since my last post:
YLP travelled to Shulinab, a village of about 300 people in the South Central Rupununi district (so, about 4 hours south of here). We took the bus to Lethem, and then got a ride in the back of a pickup truck. Unfortunately, it was raining that day, so we had to tie a tarp on top of the box of the pickup. That meant that we were squished like sardines in the back: our luggage took up half the truck box, and the rest of us (ie. 7 of us) were crammed on the bench-seats. Crystal sat in the front seat, with a little girl and some eggs on her lap. Fun times. We arrived in Shulinab around 7 p.m. (after dark), slung up our hammocks, and went to bed.
The next day, Saturday, we held a "cultural camp" in which we brought together youth and elders to share games and crafts and traditional teachings. It was good fun. I made another mokro basket, but this time, I did the WHOLE THING by myself! A lot of the kids came over to watch me, which was kind of irritating, but good too, I guess. I think it gives them a sense of pride in their culture, and sparks their interest in traditional crafts, when they see a white girl take interest in those things. This basket is a lot smaller than the first one I made, and it ended up breaking a little bit because one of Rawle's kids stepped on it on Monday, but I am still proud of it.
Our camp continued into Sunday, and we held a big bonfire on Sunday night. I usually go to bed as soon as it gets dark, but I stayed up this time. It was really neat. Most of the community showed up - about 200 people! There were all kinds of neat presentations: there was a traditional Macushi band/dance group (pictured here),
some Scottish/Irish teachers who taught us to dance a Ceili, lots of songs and traditional stories and even a pork roast. Ha.
Driving back to Lethem on Monday was more enjoyable than the trip into Shulinab. We took the same truck back, but it was a sunny day, so we didn't need the tarp tied over the truck box. Most of us stood up in the box of the truck all the way back to Lethem (a 2 hour drive). I was very dusty and dirty when we got into Lethem. We were supposed to catch a bus back to Bina Hill that night, but it never came, so we ended up staying the night at Rawle's wife's house. It was nice to just chill and watch movies and music videos. Strange that my current favorite artists include Shakira, Sean Paul, and The Pussycat Dolls.
I walked around Lethem barefoot on Tuesday, and I got a chance to call my parents in the morning. I haven't talked to them over the phone since September, so that was nice. I bought a ton of chocolate and some Christmas presents. We caught the bus back to Bina Hill at 10 p.m., and got back home after midnight. The bus breaks down every time it starts, and Tuesday was no exception. We would be driving down the road, and the bus would just turn itself off and we'd coast, in the dark, until the driver could get the engine to turn over again. That probably happened about 30 times in our 2-hour drive. Ugh. Also, there was some creepy kid named Terrence sitting next to me. Apparently he works at Bina Hill as a construction guy, and he knew who I was, though I had no clue who he was. Anyway, the whole way home, he kept trying to touch me. He would try to rest his head on my shoulder, and several times he brushed his lips against my upper arm, and he also put his hand on my thigh underneath my backpack! He kept it there for 20 minutes (I thought his hand was there, but I couldn't tell for sure, so I didn't do anything about it. But later I DEFINITELY felt him move it off)! Little shithead. After the thigh thing, I decided I would elbow him hard in the chest if he tried anything else, but luckily for him, he didn't.
On Wednesday, I think I rested most of the day. I did a bit of laundry. Ostrich-lady from Britain arrived that day, so YLP has been spending all our time trying to avoid her. Additionally, a package from my parents arrived! It was wonderful! Among other things, it contained soup, instant oatmeal, gatorade mix, beads, a "Vermilion" t-shirt and "Canada" hat to give as gifts, crochet hooks, hot chocolate, peppermint tea, and "the lorax." Woo! Exciting. I also found out that day that I have officially been accepted into school again! Hip, hip, hooray!
Yesterday, YLP walked to Oasis restaurant and then hiked up the mountain there. I did my hike in bare feet. It was nice. You should try hiking in bare feet, if you've not before. I rested on a big rock on the top for a bit, and then we all slung up our hammocks and just chilled. Nice.
Today we had a meeting to evaluate our program and the events we've held over the last 3 months. I think it went pretty well.
Starting on Monday, we have another week off. I don't know what I'll do with myself. Some people from here are going to Brazil, but Crystal and I can't go because Canadians need visas to visit there, and we don't have ours yet. We'll probably go sometime in the new year.
