Genesis consultant check

This week and next the Ikizu and Zanaki translators and I (Misha) are involved in a consultant check of Genesis 17-36.  It's probably the most enjoyable consultant check in which I've ever been a part, thanks in large part to the knowledgeable and lively translation consultant who is running it, Enoch.  He is Ugandan, and so a good part of the fun is that his Swahili isn't so good (it makes me feel better about mine), but being a mother-tongue speaker of a language that is related to Ikizu and Zanaki, he's got a good advantage that most consultants don't in knowing cultural and linguistic things first-hand.

The other reason that this check is quite enjoyable is that Rukia (Ikizu translator) and Shem and Futakamba (Zanaki translators) are pretty great folks themselves.  They are now experienced enough after translating for several years that they are willing to argue (cheerfully) with each other, me, and the consultant if they feel that they have a different opinion about the best way to phrase something to make it clear and accurate.  There has been a lot of noise coming out of the office where we are meeting!  Five extroverts who feel the need to raise their voices over one another to make a point can get loud, and then the inevitable laughter at the end of every discussion carries well throughout the whole building, too.

For example... A friendly argument was ensuing between the Zanaki translators and Enoch about a certain verse.  Rukia was sitting there listening, but not involved.  The Zanaki were trying to convince Enoch that the way they had put something in the verse was natural language (it looked suspicious).  When a pause came about, Rukia quietly said something in a bit of a snooty tone to the Zanaki in Ikizu (they understand one another's languages), not wanting to make a big deal of it in front of the consultant, but wanting them to know that she had gotten it right in her translation and knew that they were wrong.  Enoch, however, also happened to understand enough Ikizu to know what she had said an immediately turned to the Zanaki and said, "Yes, just like what she has done!  Listen to Rukia!"  I think this was a bit of a wake-up call to the translators that they couldn't whisper in front of Enoch like they can in front of other consultants!