Fair warning: This is a very long blog entry. I have a sneaking suspicion that only my family will want to read the chronicle of my folks trip, but since it was exciting for me I decided to include it. More pictures to come--download speed is slow on BlogSpot. Otherwise photos are available on Facbeook.
New Year’s Done Right
On December 31st Paramaribo is an absolute zoo! It’s no surprise to me now why it’s considered one of the most exciting cities in the world to visit for the New Year holiday. On Domineestraat whole city blocks were wrapped in firecrackers, the street and balconies overflowing with Surinamers and foreign visitors gathering en masse to view the festivities.
Early in the morning tents began to pop up on the street corners housing vendors of beer, pickled fruits and barbeque. As the hours passed, marching bands and dance team performances began the chaotic parade-like scene and the bands and other entertainers set up on the multiple stages downtown. Two monster trucks jam packed with DJs, dancers and a handful of lucky bystanders laid on their horns as their drivers tried to roll the big machines through thousands of onlookers in the street.
At noon the fireworks began—cracking around buildings, shooting up into the sky and every other direction. The air smelled like sulfur as the smoke filled the sky and visitors pulled on their surgical masks, put in their earplugs.
Those of us who started off on Domineestraat made our way down to the Waterkant where, a much more subdued location, to share a few beers and conversation before the night’s parties began.
A few hours later, as darkness began to fall on the city and the sticky heat of the tropics began to fade away, our group pushed onward to the Palmtuin (Palm Garden) to watch the fireworks that were exploding in every direction and catch a bit of fresh air. By 9:30 PM we were off to Zus & Zos guesthouse for drinks, donuts and dancing before the countdown to 2012.
My (Peace Corps) New Year’s Resolution for 2012
It’s hard to believe I’ve been here for seven months! Seven months without running water. Seven months without changing seasons. Seven months without seeing my friends and, up until just now, my family. 2011 constituted such a dramatic shift in my life that it’s often difficult internalize how I came to be here. While I’ve given up so much to be a volunteer, I’ve found as much in the process: New friends, new skills, new challenges. 2012 arrives just as my life in Suriname is beginning to normalize—on the heels of great emotional stress and on the doorstep of previously unforeseen opportunity.
As one of the last class of Peace Corps volunteers in Suriname, I feel a certain obligation to help my community realize its potential, to bring about some kind of lasting, positive change. All things considered, the 20 months that remains in my service leave little time for action, but I’m confident that, with careful planning, some small but very important goals can be realized:
· First, I aim to work with Rica’s youth to broaden their perspective on environmental and gender issues, and to empower them to adopt positive behavior changes that will improve their lives. My first step toward this goal is planning a Camp GLOW (Girls Leading Our World) in coordination with my roommate and fellow Rica volunteer Suzie Kay and two volunteers in the Amerindian communities of Erowarte and Tapuuku. Ideally a boys leadership camp will follow.
· Second, I will continue to work with Rica’s internal community development organization to identify future projects and project partners in order to ensure that the village continues to improve the collective livelihood of its residents through a formalized, sustainable process. We will begin construction of the new daycare center in the next two months. Also, we plan to host some of our partners with Rotary as well as a guest from the UN Development Programme and, potentially, a school teacher from the U.S. at the end of January. This visit will serve to build on existing relationships and to develop future partnerships.
Post New Year’s Extravaganza: Village Style
Last night Rica hosted a roaring post-New Year’s bash complete with live music, plenty of alcohol and a visit from the Minister of Social Services. For those of you who can’t imagine me with purple hair extensions—and I assume that’s most of you, please enjoy the photos. I didn’t resist the temptation to go dance, though I was admittedly a little embarrassed to try shaking my booty to Aleke music in front of a group of people that could easily have a career in traditional dance. All went well and I managed to sneak away by 12:30 AM to get some sleep. After the festivities I was, for the first time in country, able to sleep-in until 10:00 AM. Thankfully, J
January 3rd was an unusually quiet and pleasant day, given that the children are still on school vacation. I was able to bribe a few kids with left over candy canes and they were happy to give me peace for the whole day in order to clean the house, take down the Christmas decorations and read a bit. For the second time I was thrilled to have one of my eight-year-old buddies stop by to request a big plastic bag so that he could go collect garbage in ganda, the “downtown” area of my village. He’s determined to keep Rica clean and I’m happy to fit the bill for his trash bags :)
Chronicle of Mom & Dad’s Visit to Suriname
My parent’s visit was also quite the adventure. We started with a whirlwind, one-day tour of Paramaribo. A cup of home-made ginger beer got us off on the right foot as we wandered through the Central Market—a dizzying array of colors and smells painting the stands of different vendors throughout the two-story hall.
