See for yourself.


I'll begin at the end and then go back. Eileen and I took an "exploring Guyana" trip last weekend. Sunday afternoon in Mahaicony (pronounced my-cony) ended with a pig pile on the bed - no fun weekend would be complete without a GIANT BODY-SLAM!! This is my friend Buddy, his two "small" cousins (meaning younger) and his sister.




Saturday started with a fishing expedition in
Berbice county, just a few minutes down the road from Mahaicony, and a far, far cry from the busy-ness of Georgetown.


This is the country at 6:30. Yes, that is a long stand of coconut trees on the horizon.







The nets are made with small heavy weights around the fringes, so they sink down around the outsides and catch fish and prawns in the middle. The nets probably weigh about 15lbs.

This is Buddy's uncle freshwater fishing in someone's backyard pond - they breed the fish and invite friends occasionally.

TO FISH: first coil the net around your throwing hand, then pull nearly half separate and hold it with that same hand. The part in your hand you will release last, after you swing your arm back and then fling it forward, letting the momentum of the swing spread the part you are not holding so the net spreads out more or less in a circle as it flies.







Buddy and his uncle scaring fish out of the rushes - somebody's got to do the cold, wet work. I think it was so warm that their clothes were only slightly damp by the time we got back.








Pop Singh carefully towing in the line after a cast.

Pop Singh is a character. The night before he had us all sitting with smoke coming out of our ears trying to figure out the trick to his "magical" math problem. I'm so bad at arithmetic that he had to try someone else to double check if the trick still worked! It's been a long time since I had such a pleasant evening with a family.




Rajin and Pop Singh removing the catch. They chopped a few branches to put over the top of the bucket to keep the fish from flapping out.

The group of fishermen is led by Pop Singh, Buddy's dad. There is Buddy and Rajin (brothers), an uncle who is staying with them, a friend from down the road, and yours truly. I am sure I'm breaking a gender taboo or two, but they let me come and even let me cast a few times. I didn't even manage a prawn, though.




No pictures at the mandir (Hindu temple) since I didn't feel that was appropriate on a first visit, but Eileen and I had a lovely time.

After temple we headed to the ocean to play and to hold the BEACH CRICKET CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH OF SOUTH AMERICA ... I'm just so excited someone finally taught me! Turns out I'm a decent batswoman (thank you elementary softball!). I'll work on my bowling (pitching) next time.






Eileen and I taking some much-needed shade, relaxation and fresh mangoes after our tumble in the surf and cricket adventures.

After all these years, I finally learned how to slice a mango. What a great thing to finally know. Now I can eat them with far less juice spilling everywhere - although, that sticky goodness down to your elbows brings a joy all its own.

All that and a hurdy-gurdy for my first guyanese birthday!

This is a shot of my friend Buddy and I "sticking the cake" (a Guyanese birthday tradition). North Americans do the same things at weddings (cut the cake together and feed each other a piece), but it is an every year birthday tradition here. My facial expression indicates my confusion about whether or not I was supposed to fit the whole piece in my mouth in one big bite or not. Apparently, all in one bite is NOT necessary, so I managed to end up with some frosting on my chin to finish off during the second bite. As you can see, my neighbor, Julie in the back to the right of Buddy, is enjoying my first guyanese birthday cake experience, too. Perhaps I'll be a little more polished next February (I'll put up a picture for comparison!).

The day was wonderful. Eileen and Lisa and our friends Vanessa, Anthony, Damion and Jenny all helped us prepare enough food for all the people we invited. Eileen thinks there were probably about 35 people during the course of the afternoon/evening (it went from 4 until 8:30). It was mostly just an excuse to come together, celebrate and enjoy each other. I think we managed to do that. We served an array of little foods, from little pastries stuffed with chicken salad to pilouri (spicy fried dough, sort of like a hush puppy, also served with mango sour - yum!) to pizza to deviled eggs - it was an appetizer feast! The cake was excellent, and I learned that candles are sold in boxes of 24 - so this is the last year I can get by with just one box! Man, oh man was that cake tough to blow out, though! Three last little flames winking at my futile attempts to huff and puff them out were all that kept me from my birthday wishes coming true! Well, actually, I think my birthday wishes came true in spite of the candles ;o)

The picture of our living room shows several of the Sisters and many of our friends who came over to get the party started. It was the first time we've had them over to the house, so Eileen and I joked that it was a little bit like our guyanese debutante ball - finally entering into guyanese society and opening our home to others in a big way. I had a fun time waltzing and doing our version of the tango with my new little friend Kimberly (the daughter of one of my coworkers at Mercy Wings). And when it was all over, a slightly dazed Lisa, Eileen and I documented the fancy-schmancy shirt with sparkles on it that I received as one of my gifts. Never one to miss out on an opportunity for dress up, I got all glamored up. I guess I'm ready for Guyanese nightlife now!



