Little bit of background noise

So I’m wondering what you picture in your mind when you hear me talking about recording a chapter of I Corinthians.  What do you think the recording will actually sound like?  Tyob doesn’t ‘um’ and say ‘you know’ or ‘like’ the same way that Americans do when they talk.  He sniffs a lot or coughs or clears his throat a lot – often starting each recording with one of the above.  Or he’ll repeat the same word over and over as he tries to think of what comes next so he has his own ‘um’ word I suppose.  The part you wouldn’t expect to hear if you’ve not been here would be the roosters crowing in the background, or the dogs howling or yelping, or the kids crying or the adults talking next door or the guy working on a new pig spear by hammering a piece of metal into just the right thickness and length, or the cat meowing or the ladies yelling at their kids at the house just next door or the laughter of the men talking at that same house or the PNG music that is now playing at that same house or the chair squeaking that Tyob is sitting on or the adult or child now banging on the sauce pan like you would a drum or the very loud people that are distracting Tyob and I from what we’re doing shushing the children that are now sitting just outside the office so that they don’t disturb us but you can’t hear the kids for the adults that are now yelling at them.  This is all the background noise that was ‘playing’ as we recorded two chapters of I Corinthians.  I don’t know how he managed to tune it all out – but I’m glad that at least he could!  There were times it got too much for him too and I had to ask the guys to turn the radio down – or he’d had enough and shushed the kids too.  Listening to the recordings to transcribe them almost took me back to that place of sensory overload with all the noise around us but at least I could edit some of it out and skip some of the rooster crows or the ladies yelling.  I did manage to get it all transcribed as Tyob’s voice was strong enough to drown out most of the background noise.   Just thought you might appreciate an accurate picture of what translation work can really sound like.  I can show you pictures but it’s so hard to bring the sounds and smells of the jungle to you.  So read this again and picture yourself sitting in a small office with screens, no windows in the middle of the village with a house full of people just about 10 feet away.  It’s hot and humid and it’s been raining so the humidity is even higher than normal.  You’re trying to listen to a guy speak a different language than your own and keep an eye on the text he’s speaking from memory to make sure you’re both following the original text and not meandering down the wrong path – while all this noise is going on around you – the entire time.  For about four hours, this was our background ‘white’ noise.  It wasn’t so background most of the time but we did get it done.  Four hours with all of the above playing in the background……no exaggeration…..far too normal out here.  No cell phones or internet but plenty of ‘distractions’ all the same.  LOL!