That's all for now.
YLP travelled to Shulinab, a village of about 300 people in the South Central Rupununi district (so, about 4 hours south of here). We took the bus to Lethem, and then got a ride in the back of a pickup truck. Unfortunately, it was raining that day, so we had to tie a tarp on top of the box of the pickup. That meant that we were squished like sardines in the back: our luggage took up half the truck box, and the rest of us (ie. 7 of us) were crammed on the bench-seats. Crystal sat in the front seat, with a little girl and some eggs on her lap. Fun times. We arrived in Shulinab around 7 p.m. (after dark), slung up our hammocks, and went to bed.
The next day, Saturday, we held a "cultural camp" in which we brought together youth and elders to share games and crafts and traditional teachings. It was good fun. I made another mokro basket, but this time, I did the WHOLE THING by myself! A lot of the kids came over to watch me, which was kind of irritating, but good too, I guess. I think it gives them a sense of pride in their culture, and sparks their interest in traditional crafts, when they see a white girl take interest in those things. This basket is a lot smaller than the first one I made, and it ended up breaking a little bit because one of Rawle's kids stepped on it on Monday, but I am still proud of it.
Our camp continued into Sunday, and we held a big bonfire on Sunday night. I usually go to bed as soon as it gets dark, but I stayed up this time. It was really neat. Most of the community showed up - about 200 people! There were all kinds of neat presentations: there was a traditional Macushi band/dance group (pictured here),
some Scottish/Irish teachers who taught us to dance a Ceili, lots of songs and traditional stories and even a pork roast. Ha.Driving back to Lethem on Monday was more enjoyable than the trip into Shulinab. We took the same truck back, but it was a sunny day, so we didn't need the tarp tied over the truck box. Most of us stood up in the box of the truck all the way back to Lethem (a 2 hour drive). I was very dusty and dirty when we got into Lethem. We were supposed to catch a bus back to Bina Hill that night, but it never came, so we ended up staying the night at Rawle's wife's house. It was nice to just chill and watch movies and music videos. Strange that my current favorite artists include Shakira, Sean Paul, and The Pussycat Dolls.
I walked around Lethem barefoot on Tuesday, and I got a chance to call my parents in the morning. I haven't talked to them over the phone since September, so that was nice. I bought a ton of chocolate and some Christmas presents. We caught the bus back to Bina Hill at 10 p.m., and got back home after midnight. The bus breaks down every time it starts, and Tuesday was no exception. We would be driving down the road, and the bus would just turn itself off and we'd coast, in the dark, until the driver could get the engine to turn over again. That probably happened about 30 times in our 2-hour drive. Ugh. Also, there was some creepy kid named Terrence sitting next to me. Apparently he works at Bina Hill as a construction guy, and he knew who I was, though I had no clue who he was. Anyway, the whole way home, he kept trying to touch me. He would try to rest his head on my shoulder, and several times he brushed his lips against my upper arm, and he also put his hand on my thigh underneath my backpack! He kept it there for 20 minutes (I thought his hand was there, but I couldn't tell for sure, so I didn't do anything about it. But later I DEFINITELY felt him move it off)! Little shithead. After the thigh thing, I decided I would elbow him hard in the chest if he tried anything else, but luckily for him, he didn't.
On Wednesday, I think I rested most of the day. I did a bit of laundry. Ostrich-lady from Britain arrived that day, so YLP has been spending all our time trying to avoid her. Additionally, a package from my parents arrived! It was wonderful! Among other things, it contained soup, instant oatmeal, gatorade mix, beads, a "Vermilion" t-shirt and "Canada" hat to give as gifts, crochet hooks, hot chocolate, peppermint tea, and "the lorax." Woo! Exciting. I also found out that day that I have officially been accepted into school again! Hip, hip, hooray!
Yesterday, YLP walked to Oasis restaurant and then hiked up the mountain there. I did my hike in bare feet. It was nice. You should try hiking in bare feet, if you've not before. I rested on a big rock on the top for a bit, and then we all slung up our hammocks and just chilled. Nice.
Today we had a meeting to evaluate our program and the events we've held over the last 3 months. I think it went pretty well.
Starting on Monday, we have another week off. I don't know what I'll do with myself. Some people from here are going to Brazil, but Crystal and I can't go because Canadians need visas to visit there, and we don't have ours yet. We'll probably go sometime in the new year.
That's all for now.
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