). Corey normally brings it to the meal table and is typing a Portuguese word just spoken by the Director so he knows what has been said and sometimes types a sentence in English so that the computer can tell him what words to speak in Portuguese. Sometimes the director grabs the computer to do the reverse.
And this is how we're resolving problems and planning the next task. I just sit back and think, "How cool!"
(Actually, I was using Google Translate when sending emails to the director over the past several months. It would fun to share some of the odd results. Sometimes a hoot and sometimes a puzzler about what was meant.)
What was also interesting was to discover that the meat in the dish we were served (always with rice) was gazelle. Find any of that in your local grocery store?
We started the day shortly after 8 am and worked until 7:30 pm, finally eating and talking until about 9:30 pm. Tomorrow, after the OneStory class starts and we know the instructors are able to use the Internet, the director will take Corey and me to the capital, Bissau, on the coast for a little shopping for materials and repair parts plus a tour of the other translation center. We return tomorrow late for several more days in Lendem.
Prayer and Praise:
- Praise that we've been able to overcome the surprises so far
- Praise that the entire center now has very good wireless Internet coverage
- Praise that we've not experienced any problems with food, water, heat or bugs
- Prayer for safety to/in/from Bissau. The head of Guinea-Bissau intelligence was killed yesterday, the day after elections.
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