Finally, something worthy of a post...

Hi to all.  Nothing amazing has been happening of late. My ministry has been going really well, with a few of my studies making large strides / passing milestone positions to make the truth their own (quote unquote). 

Despite that, some of us were discussing the other day how our experience thus far does not quite match up to the Yearbook experience we had envisioned. To make matters worse, there is a brother here who is like Ray Mears (sic) - taking a canoe, leaving his wife at home and going on month long preaching trips into the jungle. He returns with the most amazing stories and we spend many an hour on the side of the road being entertained by him when we bump. The stories make us all feel so uplifted, but at the same time, so cheapened! To remedy this, we have decided to embark on some trips of our own, so watch this space for some Bear Grylls-type escapades.

To satiate our excitement-hunger, today has been fun so far. Sleeping was difficult last night due to an immense downpour of rain that would not cease. I am staying at a fellow Brits' house as we have the Zone Visit today, so yesterday was the usual comedy of errors of setting up everything needed. We are having it beamed from Trinidad, so the usual chaos of organizing was compounded by a technical element seeing as no one here can use a computer.

Anyway, back on track. I was awoken by Luke (Hancock - some of you know him. Married to Laura, top bloke despite his addiction to being mean to me) asking me if I fancy adventure. My bleary eyed madness caused me to say yes. Apparently, another English couple's house round the corner was sitting under a few feet of water. The rain had been on full pelt since the afternoon yesterday, and the lower lying areas of the town are all flooded. We rolled out of our beds, donned our macks and crocs/sandals and headed out. It was hilarious! The town was indeed flooded - to the extent that the water was up to the top of the frame of our bikes. When we stopped, it was at thigh level. The roads are banked by trenches, so navigating roads I have never seen was a tad frightening. With the rain still lashing, debris floating by (that is a euphemism: people poo in their gardens here, next to the dog, cow, chicken and goat poo. It was all floating by on it's merry way to the sea) we made our way, much to the amusement of the Guyanese poking their heads out of the balconies above.

Poor Nick and Emily. They are in Trinidad for the Zone Visit, so their place is left unattended. Inside it was a mess: a couple of feet of water, papers and photos floating by and lizards and the real risk of snakes. Not fun! We did our best to lift everything up high, including the washing machine, oven and fridge/freezer. Thankfully, the floors are concrete and not carpeted, so hopefully not too much is ruined. Though, being a wooden house and the water level rising, there is the likelihood of the walls rotting and blistering. We grabbed their clothes that were on floor level and did our best to protect what was left. Such a shame. We will keep the news until they are at the airport flying back so as not to spoil the break they deserve out in Trini.

On the return to the house, we passed by different brothers and sisters’s houses to make sure all were okay - we were like a mobile disaster unit! Crossing a bridge was interesting, as the wooden planks were not fixed, so you had to trap a floating plank with one foot whilst hauling the bike and yourself onto the next. 'twas quite funny indeed.

So, we have made it back, wet through and covered in who knows what. Bacon and eggs and American pancakes with coffee for reward (currently in New Amsterdam, which is a town so you can buy bacon and such lovely amazing things that are things of legends where we live). We have a slight respite until 2, when we need to head off to the Zone Visit site. I am interpreting today for a large part of it. Will update on the bus on the way home to Skeldon where hopefully we will find our own homes unflooded. 

In other news, just to let you all know I am moving house! Where I live now is great but there is the constant pain of no water in the mornings and evenings and the lack of Internet. DC and Sarah recently left, leaving their place vacant. It is a third floor property that was originally designed as a bar! For basically the same money I get a massive outside area, an enclosed bedroom that is mosquito-proofed and a bath and shower, with hot water! Although it also suffers from a lack of water at times, their supply is much more stable and the absolute bonus is that the property enjoys all-day wifi. Hopefully this will allow me to Skype with you all at some point. Another benefit is that the other foreigners live downstairs and the missionary couple in a house on the same lot. Very excited about moving and being able to have people round now that I have more than one room. Anyway, slipped that one in... But back to the zone visit - I will do a part 2 as a separate update as I know you all hate reading too-long narratives. X...

