Quick City Trip

I came into Paramaribo today to pick up mail and packages and have been overwhelmed by the generosity of my family. First and foremost, thanks and love to everyone that has been supporting me with your kind words, encouragement and, particularly in my parents case, sweets and treats. I'm not sure that I can every repay the favor but I am grateful just the same.

The last few weeks have been both fun and exhausting. The kids are out of school for summer vacation so our porch is continually filled with youngsters wanting to color, sew, do puzzles, play zingo/UNO, bake cakes, etc. The dry season seems to have come early (though I'm told it has been raining in the capital) so our durotanks are running low and we're sweating non-stop between the hours of 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM. It's amazing how exhausting doing nothing can be when your world is converted into a sauna!

Between babies urinating and defecating on and around our house (diapers are not frequently employed in our village), and children lying about their birthdays to get cake and American coins, other mischief is in the air. Our resident Sapakaa (a large lizard), whom we have named Frank (pronounced Frahnk), decided to attack Colonel Sanders (our neighbors chicken who likes to sneak into our house). Colonel Sanders was displeased by the act of war and was only sparred thanks to the generosity of my 13 year-old neighbor who forcibly separated the two.

Another adventure transpired when two of our good friends in the village offered to take Suzie Kay and I to grounds, their farm land in the jungle.  We hopped in their hand-made wooden canoe with a machete, a hoe and four fishing poles and headed down the river to one of the many local creeks.  After paddling down the creek for five minutes or so, we "parked" the boat between a large stick and the creek bed and trecked off into the bush. After balancing on felled trees in the swamp area, we following a footpath to where a large section of the jungle had been cleared. A huge hardwood stump remained where someone had cut a tree to make a boat. In the cleared area plantains trees are mixed in with ginger, sugar cane and pom taya (a kind of taro) plants.  A small lean-to has been constructed of wood and corrugated zinc to provide shade. After digging for an unsuccessful sweet potato crop, we took a seat and munched on fresh sugar cane.

A short while later, having no sweet potatoes to pick, we hiked into the bush looking for baka beti (night crawlers) with which to fish. Unfortunately, due to the recent dry spell, there were none to be found so we had to head off to another clearing on yet another creek. This time, about 15 minutes and several mosquito bites later, we were triumphant! In the center of a decaying log we hit worm-bait bingo.  Back in the boat we rigged our poles (a rudimentary hook, line and wooden hand-widdled pole) and dropped our lines. Less than five minutes later the first fish was caught. I think we got eleven in the end--from several fishing holes on different creeks--and, of course (being as I am the only one afraid of fish) I caught the only carnivorous one--a small Pataka with razor sharp teeth! Thankfully, no Piranhas.

The ride home was worth a laugh and a half. Although I had muscled the paddle on the way to the bush, I had not steered the boat. This time round, our hosts handed the paddles over and I took the "helm." Suffice it to say that Aucan canoes do not steer in the same fashion as American ones. I zigzagged us across the Cottica the whole way back :oP

Some not so pleasant updates:

• Tree frogs LOVE my room. I found yet another one (not sure of the total count) in my room this week. This time in my sock. 
• I have developed a dark, raised rash on my hand which the doctor informs me is some kind of Eczema likely brought about by the soap I was using to wash clothes. He's provided some sort of cream and suggested (rightly so) that I switch soaps. Goodbye Ozone.
• Constant sweating has also caused a fungal infection, a form of Tinea, to grow on my upper arms, cheeks and chest. It's totally harmless as far as I know but has the unfortunate effect of removing the pigment from my skin. So as the rest of me gets tanned the Tinea-affected regions are turning white. Think of Michael Jackson circa 1994...
• Some of my fellow villagers BBQ monkey...WHOLE. It looks so precious and innocent as it turns on the spit (as my bewildered roommate explained it to me I had to cringe).
• The same villagers who told me not to run alone on the path because it's not safe are now asking me why I've only signed up to run the half marathon on November 19th, as opposed to the full. Apparently the lure of competition trumps their fear for my safety. While I'm encouraged by their safety I'm peeved that I didn't think to use the excuse of a race sooner...perhaps I could have been training for the last month!

Special thanks to Jeremy and Patrick for letting me crash on their floor for the night.  And even more thanks to the villager (and mentor) who very cleverly (and generously) paid the wagiman for my ride today so that I wouldn't have to wait for the government bus.  That's all for now. I can't load pictures because the internet connection at the office is less-than-speedy at present. Will do so on my next trip to the city when I have more time. 

PS: If you've sent a package and have not received a "thank you,"please don't think I'm being rude--it's not for lack of manners but rather for the slow post service (meaning I haven't gotten it yet).  It can take over a month for packages to arrive.  Letters, on the other hand, seem to get here within a week or two. So if you still own a pen and paper, set your keyboard aside and shoot me a note :)  Thanks for reading--more to come!

