I'm still having dreams about parties and huge
celebrations with all of you present. My subconscious is continuing to find
ways to orient me with everything and everyone familiar. My brain is asking,
"Twyla, where have all of these people gone?" And I'm like,
"Brain, chill. They're in my heart, bro."
So basically what I'm saying is that I miss you.
I miss seeing you, texting you, making you laugh, etc. Well,
hopefully I can still make you chuckle while you're here.
This is getting easier for me, being here in
Guyana. But there have been moments when I've felt completely overwhelmed
by these drastic changes in my life as a whole. There are so many variables;
first time living in a different country, first time teaching music full-time,
first time being away from everyone that I am accustomed to, especially family,
friends and church. So it's not easy all the time. Sometimes I ask
myself, "what was I thinking?!" But God has been so
instrumental in guiding me through these times of uncertainty. He gives
me peace when I ask for it and rest when I'm mentally overwhelmed. He has
been teaching me how to plan ahead, focus on what really matters and, most
importantly, how to truly lean on Him. I've developed a
much more personal relationship with God since I've been down here.
This particular blog is going to be more of a
set of random thoughts and realizations. And pictures, of course. I
love pictures. So I hope you enjoy them once more. So here we go.
Welcome to my home.
Yes, we have a hammock in our living room.
Our dining room...where I've had some of my best cooked meals, thanks to Claire.
And here is Claire
Our home is huge, and it's just the two of us for now until Kelli,
the third teacher for the year, comes to teach with us in January. I can't
wait! She has the sweetest personality. More of that to come.
It's nice to be in a place where I'm not the
minority! Amazing. Everywhere I go everyone looks like me, or is at list
the same skin tone as I am. We make up the majority, and it makes a huge
difference in how I feel. I can totally get used to this! I
don't have to concern myself with looking different, or being the rarity in the
room, like I was all through college. And, more satisfyingly, I don't
have to worry about people saying things like, "Wow. You people are
so musical." or "You guys have so much
rhythm!" Ummmm...thanks...?!
So yeah. Being among the "color
majority" can be refreshing. I'll leave it there.
I've been pretty open about all the things I
love about Beautiful Guyana; the sunsets, the food, the people, the love,
blah blah blah. Now that I am more acquainted with the country than
before, it's time to be really real. Here are some things that will take
me some more time to get used to.
Things I Don't Like
About Guyana
- The smell after it rains-you know that fresh, earthy smell
after it rains in the U.S.? Its so natural and rich. I
absolutely love that smell, in the U.S. That is not
how it smells here in Guyana after it rains. It smells more like a combination
of cow dung and dead grass. Not one of my favorite smells.
- Flies on EVERYTHING-flies get on things, especially
food, and then you swat them away, and that's that, right? Wrong. Not
these flies. They don't move when you swat them! It's like their
saying, "B*tch please. You're not really gonna touch
me." And when they do move, they land
right back. They also just hang out on you! They have no fear! They're
so disrespectful!
- Bats-man....this was one that made me
actually say, "God, look. I didn't sign up for this." lol! I had
no idea that bats were everywhere at night. One got into the school one
night...Swooped down right at me! I actually recorded it!
And another night I was teaching and one flew in
the classroom, got hit unconscious by one of the ceiling fans and fell right
next to me. And as horrified as I was, I just kept on teaching. And
eventually one of my students volunteered to pick it up and throw it
away, and it wasn't even dead! Uuuggghh....gross.
- Lizards in the house-as scary as this may sound, the lizards are your friends out here. They kill and eat all the annoying insects in the house. So when I see one, I jump and scream and then remind myself that he is my friend. My little insect killing helper. I'll get used to them eventually.
- Stray dogs-they are everywhere. They are the equivalent to squirrels in Long Island. They are often malnourished. It's really sad actually...
- The large cockroaches-need I say anymore? They are HUGE. Like HUGE. Like the size of a lipstick case. Uuuugghhhh. The ones in New York got NOTHING on the ones here. And you have to kill them when you see them because you don't want them to multiply. Sheesh.
- Are you tired of this list yet?!
I surprisingly DONT mind the mosquitos as much
as most people. I mean, sure it itches, but then you forget and your still
living so it's not a big deal. The end.
Random Interesting Things
in Guyana
- DVD store with all pirated bootlegs-I mean seriously. Not ONE original, legal DVD. And you can buy 3 for the price U.S. currency equivalent of $2 bucks. Needless to say we have sooooo many movies. And good quality too.
- Cows can just wander into your yard-they simply go wherever they please. We had one in our yard for several days, so we named her. I think we called her Odessa, because Bessy was too cliche.
-
- A mansion can be right next to or in front of a tiny shack-That's just how things are here. You can be extremely wealthy and live right beside someone who is extremely poor. It's really cool, honestly. It proves that people can live in harmony with one another, despite being on completely different economic levels.For example, here is an image of our green home.You can see the homes beside and behind it. Do you see that mansion to the left of our house?! Crazy. And then right in front of it is a smaller, meager home. This is so not like Long Island where all of the houses on each block are generally around the same price range.
More Interesting Things
- Beautiful People Everywhere-so walking down the street, you
expect to pretty much see regular-looking people. But here there are so
many beautiful, attractive, photogenic people walking around. All the
time! Like, damn! I'd take pictures if I wasn't afraid of being offensive.
I also don't want to look like a tourist. But you'll just have to believe
me that there are good looking men and women everywhere. I'm impressed.
Hehe!
That's it
for today. More to come on school, life, family that I've met for the
first time, etc. I can't wait to share more with you! Stay tuned. I love you
and please keep in touch. Toodles!
