T Travels: Family Visit Continued

Mom and Stephan's visit to Guyana continues to be an adventure enjoyed by all. They are getting an authentic Guyanese experience full of wonderful hospitality, more food than they can eat, late nights and early mornings, last minute planning, plans falling through, hand-washed laundry and pirated movies.

On Saturday, we hired a bus to drive us out to Rockstone, an Amerindian village about an hour outside Linden. The village was hosting their annual Fish Festival and I had arranged to hire a boat to take us down the river to see some rapids, experience the thrill of being on a speed boat in the jungle and swim in black water. The boat trip was fun, the day was relaxing and adventurous and we got to eat fish curry and drink paiwari (cassava wine).

The following day we had booked a tour to fly to Kaieteur and Orinduik Falls. I was so excited to show my family the beautiful, remote and untouched parts of Guyana that are so different than my urban community. We endured a harrowing minibus ride to the airport and met up with our tour, only to be told that the weather in the interior was bad and we wouldn't be able to land the plane. I was devastated that our trip was canceled! The tour company tried to reschedule for later in the week but they couldn't charter a plane since all the planes are busy flying elections materials (ballots and boxes, etc) into and out of remote villages for the upcoming presidential election on the 28^th. I think I was more disappointed about the cancellation of our trip than my mom and brother were (either that or they are good at hiding their disappointment). Mom is rescheduling the trip for Tim and I in the new year and getting a refund for their half. When I go, I will have to take the sock monkeys as stand-ins for Mom and Bup (not going to be the same though).

Instead of our epic rainforest trip, we had to improvise so we headed into Georgetown, where we had reserved a room for the night in a hotel with a pool, and would have been content swimming and lounging around all day. But when we arrived, the pool was closed for repairs. Again, I was more frustrated with the situation than my family. Mom and Bup had a great attitude, exactly the kind you need in Guyana where even the best laid plans tend to fall through. I just felt like I should have planned things better for them and was pissed that things weren't working out like I had wanted.

Again, we improvised and explored gritty, ugly, beauty of Georgetown. We took pictures at the seawall, went to the National park and pet the manatees in the pond, went to the zoo (the smallest, most depressing zoo that exists) and had an early dinner at a Brazilian restaurant where we drank and ate delicious fare until we felt like bursting. The night was topped off by watching Guyana Star (think American Idol with one million percent less production value) and giggling in our hotel room.

On Monday we took a whirlwind tour of Georgetown and Mom and Bup got to do some souvenir shopping for CDs, movies, jewelry and crafts. We bought our turkey for Thanksgiving and headed back to Linden. Since then we have just been kicking it in Linden. Tim and I have gone to work in the mornings, allowing Mom and Bup to relax and sleep in (as much as they can with the roosters crowing right outside the window). We have had a continuous flow of visitors and friends who have been generously feeding my family and teaching Mom about Guyanese cooking. To me it seems like an underwhelming thing to do with my family that sacrificed so much to fly down here to visit. But Mom insists that she didn't come to Guyana to be tourist, she came to visit me and Tim and see how we live our lives so that is what she is getting.

Today and tomorrow promise to be a hectic, fun and social time. We have Peace Corps Volunteers coming to visit from all over Guyana for Thanksgiving and we have an epic feast planned. Then Mom and Bup leave the day after Thanksgiving. I am getting a little sad to think of them going. I have loved having them here so much. I am so grateful that they have been able to experience the hardships, beauty, fun, tedium and general roller coaster ride that is my Peace Corps service in Guyana. I know now that when I look back at this experience, I will have people who can relate to the beautiful madness of it all since they have experienced it alongside me. I am so unfathomably thankful!