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Showing posts from September, 2005

a conversation in Alawa

so one bloke points to a black cockatoo and asks his mate: Nganjini-nda ninda? his mate answers, Ninda-nda lirrarduma so the bloke says Ninda-nda jijan wulunga-nya and his mate says, Mandi, ngayi ngaba-nya. Yilunga-nya. Good one, eh? This is what we (tried to) teach 20 teenagers today. Perhaps they learned something.

What a day!

Hey everyone. Sorry i haven't blogged a decent post for ages. I haven't felt like doing it, so ... well... i haven't. But today was such a big and special day that i'm springing back into action (and maybe I'll go back and fill in some of the past two months sometime too). Today we had the official opening of the new extension and verandah of the Ngukurr Language Centre. It was really really great. JBJ and others had organised for there to be bunggul - traditional dancing - for the event. So late afternoon, people gathered, the dancers came, the songman was there and the bambu player too (didjeridu man), it all came together in it's laboured and deliberate way. Our new boss is out here for the opening, she's only six weeks into the job, but a lot of people here know her, they all knew her dad and she lived here for a while when she was a little girl. So the bunggul mob (dancing, singing, playing music (clapsticks and didj) slowly escorted her around

banji en nis

DSC00069 Originally uploaded by bump77 . dubala main banji (brother-in-law) en main nis. ai bin luk dubala la Malaysia. ai bin teigim dijan foto wen ai bin redi bla gu la eyapot bla kambek langa Australia. Ai bin brabli sed dumaji ai bin abum bigis mob fun la Malaysia. Im rait thet foto, ngabi? :)

anyayn

DSC00068 Originally uploaded by bump77 . anyayn means something like 'awww cute' in kriol. this is another photo of my niece, taken while we were on Langkawi.

My sister's family

DSC00066 Originally uploaded by bump77 . While I was in Malaysia visiting my sis and her family, they took to Langkawi, and resort island not far from Penang. It was amazing. So lovely. I felt spoiled and wondered what I'd done to deserve it! This is us having lunch on the beach - my bro-in-law, my niece and my sis. Good times.

Main nis

DSC00065 Originally uploaded by bump77 . This is my niece. I went to Malaysia to see her and her mum (my sis) and dad (my brother-in-law/banji). What can I say except that meeting her was fantastic. She beautiful and I love being an uncle. She was starting to feed herself. Room for improvement it seems. aww...

Nganapparru

DSC00061 Originally uploaded by bump77 . Nganapparru is Rembarrnga for buffalo. Me and mum saw this one from the helicopter (see next post).

Katherine Gorge from the air

DSC00064 Originally uploaded by bump77 . My mum came to visit me in the NT and she paid for a helicopter trip up Katherine Gorge. It was fantastic, exhilarating and beautiful. Photos don't do it justice, but this might give you an idea.