Quick Update

-Tarantula found in bedroom. Neighbor killed it with a machete. PCV suddenly motivated to put up her mosquito net.

-PCV went swiming in the Cottica River (despite presece of eels, piranha and, as local legend has it, man-eating manatees). Danger averted. Swim was fabulous.

-Tree frog jumps out of toilet seconds before PCV sits down to do business. Adrenaline rushing. Bathroom time less relaxing.

-Neighbors deliver food (bami, watermelon, cake, homemade ginger beer) to PCVs. All are satisfied.

-Only 32 of the 108 middle schoolers in Moengo that sat the exam to pass onto high school passed. Nation -wide only 50% passed. PCV is frustrated that either A) students are not prepared; B) the text was too difficult; C) continuous assessment is not a concept used to guage scholarly progress in Suriname; D) parents are not motivated to encourage their children's progress in school; E) teachers cannot motivate the students; or F) a combination of two or more of the above. It's very disheartening.

-Village generator is broken, meaning nightly 4 hours of electricity is no more.

-Hair was removed from cornrows, cut, washed and brushed. :)

Thanks to all those who have generously contributed to the "my friend/relative lives in the jungle food, letters and other assorted goodies from America" supply. I will be in the city in September to pick up letters/packages and can't tell you how excited and grateful I am!  For those who have recently inquired, an updated list of things that would be greatly appreciated is below. Sorry for the belated reply.

-AAA batteries
-Candles (for reading at night)
-Unsalted nuts (almonds, pecans...anything other than peanuts)
-Dried fruit
-Chocolate chips
-A stick of deoderant (Ban or Secret prefered)
-Hair conditioner
-Lara bars or any other granola-type-bar thingies
-Pens
-Magazines
-Books

I'll post pictures and a more detailed account of the goings on in Suriname when I'm in the Capital in mid-September. Stay tuned!

Swearing-In and First Week at Site

Swearing-In Week

Our swearing-in ceremony took place on the balcony of the Peace Corps office in Paramaribo on July 13^th.  In addition to representatives of Suriname’s Ministry of Interior Development, the ceremony was also attended by Ambassador John Nay and several Peace Corps Volunteers and staff.

The week of our swearing-in ceremony, my training group—now PCVs—took full advantage of all the city has to offer. We sang karaoke, went salsa dancing and were hosted by the parent of a friend of a friend’s at his home in Paramaribo where he served us tons of food and drink and played music videos on his massive projector screen. The night prior to our departure, Patrick and Jeremy, two other Sur17s, were gracious enough to host us at their place in the city for pizza, beer and ice cream.  All in all, it was quite a bang-up week.

Of course, the highlight of the week (for me) was our visit to Tulips, the American grocery store in foto.  We received our living allowance (a.k.a. food money) last week and went buck-wild at Tulips. Ironically, we spent only half of our allowance and our cart was completely full. Treats included: Gatorade, cold cuts, taco shells, Grape Nuts cereal, Earl Grey tea, cantelope and parmesean cheese.  YUMMMMM.

Move to Site

After our colossal food purchase we left for site. The first week has been admittedly chaotic since Suzie Kay and I had to go to a UNICEF training in another village the day after we moved in. As a result, we had little time to chat with the neighbors and settle in.  The training, held in Abadukondee, went very well. It’s a grassroots program called WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) that is facilitated by locals in the various communities. Our trainer, Jake Pinas, works for the Red Cross and was able to switch back and forth between Dutch, Aucan and English to ensure that everyone understood. Thankfully, I understood about 90% of the Aucan spoken and picked up several Dutch words throughout the training as well.

Not so thankfully, the guesthouse at which we were hosted was infested with cockroaches, bats, rats and tarantulas.  Sharing our bottom bunk (because the top bunk was covered in bat and rat poop), Suzie Kay and I did not sleep and quickly got sick.

For those that don’t already know, Rica is built more-or-less on the water table—meaning that, in addition to the mud problem, any septic system or latrine built in Rica will leak into the drinking water. More unfortunately, several residents have built latrines and installed septic tanks within only a few feet of the river, so the runoff waste goes directly into their drinking and washing water source. Needless to say, it’s a real challenge and not one that I’m sure either of us is qualified to address.

In other news, settling in at our house has been (for the most part) a huge success.  We’ve found a place for most everything and have regular visits from our neighbors. “Zingo,” a young child’s version of Bingo, is the game of choice among the 12-and-unders, who congregate at our house every day after school.  As the owners of crayons, playing cards and books, we are the Leaps & Bounds of Suriname—our balcony is the ball pit.  I am absolutely positive that the world’s cutest babies (i.e. Jairis, Suti and Mogana) live in Rica.  Pictures to follow…

Besides the children, I think that a couple of the young women in town will become good friends. Two in particular have come to our house to chat every day since we’ve arrived and have been very patient with our language learning. Another two came to the house to teach me crochet and a 14-year-old expectant mother kindly braided my hair on my birthday. With all of the support we’ve received from the community we are all the more excited to become a part of it!

