Two Weeks In and One Convention Down

Well, the good news is that I am still alive. A little frazzled, but still alive. It is so hot and humid here. The average temp is 35 degrees C plus, and the humidity is stupid. A friend had said to me recently that unless she was sweating, she didn’t feel clean – I must say at this current point of tropical education, I am not yet at that point.

Last weekend saw the District Convention for Berbice, with a peak of 900 and something, with 30 Deaf. It was a really lovely weekend that began on the Thursday with us all travelling the hour or so to the horse race grandstand to help set up the sign language department’s screen, tarpaulin (spelling?) and light blocks. Guys and girls, they actually had me doing manual labour, with power tools! Quite a sight, I assure you. Once done, the place was ready to rock on the Friday. With a team of 8 interpreters, the whole programme was interpreted – credit goes to the local brothers and sisters who aided with this, as they are not trained interpreters, but did a masterful job. I was able to sit back and relax as I wasn’t able to attend the rehearsals, so it was decided it would be too much for me to arrive and have to go straight into interpreting into ASL – phew! I was asked to help out with coordinating the interpreting and working with some other brothers to make sure that everything went smoothly. Thankfully, apart from a couple of power blackouts and technical issues, all was good and the Deaf were very grateful. We had the pleasure of seeing some horses being given their daily stretch during the sessions. The plus side of this was that the owner of the race ground came to do an inspection on the Saturday and he was so impressed with the way it had been cleaned and fixed up, he waived the fee for using it! Jehovah really blessed the proceedings and the brother’s efforts here.

I have settled in somewhat, tho it will take sometime longer I am sure. I have replaced my morning Starbuck’s coffee and granola bar routine with cassava balls and sour from the market as it opens. The biggest challenge here so far has been lunch time – not having the convenience of being able to grab something on the go has been irritating. I am trying to remember to cook more on an evening than I need so that I can reuse the leftovers for my lunchtime. Oh the suffering! Bugs are now my enemy – I have been – and continue to be – bitten like a thing that is bitten a lot. The mossie nets don’t seem to help much, nor do the sprays that I spent a fortune on. Sad Face.

With the Convention out of the way, we have a week or so left before the new service year and the commencement of my pioneering – eek. I am really looking forward to getting my teeth stuck into the territory and the many studies that are waiting to be started. It sounds like the congregation need some manpower too, so there is plenty to be done.

Missing you all a lot. Today I have had a glum day and pined for Le Pain Quotien, Giraffe, Chez Bob, Starbucks and all the other delights of Belsize Park. Oh for a Voignier today and some curry from Aroma!

There are some pictures on my Picassa of the convention if you would like to peruse: https://picasaweb.google.com/115841554552813020315/GuyanaConvention2011?authkey=Gv1sRgCO2ev4_Qp7mWRA