A Bit of Signing and Speaking

To start off, let me clarify something in the previous blog post.

E appears 449,825 times in the New World Translation
O appears 358,865 times
Next is A with 343,205 occurrences
Then I comes next with 272,159
Finally, there's U with 123,981

And of course (sometimes) Y.


So, on with recent events!

The primary thing that's been happening that's new or unusual is some calls I've been going on with our Service Overseer, Season Dinoo. He used to be in a sign language group in Trinidad, and has retained enough of it that he conducts several studies with deaf or hard-of-hearing people in our territory. I just recently began going with him.

Naturally, the sign language here is different from ASL, the main difference being that here, signing is much more descriptive, almost like playing charades. Also on the studies they make abundant use of pictures to go along with the signing. Many of the deaf here don't even know sign language, so that doubles the workload of the brothers and sisters that study with them. First teach them sign language, then begin the Bible Study.

Due to the descriptive nature of signing here, and the fact that half the study is pictures, I'm able to keep up fairly well with the conversation. I don't necessarily know what signs to make if I want to talk to them, but I know what they're saying.


Of course, I have several calls of my own to keep up with. The most notable recently being a guy named Peter who lives in a settlement called Bath (you may recall me and Micaiah lived there for a period). He's been wanting to come to the meetings for a while, but he seems to have difficulty finding the hall. He knows exactly which street, but he asked which building on the street the Kingdom Hall is.
"Uhh..." I say "The big blue building shaped like a Watchtower."
How many of those are there in the world?

So anyway, that was the last time I talked to him (which would be.... Friday? I think.) Maybe next time he'll make it.
(We even offered to meet him at this house, but that didn't work out. Anyway...)

The most irritating problem I run into here (and frequently!) is that of finding a call who has loads of cool questions that take tons of research to find the answer to, getting everything together that I'm going to talk about, go to the house, and.... "No, he nah home! He gone out! Next time!"

For instance, I have a call on a Hindu man named Amid, and he says that according to one of the Hindu books, Jesus went to India (in between the Bible's references when he's 12, then later when he gets baptized and begins his ministry). While there, he learned yoga and all that stuff, and that's how he could walk on water, etc. Well, after said research, I found the answers for all of that, go back.... "No, he nah home! He gone out! Next time!"
And subsequently, every time I go back "He nah home!"
"Well, when can I find him home?"
"Wednesday! After 5!"

Go back Wednesday after 5... "He nah home!"

You get the idea.


Anytime you can get your calls home, it's without fail a fantastic call.

--------------------------------

Well, that's about all there is in the world of news. I'll just begin typing whatever Guyana-related topics come to mind that I may not have shared before.

--------------------------------

Rain! The rain here is cool. The way to tell how long it'll be raining is how dark the sky is. The darker the clouds, the shorter the rain. Whereas if the sky is very light gray, even white, it means the rain will last most - if not all - of the day. For instance...

---------------------------------------


As per the question on the previous blog entry about several bridesmaids in wedding dresses.... I actually have no idea. I wasn't attending the actual wedding, so...

It does seem strange, now that you mention it.

---------------------------------------

Did you know the phrase "Train of Thought" was created by Thomas Hobbes? That was something I had been wondering about for a while, but just now looked up.

I'm not sure exactly how that's Guyana-related, but still.

---------------------------------------

Thomas Hobbes is also who Hobbes is named after in Calvin & Hobbes.

----------------------------------------

Okay, I seem to be at a loss for Guyana-related information. I could keep typing, but it would be a bizarre and increasingly unrelated string of trivia that I'm not entirely sure you all would like to read. So perhaps I'll bide my time and just update you more next week.

Till then..... POLL!