A Girl in Guyana and Suriname

I have been here just over 48 hours, and I have so many thoughts each day when I sit down to write on the internet that I forget many of them. I’m going to try to get most of them down right now. Forgive me if I repeat something from a previous posting, but the internet is so slow, and I don’t want to go back and double check.

Examples of Creoles (pronounced CREE – o – lees):
“fine girl” = thin girl
“me not know” = I don’t know
“pull ya in fo’ fitness” = many different meanings depending on who you say it to and who’s saying it, but it can mean “come here and get close to me for some snuggling” and it can mean the person wants more than that

Tyrone was telling me a story last night, and I really struggled to understand everything he was saying. He doesn’t like to speak English. I think I got the jist, but I really don’t know. We were talking about the reasons why he doesn’t want to go to the interior of the country. And the disputes with Venezuela and Suriname over some land Guyana claims as theirs.

The music played in the minibuses cracks me up. They will take an American hip-hop song, and then mix in some Carib tunes or Indian chanting. Tyrone told me that young men in their 20’s aren’t afraid to listen to blast Celine Dion while driving around. They also love Enrique. And I’ve seen quite a few Britney Spears and selections on CDs in the minibuses. Hey, whatever floats your boat!!

Lara (the Peace Corps worker) has been explaining different things to me about the Guyanese culture, and Tyrone told us last night that he feels like we’re making fun of him. She was telling me that some Guyanese think they get these light-colored patches on their skin from eating too much Chinese food. It’s actually a fungus in the water, and to get rid of it, you have to rub Selson Blue on them. Some Guyanese also believe that the AmerIndians turn into animals and hunt at night. I tried to explain to Tyrone that we weren’t making fun of him, but that it was really interesting for me to learn about his culture and their beliefs.

Lara is a teacher at a local school here on the west coast, and she has been coming home from work very frustrated. Last night she said it was their 2nd day back to class since the Christmas break, and they didn’t teach any classes because there were so few students in class (also due to the rains, but due to classes just starting too). The teachers said they didn’t want to teach because it would be unfair for the students who did come to class. Lara attempted to teach 2 classes, but other students were chasing each other around her chalkboard (the school is one big room on the first floor and one big room on the second floor, and the classrooms are separated only by chalkboards). So she gave up and read a book all day. She came home for lunch today and said they’re not teaching again. Very strange educational system and extremely frustrating for Lara.

Last night, Lara had brought me some “black cake” that a co-worker of hers had made. They first soak fruit in rum, and then bake it into a dense dark cake. She didn’t know if I would like it because it’s not really sweet like our cake back home, but I really did like it.

I love walking down the street in the afternoon here because everyone says, “Good afternoon!” as you pass. Everyone. It’s so nice.

Today I woke up and learned how the Guyanese wash their clothes by hand. Lara said there is a certain way to do it, and if the neighbors see me doing it a different way, they will come over and correct me. So first I put all of my dirty clothes in a big bucket, and Lara sprinkled in laundry detergent. Then we carried it downstairs with another small pail. I dumped water into the big bucket full of clothes, and then had to put the small bucket in front of the “tap” (a hole in a brick wall that we plugged with a wooden stick). So I had to wring my clothes out in the washbasin, and then wring them out two or three times in the rinse bucket. Then I hung them on Lara’s veranda, except not under-things… they get hung in the bathroom.

I did some reading in the hammock on the veranda while I waited for my clothes to dry, and then I walked to the market to buy some potatoes for dinner tonight. When you first walk in, all you see is a cage. Everything is behind the cage, and you have to tell the cashier what you want and they get it for you. I bought 3 lbs of potatoes for $180 Guyanese (about 90 cents US). Then I stopped and bought a pint of lychee-flavored ice cream for $200 G (about $1.05 US).

After I dropped off the potatoes at the house, I walked down to the FX to get some passport photos taken for my visa for Suriname. The FX was actually in a container, like the ones you see semi’s hauling around. I walked in and there was a little room with two large flashes, a camera, and a mirror. I was so thankful for the mirror since it’s about 88-90 degrees F today and I was covered in sweat.

That’s another thing I’ve realized. I’m definitely not a fan of traveling in hot-weather. I almost always travel in the cold, and now I remember why! 🙂 I’ll survive, but it is definitely an adjustment. They tell me it gets cool at night in the interior, and I’m really looking forward to it. Cold to people that have adjusted to this climate has got to mean 60-65 which I can definitely handle (thanks to Mom, who always turned the heat down to 60-62 in the winter).