Next, we walked up to where a large mosque and the old Jewish temple stand side-by-side in the city center. After a few photographs and a quick jaunt to the souvenir shop RedyTex, we took shelter in a DVD shop while the afternoon rain poured down.
A while later we headed into the Dutch quarter to get a feel for the old colonial architecture—white wooden buildings with wide porches overlooking the streets. From there we continued on to the Presidential palace and old Governor’s mansion, now the site of the Ministry of Finance, through Independence Square, past the National Assembly to Fort Zeelandia.
My parents and I backtracked to the Waterkant after a brief tour of the Fort to get some Surinamese bami and a Parbo beer. We almost beat the rain on the way back to the hotel for a snooze before crossing the bridge into Comowijne for a holiday party with a handful of other volunteers and their visiting family members. Despite the fact that our chatty cabbie felt the need to share a few of his less politically correct opinions on Surinamese society and its respective ethnic groups, excluding his own of course, the drive was agreeable. Mostly it gave my folks a different picture than what they had seen in the city and would soon see in my village on the Cottica.
Friday’s trip to site presented a few obstacles but nothing out of the ordinary. Our wagi (taxi) was fuller than usual and the driver had quite the time trying to pack in all of our baggage. On the way to Moengo a few stray items fell from their place, crashing into some pour little boy’s head who had the misfortune of sitting in the back, middle seat. After short cry and slight reorganization, we found ourselves on the way again—this time with a lap full of frozen meat, a bucket of laundry detergent, a box of granola bars and several pieces of luggage. Thankfully, the road to Moengo is now fully paved so the bumps and dives were limited.
In Moengo, where we normally would have caught the boat to Rica, we noticed that our boat was being packing by Power, a man who normally drives a different boat to and from Wan Hati. As it turned out, his motor died that morning and our boat was on loan to him for the afternoon since many of his stops are not accessible by road and Rica is. A small bus collected those of us en route to Rica and dropped us off at our location. My parents were thrilled to see Suzie Kay walking up the path from the river with a bucket of freshly washed dishes on her head as we arrived—a great snapshot into our lives as Peace Corps volunteers. The first day at site we greeted my neighbors and enjoyed pumpkin stew while telling stories: A relaxing night before yet another travel day on Saturday.
The morning of Christmas Eve we woke early to catch the wagi to Albina with my counterpart. It was smooth sailing minus some mild confusion about with forms we needed to fill out in immigration and whether or not we had to come back for a second round of passport stamps upon our return from French Guyana. The boat ride across was beautiful and we were able to get to the market in no time. Unfortunately the rain caught us mid lettuce purchase and we had to take cover inside. On the bright side, a warm bowl of Vietnamese pho and fresh pressed juices awaited each of us inside.
A tour of the old labor (i.e. prison) camp followed our shopping. The camp does not offer guided tours to my knowledge, so we wandered about reading the information plaques. Inside the tiny cells, we could see were the inmates had been chained up. A couple of cold Belgian beers completed our adventure before pushing through the mobs of boat drivers eager to hassle my counterpart to secure their services for the ride back across the Marowijne River.
Some two hours later we were back in Rica, washing up for the Christmas Eve church service. The Pastor was kind enough to pass out song sheets with the English versions of various Christmas carols so my parents would have some idea what was going on. Several of the children also performed, included a duet by two girls in English. Somehow most of the church going adults seemed to forget to come on both Christmas Eve and Christmas, but the ceremony was nice regardless. Most important of all the events on Christmas Eve, we ate beef, salad and Christmas cookies. Oh yeah, and there were two bottles of wine to top it off. Take that for a jungle holiday!
