I have experienced so many great things during my first two
weeks here in Guyana that I cannot possibly fit into a blog post, so I’ve decided
to highlight some of the things that have stood out most during my first couple
of weeks in Guyana.
David’s host family: David’s host family is
absolutely amazing. David lives with a
host mom (Verna), 2 host siblings (Mikey & Michelle), and a 6-year-old host
niece (Michelle’s daughter, Makayla). The family is absolutely amazing—they are
so welcoming and friendly, and I feel so comfortable and at home here. I’ve spent a lot of my time here playing with
Makayla and her friends/cousins who are constantly over at the house.
The language barrier: In theory, the language
spoken here in Guyana is English. In
practice, the language actually spoken here is called Creolese—a mumbled,
altered, and highly distorted version of what we consider “English.” The weirdest part of this language barrier is
that the people here can understand just about everything I say, but I understand
almost nothing. This results in many
awkward interactions in which I have to ask people to repeat things over and
over, and even then I don’t fully understand what is being said. David is helping me out by explaining common
phrases, ways certain pronouns are utilized (and others not at all), etc. I’ve found that kids are the best to learn
from because they’re much more willing to repeat things and speak more slowly
for me, so I’m spending lots of time learning from Makayla and her friends. Every day I understand the people here more
and more, but the language barrier has been one of the most difficult parts of
immersing myself into the culture and community here in Guyana.
Guyanese Funerals: A man in David's site passed away
a week ago, and I had the opportunity to experience a funeral here. David
warned me ahead of time that funerals here are much different than in the
states, but despite his warnings, the funeral experience was quite
jarring. While the service itself is not
unlike the ones stateside (prayers, eulogies, etc.), the way that the family of
the deceased acts during the service is quite different from what I’m used
to. (David has confirmed that the
funeral I attended is an accurate depiction of all of the funerals he has
attended throughout his 9 months here in Guyana—he’s been to dozens). Many times throughout the service and
internment, the daughters, wife, and several mistresses of the deceased broke
out into hysterics—they were literally screaming and crying at the top of their
lungs, thrashing around and running to the casket. The women even went so far as to try to take
the body out of the casket so it wouldn’t be buried. In no way do I mean to discredit the family’s
grief, I simply find the exaggerated display of sorry to be an interesting
contrast to the funerals to which I’m accustomed.
The stars:
I never really realized how much I loved looking at stars until I came
here. The lack of light pollution here
really makes for unbelievable views of the night sky. I really wish I could take a picture of what
I’m talking about to share with you all, because I cannot put into words how
unbelievably gorgeous the stars are here.
A few other interesting things to note:
- “Just now” means anytime between the recent past and some time in the near future. The most common way it is used is to describe something that will be done soon (i.e. I’ll come home just now).
- When I meet people and tell them I’m from the states, they often try to impress me with their knowledge of the USA by telling me that there are 52 states (and insisting that I am incorrect when I correct them and tell them that there are 50). I have yet to come across someone who can tell me what the 51st and 52nd states are (I’ve even asked if they’re referring to Puerto Rico and Guam, but they say no).
- The popular music here is a mixture of reggae, soca, dance hall, chutney, gospel, and a collection of 80s and 90s music from people like Whitney Houston, Michel Bolton, Michael Jackson, etc.
Keep 'em coming honey...love hearing everything!!! Miss you two so much :-x
ReplyDeleteFunny. "Just now" is also a common expression in South Africa, one that I brought back with me as some ambiguous, non committal way of saying some time in the [not necessarily] near future...
ReplyDeleteAnd ditto your night sky. The world can feel so small when you can see so many stars...
I love hearing your perspective... and having David validate it as typical...
What were the Christmas and New Year holidays like? Did you go to Surinam? Was that very different?
How do you like village living? What are you learning from the women in the village?
Have you prepared any meals? What has your culinary experience been like so far?
Take lots of photos - I am so eager to see them when you get back!
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ReplyDeleteDavid's host mom refers to living in his village as living the "country life." I actually really enjoyed it. The village is oddly isolated. Although it is only about 30 miles from Linden, the nearest town, it takes about 4 hours of an extremely bumpy bus ride to get there. I really like the small village feeling of everyone knowing each other. I quickly got used to using an outdoor latrine, bathing with a bucket, and washing clothes by hand. Unlike in the bigger cities, I felt totally safe the entire time I was in the village. I think this village is absolutely the perfect site for David because it has all of the elements of living in a remote village, but he has electricity and cell phone service, so he can fairly easily communicate with me, he doesn't have to worry about keeping his insulin cold, and he can watch movies and tv shows on his computer every now and then.
ReplyDeleteWomen in his village really hold the community together. The vast majority of the men work in the bauxite mines, and they typically 6 days a week for 15+ hours each day. It is also fairly standard for Guyanese men to have multiple girlfriends at a time, so male dedication to the family is not very common. Both of the homes in which David has lived in the village have been run by single mother's. David's current host mother is wonder woman. She gets up at 5am every day to cook, she works all day at the secondary school doing custodial work, and immediately begins cooking again when she gets home from work. She also bakes breads, fries plantain chips, and other snacks that she sells at a cousin's shop down the road. She also shares the responsibility of caring for her granddaughter Makayla with David's host sister Michelle. Many Guyanese women put significant amounts of time and effort into ensuring the family is well cared-for, and I think David's host mom is a perfect example of this.
The food has been one of the biggest struggles I’ve had here. I have tried my best to be as open-minded as possible, and have vowed to try a bite of just about anything, but I think my trip to the butcher on Christmas really made it difficult for me to stomach eating the meat here. What I have absolutely LOVED about the food here is the vast availability of fresh fruit and veggies. For example, when David and I were sitting outside the other day I heard a coconut fall from a tree nearby. We just picked it up, chopped it open and got to drink the coconut water and eat the coconut—it was Awesome! David’s family’s farm also has plenty of bananas, 5 Finger (aka Star Fruit), Balanje (eggplant), and Okra. They also have about 90 chickens, so I’ve gotten to eat lots of fresh eggs.
My favorite local dish here is Channa, which is a Chickpea dish fried up with lots of yummy seasonings. David's host mom taught me how to make it, and even had me prepare it for the family the last night. I think it turned out pretty well. I'm looking forward to making it every now and then in the states. David and I also had the opportunity to bake banana bread for the family, and they absolutely loved it! All of the ingredients are commonly used in Guyana, so it was a great thing to teach them how to make.