Wrapping it up here...heading to Buenos Aires

It's been a busy week here in Asuncion!

Last M-W we spent filing video language data and translating and preparing a couple of Paraguayan SL texts for an intelligibility test that we were creating. We needed to test the texts here in Paraguay to make sure they are a good representation of Paraguayan SL before taking them to any other country. We were working on 2 texts, 1-3 minutes long. Our interpreter friends translated the text into Spanish sentences and then "glossed" each individual sign with a Spanish word (or words) that meant the equivalent. This gloss is not a good Spanish sentence but it does help to give the meaning of each sign of the text. Then we spliced the video into sections of 1-2 sentences each. We have hometown tested it twice and have serious enough concerns about the clarity of the text that we don't plan on using it in other countries as a good sample of Paraguayan SL. However, by showing it at various deaf meeting places we are getting helpful feedback about people's perceptions of the sign language samples and about attitudes toward the people signing the samples, one of whom is seriously being considered as a primary person to sign the Bible translation. Sometimes we are looking for one thing and although that doesn't work out perfectly like we hope, God helps us to find out other important information through the process. It's so good to work with Him!

A couple days this week we have been meeting with the SL translation team to discuss positive ways to move forward with the translation, various Paraguayan Deaf community needs, and Jason's been busily using his tech training to teach them computer programs that can help in their SL translation process. This team has been incredibly helpful to us and we are very thankful for their sacrifice of time to accompany us everywhere.

For those interested, here's been a typical day over this last weekend:
7:45 - get up and head to breakfast (very European with bread/jam/cheese, fruits, yogurt, and juice)
8:30 - back to room and/or lounge to do email, internet and computer work
10:30 - work out (Julia has introduced us to kick-boxing and pilates on DVD that she brought with her)
11:30 - shower/computer work
1 - lunch (We found an amazing quiche and dessert place that we've grown to love just a couple blocks from us)
2 - short siesta/pack for day
3 - meet with team for translation discussion or travels to deaf meetings/outlying communities to meet deaf people
8 - finish various meetings/find supper
9 - debrief as a team, taking notes of what we learned during interactin and talking with various people along the way
10:30 - retreat to air conditioned bedroom and unwind from the day

During one day we met with a 19 year old girl who is a-lingual - meaning that she has no means to communicate, no language. Last year she went to school for the first time (at 18!) but became so depressed that she did not eat and was slowly killing herself. They sent her home but because no one signs and she has had no training to speak she is pretty isolated. Julia and Ivo (a Paraguayan Deaf friend) had fun showing her pictures on the computer and slowly teaching her how to connect a 2d image with real people, and the sign for turtle :). We see these situations every now and then in our travels and it is always heart-wrenching. It's much more "fun" to freely interact with fluently signing Deaf people - BUT - it's a good reminder of a whole other segment of the population that we're serving and how sign language can bring so much freedom and joy!

Speaking of joy...it's Christmas season here, as it is in the States! It is hard to believe because highs have lingered over 100 degrees F here (as in it goes over 100 by 11 and stays there until after 5), things are winding down and groups are having Christmas parties before they disperse for the holidays. This makes it easy to interact with deaf people at parties, but difficult to gather much more language data. We had anticipated that this a bit and are leaving Paraguay on Wednesday. Julia will be flying back to Denver while we have an extended layover in Buenos Aires in order to meet with the SL Bible translation team there. We fly back to Denver overnight Sat-Sun. Please pray for safe travels!

We have a few meetings left before we leave - this afternoon we go to the third deaf association here in Asuncion that we haven't had the chance to meet with yet (and hopefully sneak in some Christmas shopping beforehand! On Tuesday we have an afternoon meeting with the "techie" guy of the translation team here to help him more ELAN (a computer program we use a lot for sign language analysis!) and then at 8pm a thankyou/farewell party to the team. Wednesday, we'll head to the airport at 1 and fly out at 4. Survey fieldwork sometimes feels slow (when sweat is dripping and you're stuck in the heat for hours working) and sometimes fast (esp. as we leave and look back), but it's always rewarding! Thanks for being a part of it!