Playing hookie

Today started badly - no water at my place, bad nights sleep and feeling a cold come on. It seems we were all of a like-mind at the ministry group: needing a pick-me-up. Even a breakfast of ice cream and Oreo cookies didn't remedy the situation so we took drastic action - we ditched the plans for the morning and grabbed a bus up the coast to the Mecca - Spready's bakery. About an hour away, it is the only place in Berbice that has fresh bread and things you would find in any normal place back home like pastry and nice fried chicken. Despite the bus being made for 15 people and there being an average of 23 in the back, despite seeing a dog eating the carcass of another dog and despite being ripped off for the journey (£1.50 rather than 90p), we arrived at the glory of Spready's. The purchase of cookie mix, fried chicken, spicy chips and a drink over, our spirits were lifted and the world seemed to fall back to usual axis. We chilled in the sun, laughing at groups of school boys practicing dance moves in the reflection of the shop window, glad for the rebellious streak we suffered. It sounds ever so quaint, but afterwards everything seemed a little brighter and we still managed to conduct two studies, finishing my hours for the month. Everything past today is bonus time! Yay! My original flights would have me returning to England in two weeks, but just to let anyone that cares know that I am staying longer. I am now the only brother here for sign language and would hate to leave our merry band in the lurch. I am the only one caring for the male studies in the deaf field and have a load of studies with the young ones, so don't feel it is the right time to head back just yet. I might complete the year and come back in August, I might stay beyond that. So for all of you who placed bets on how long I would be here, my six months is already up, and I am still going strong. Missing home like crazy, missing wine, port and whiskey even more, but determined to stay and see what Jehovah can do with me for a lil bit more. Ciao for now.

Just make a hole, it's not that hard

Well, I had my first experience of an outside toilet today! Quite a few of the others have regaled us with stories of the outside toilets and the horrendous events that ensued. After India I thought, what can be so bad... Today I found out. Try doing it in the dark! In India, people generally had buckets of water or a tap and a bucket for one to do one's business, wash and wipe and on one goes. It seems that they were five star accommodations. The bad ones at least had a stack of leaves for one to use to wipe up. Here, I should be so lucky. Today, I finished a study and some of the sisters passed by and said to join them popping in on someone else. Walking along I had that harrowing feeling that I was going to burst and there was nowhere to go. Arriving at the house, I went followed the directions given to an outside loo, with no light, with no hole, with a tiny tap and a flat floor. What was a man to do??? I went for it in my best 'hoicking' action, crying inside of the thought of it all going on me and my shoes! I know this is a disgusting post, but my posts are far too serious and this was one of the funniest things that has happened in a while so I thought I must share. Anyway, in the absence of any kind of ability to clean it all up and stuff, I did what anyone would do - I ran! Ashamed but slightly funny. All I can say is thank goodness I bought 30 bottles of pocket hand sanitizer when I left - a god send! As you all frequent your porcelain this morning, give a thought for those of us living on the edge. X

An Oasis in the Jungle

Oh my goodness – who would have known that Guyana could be so beautiful! We have just returned from a 4 day trip to Orealla (spellings vary), which is a village 3 or 4 hours up river, inhabited by indigenous Amerindian peoples. What a trip!

We were all extremely click-happy with our cameras throughout this trip, but there is no way of sharing all of the amazing sights with you via the blogger interweb. To try and give you a glimpse I have made a couple of collages, which is my new found way of cramming lots of photos into a single file, as uploading takes so long. I will try and keep the summary of this trip streamlined, but … you know me.

We left for Orealla on Monday evening, after a fun-filled day of racing around the market buying up goods and drinks etc to last us 4 days. There are no real shops up river, so the inhabitants come down river at intervals to buy provisions; the rest they grow. With bags packed full of beans, rice, pasta, greens and rum (!), we headed to our transportation – a passenger boat in which one has to hang a hammock amongst a hundred or so other people, and try to maintain your personal dignity. These hammocks are hung so close to each other that as you lie in one, your face is being pressed by the derriere of the snoring man above you – not the most fun. Thankfully, after traversing the tiny plank bridge with our humungous bags, we were able to make the most of a clear night and sleep on the roof of the boat as it made its way along the river. It was truly a sight we will never forget – sounds mushy, but I am surrounded by Americans!

We were staying at the Kingdom Hall in Orealla, where our friend Kojo has been assigned as a special pioneer. The congregation is made up of 15 people, with Kojo giving almost ALL the talks, EVERY meeting! That man is a legend. We brought a rush of craziness to his serene and spiritual existence, with 6 excitement-starved mainlanders crying out for nature and water. Despite the warnings about piranha, we managed to find a cove that was safe, so Michael (my study and friend) and I set out early in the morning for a swim on Tuesday. So calm, so quiet, proper sand and water you could see through – it was like a paradise for us Skeldonites. Every day was spent swimming and getting frazzled in the sun, with the locals washing themselves, their dogs and their clothes watching on. We were very conscientious about the piranha, so I instilled a ten-minute schedule of ‘toe-check’, to ensure all appendages were accounted for – we even managed to get some of the locals to play along.

We did earn our keep though! Wednesday we and some of the local brothers dressed for the rainforest (shirt, tie, meeting trousers and bag) and embarked on a 3 hour trek to a neighbouring village to preach. For us sign language lot, it was an exciting opportunity to see two young guys who are deaf who have no interaction with any other deaf, ever. After seeing monkeys and small crocs, amazing butterflies and birds, and after falling in the mud and brush we arrived mud and sweat stained to a village eager for news and reading material. We found one of the deaf lads and spent a few hours chatting and exposing him to some language. He regaled us with stories until we could take it no longer. It was such a privilege to come out to see these people. Our bravado failed us when plotting our return trip and we voted for a boat to take us back down the river. It was an amazing day that left us all humbled and desperate to return soon.

