Finished One of Required Books

I finished the narrative God, Dr. Buzzard, and the Bolito Man for my summer workshop. I think I understand a little bit about the way of life of the people on Sapelo Island. I saw many connections to the life of poor Mississippians that I have observed traveling around the state and listening to family and friends. The big difference to me was that the people on Sapelo were from one certain area of Africa and kept some of their ways after they were brought to the island.

The other readings are on my to-do list. I have two plane rides coming up in a week or so that will be perfect for reading the rest of the required list.

Check out my sewing blog for the other activities that are keeping me busy.

National Endowment for Humanities Gullah Voices Experience

This summer I'm going to participate in a workshop sponsored by the National Endowment for Humanities (NEH) in Savannah, Georgia. I'm excited to get to study about the people of this area, their dialect, culture, and music. As part of the workshop all of us have homework to read before we start our week together. 

I have printed all the selections that were emailed to me and this week I received these two books. I have started reading the one on the left-it is more narrative and I love a good story. I hope to use this blog as a place to record the process and what I learn.

The process actually started in February when I remembered to check out the NEH website and summer workshop offerings. I applied to two different workshops that were within driving distance. There is a bit of paperwork to the application process but it was not too much. Then I had to wait until April to find out if I was accepted. Participants can only attend one workshop per summer.

Finally in early April I found I was accepted to the Gullah Voices workshop. There is a stipend to help cover expenses like transportation and hotel. The organizers of this workshop chose a very nice hotel in Savannah as the headquarters for the week. Some people are going to share rooms to cut down on the expense. Being a person who likes a good bit of alone time, I chose not to have a roommate. This means my stipend won't go as far but I had planned to drive instead of fly. I'm using loyalty points to stay at hotels as I drive to and from the workshop.  

Now I have to get on that homework. I'll share my first impressions in a later post.