Adah of BuffanBlu

Here they still look at me, the school of mostly Rachel's. It seems as though everyone has another one just like them, a twin. My twin isnt so similar, sucking the potential out of me while still in the womb. The cause of my hanicap, my "gift from god". I manage to limp behind but only due to my incapable left half. In my new academic life i am an Impala, like the ones we longed for in Africa rejoicing after a successfull hunt. I stride along in unison with the pack, once in a while i even leap ahead, gaining the edge I never will physically. They other students stare at me with the streak of competitiveness in their eyes. A 16th century proverb states that a persons eyes are the windows to their souls, if this is true, these souls are on fire. Fire, hire, higher, a dire need for knowledge and growth fuels the inferno of heated examinations. A heavy fog hangs in the air thick with persistent contest, I am glad because for once I can compete.

Nathan Price Needs A Slap

Our literature figure eight's goal was to focus on the characters over the next cycle, and I have found Nathan Price's stubbornness to be the most pressing issue.
He has one of the worst attitudes so far, and is outright rude towards the Congolese people and their culture. Immediately upon his arrival in Kilanga he ridicules and publicly humiliates one specific (but probably many others)woman and her clothing choices, or lack there of. He constantly tries to push his beliefs into everyone Else's lives and when the locals try to help him avoid mistakes, ie. Mama Tataba's gardening methods, he flat out rejects their advice. He is proven to be wrong on many occasions and he still remains unwavered in his ways. I've read pretty far into the book and he's still the same after a whole year of failure due to his tightly closed mind, and I cant even begin to guess what it will take for him to change, if he does so at all (which i don't think he does). Nathan does have good intentions, we know this, he is just so stuck in his ways that he is blinded to the idea of collaboration with his environment and this new culture he's been plopped into, which would be much more beneficial for everyone.

I googled the name Nathan Price and this was the first image that came up. It has absolutely nothing to do with PWB, i just thought it was funny.

Words for The Lexicon

Here are some words from Genesis so far that our group found challenging throughout our reading.

cockade-"The Reverend towered over the rickety altar, his fiery crew cut bristling like a woodpecker's cockade." (p69): an ornament (as a rosette) usually worn on a hat as a badge

Stipend-"Our Father is a renegade who came without the entire blessing for the Mission League, and bullied or finagled his way into this lesser stipend." (p69): a fixed sum of money paid periodically for services or to defray expenses

Dirge- "We finished off Susanna by singing "Amazing Grace" at the speed of a dirge." (p72): a song or hymn of grief or lamentation; especially : one intended to accompany funeral or memorial rites

Socratic-"One of his socratic moves" (p73): of or relating to Socrates, his followers, or his philosophical method of systematic doubt and questioning of another to elicit a clear expression of a truth supposed to be implicitly known by all rational beings

Bovine- "...it was designed to show us all up as dull-witted, bovine females." (p73):having qualities (as placidity or dullness) characteristic of oxen or cows

Prattling-" He Made a habit of prattling at the top of his lungs through Sunday dinners at our house." (p74) : to utter or make meaningless sounds suggestive of the chatter of children

Interstitial- "intestines small and large, the skin, the bladder, the male and female reproductive tracts, interstitial fluids, even the cornea." (p76): situated within but not restricted to or characteristic of a particular organ or tissue — used especially of fibrous tissue

Specter- "His eyes in their bluging sockets ticked up and down, trying to understand the specter of this huge white man." (p81) : something that haunts or perturbs the mind

Definitions from www.merriamwebster.com

Christian World News

This is a video i found on YouTube. I thought it was extremely interesting to compare the tale of this christian family through their own words and experiences in The Poisonwood Bible with the real life happenings of these Christian organizations trying to make a difference in the Congo. It definately brings a whole new element of reality (and reassurence) to the reading experience of the book after being able to visualy see these improvements that are really happeneing.

Literature Figure Eights

I gotta say our literature figure eight group has seemed to start off slowly, probably becauses were all busy familiarising ourselves with the text, etc. My job in the group is to catch subtle hints that may lead into broader themes of the story, commanalities, things of that nature. So for the only thing that I personally ran across was the concept of being "left behind" during one of Adah's Narration on page 62 , "Last of all came Adah the monster, Quasimodo, dragging her right side behing her left in her body's permanent stepsong sing: left...behind, left....behind." I think each of the girls, with the exception of Ruth May perhaps, are experiencing some feeling of left behind. For Rachel, its missing out on the adolescence she feels necessary, for Leah it is in the constant struggle in satisfying her father, and for Adah it is often being physically left behind because of her Handicap. Also, the Congolese population seems to be left behind in comparison the rest of the world. (not so much in genesis but more so in further chapters)