I’m going back to cook up some potatoes, and then I’m going to lay in the hammock and read the rest of the book I started today, “Autobiography of a Face”.

Tomorrow, I am headed to Georgetown in the morning because I have to apply for my visa for Suriname. Hopefully I’ll meet up with a Canadian girl, Camilla, that I met at the airport on Tuesday. Then I leave Saturday for my trip!

Last night I slept in the hammock in Lara’s “living room” which was surprisingly very comfortable. I slept in today and just as I was about to go catch a minibus to Georgetown, the rain started. So I sat in the other hammock on the veranda and watched the rain pour down (right now, Guyana has a mild rainy season).

I took the minibus to Georgetown and was dropped off at Stabroek Market. I made my way to the Suriname embassy and asked how many passport photos I need for my visa. Then I made a few visits to different tour operators, and I finally decided to book a 5-day overland trip to Kaiteur Falls, the world’s tallest waterfalls. It should be very interesting… we will travel by boat, 4×4, and hiking. That leaves this Saturday, and I will get back next Wednesday. Then sometime that week, I am going to make my way to Suriname. I will stay with another Peace Corps girl on the east coast of Guyana before making my way to Paramaribo, where I will meet my Dutch friends. We’re going to do a trip to the interior in Suriname one week. Then my friend Anne’s boyfriend Ferdinand and I are going to hang out and maybe travel a little bit while our friends are at work. Then I’m hoping to make it to Barbados for a week-long cruise in the Caribbean, but if I don’t do that, I’ll probably spend a week in St. Lucia. I changed my ticket today so that I’m flying back into the states on Feb 19th, and then I am going to stay out on the east coast and do a little traveling there. A few days in DC and a few more in NYC. (Bowman, if you could hook me up with some cool Aiesecers to hang out with, I would totally appreciate it!)

Tomorrow I will just stay here at Lara’s and enjoy the heat. Maybe read a little and lay in the hammock on the veranda. And I’ll have to get 2 passport photos somewhere.

I am in Guyana. I can’t believe the amazing luck I’ve had since leaving my friend Heather’s apartment last night at 7pm. I walked up a block to immediately catch a cab to Port Authority which dropped me off right next to the bus I needed to take to JFK. I arrived at JFK to find myself the only white person in the line for the direct flight to Georgetown. No worries, but I just wasn’t expecting to be SUCH a minority. I set my backpack down to make a few adjustments before I check it through, and I look up to see another white girl standing next to me. We bond immediately as I find out she’s a Peace Corp volunteer and is returning to Guyana after spending 2 weeks at home for the holidays.

I start firing questions at this girl named Lara. She’s the first person I’ve met who has actually BEEN to Guyana. I asked her how safe Georgetown actually is. After we talk for an hour or so, she invites me to stay with her, about 45 minutes out of the city. She says it’s safer, and she would feel better about me staying with her. Lara was also being met by her friend Tyrone at the airport, so we had a ride prearranged to her village, Leonora.

The drive was INCREDIBLE. The first thing I noticed was all the people walking right along the edge of the road. So close to the cars! And lots of garbage in the ditches alongside the road. They drive on the left side of the road here, left over from their British colonization, I guess. We were in a taxi, but local travel is done by privately owned minibus. Every minibus has its own name and bright colored paint job. A few of my favorite minibus names so far: “Country Girl”, “Sunny”, “G-Unit”, and “Surprise”. And the driving was insane. People pass even if there are other cars coming at them because they are just supposed to move over. There are donkey and horse carts on the road. There are stray cattle, horses, and goats. We were driving through this one town, and we saw a car on the right side of the road with a HUGE dent on the front of the car. Then we looked to the left to see what the other car looked like, and we saw someone slicing up the cow that the car had hit!!

Lara and I made it back to her apartment which is the top half of a house. Below her live 2 different families. One with parents and a kid and the other is a couple, 1 or 2 of their children and one of the grandmas. Her apartment is very nice with beautiful wood floors and big windows. A hammock hangs in the “living room”, and I’ve already taken a few naps there.

Lara asked me a few times if I could understand Tyrone, and I honestly had a really hard time understanding what he was saying. He speaks “Creoles”… a Carib English Creole. I will get some examples and post them later this week.

Lara took me to Parika to exchange some money. This was my first experience taking the minibus, “Surprise”. It cost us each a US dollar (about 195 Guyanese dollars) for a 20-minute drive there. While we were in line at the bank, another white girl walked in… someone Lara knew, and she looked at me with such surprise. Lara explained that I was here from the states visiting some friends in Suriname, and I was a TOURIST in Guyana. Everyone is amazed about that!!

