Words and Sounds

There's no pictures for this post. It's about sounds. I just want to let you know that the state of emergency has been recognised here for ages - the school bell is an alarm siren that goes off at several prescribed times every school day and can be heard all over Papunya.

Also, talking to Hannah made me aware that not everyone knows that English is a foreign language out here and many people hardly speak it at all. Although most people do, it is with a very strong accent and I am constantly embarrassing myself by asking people to repeat what they say. Lots of the old people speak only a very basic sort of pidgin English. Of course, my command of Luritja is far more elementary and a source of great amusement to everyone. I now usually understand what people are talking about but none of the details and I rarely try to convey anything complex in Luritja as I usually get the same blank look I give people when I don't understand their English...

Hand signs are very much in use here and I have learnt quite a few of them - excellent for communicating from a distance and for generally speeding up communication. Perhaps we could give the government a clear hand signal ...