Nairobi Translation: A Typical Day

The delay in getting an update out should give you some idea of what a "typical day" entails. We are working from morning until almost midnight most days with breaks just for meals.

We meet for breakfast at 7:30am and enjoy a meal of cornflakes and something similar to shredded wheat biscuits. There is warm milk to pour over it which quickly turns into a warm, soggy mush. The milk is local - i.e. on the property of the Subiaco retreat center where we are staying. As you can see by the picture below, they grow their own produce. The overall property is much bigger than this and has livestock and other garden areas. The dirt is a rich red color and reminds me of the soil in the state of Georgia. Anyway, back to breakfast. Joel and Bonheur also fix toast to go with a hard boiled egg. And then there's coffee, tea, or hot chocolate with the fresh warm milk.

We head off to translate (or edit, in my case) from 8:30am until lunch at 1:00pm. Joel and I have two rooms in the wooden house and Bonheur has moved from his room in the small stone building to a small sitting room in the main building. We took four thick blankets from the room I sleep in and hung them over the windows to dampen the outside noises. The students left several days ago and thus the whole place has been quieter.

Several times an hour Joel has translation questions for me that I can assist him with immediately since we are in the same location. Then every hour or so I go over to the main building to check on Bonheur and he usually has written down several questions for me to address all at once. In the midst of answering translation questions, I work on editing their previous translation sessions. The computer I'm using is still going extremely slow, but I'm thankful that the one's they are using have not had problems. Once I finish editing a session, I then have them make corrections. At first, Bonheur didn't understand that when Scott gave a longer passage to be read that he was supposed to read it on the recording. So those had to be fixed for the first three sessions. On occasion both of  them will overlook a phrase or sentence to translate. Often it has been one that gave them problems and then they never went back to it. I also edit out noises that appear in the translators' track (such as dogs barking, planes flying overhead, etc.) especially when it overlaps with Scott talking. If they are not edited out at this point, then they get all meshed together in the final version. Spacing of when Scott finishes a phrase and when Joel or Bonheur being is another common thing to listen for.

 At one o'clock we meet up for lunch. It is a joy to hear Joel and Bonheur sharing back and forth what they are learning from Romans as they translate. This is exactly what I have been praying for them and I'm sure you have as well. Thank you! They also have fun with some of the words or phrases that Scott repeats from Romans such as: "Me genoito" for "God forbid", or "doreon" for "freely", and the phrase "But now". Other things that have caught their attention are concepts like: "coming unglued", "bookends", and others. Short rests after lunch on the lawn are enjoyed while I go and transfer files from their computers to the one I'm using for editing.

Dinner is at 7pm when we take another hour for our meal. The food is set out in a self-serve manner. One of the things that Bonheur particularly enjoys at lunch or dinner is the fresh juice they have - mango, papaya, banana, avocado, etc. Again, I think they are all grown here at the center. We often have bananas, mangos, or pineapple as a fruit for one of the meals and a salad of sorts for the other. I try to watch what I eat in the salad selection so as not to get sick. Joel's weakness is for the hot pepper sauce they have on the tables. He puts it on most everything. One night he didn't see the bottle of pepper sauce so used a shaker filled with cayenne pepper and won't soon forget that experience. They also have filtered water in pitchers on each of the tables.

After dinner we head back to our work until around 10pm for Bonheur and 11pm for Joel and me. After we get back to the main building where there is Internet access, I check my email and write Cathryn and, if I have the energy, I post a new blog.

Presently, Bonheur has finished translating session 10 of 18 and Joel completed session 9 before dinner and started in on session 10 after dinner. I caught up with them on editing this afternoon, so was able to prepare this post. We are grateful to the Lord for your prayers.

PLEASE PRAY that Bonheur and Joel would have stamina to continue. Joel has mentioned a few times that he can't imagine doing all 18 session in one block of time. It is really hard work and mentally draining. Pray that God would grant them good rest each night and that our fellowship around the table would also encourage them and bring renewed energy for translation.