HEI---YAAAAA! (and turkey)

(i'm the one on the left, ha ha.)

let it be known that on the 22nd of november, at the Cliff Anderson Sports Arena, i took my first karate exam. there were probably over 100 karatekas (students of karate) there to be examined. it was really neat to feel a bond with so many young and not-so-young people who all had an appreciation for this martial art. i am studying shotokan karate, a "very organic" form of self-defense, whose movements all derive from cycles of nature, cycles of momentum, and focused distribution of energy. it's really neat. alright, anyway - i had to endure hours of young children with yellow belts "pulling rank" on me and calling me "white belt" in that same kind of way that kids on the playground tease someone. not for long.

i passed my exam with flying colors, and i even skipped a belt - from white straight to orange - after only having trained a few weeks (don't tell the examiner - i'm supposed to have trained for at least three months before i am allowed to be examined!). very exciting for me, and very high praise for my teachers, who prepared me so well. now those same children are orange belt, just like me, and i don't hear any more sing-songy teasing on my way to practice. not only that, but our class's achievements (we're a new group, it's our first year training and at least 5 of us skipped a belt) were featured in the sports section of one of the daily papers!! (don't worry, d.o.d., the clipping is on it's way!)


we also got our first taste of flooding towards the end of november ... good thing we live in the top flat, is all i have to say. the water at our front door on the ground was up past my ankles one morning. it wasn't too surprising, really. think of the hardest rain you ever heard or saw. one that made you pull your car off the road and wait for it to pass. it rained like that all night the night before, off and on, pretty much every hour on the hour. it rains like it means it, here.



i went to thanksgiving with some of the sisters of mercy and select american invitees at the convent behind the hospital where i work. unfortunately, i took this picture myself and could not be in it, but i swear, i was there and it was a turkey day to remember. eileen and i brought some killer "gourmet" mashed potatoes that were such a hit that i actually saw one of the sisters pull that classic, "look, sister, it's Jesus!" move and take the last spoonful while the second one's head was turned. well, maybe it didn't happen JUST like that, but it could have with this lively bunch. we had a wonderful night, full of tales of misbehaving students in nun's classrooms, foiled attempts break-ins at the convents, and reminiscing about the Guyana past ... and of course, pumpkin pie! all delicious, but i did miss my grandma's homemade bread and dinner rolls ...


the next day i went out to mahaicony (my-cony) for a hindu wedding. i went with my friend, Buddy, and it was one of his cousins (a guy) who was to be married. that weekend was two straight days and three straight nights of warm welcome and celebration. it was amazing. the families were all so welcoming to me, including me, explaining things to me. for example, i showed up after a preparation/cleansing ceremony had started for the boy (the groom is referred to as "the boy", and we were participating in festivities on "the boy's side", meaning with the family of the groom). so i show up late on friday night, and am ushered right up to where the priest (called a pandit) and the groom are, and the pandit stops his incantations every so often to explain to me in english just what is going on. i felt so honored and included it brought tears to my eyes. i tried to imagine a priest explaining what was happening during a wedding to a guest who came in late and didn't speak english. then we danced all night.

the next morning i was up by 7 or 8 (i have no idea why) and got to enjoy the sounds of the country for a few hours before getting dressed in "indian wear" to go up to part 2 of the wedding. we travelled by boat up the creek about 45 minutes to "the girl's side" to see her family. when we arrived, i saw the actual marriage ceremony, the symbolic joining of the couple. when the ceremony finished and the dancing there was through, i joined the party of guys from the boy's side that accompanied the bride back to the groom's family. it was a gorgeous day, a beautiful setting, and we had some fantastic food sanay (meaning with our hands, from a giant leaf). it was GREAT.

the next day, sunday, there was more celebrating on the boys' side, since he had returned with the bride. there was a ritual cleansing of all the materials used in the cleaning ceremony from friday night, done by the women from the boy's side. things are kept very separate along gender lines during these rituals, and even in some people's everyday lives, depending on how they choose to observe their faith. i also got to go to the beach and swim in the ocean with a few friends - it was gorgeous and salty, and just like i remembered the atlantic ... only much, much warmer than maine!! and the beach was clean, clean, clean ... so different from the one by us in Georgetown. it was a lovely afternoon, at the end of a lovely weekend.


and then we danced again.