NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

I’m feeling depressed this month. Tinemba yu’ gi este na mes. I spent the last year trying to get a permanent job at UOG and got nothing despite applying for several positions. Right now I’m teaching part time at UOG this month to get by, but come August, I won’t have a full-time job but will still have two kids to support, credit card debt to appease and a mountain of student loan debt that is always mahalang for my salape’. I’m spending the month of July trying to line up some full-time work for decent pay, but haven’t found anything certain yet. This is especially so when I’m watching a movie and some fantastic, but old pop or rock song comes on, and I’m tempted to start singing along with the soundtrack of the movie. I used to do that, but movies have a way of chopping up or rearranging a song to make it fit and so its really really embarrassing when you are the only person in a theater yelling along to a song and it cuts out, but you keep belting it out for a few embarrassing se

I've always thought it very interesting, that of all the things I write about on this blog, the posts which elicit the most comments or negative feedback are one's dealing with the Chamorro language. Its so strange, because I say some pretty negative things about the United States, militarization and have some pretty radical political and social positions compared to most Chamorros, but I don't get much feedback in that direction. Most of it is all related to me mis-using the language, abusing it, not speaking it or spelling it authentically, sabotaging it or perpetuating poor grammar or English-affect Chamorro. Its possible, that I could simply be the worst speaker of Chamorro in the world, and all of these people are angels who are doing the Lord's work in protecting the Chamorro people from my evil damaging influence. Sina, lao hu dududa este. One of the reasons that I think this may be the case, is that unlike issues of history, culture, politics and current even

Kada na gof tinemba yu’ (triste i siniente-ku) put i direchas kuetdås gi lina’la’-hu, ya-hu muna’sumåi maisa yu’ gi halom dandan (musika). Fihu bei ayek singko pat sais na kanta, ya bei na’dandan ayu na singko pat sais, ta’lo, ta’lo, ta’lo’lo’lo’lo. I dinisehå-hu para este, na siempre u malaknos i chinathinasso-ku ginnen i tintanos-hu nu i dandan. Ya mientras matata’chong yu’ gi halom ayu na chubaskon palabras yan notas, maninasa este siha na achaki-ku ni’ ayu na manglo. I mas maolek na kanta para este na cho’cho’, i musikan Oasis. Siha i Beatles para på’go na tiempo. Gof “poppy” gof “rocky.” I palabras i kantan-ñiha, guaha nai masångan na puru ha’ lassas (ti tahdong), lao guaha lokkue’ masångan na gai simiyas (tahdong). I mas ya-hu na kantan-ñiha på’go i kanta “Live Forever.” Ti hu tungo’ taimånu madulok gui’. Ya-hu Oasis, ya ya-hu este na kanta. Lao desde i tinituhun este na mes, kalang kinenne’ yu’ ni’ este na kanta. Ya-hu bei hungok este yan kanta este todu tiempo. Ya-hu kuma

I've been working on my dissertation for about three years now, but have only spent the past year or so writing it. I could easily take another year to finish it, and sort of slowly and lazily work on it, but I'm in a hurry to get out of the graduate student phase of my life. Menha yu' ni' student debt, esta o'sun yu' nu i lina'la estudiante kolehu, ya guaha otro na malago bei cho'gue gi i lina'la'-hu. So I'm pushing myself to finish and have a tentative date for the first week of June to actually defend this damn thing. Right now I've written the first drafts of three chapters and am almost done with my fourth one. After that I've got one quick chapter left and then a conclusion and I have my sprawling, insane, crazily written first dissertation draft done. Este nai i guinife-hu, na bai hu (put fin) na'funhayan este na tinige', kosaki sina bai hu na'hanao mo'na i karrera-hu ta'lo. A few months ago one my frie