Sunday, May 11, 2008

Mr. Obame

I'm teaching English these days to a great number of French-speaking Gabonese oilfield workers. They all work on rotation on the oil platforms out here, and for those of you not directly embedded in the world of oil, it may make you chuckle to know their official job titles are Roustabout and Roughneck. Even better, though, is hearing someone describe his job with a French accent. I mean, try saying "I em a Ruffffnek" as if you were Pepe Le Pew and tell me it's not kinda cute!!

The students are all very eager to learn, as they work for a large US firm and have to work with Americans quite a bit. One of my favorite students is named Elvis, so of course when we had our lesson on body parts I just had to teach him the world pelvis. Another student is named Parfait (Perfect) Obame! Not a bad name, I must say, even though he swears he is no relation to the future president of the US. I'm thinking I might not want to take any chances and give him an A anyway...