Challenges

I am, and hopefully will continue to be, surprised and disturbed by the frequency and severity of violence used to discipline children in the interior of Suriname.  Beating a child/teen with a switch or a belt to the point that they are screaming, bruised and/or bleeding seems to be very common. Young children are told to “hold their mouth” when they cry and, if they cannot, are whipped with a reed across the face.  It seems to me that you can make your point in some other way…

Peace Corps aks a lot of many of its single volunteers by asking them to live on site together with someone they’ve known for only three months. Suzie Kay and I are two distinctly different people with different preferences, strengths and weaknesses. The latter has the potential to make us an excellent team, but it is also a yet another challenge that we have to overcome in that we are still discovering each other while we’re going through an otherwise already stressful transition into our lives as volunteers.

Moreover, we are still learning to find a balance in the amount of time that we spend together in the community and that which we spend independent of each other. We need to carve out our own space in the house and identities among the people with whom we will be working. Also, we need to make time to practice the language and built local relationships separate from one another. All of this needs to take place as we are acclimating to a completely new lifestyle, in a hot climate away from the comforts of home.

I’m lucky to be living with such a brilliant, motivated woman, but we are not a married couple.  Nor do we have years of friendship under our belt to serve as the basis of our partnership in Ricanaumoffo. We’re excited to be living and working together but it’s somewhat exhausting trying to figure out each other at a time when we are under the pressure of so many external stressors.

Thankfully, Suzie Kay and I share a lot of the same values. Likewise, we are both committed to having a positive impact in our community. I’m confident that these two elements will help carry us through the next two years and make our friendship all the more stronger for it.

More to come. Stay tuned :)

Side Note

I am writing this blog by the light of my headlamp while roosters crow and the baby next store screams. It’s only 5:00 AM. In order to add this blog post, I will take the 30 minute boat ride to Moengo and pay the local middle school teacher to let me use one of the school’s computers. Ahh the joys of Suriname….

 

More Photos from PST

A building in the capital. Beautiful old buildings lie in rot next to the impeccably maintained ones. It's a very stark contrast.

Right before CBT.

The group being silly.

Aucan speakers!

The kids at CBT. Love them :)

Outside the dam in Brookopondo.

The dam.

The lake in Brookopondo.

The sun setting over the Cottica River in Pikin Santi.

A rainbow on my way to site.

Suzie Kay and my new house! Quite luxurious.

At grounds after bagging Pom Taya (taro)

Some kids on the porch at our new house.

Me very muddy after a game of slagball.

After a game of slagball against one of the team's in Brookopondo. Needless to say, we won :)

Suzie Kay and I displaying our new pangi.

The cook house at home stay.

Another one of the kids at CBT.

Masi Pasi at the school.

A rainbow over the house in Company Creek.

My host mom, Fernanda (on left) and her sister, Minerva.

My host Oma, Norma, and I

Almost There!

This is the last week before the Sur17s will be (officially) sworn in as Peace Corps volunteers. We’ve just returned from our second and final home stay in the greater Brookopondo area and, while I admit that I’m happy to enjoy comforts like running water, air conditioning and Western-style food in the capital, I will miss my host family.

On our last night in Company Creek, Suzie Kay and I prepared burritos, guacamole and chocolate cake for our respective host families and their friends. Much to our surprise, the food was well-liked—apart from the guacamole, which we were happy to eat ourselves :) That night my host mother and grandmother presented me with gifts: a beautiful embroidered pangi with crochet detail on the edges and a plaid ruffled skirt that they had made.  That night I felt a real connection with them as we put on music, danced and laughed.  I truly hope that they will come to Ricanaumoffo to visit Suzie Kay and I once we have time to get settled in.

In other news, we had our unofficial swearing in ceremony on July 7^th at the Ambassador’s residence in Paramaribo.  700 guests attended including President Bouterse and several members of his cabinet. We had the opportunity to shake the President’s had and speak with him briefly after his speech. If you aren’t familiar with the President and his role in Suriname’s history, I invite you to do a Google search for some interesting factoids. 

Yesterday we had the opportunity to paint several rooms in a school for special needs students in the greater Lelydorp area.  Despite running short on time, the project was successful and we hope to return to the school to do some more work in October.  After our work at the school, we gorged ourselves on omelets and crepes at a restaurant in the tourist section of the city—quite the treat after a week of sampling pig’s tail and tapir at home stay!

