I learned my first Yup'ik word this week - quyana (thank you)! As a linguistic, I know that learning one new word in five days isn't exactly amazing, but it was fun to hear it used and know what it meant. Actually I had seen that word several times before as it's the name of one of the taxi companies here in town.

I learned the word when we went for lunch at Peter Green's house. Peter is the translation coordinator for the Yup'ik project. He lives here in Bethel and is joined this week by Jones, the translation co-coordinator and 2 translators, Elsie and Alice. The Yup'ik New Testament was finished in 1956, and they have been working on the Old Testament for approximately 20 years. The translators are determined to finish the Old Testament translation and the New Testament revision by the end of 2010. Hopefully Brian's help during this visit will help them reach their goal!

Peter had invited us to his house for lunch, along with Alice, Lilian, a woman who runs the church's bookstore, and George, the groundskeeper for the church. We enjoyed salmon, rice, fresh blueberry coffee cake, and minestrone soup. The interesting thing about the minestrone soup was that the meat in it was caribou. So now Rachel can say she's eaten, and enjoyed, caribou and reindeer. I don't think she had any of the salmon, but she definitely should try some before we leave.

Not only was the meal delicious, but the opportunity to meet with these dear people was so special as we visited and they shared stories from the past. A particularly touching moment was when Peter's 19 year-old daughter gave Rachel a beautifully beaded key chain that she had made herself. Rachel was quite touched, as we all were, by their generosity. She carried the key chain in her hand the rest of the afternoon, treasuring the precious give that it is. Donna