Drinking the Fabric & Other Linguistic Adventures

Yesterday Jesse and I went fabric shopping with two other missionaries and a Burkinabe lady. (FYI, people from Burkina Faso are called Burkinabe – a little easier on the lips than Burkina Fasoians, I guess.) Eager to practice what little French I knew, I tried to tellvendors exactly what I wanted to look at, instead of just pointing. I realized I still have a long way to go when I told someone I wanted to drink (boire) his fabric rather than see (voir) his fabric. No wonder he gave me such a blank stare, even after I repeated myself two or three times… Oh well, at least I’m trying.

My other language malfunction occurred when I attempted to buy lettuce at a vegetable stand and could not successfully communicate that I only wanted half the lettuce the lady had in her hand. We ended up with about six heads of lettuce – and, rest assured, I now know the French word for half (demi). We’re now trying to come up with creative recipes that require lots of lettuce. Our first attempt was ground beef and cous cous lettuce wraps, which were actually pretty tasty.

We have been in French class for three days now, and have learned a lot of basics (introductions, greetings, simple verb conjugations and vocabulary of professions and nationalities). Right now we only meet with instructors from 8 am to noon every day, and we’re expected to study and practice on our own in the afternoons. In Feb. and Mar., we’ll also have afternoon classes a couple of days a week. Since language acquisition is our main focus right now, our supervisors expect us to spend 35-40 hours a week on language learning. It is pretty exhausting, but we really want to be able to communicate so that keeps us motivated.

We appreciate your prayers – we definitely need them. Please pray that we’ll retain what we learn and won’t get too frustrated when we make mistakes or can’t understand.