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Showing posts with the label Bible

Fanohge: March for CHamoru Self-Determination

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Circumnavigations #6: The First Book Around the World

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One of the presenters at the "Primus Circumdedisti Me: Claves de la Primera Globalizacion" conference focused primarily on the life of those who traveled with Magellan on his voyage. What were the things that they ate? How much did they get paid? What were the rules on these ships? What was the hierarchy like? Were captains the lords over these ships and the men like slaves? Or was there some democracy as we see on pirate ships? Much of this presentation I was already familiar with from my own study and even from the numerous pirate based video games that I enjoy playing. But there was one part that I found particularly interesting, about how men passed the time on the voyages, or what they did for fun. Trade voyages to the other side of the world, followed known routes, but still took months and years to complete, the level of ennui on these journeys must have been severe on small ships without may diversions, and a crew too poor and too cramped in to bring much with t

Inadaggao Lengguahen Chamorro

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Six years ago under the guidance of Peter Onedera, the Chamorro language program at UOG held a Chamorro Language Forum, in which senatorial and gubernatorial candidates were asked questions in Chamorro about pertinent island issues. It was on one hand a great success. Students asked hundreds of questions to the candidates in the Chamorro language. But on the other hand, the format of the forum made it so that candidates didn't have to speak in Chamorro, they could just respond in English. I assisted Peter Onedera with these forums both as a student and a professor at UOG, and so I found it on the one hand inspiring to see a place where the Chamorro language was the focus for political discourse. But it was also so depressing to see so many leaders and would-be leaders not even trying to speak Chamorro, even though they were given the questions ahead of time and could have prepared answers. Fast forward six years and through my Chamoru Culture class at UOG, we have decided to br

Tinaitai gi Fino' Chamorro

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Ti katoliko yu'. SDA i rilihon-hu anai dumadangkolu yu'. Gi entre todu i gima'yu'us siha giya Guahan, i gima'yu'us Katoliko i mas Chamorro. Hunggan, matanom i simiyas para i hineggen Protestante mas ki un siento anos tatte, lao ma'establesi ayu na guma'yu'us gi duranten i Tiempon Fina'amerikanu, ya humuyongna ti gof Chamorro i pengga' Protestante giya Guahan. I rilihon SDA, humålom giya Guahan despues di i Tiempon Chapones, ya put enao manhålom i Chamorro siha gi duranten un mas didok na Tiempon Fina'amerikanu. Anai estaba humålom yu' gi Gima'yu'us Katoliko, meggai Fino' Chamorro hu hungok, gi kanta siha, tinaitai siha yan pinagat lokkue'. Lao gi gima'yu'us-mami, taya'. Achokka' ti hu aksepta i doktrina komo iyo-ku, hu agradesi i che'cho'-na i Gima'yu'us Katoliko gi halacha na tiempo. Sa' siha mas umu'usa i Fino' Chamorro. Estague un hemplo: *****************

#ReinstateDocHawk

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Unu na parehu na sinisedi para hami yan i nobia-hu Isa, na dumangkolo ham gi kumunidat ni' gof gaihinengge yan umeskuela ham gi eskuela ni para i manggaihinengge lokkue'. Para guiya, Lutheran gui'. Para Guahu SDA. Lao gi i kareran-mami gi lina'la', in dingu ayu na lina'la. Hunggan manhohongge yu' gi aniti, yi'us yan todu ayu siha, lao ti parehu yan antes. Gi inestudia-hu gi koleho yan i intaitai-hu/inaligao-hu komo academic, pa'go na meggai mas meggai na tiningo'-hu put i diferentes na hinenggen taotao, lao ti sina dumichosu yu' nu unu na hinengge pat guma'yu'us. Gi i klas-hu put Estorian Mundo, sesso hu kefa'nu'i i estudiante-ku siha put na ti kabales todu i sisteman hinengge gi hilo' tano'. Achokka' un sen hongge na i gima'yu'us Katoliko i mas kabales na rilihon, gi i inestudian estoria, sina ta li'e' na ti uniku ayu na rihilon. Ha a'ayao meggai gi estoria-na yan i kustumbre-na ginen otro ma

Religions are but islands in a sea...

