07/13/12-Surprisingly Un-Sweaty

I am feeling even more positive today.

Today, was the supervisors workshop where I met my Vice Principal, Hawa. I was greeted by a tall Mende woman decked out in a bright pink Africana dress, well because, it was Africana Friday. Though not mandatory, everyone wears Africana on Fridays as a country initiative to promote cultural pride. I think we clicked really well with her big personality and infectious laugh. Her energy just made me excited about the school and the site. I hope this is the start of a good collaboration.

The session ended 30min early, the sun was shining, I was in a great mood, and surprisingly I wasn't profusely sweating as I walked home. There seemed to be even more children along my path home. It could've been b/c I got out earlier, or the sun was shining, or school was out for the summer. It could've been all 3 things, who knows. It was crazy weird how the kids saw me coming and created road blockades with their tiny bodies in tattered clothing as they chanted my name in unison:

Kenyah!
Kenyah!
Kenyah!
Kenyah!

When I reached them they all stuck their hands up for their high-fives and skipped alongside me. This happened with I swear like 4 different mobs of children on the way home, was this planned? I felt like I was in a movie, lol.

Also, along my path home, word has gotten around that I'm headed North to Temne-land in Lunsar so the Mendes were humoring me by doing small Temne talk which was fine with me b/c that's all I'm capable of at this point in time. So we greet each other in Temne:

Opadi, Enpiari
Enpiari seke
Tu endira
I tanto kuru, munonga
Mine so I tanto kuru
Momo yo
I yo, se kanetaneso
(it's your standard getting of hello, how are you, I'm fine, thanks, see you later)

They get a kick out of hearing us Americans speak any of the languages. So the court jester aims to please. Except for this one old Kono woman who is not pleased that there is no woman going to Kono-land. She tried dragging me out of Temne class to the Kono language class down the road, lol. She said that I am to become a Kono woman and I politely told her in Krio that I have no choice b/c I'm being sent to Lunsar and have to speak Temne. You can't please them all, haha.