Asakiyume mita

In order for me to learn how to say things in Tikuna, my teacher sends me short recordings over WhatsApp. I then save them in files on my phone and computer and listen to them over and over and try to copy what she's saying.

These recordings are so, so charming, they always make me smile. She starts off with good morning, good afternoon, good evening (in Spanish), and in the background there may be music, or kids playing, or the sounds of cooking, or the sound of rain, or birds and insects. Sometimes she's whispering because she's sending me a message late. I never realized how VERY QUIET my own environment was until I started getting these lively recordings--such a gift.

And then there's how she frames what she's teaching me. She had just explained to me how to say "I want to eat pineapple (followed by fish, and then grilled chicken--"I'm getting hungry!" I told her), and next she wanted to tell me how you would ask someone "Do you want to eat pineapple?" She introduced the phrase by saying, "When you want to ask someone if they want to eat pineapple, for example, your niece, your child, your uncle... [brief pause], your husband ... [another pause] your dog, your grandfather, your grandmother, you ask--" chinü ta cu ñochaum

I was grinning and grinning at that very broad and inclusive list. She's very close with her nieces and her boyfriend's nieces; I'm not surprised she put them first ^_^