Well, I guess I've gone native. Yesterday I was at a family home and we went to sit outside in the sun and have some lunch. They had some lamas visiting (the buddhist kind) as most homes do each year so I sat around with the lamas, who were dressed pretty spunkily in their fancy hats and long maroon robes. Someone mentioned to me that most people don't name their own children, they ask a lama to select an auspicious name. I said I didn't have a Mosuo name yet and could the lamas select one for me. They wanted to know my year and month of birth (Sep '79) and my Chinese star sign (goat) and also the direction the wind was blowing when I was born in the place where I was born. I must admit, I couldn't quite remember, but seeing as I was born in North East Queensland, I thought maybe there was a wind coming in off the sea so I told them it was a south westerly. They put there heads together and named me Zhaxi Zhouma, which they wrote out for me in Tibetan script. Zhaxi is my family name pronounced Jar-see, and Zhouma is my personal name pronounced Joe-ma.
I also did quite a lot of interviews yesterday. I have finished the antibiotics course and my cold is petering out. All of which makes me feel a lot bettter. Thanks to Susan from uni who sent me the ice-skating results! It's a nice touch.
I would also like to wish my Oma a very Happy 86th Birthday! I hope you had a wonderful day yesterday and at your party on Sunday. I would have given you a call but my phone has run out of credits and I've been told I can't recharge it until I'm back in Yunnan province.
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