Vacation is over, back to Berbice!.

It’s 9:41 PM and we are back in New Amsterdam. The heat is particularly sweltering tonight, and we got home from Ramon and Kali’s house to discover we didn’t have our keys, so we rode our bikes all the way back, called our housemates to open up the door (man I miss cell phones!) then rode back home, dodging the arsenal of sleeping cattle all over the roadway. I love night time because 2 things happen, #1, we get a good cold shower that just seems to make way for a good nights sleep. #2, It gets slightly cooler at night, so the shower/nighttime duo is just a win win! But tonight, I was the first in line for my shower and the dreaded thing happened…you turn the spicket (yes. our shower is a spicket, like in a barnyard) and nothing come out. You ferociously turn and twist it in disbelief, to no avail. We ran out of water. L Not a very good welcome home gift!! We had to inform Audrian, our new housemate (she’s here for 2 weeks from Chicago) that there was no water…welcome to Guyana!

So speaking of Audrian, she is a trip! We picked her up last night with Marly Ellis behind the wheel of her Volvo wagon speed machine! Filipino’s can sure drive! We enjoyed one last night of laughs, lychee cocktails, and singing sappy love songs at the top of our lungs with the Ellis family. We even discovered one of Guyana’s untapped talents…Texaco dancing! I wish I could post the video of this woman who was dancing for money at the Georgetown Texaco station around 10:30 pm. It could win a prize… Meg almost got busted a few times taping her. The risk was totally worth it.

Back to Audrian…so we take her to the Georgetown ASL group which meets at the Charlestown English Cong. There were 16 deaf in attendance today, and 187 total at the meeting. Very impressive, and what a lovely group of brothers and sisters. They have a 2 story kingdom hall, like the one I grew up in at the Ft Lauderdale Assembly hall. The sound booth and library is upstairs, it’s like a loft overhang, same as our old hall. I went up there and had a bit of nostalgia for the “balcony crew”. Good times.

After the meeting we had a snack at Joseph and Joan McCalman’s home, where 2 need greater sisters my age from Ohio are also staying. We had “China” which is a traditional dish down here…it’s chick peas sautéed in garlic, onion, curry and a few other local spices. Then we were drive to the carpark where we got onto a minibus headed for the Ferry at Rosignol. It took us about 45 minutes to depart but it was good after that. We were all 3 in the very back of the bus and I swear that all in all we had at least 21 in the minibus. Technically it only seats 14. Yeah…that was fun. :/ After we got off the ferry and back to New Amsterdam we had a nice meal that one of the local sisters, Ridonna helped Angie prepare.

But let me get to the good part. Audrian hasn’t ridden a bike in, well. let’s say a LONG time. Ramon and Kali invited us over to their home to watch a movie tonight, so we lent Audrian a bike and headed out. She was a little nervous but, you think the saying “It’s just like riding a bike” has SOME merit to it, right? WRONG…. So Meg and I are up front and she’s following us, as to avoid potholes, cows, etc. and all of a sudden I hear her shriek “Excuse me!! Excuse me!!” as she plows through a group of as she calls them “village people”. Just as they move out of her way a boy on his bike that was behind them appears and she plows right into him. Her bike totally bends his front tire in half and he falls pretty bad as their bikes collide. I turn around just in time to see it all happen and just stop in disbelief. Meg rides back to me and onto her as I calmly declare… She just hit someone. I think I was in shock of what I was seeing…but then I realized, hey I better ride back there! So she’s trying to help the boy up (He was at least 12) and calling him “Little boy”… so I go up to him, all nurturing and whatnot, asking him if he’s okay, checking for head trauma... lol. He seemed so bummed about his bike and just shaken up after being hit by a crazy American! So I whipped out my cash and asked him what he thought it would cost,(hush money) he said $1,100, which is about $6 American. I didn’t have change and he looked so sad, so I said, here’s 2,000…for your pain and suffering. It was HILARIOUS. I felt so bad for Audrian, and also for the kid, but he made out pretty good! So we teased her pretty good about that…

So, movie is finished and it’s time to leave Ramon and Kali’s and bike home. Keep in mind, Audrian is SO afraid of animals. Even the little kitty Joshua that Budden’s have. So we are pulling our bikes out of the gate and Ramon says, hey here’s a cow for you Audrian! Actually. There’s about 10! And sure enough, at least 10 cows come laying down some just chilling out right in front of our bike path. I have a great pic of Meg amongst them on her bike! There was even a HUGE bull with horns just sitting right in front of us as I took pictures and cycled out. She was freaking out the whole time while Meg and I cracked up. At night time all the cattle rest along the road side in the grass so we dodged them all the way home. No more incidents to report thank goodness.

So now, I’ve finally cooled off, writing this while sitting directly in front of my fan. Looking forward to a cold shower in the morning after the water has been pumped. We are definitely not in the oasis of the Ellis’ home any more! But it’s good to be back and I’m excited about getting back out in service this week. We have our CO visit next week and I believe I am on the interpreting schedule starting this week. EEK!!

Thanks for all your emails, comments and prayers!
Miss you!
Monie