Thursday, Aug. 3, 2006
Today was Here on Earthian - I bumped into Parker Palmer in the hall, which is a little like bumping into an oak tree. Parker has been one of the great inspirations for Here on Earth ever since I had an "Ah-hah!" moment during a show we did together on "Invisible Communities" many years ago when I suddenly came to understand my talk show as a kind of Kurt Vonnegut "karrass: a community of people who don't know each other, who have never met, but who somehow manage to God's will."
Then I got to spend an hour with two South African men, one of whom looks like Zorba the Great and the other like the King of Siam, talking about teaching science in South Africa - a huge challenge in a country where only whites were permitted to study math and science under apartheid. There are here at the UW as part of an exciting exchange program begun by Raymond Kessel, a South African geneticist on campus. We're hoping to do more programs on South Africa in the future.
No sooner did the program end, then I got whisked away by my crazy Haitian friend, Babette, who has just adopted an adorable eleven-year old child named Tara who can only say two words in English - "Thank you" - and who tried (unsuccessfully) to teach me how to say my name in Creole, trying very hard to keep from hooting at the results.
Now that's what I call a Here on Earth day!
By the way, to those of who have been sending your encouraging comments to our website, a heartfelt "Thank you." You're a lifeline.
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4 comments:
Great news! I wrote last week saying I can't hear you in Hayward. I dug an old stereo out of the garage that was headed for the dump and viola! there you were (or, kumd). The way this summer has been going, I just couldn't be happier. You have a new old fan.
I thought the guests today - at least the author (DePalma?) - were pretty out of touch with what's actually going on in Cuba, and what Cubans in Cuba really think. He seemed like an center-right idealogue - which is fine - but an uninformed idealogue - which isn't. There's so much propaganda in the US media; public radio can do better.
I would like to know more about the guest on the program 8/9/06 -
How to pronounce the Kosi (sp.?0 word for "I am who I am, because of you" -
To Audrey,
I'm sorry it's taken me so long to respond to you - I just learned how! The Xhosa man's name is Sivuyile Manxoyi, and Ubundu is the word that means, "I am who I am because of you." Cool, eh?
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