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I miss teaching history. Guam History and World History were my teaching for for close to five years. I've only recently started teaching Chamorro formally at UOG, and although I enjoy it, for many years teaching history was my passion. I loved the way that history provided a means of probing and opening students' minds by revealing to them the invisible and unknown things that exist within them. The way that a word could be traced back in time and attached certain meanings that might have been unfathomable before. The way a word, a custom has been adapted and altered over time, and how it may unintentionally reflect and refract previous areas without people today realizing it. My most enjoyable experience was to root in the earth and in human meaning, things which people accept to be untouchable, natural, unquestionable. Perhaps not in the sense that they would refuse to entertain any questions about something, but rather the way that thing might persist in the

Mas Ki Dichicheng

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Ilek-na Si Henry Kissinger, ayu na sen dangkolu na galabok taotao, put iya Micronesia, “There are only 90,000 people out there. Who gives a damn?” I meggaina na taotao guini ti ma tungo’ put este na sinangan ya ti ma tungo’ lokkue’ hayi este na Henry. Lao para i manggaitiningo’, ti mannina’manman nu este. Ayu na hinasso, ayu na pine’lo, put i mineddong-ta guini gof annok gi i na’an-ta. Atan i na’an ni’ mana’i hit para este na lugat: Micronesia. Kumekeilekna “dikike’ na isla.” Sigun hafa hu fa’na’an i “pragmatics of size” taya’ gaibali giya Micronesia, todu taibali. Hunggan, buente anggen malago’ hao bumuteya hanom tasi, sen gefsaga’ este na lugat. Lao dinirihi i hinasson i taotao sanhiyong ni’ tano’. Ayu nai muna’hasso siha put finitme, siguridad, yan anggokuyon na fuetsa. Para siha i hanom yan i tasi, ti anggokuyon, machalek, todu tiempo matulailaika. Todu i tumuge’ i Bipblia ginen ayu na hinasso. Hafa ilek-na guihi put este? Estague ginen as San Mateo: Enao i humungok

Chago' i Korason-mu giya Guahu

It is the one year anniversary of the passing of my grandmother, Elizabeth De Leon Flores Lujan. Family and friends held a gathering recently to remember her and celebrate her. As part of the gathering we sang some Christmas songs, both in English and Chamorro. It was a bit strange though because even though I spent several Christmases and in fact most Christmases in my grandparents' house in Mangilao, we never sang Christmas songs. We didn't do much decorations either. I've wondered if this is because grandma was already older and not as interested in those things, or because of her strong religious beliefs. Something that we would do for Christmas and at regular points through the year is sit around the dinner table and read bible lessons and bible verses. This is how I think grandma would probably want us to remember her and honor her, but reading the bible together. This past week I wrote about the new movie "Saving Christmas" and reflecting on the origins of

Hellraising in Hagatna

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 Even though almost everyone in the world will probably tell you that democracy is the greatest system of government in the world, that doesn't mean that people don't loathe it. People will generally loathe their own particular forms of democracy and only praise or love it when its existence is being shaded or overshadowed by some competing alternative. But even though they may loathe the ideas of Senators, Mayors, Governors or Presidents as being positions that are often held by cheats and liars, they tend to either tolerate or like the people who actually hold those positions. In a purely commonsensical level you might assume that since Congress is so incredibly unpopular, people would be in a hurry to vote out all incumbents and bring in fresh blood. You may think that since nearly everyone on Guam complains about Senators or Governors as being self-interested crooks who don't do anything more than wave by roadsides, no one in Guam's history would ever g

The Infernal Hurricane

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One of my favorite poems is The Divine Comedy by Dante. It contains three sections, Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradisio. They chronicle the tale of someone closely based on the author himself who travels into the bowels of the world, through hell, up to purgatory and finally up into the heavens. He meets a wide range of historical figures along the way and also people from his own time. In one way The Divine Comedy is similar to the "burn book" from the movie Mean Girls. Dante fills his version of hell with all those who hates and can't stand, devising tortures and torments for them. People who wronged him, got in his way, whom he didn't agree with, all end up in one of the suffering circles.  Inferno is generally the most favorite of the three parts because of the vivid and brutal imagery that Dante uses to portray the punishment of sinners. Their is always some irony and some tragedy to where they end up and how they suffer given the sins that put them there. M

The Life and Death of an Adjunct

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Woman Who Taught At College For Decades Dies Making Reportedly Less Than $25,000 A Year The Huffington Post  |  By Tyler Kingkade Posted: 09/19/2013 4:05 pm EDT   |  Updated: 09/19/2013 6:10 pm EDT