Please Bring Strange Things…

Speaking of "strange things" it was both strange, wonderful, touching, awkward and moving, to join our friends Gasper and Tanzia at church last Sunday and be prayed over by the pastor and whole congregations.

Initiation Song from the Finders Lodge

Many of you may remember one of our favorite poems, we used it on our wedding program, by Ursula K. LeGuin:

Please bring strange things.
Please come bringing new things.
Let very old things come into your hands.
Let what you do not know come into your eyes.
Let desert sand harden your feet.
Let the arch of your feet be the mountains.
Let the paths of your fingertips be your maps
and the ways you go be the lines on your palms.
Let there be deep snow in your inbreathing
and your outbreath be the shining of ice.
May your mouth contain the shapes of strange words.
May you smell food cooking you have not eaten.
May the spring of a foreign river be your navel.
May your soul be at home where there are no houses.
Walk carefully, well loved one,
walk mindfully, well loved one,
walk fearlessly, well loved one.
Return with us, return to us,
be always coming home.

For us, this poem is often in our hearts and minds when we embark on a new journey or phase in life. As we prepare to leave Guyana and walk carefully, mindfully and fearlessly into our next adventure we decided to make a list of the “strange” things we believe are important to carry with us from our experience in Guyana and perpetuate in the rest of our lives. Here is our list:

Strange things/idea/practices etc. to bring back from Guyana:

· Exercising daily

· Eating a healthy breakfast every morning

· Making a weekly menu and meal plan

· Guyanese sayings: ‘just now’, ‘shucks’, ‘walk with’, ‘theif/theifed’, ‘real ting’

· Guyanese card games: Rap, Jackass

· Guyanese food: cookup, curry, chickpeas in any forms

· Eating fresh, local foods

· Farmer’s markets

· Making our own iced tea and coffee (not buying it always from Wasteofmoneybucks)

· Making our own fresh juice instead of buying concentrate w/added sugar

· Guyanese/Caribbean music

· Continuing to experiment with making fruit wine

· Exercising with a plan/work out DVD like Insanity

· Hammock time, find a place to hang a hammock inside in our future home

· Continue blogging regularly

· Saying “Good Morning” “Good Day” “Good Afternoon” and “Good Night” every time you pass a familiar face…or even a stranger

· Being more community oriented