Kumara or Capsicum?

My Dear Princess & Dear Fellows,

Today I took an hour out of work to start my "Beginner's Te Reo" Māori course. It was really good fun. I spent most of my time laughing and we also sang some songs (Cazza said she sang the same songs back in primary school).

Today's blip is a song (waiata) by the way. It is sung to the tune of "Stupid Cupid" if you'd like to play along.

Our teacher, Piripi, told us the Māori proverb, "A kumara is quiet about its sweetness". Meaning some people are just shy when it comes to blowing their own trumpet. 

"But other people are capsicums," he went on. "Big and bright and shiny and wanting to be picked from the supermarket. By the end of this first session, I will know who is a kumara and who is a capsicum."

I tried to be a capsicum. And today was very non-threatening. I learned very little in terms of vocabulary. It was all about pronunciation. There was a scene we had to act out with our partners, trying to pronounce as best we could. 

It started like this:

HONE: Mōrena! (Good morning!)
AROHA: Ata mārie Hone! (Good morning Hone!)

Then Piripi the Teacher went around a few of us individually, acting it out again. 

He did it "straight" a couple of times, then he picked on me and said, "This time I'm going to do it in slang." 

Uh-oh.

Since he was "Hone" in the scene, I waited for him to start. But instead of saying his line he just sniffed, shrugged and said something that sounded like, "Awyeah?"

It was really quite funny. 

So I enjoyed it. But now I have homework to do for next week which is upsetting. Still, Cazza says she will help me out so hopefully I will be a capsicum next week.

S.