On our last night, we planned to stay for the meeting. Most of us were able to put together an outfit, as we had not expected to be there for the evening – the boat had a broken part and so was delayed. I was offered to wear a wedding suit from Kojo – fanstastic! Bell-bottomed, plaid, woollen three-piece suit – just my cup of tea in a tropical climate. You will see the picture of me rocking it below. I was asked to read the congregation bible study text, much to the smirking laughs of our lot for my choice of attire. We made the boat back, though I had to sit up the whole way as my hammock had been buried under the snoring bodies of some very tactile strangers. Stumbled into bed at 3am this morning, dreaming of swimming and brightly coloured birds.

All in all, it was exactly what I need to reignite my love for this place. I want to return to Orealla soon and am sorely tempted to place as a goal serving somewhere like that for a period. It was a real year-book experience and am so glad that I have done this so early in my trip here. It was lovely to be able to take Michael with us too, as he is 15 and he relished to excitement of the environment, along with the hard-core ministry trek. We all woke up today with aching limbs and aching smile-muscles.

I hope all are well and coping with xmas fever over there. We have not really heard much mention of Christmas here, apart from the usual smatterings. It is strange to be here under a mosquito net in my birthday suit waiting for electricity whilst you are all shivering at home bewailing the weather.

Roll on 2012, what delights shall you bring…

CO Week and The Jungle

Hi all

I typed out a huge post, but the internet failed and I lost it all! So, you are not getting that.

Basically, we have had a great week this week with the CO and have made some great strides in the sign language field in terms of meeting the needs of the deaf. I am really looking forward to changes that will come. We have had sad news that DC and Sarah will be leaving for good in 4 weeks to return to the states, so things here are going to get very busy for me.

We are heading into the rainforest next week to spend 4 days in a remote area. Sadly, the pirahna are out biting and so we are restricted on swimming. Some people have lost toes in the last week or so cos of them biting them off! Eek.

Also, have a look at this pic of the weight I have lost! I came weighing a bit above 15 stone and now am 12 and a half! Ha.

Right, have to go - will email back when we return from the jungle.

All Is Well

Hi All,

Just a quick email to say that we are all alive and nothing adverse happened, despite the hype and rumour. The ruling party were voted back in (fair? who knows) and although there were riots and skirmishes in the capital and north, we suffered no harm down here on the rural coast.

We spent a few days relaxing with the imposed-siesta and recharging on food and games. Two sisters from Trinidad were over for the week, which wasn't the best planning. For us, however, it was perfect, as one of them is a chef and has cooked every day all of our meals and we love her and want to keep both of them in a cupboard and only let them out for meal times!

Here are a couple of pics of the joys we get up to here in Guyana! Ciao

Batten Down The Hatches...

Election fever has hit Guyana.

Just a brief post to let you know of what is going down in 'the hood' of Skeldon, Guyana. Tomorrow is election day here in Guyana, which is a very big deal. There are three main parties, all of whom are signified (for the illiterati) by different symbols: the cup, the hand and the key. Currently ruling are the cup, but they do so amidst a lot of accusations of defrauding and misappropriation of funds. Making no comment at all... apart from that the only party that has managed to run a successful ad campaign - with posters, trucks playing music and dance parties - is the said party in control of the purse strings...mmm.

Election day and the succeeding days can be a little turbulent in Guyana, we are led to believe. In the capital there has already been a bit of violence and in previous years people have been killed and attacked in the street, for professing a certain allegiance. Due to this, we have been advised to take the Blitz approach and stock up on food and drink and stay indoors for at least a day or two! Eeeek. This led us to a mad panic yesterday buying all the lemonade, cookie mix, flour, dairy milk and rum that we could get our hands on/afford.

Our plan for tomorrow is to meet up at DC and Sarah's for a brunch and then bed down for the day with movies, games and lots and lots of bad food to eat and cocktails to consume. We are secretly wishing that we need to do this on Tuesday too, as most of us have our time for the month and are crying out for an excuse to stay in bed.

Message to the mother - I will be fine. We should be okay really, as we are mostly regarded as neutral parties, so as long as we do not venture out onto the main road where people congregate and will be travelling to and from the polling stations, the whole thing should pass without incident. The only time bad things will happen is if the popular party lose and then people are know to get a bit aggressive. I will keep you posted!

On a nice note, we had our monthly sign language meeting today at a hall about an hour away - 45 in attendance, on whom 26 were deaf. Not a bad average!

Well, off to lock the gates and plump the cushions and get ready for the joys that tomorrow will bring.

Ciao for now.x