I have to get going. I have to walk the 3 blocks back to Lara’s, and it’s starting to rain again. Tomorrow I will go into Georgetown to find some sort of eco-tour to do this weekend or next week.

Last night I went out to dinner with Heather and Omar. We ate at a great Italian place called Roberto Passon. Then Omar and I headed to the West Village and spent a few hours at Arthur’s, a blues bar. They had a few guest singers and our favorite was a Japanese lady named Sachi-ko who sang “I Got the Blues”. We had a slice of New York style pizza, hopped on the subway and went out separate ways. A great night!!!

I’m off to the airport in a few minutes after an afternoon of running errands. The next time I update I’ll be in Guyana!!

… 7 blocks NORTH of Times Square. I didn’t leave for Times Square until 9:30pm, and the cops that had ALL of the streets blocked off leading to Broadway said they closed them off around 9pm. I was actually 10 blocks away, but then I snuck through a gate to get a block closer. There was an hour to wait so I decided to grab a sandwich at the cafe I was standing next to. As I walked out 40 minutes (of heat) later, the cops had opened up the gates and were letting us up 2 blocks closer. I guess I will have to come back to New York sometime to get right up in Times Square… this just wasn’t my year.

My friend Omar backed out on Times Square tonight because of the weather (a mix of rain and snow). I should’ve seen that one coming. I’m from Wisconsin… a little rain/snow is not going to hurt me 🙂 hahaha My friend Heather is out spending big money on a party at a club here in the city, but I just can’t bring myself to spend over half my monthly rent for one night out. I could be at a bar in Eau Claire for free. And my friend’s friend, Moustapha, hasn’t called so I’m assuming he’s not going to Times Square either. However, I will not let a little weather stop me from seeing the ball drop… if I can actually see it from where I’ll be standing. People have been out there since 4pm today. I’m pretty sure I’ll be quite a ways away.

I spent the day waiting around for my bag to show up. A wasted day but a cheap one at that. It only cost me $10 for the delivered Chinese food I finally broke down and ordered around 4 today. The good news is that the bag was found. The bad news is that the bag couldn’t be delivered yet today because of the security in and around Times Square. Tomorrow night we’re going to do something exciting. Maybe a visit to Jay-Z’s club, but I’m going to suggest at least a nice dinner out. I mean, I AM in New York City. I’ve got to drop a little dough on a nice meal.

HAPPY NEW YEAR to everyone wherever you are!!!!

… a large blue backpack containing all of my clothes and some supplies for a 2-month stay in South America. Last seen: MSP airport. Probably lost: when both of my flights were delayed because of the snow. My location: Manhattan. My bag’s location: unknown.

I take off for NYC in a few hours, but I just wanted to thank some people who really helped me out this week.

Mom and Dad, thanks for the loan and your support. And Ron and Jessi too. Jess, thanks for helping me out Thurs before I left home.

Nora- thanks for helping me move my bed, etc. I hope you have a great New Year’s Eve party with those fireworks!!

Dana- thanks for storing my stuff in your basement. I was able to fit everything else in my car.

Anne and Lieke- thanks for being in Suriname and giving me a reason to visit!!

Tony- thanks for the Ultrathon you hooked me up with and for meeting out for dinner/drinks last night.

Jen V- thanks for driving way out of your way to meet up for dinner last night.

Joel- thanks for taking care of all my loose ends in Eau Claire!!

Jen E- thanks for driving my ass to the airport.

Leah and Jason- thanks for storing my car for 2 months!!

Heather and Omar- thanks for giving me shelter and/or providing entertainment in NYC!!

and thanks to everyone for their encouraging words and support!!!!! I will see you all in March!

LET THE ADVENTURE BEGIN…

In less than 48 hours, I’ll be in New York. I can’t wait until after I’ve walked through security at MSP and can finally relax. There are a million things to do before I leave Friday afternoon. I have a list, and it keeps growing. Today I was finally able to call down to Georgetown, Guyana to book a hotel room for my first two nights stay. I figure that will give me enough time to line some other travel up or decide to stay in the city for a few more days.

Still need the second Hep B shot. Have almost everything packed. Heard from my Dutch friends in Suriname. The place they are staying in is amazing!! Still haven’t heard from the nature reserve about a volunteer position for me. I’m going to send one more email to them to see what’s going on with that, and then next week I’m going to look for something else to do in January!