guau, guau, guau

The first time I heard a hispanic person make a dog sound I laughed and then I said, "Dogs don't sound like that." I admit it; I have embarrassing, stereotypical American-arrogance tendencies.

bark, ruff, arf!

I spent this past weekend with friends from Seattle. I crashed a beautiful wedding - congratulations to 'Ese & Lorieal - practiced some Spanish and infected the aforementioned friends and their family with my Ode to Kiwi's accent. By the end of the second day even their toddler and grandmother were dropping some Kiwi flavored phrases. We were viral to the point the same toddler eventually complained to his mum, "Why are you talking like them?" Sorry boo.

Have you been watching X Factor? I love Willie Jones' Louisiana accent. I think that would be fun to try on for a couple of days.

Accents I'd like to test drive:

1. Irish brogue

2. Louisiana

3. Pidgin

4. Bostonian

5. African english

6. Georgia-n (the state)

7. Russian

8. Indian

9. Scottish

10. Kiwi!

Obviously learning the languages is do able, but would take me a long time and a whole lot of effort. My intent is to master the lingering accents their first language or culture causes when they speak English. I think it's fascinating how the same language can be personal and region-specific - LOVE IT - and that somewhere someone's version of English could be totally over my head. Oh yeah, how could I forget jamaican!

Sleep. Work.

A "bird" by any other name

M.S.A.

It's not a gang, virus or credential. It's the designation for members of the LDS church whose relationship status is single and age is 30s to 40s. It stands for Mid Single Adult. 

This evening I attended my first MSA fireside. I was inspired, uplifted and walked away with a desire to travel to Nauvoo and experience some church history. Every July the Nauvoo Pageant puts on a show about the early members of the church, their faith and the construction of the Nauvoo temple. 

The guest speakers served as Public Affairs couple missionaries for 18 months and they shared experiences and promotional clips. My mind was wandering, nothing out of the ordinary, and it wasn't so much the words they shared, but the zeal they had for the work and for the gospel that enthralled me. They have beautiful spirits and I'm definitely a fan. When one of the organizers introduced them she promised us the couple was awesome, that we'd thank her for getting them to speak and that we'd love them. I agree on all three accounts. The wife was first to speak and she started with, "It's okay if you don't love us." We all laughed and her humility and great-nature quickly won the crowd over.

As far as my first MSA experience goes, I felt very young. I'm not quite 29, but I feel excessively aged in the YSA, so I decided to see what I may get to look forward to. I made myself stop people-watching, tough to do when others blatantly gawk at your friends, and be there for the message. I know that's the way things are supposed to be, but I love to observe [the MSA animals in their wild habitat] and it's hard not to do that in a place where it's normal to turn about and be highly distracted.

Nancy and I met a girl affectionately called Pakosina by her Fijian relatives. I guess that means white dove in Fijian, I know it means white duck in Samoan. We were unaware that we were still using our Kiwi accents in this first meeting and Pakosina thought it was real. I think it's so funny when people think we're from overseas. I want to try an accent that would be totally off with my brown skin. I have my eye and ear on the Irish Brogue!

R and more R.