Lisa left early early in the morning on the 14th. She got a ride to the airport (located about an hour out of town) at 3:30 am in order to catch the 5:45 flight heading back to the states. Such is the convenience of the Timheri airport. I think there are only two flights a day that leave, and one is always at an ungodly hour. We will miss her terribly. No one else could laugh with us about our unfortunate choice of mixing bowls in the market, or remind us that it wouldn't be Guyana if our envelopes didn't seal themselves shut. The mixing bowl fiasco originated because we have no mixing or serving bowls - just pots. Eileen was mesmerized with the choices of sizes and colors at the market, and was confused by the little handles on all of them. She chose two and brought them home and they looked great to us. Only later that night did we learn our dreadful mistake: what we took as mixing bowls are actually used in Guyanese homes that have no plumbing. They are bedpans. The women who saw us mixing food in them in our kitchen practically lost their breath laughing so hard, and warned us never to show ANYONE the bowls we're mixing their food in. Ah, the learning curve. That same bowl appears as my trendy hat in this funny shot: me and my bedpan bowler, Lisa and her duty-free demerara rum gift, Eileen and her favorite cook-up doll. We had a wonderful time together.

And of course, no birthday would be complete without a serenade from my folks. Last year it was accordion and guitar. This year the repetoire (can't spell in French?!) included a new family instrument: the hurdy gurdy. This is originally a French instrument, played all the way back to Renaissance times. I hear it is currently resurfacing in American and French-Canadian folk music - so keep an ear out for it. I like to think of it as a stringed bagpipe. You wind a crank and there is a chord that drones in the background as you push keys to play your melody over it. It's a neat little thing, and I can't wait to SEE my mom play it! Thanks guys, and thank you family and friends for the birthday cards and emails! It was truly special.

Hear Now ... last week was an absolute delight.

I feel it is my duty as a cultural liaison to share some of the fun I experienced this past week. FIRST: I began teaching "drama" at Mercy Wings. I will teach Thursday afternoons for an hour until the school year ends in July. Last week I broke in a group of young men who were a little shy of being on stage with girls - especially in the role of red-hot Romeos that the girls had created for them. So the boys learned about stage presence, memorized the mantra "NO BUTTS!!!" (meaning do not stand with your backside to the audience), learned about standing at three-quarters, and discussed character motivation, upstaging and staying in character. I'll bet they didn't even know they'd learned so much. We had a great time, last week, and for me the feeling carried over into this week. They were attentive, participated without too much prompting from me and were less restrained about doing physical teambuilding activities than I anticipated. They didn't even protest when I asked them to do a character sketch for homework. So I am all smiles about that. Plus we had an EXTREME karate demonstration (which I was very interested in ;o). Three young men came to drum up some interest for an after-school training group. One of these young men is a former Mery Wings graduate. What a great way to give back!

SECOND: I drank the blackwater. The rumor goes that a visitor to the country has only to drink the blackwater and eat the labba (sort of like a rodent of unusual size, for you Princess Bride fans out there) and then that person will return to Guyana to stay. It's an irreversible connection, and Lisa, a former MVC volunteer, is here to vouch for it. She only drank the water during her MVC time (a friend is trying to find us some labba to taste so we'll both stay), but that was enough to call her back. She is living with us right now and visiting all of her favorite haunts - and she's introducing us to some of the best snacks in Guyana, which we somehow managed to miss. For example, I had my first egg ball on our trip back from Splashman's resort: a hard boiled egg wrapped in cassava dough and fried, then smothered with sour (a spicy mango-based sauce). DELISH!!

thank yous, thank yous, all around!

so it's getting close to valentine's day ... so it's time to spread the love. please forgive my shout-outs.

thank you mom and dad. you are two of the greatest people in the world. you both inspire me.

thank you genna and molly. you are the bestest sisters i could dream up.

thank you grandma and grampa k, and really, to all my family. your letters and packages and emails and love have all been arriving safely (just wanted to make sure you know that!) - and your prayers have, too.

thank you tanya zeigler. a much-belated letter will be in the mail to you as soon as i can make it to the post office on my lunch break (which means an hour without pouring rain).

thank you Portland Mercys. i'll include sr. pat (i LOVE the hat!), those responsible for the christmas card, the sisters and teachers and students at McAuley High, and bridget for her help in sharing this experience.

thank you MVC. there's no where else i'd rather be, and no one else's arms i'd rather be linked with.

thank you friends. laughter is a good medicine, but warm thoughts and bright memories seem to be sure preventative measures.

thank you lisa stellino. hope you read this when you get back. for infusing my guyanese life with energy, hope and wonder ... and, of course, york peppermint patties ;o)

gosh, there are so many more. i'll add them next time.


for now, know that things have been "deep" lately. there's a lot going on under the surface here: cores are shifting. i'll spare you the details and keep them in my journal. perhaps they will surface bit by bit in later entries, but that's a lot for all at once. just forgive me if i'm distracted or quiet on the phone.

what i do want to share with you is a bit of the game plan, mostly so i keep myself on track with this site. i'll tell you about our phenomenal weekend sometime this week, and next week i'll write you about the hospital where i work and the vocational centre where i've just begun helping to teach theatre (oh yes, you knew it was going to happen sometime ...).

i think i'll be starting mini spanish lessons with two ladies from my karate class soon. i am still trying to aim for my next karate exam in march. if all goes well, i will earn my green belt then. i'll keep you posted. several of the sisters are currently away in peru, meeting to discuss the restructuring of the regions of the sisters of mercy. this is happening in the US as well. and of course, there is the "other" national holiday coming up just before valentines day ... MY BIRTHDAY!! we're planning a little get together for next sunday afternoon/evening. mom, dad, anyone who'd like to call, i'll be at home from probably 3pm on, our time.

keep loving, everybody.