Today we will attend another event at Ambassador Nay’s home in (belated) celebration of the 4^th of July. I’m very much hoping that there are hot dogs and hamburgers involved…

Depending on the quality of internet connection I can access in the next few days, I plan to post more pictures from the last few weeks. Whether or not that is actually feasible—soso Gadu sabi (only God knows).

Stay tuned!

For anyone that is feeling especially generous or philanthropic at present, my roommate and I would be forever grateful for any of the following items:

• American magazines (i.e. People, Life, National Geographic, Vogue, The New Yorker)
• Books (fiction or nonfiction, any Pulitzer Prize winners, poetry, classics, foreign language books—in French or Spanish, etc.)
• Beef jerky
• Lara bars
• Parmesan cheese
• Ground coffee
• Raisins and/or granola
• Taco seasoning
• Pesto
• Watercolors/Sharpie markers/art supplies in general

Photos

More to come soon!

Future Site Visit, etc.

Please forgive spelling and grammatical errors. I did not have time to edit/review this post before publishing.

I am currently sitting in Bugger King in Paramaribo which, perhaps only rivaled by MacDonald’s, seems to be the nicest building in all of Suriname. A) It’s air conditioned. B) It has WiFi. C) It has food that I recognize. Within the city I have also located a “restaurant” called Power Smoothie, which sells smoothies as well as submarine sandwiches with lettuce, tomato and cold cuts. It’s pretty much the best place ever given that I’ve now tried every Surinamese dish about five hundred times and am desperate for American food—particularly fruit and vegetables.

BAD NEWS

Unfortunately, I have recently been notified that, due to budget cuts, Peace Corps Suriname will not be training another class of trainees next year.  While this should not impact the program for existing volunteers and does not necessarily mean that the post will be shut down in the future, it’s not a good sign.  PC Suriname is a small and traditionally low-functioning post for a host of reasons. It is also very costly site to operate. Although I am not surprised that it was one of the five sites in the Americas being “downsized,” so-to-speak, I am disappointed.

FUTURE SITE VISIT

I had the opportunity to visit my future site with my roommate-to-be, Suzie Kay.  Rica is a really wonderful place a part from the mud—It seems that urban planning is not a familiar concept in Suriname so the city is more or less built at the water table.  Our house is amazing and extremely Western relative to those of our fellow PCVs.  We have electricity from 7:00 PM – 11:00 PM each day, which means that we can keep food for more than a day, a pour-flush toilet IN OUR HOUSE and two durotanks to catch rainwater. The “KSK Osu.” as we’ve fondly named our residence, also has two bedrooms and a beautiful balcony.  We are hugely grateful to the two volunteers we are replacing for leaving us all of their furniture, tools and kitchen supplies. Their generosity represents a huge financial burden being lifted off our shoulders as we won’t have to purchase all of those items ourselves.

During our week at site, Suzie Kay and I were able to get to know each other a lot better.  We had several heartfelt chats and I can’t express how lucky I am to have her as a roommate. I think we’re going to make a great team and provide each other with much needed emotional support over the next two years.

Suzie Kay and I also had the opportunity to go to grounds while visiting Rica.  We visited the grounds of a local couple (Fankali and Christine) where we helped them bag 160 kilos of Pomtaya (taro root).  That evening they invited us over to tell Surinamese fables (Anaisi toil). I laughed so hard that my eyes watered and my stomach burned as I watched Fankali act out certain parts of the fable, complete with sound effects and gestures. Story telling is still very much alive in Suriname and it’s great to be a part of the tradition.

We also had the pleasure of watching the local Slagball team practice. Slagball, a sport played by the women of Suriname (in lieu of Soccer), loosely resembles a hybrid of baseball and cricket. I couldn’t believe the athleticism of Rica’s women, nor the level support they received from the local men and children as they practiced. Their coach was very professional too.  One of my biggest concerns about my time in Suriname is my ability to empower women in an overwhelmingly male-dominant society. This was an important example of female empowerment in Suriname that brought me some peace, however small.

Lastly, I have to admit that while away at site I very much missed my morning runs with Michelle, reading Dale’s daily quotes on the chalkboard and late night laughs with Elliott, Patrick and Brooke at “Club Hollandia,” the local bakery that lets us drink Parbo on it’s covered deck. Our group of trainees is truly phenomenal. I’m going to miss them intensely when we leave for site. 

POTENTIAL CHALLENGES

·      My limited experience in Rica has demonstrated that the local men do not understand what a professional, respectful relationship with a woman is or should be and the cultural norms around gender relations in Suriname’s interior make broaching that topic almost impossible.

·      Following in the footsteps of two volunteers that have had tremendous success and that have built impressive relationships with so many of the people in the community.

·      Keeping my own biases and cultural filters in check.

·      The frustrations of not fully understanding the language and culture in which I will be working.

·      MUD—limited access to a safe running path.

·      Trying to process emotions and stresses brought on by so many new experiences.