A Change is Gonna' Come...

Wednesday, July 02, 2008
It’s 8:30 am, and so far I’ve had a busy day… around 2am, Joshua (the hell-cat) made his way into our room (we weren’t sure HOW!) and proceeded to pounce on us thru our nets, making holes and scratches. The first time I expected it, it’s his usual night-time activity. But the 2nd, 3rd and 4th time, it was WAR. :P Meg is highly allergic to cats, so it was up to me to un-pin my tent (net) and track him down and throw him out. (After unbolting our security door and passing the retina scan... ha!) So by the 4th time which was roughly 7am, or was that the 5th, I was FED UP! My sleep had been disturbed nearly every hour and no cute purring or soft little paws were going to make up for it! I stumbled out into the living room not caring who saw the mess I am in the morning… and threw Joshua outside (imagine throwing a football.. JK) and closed the doors. I crawled back into bed and secured myself in my net and almost got back to sleep when I felt a paw on my head. Yep. He was back in!!!! I figured out that he is getting in the windows!!! He is climbing outside and walking around the roof and into our open windows. Tricky tricky! Anyway, that was just my morning stress. So, since I was already up, and “sleeping in” was no longer an option, I got on my rain boots and walked to the little store across the street that opens at 7:30 and always has fresh eggs. (REALLY fresh… as in, I found momma’ hens feather on the egg!) My scrambled eggs with Tony Chachere’s and toast (that we make on what they call the “tawa”) have become a big hit. So I made eggs and toast for 8, and all was well!! By the way, the “tawa” is a flat circular cast iron skillet type of thing that you put directly on the gas burner on the stove, and that’s how we toast bread!

Now it’s the quiet morning lull before preaching activities in New Amsterdam. One group has left for Skeldon area and will be gone all day. Meg has gone to the hospital for a checkup on her fractured/dislocated (they aren’t sure which) foot. Oh, did I forget to mention that? Haha. Yes, poor Meggie tripped and fell coming off the Ferry when we were returning from Georgetown Friday night. It was a torrential downpour and I had slipped several times as well. (There’s not much to ensure your safety or the worry of lawsuits here!) Well Saturday we went to the DR and she had x-rays taken and he found a minute fracture. I had wrapped her leg the night before and she kept it elevated which prevented further swelling. He said she needed a cast for 2 weeks and was to stay off her feet, but was unable to give her a real cast due to her mosquito bites (She has over 100 now!) so they just gave her a think gauze cast. Well the brothers were able to get her into see a sister that works at the hospital (which is free and gross!!) and they now say she dislocated it, although I clearly see a fracture on the x-ray. They gave her a hideous rainbow colored boot and a fiberglass partial cast that is itching like crazy!!! She has a good attitude about it and I think is enjoying being waited on hand and foot! (Kidding!! She’s moving around more now, and we are all more than willing to help her out!)

I also fell on Sunday, it was another typhoon like downpour, and we were all dressed and ready for service in our raincoats. Well i was the first one down the stairs, and about the 3rd step, down i went! BAM BAM BAM BAM!! (thats the sound of my tailbone hitting the steps all the way down to the bottom.) You know when something hurts so bad, and knocks the wind out of you so much that immediately tears form? It was like that. I am now the proud owner of a black and blue tush! :) (TMI!!)

So now I’m just catching up on emails while Trisha and Brittany struggle with the washing machine in the dungeon. Oops I mean, basement. :) In other good news, a new Need Greater home has been found! We might be moving as soon as Thursday. Of course, I told Meg that they would find a beautiful place just as I was leaving and that has proven to be true! I am leaving Guyana on July 9th, and heading to Louisiana to be with my Maw Maw. But I leave Guyana with such a deep love for the people here, and a satisfaction of giving my best to Jehovah, knowing that I can never out-give his generous hand. I am so relieved that our prayers for new accommodations have been answered, and I feel better leaving my dear friends here knowing that they will not be fending off the plethora of wildlife that live amongst us nearly as much. They will have an ice cold freezer that actually makes ice, and a refrigerator that functions as such and not just one that collects water and dampens your bread!! It is truly a blessing and I think that after living here, we complain less, appreciate more, and on the whole are generally stronger people!

I also went on an amazing bible study yesterday, Holly. She is one of Kali’s studies and recently gave her first talk on the school. She is very bright, and has more ASL knowledge than most because she studied it in school a long time ago. She had been missing for a bout a week from the meetings and her regularly scheduled studies, so I rode to her house with Brittany and Ridonna and we found her alive and well, but with a flu given to her from bugs that bit her. (That’s the story that I understood anyway) We were able to sit in her little wooden house and study the Bible Teach book. We were discussing Jesus ministry, who he was a person on earth, and how we can copy him. It touched my heart and gave me chills how she so desires to have that same determination in service to Jehovah. When I told her about how people thought Jesus was crazy, and how even the Devil himself tried to get him to stop serving God, he refused. I asked her if the roles were reversed, and her family, the government, etc was telling her she must stop…what would she do? Well before I even finished the question, she was firmly shaking her head “no” and gave me a look like, ‘Simone, what a SILLY question! I will never stop serving Jehovah!” What a beautiful expression of faith from someone so young, who has overcome so much. I will miss Holly a lot.

Well, that’s all the news for now… oh and I’m getting eaten ALIVE by mosquitoes the past week or so. Not nearly as bad as Meg, but I literally wasn’t getting bit at all, and now they suddenly love me. What gives??? Maybe Guyana has made me sweeter.

Love to you all,
Monie