Christmas day we attended another church ceremony and took it easy for the rest of the day. We made and distributed a batch of “Hello Dolly” cookies, which were a big hit and then I taught Mom how to wash dishes in the river. She turned down the opportunity to go for a swim. I couldn’t tell you what her reasoning was, but I vaguely remember some comment about piranhas…
On the 26th, our last day in Rica, Dad and I went for a nature walk and spotted several interesting birds (see Facebook for photos). Highlights include an eagle, a beautiful hawk, several parrots and a macaw. We squeezed in some final visits with friends in the village and packed up the suitcases.
On December 27th it was back to foto (the city) via the boat to Moengo and a two-hour wagi ride. We made a quick stop at the Peace Corps office, grabbed some roti at Albea’s Restaurant and taxied back to the hotel where our old room was conveniently waiting for us in all its air-conditioned glory. We shared a lovely dinner with Suzie Kay and packed for phase two as the first half of their trip came to a close.
Bergendal Ecotourism Resort was the destination of the next part of our Suriname adventure and thankfully they provide transportation. In a moment of confusion we were concerned that we had lost our reservation when the concierge at the Krasnapolski Hotel, the point of departure to Bergendal, informed us that we had not paid for our stay by the date listed in the reservation confirmation. Dad sorted that situation out just in time for us to hop on the bus for the trip down South toward Brookopondo.
Although the room wasn’t quite ready when we wanted, we were quickly reminded why Bergendal made it onto our itinerary: A ten zip, twelve platform canopy tour! Even Mom was convinced to suit up—harnesses, helmets and all, and glide through the jungle on metal cables despite a moderate amount of comments ike, “this is my worst nightmare,” and, “oh my God, I’m never letting you two sign me up for anything ever again,” under her breath. The views were spectacular, particularly the zip across the Suriname River. In the end, all three of us had an amazing time.
Another perk of going to Bergendal was getting to see my host mother from Community-Based Training, who works there. When we arrived in our lodge, Fernanda had written “I <3 Kate” in towels on my pullout bed—a nice welcome! After our canopy tour we hopped a bus to Company Creek to visit my host aunt, Thai, and her children. Despite the fact that we only had an hour—the bus we chartered wasn’t exactly cheap—we had enough time to catch up and exchange a story or two. Upon returning to Bergendal, we met up with Fernanda for drinks and she and my parents were able to get to know each other a bit.
The next morning, much to my father’s dismay, the water cut out mid-shower. Apparently there was a problem with the resort’s pumping system and our section of lodges had no water for the rest of the morning. Gratefully, two bottles of water resolved Dad’s soapy situation and we collectively decided to spend the rest of the morning beside the pool.
Back in the city the folks were able to enjoy a quiet night at the hotel before their last full day in Suriname. I, on the other hand, met the other volunteers for a night of dancing at Havana Lounge until the wee hours of the morning.
On the 30th, Mom and I accompanied Dad to ReadyTex for some last minute souvenirs before heading to Jerusalem Bazarre—the pangi shop. Hundreds of bolts of colorful fabric in plaids and African prints peaked Mom’s eye in the bustling shop on Saramaccastraat. Several purchases later, we pushed our way back to the hotel through the mobs of visitors arriving in Paramaribo for the New Year’s celebrations.
The hotel’s masseuse pampered Dad and me while Mom treated herself to a manicure and pedicure out on the pier. Our de-stress sessions were the perfect precursor to our final meal at Café d’Optimist, a local steak and pasta joint in a different section of town. When dinner was finished, I dropped the old fogies off at the hotel to catch some Z’s then stepped out to meet the other volunteers at Parbo Nights—a street fair sponsored by the Parbo Brewing Company. I got back to the hotel at 2:00 AM, just in time to wish my parents safe travels before they jumped on the airport shuttle. Overall I think the trip was a great success and now I’m certain my parents have a better appreciation for the complicated little country I’ve called home for the last seven months. It was great to share a piece of my adventure with them!
Things I Would Love to Receive in a Care Package
- Canned spinach
- Canned lentils
- Cream of mushroom soup
- Cream of chicken soup
- Ankle socks
- Pens
Paramaribo on New Year's Eve
Another view
And another...
Yet another
Guess where? That's right--Paramaribo on New Year's Eve. Oh yeah, and that truck was moving!
Post-New Year's bash in Rica with friend Drusilla. Note my purple extensions :)
With one of my counterparts, Tante Mina
The gorgeous ladies of Rica taking a break from dancing
