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| Pappi and Seloch at a Javanese Resturant |
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| Meet Jack the monkey |
How are things? We are doing great! We went to Suriname this week. They speak Dutch. What a crazy sounding language! We tried to learn to speak a few words, but quickly figured out we should stick to sign language. And everyone wears wooden clogs and all the women are blonde with braids. That's all the stereotypes I have for the Dutch, now I can continue.
Before we went to Suriname, we spent a couple days with a Missionary couple, Brian and Shannon Geraghty, in Skeldon. What a blast we had with them. They were so generous and encouraging. Plus, staying at their house was a treat for us. They have bug screens on the windows! The bites on our legs even started to heal. The bed was perfectly flat, not bowing in the center like our bed at home. AHH, being forced to snuggle in hot tropical weather...priceless. Another bonus was meeting their neighbor, Jack the monkey. He had so much personality. It was a treat to see how Missionaries live and pick their brain about what they learned at Watchtower Bible School of Gilead. Awesome time!
After that, it was on to Suriname. We had heard that once the boat arrives in Suriname, all the passengers gather up at the end of the boat, ready to exit. And as soon as the gate opens, people run for immigration, pushing, cutting and stiff arming. We were told that unless we want to wait in line for hours, we had to do the same. So the time had come for us to show our athletic ability in sprinting for the immigration office. I had the suit case and Jaide, well she was armed with her umbrella. We all smashed up against the end of the boat like a bunch of cattle. Then up the gate opened, and off we went like a bullet out of a gun. Well, kind of. It turns out only a few people actually run. I do feel sorry for spinning in circles like a helicopter with the suitcase leveling people, allowing Jaide to get a good start. They will laugh about it some day. We got through immigration and customs with no problems. We spent the next two days a very sweet couple, Pappy and Seloch. They treated us like we were their kids. Seloch always said, "You don't worry. Your Mama will take care of you." Their faith in Jehovah caring for them was amazing. They don't have much, but they will give you what they have. Both so happy living simply and serving Jehovah , knowing he will care for them.
Suriname looks a lot like Guyana. It has better infrastructure and is more clean, quiet and generally calmer. The people are also more diverse. You have the Surinamese, Chinese, Javanese, Guyanese and some from Holland. By the way, Javanese food was delicious.
Hi! Jaide here. I write this as I sip wine paired with sea salt chocolate. Yes you heard correctly. Sometimes we enjoy the finer things of life. Travis discovered a shop that sells chocolate from Canada for $1. It's delicious. This bar is a bit old, but who's complaining? Not me. And the wine? A little treat from the duty free shop in Suriname.
Tonight I made hummus. As I poured a can of chickpeas into the blender, I gasped as something jumped out! A frog. Better than a cockroach or tarantula, right? I was motionless as I thought, "Where did he come from? Can he live in can?" I should have acted sooner, because he then jumped onto my freshly made sada roti (it's a lot like pita bread, great for hummus). After I disinfected everything and tried to clean off as much frog juice from our dinner, I was just thankful that I didn't blend that poor thing into my chickpeas. I could imagine myself trying to figure out where the extra spice came from. Well, hey its not as bad as grabbing a drowned mouse out of your washing machine like my sister did. FYI, if you don't have tahini for your hummus, a peanut butter does the trick, or I guess you could try a little frog.
To end, we provide the Guyanese word of the day, "fine." If a girl walks up to you and says, "You're looking fine!", she doesn't mean to hit on you. It means you need to eat some food. You're skinny.
Love you all,
J&G
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| On the boat to Suriname |
