In A Tiny Village Very, Very Far Away...

You Know You’re In the Jungle When…

·      You wake up to feel something crawling on your face and, without opening your eyes, brush it off and think, “Thank God. It was only a beetle.”

·      A woman is (successfully) fishing for large piranha off the dock where you are bathing. 

·      While stepping into the water from said dock, you cut your foot on a rusty nail.

·      A tarantula walking on the wall less than one foot in front of you while sitting on the toilet is an inconvenience, not a reason to panic or call the exterminator.

·      Termites invade your home at least once a month…even though it’s made of stone.

·      You have to sweep heaps of bat poop off the walls and floor.

·      You have caulked the holes between the ceiling panels and the walls several times to prevent said poop from falling, but the feces has (yet again) eroded through the caulk.

·      Occasional bedmates include frogs, ants and the occasional bee.

·      Giving a young child a machete to perform a task for you is not only acceptable, it’s encouraged.

·      Watching children set their backyard on fire is not cause for alarm—their parents gave them the oil and the lighter.

·      You see a man carrying an entire tree trunk home for firewood.

·      Breasts are not sexual nor or covered by clothing (visualize the childhood song, “Do your ears hang low…” only replace ‘ears’ with oversized ‘boobs’).

·      Instead of a briefcase, a man goes to work with a pesticide pump on his back, a gun slung over his shoulder, a machete in one hand and a Blackberry in the other.

·      You begin prioritizing how much you really have to go number two according to your willingness to carry a 5 gallon bucket of water back from the river to flush it (only in dry season).

·      You can’t eat soup because it makes you sweat too much.

·      Pit vipers hid under your trashcan.

·      You’ve seen a jaguar (or puma?) on a morning run.

·      Wearing jeans and a bra means getting dressed up.

·      You’ve seen your neighbor barbequing a whole baby monkey on a stick.

·      Friends think it’s strange that you don’t eat fish heads.

Quick Update

A fellow volunteer came out last Saturday to co-facilitate a second “Sport Day” using the One World Futbols (blue soccer balls paid for by many of you fine folks) that recently arrived in Suriname.  The day included learning and team building games for the younger (3-8) and older (9-15) children, split into two groups, as well as soccer and slagball.  The kids were very enthusiastic.  See pictures below.

One of my counterparts was kind enough to invite Suzie Kay and I to her nephew’s 40^th birthday party in Paramaribo.  It was quite the shindig, complete with matching outfits, catering and ten local Christian bands. See pictures below.

My Level II English group has resumed classes.  In the last two weeks we’ve started discussing parts of speech and antonyms.  It’s amazing that you could get to the sixth grade without knowing what a noun or verb is, but maybe I’m out-of-touch.  In any case, they know now!

This past weekend, Suzie Kay, Elliott and I also went to the absolutely fantastic, one-of-a-kind Kermis, a "state fair" like celebration hosted in Moengo. Attractions include four food stands, beer, loud music and a "shoot to win" game, for which prizes include underwear, stickers, teddy bears and tupperware.  A few photos of the lucky trio enjoying the wide-array of activities.

Today I’m in the city for a Low-Income Shelter Housing Program (LISHP II) training.  The objective is to get me up-to-speed on how to correctly fill in the applications so that folks from Rica can apply for government assistance to update their current home or build a new one.  The training, and program funding, come from the Ministry of Social Services.

We’ve received some unfortunate news related to the closing of our post: Peace Corps Suriname’s Country Director will be leaving in December and is not likely to be replaced.  Other staff’s contracts will expire in December and individual employees will be informed of whether or not they will be asked to sign an extended contract through the end of our service (July 2013).  I’m starting to get the feeling that my group is becoming a little abandoned… “The Few. The Forgotten. The Sur17s.” 

That’s all for now. For the ever-generous benefactors among you, below I have included a list of desired items. Note: I do not NEED any of these things.  I am safe. I have food and shelter.  However, if you plan on sending a package and would prefer to send things that I will in fact enjoy, the items below should point you in the right direction. Many thanks in advance for bringing a very large smile to my face (as well as to those who will share the contents with me)!

Pour Moi

·      Sriracha hot sauce (red liquid with a chicken on the front of the bottle)

·      Honey (thank you, grandpa, for the idea and first donation—it was delicious)

·      Almonds or pecans, unsalted

·      Dried cherries

·      Cocoa powder

·      Parmesan cheese (the grated stuff in the plastic Kraft bottle)

·      Food coloring

·      Beef jerky

·      Herbal teas

·      Powdered iced tea, unsweetened

·      Gatorade powder, or other drink mixes (preferably not Kool Aid or Tang)

·      Incense (keeps the mosquitoes away)

·      Fashion, home design or cooking magazines…or any magazines or books

For the Kids

·      Crayola crayons

·      Coloring books

·      Simple board games (think Sorry, Checkers, Scrabble). Nothing complicated like Monopoly.

·      Children’s books (in English or Dutch).  Ideas: Anything from the Little Bear series; Erik Carson books; Goodnight Moon; The Velveteen Rabbit; books that teaching counting or spelling, colors, shapes; anything from the Madeline series.  Stay away from Dr. Suess because the silly rhyming is very confusing to kids who don’t speak much English.

·      Simple puzzles (15 pieces or less).

Thanks for reading and stay tuned!