We out!

Hello Everyone,



Our house

 How are you all doing?  We are so sorry for the month long delay.  It's sad but true, this is our last post.  We are now back in the States.  To be honest it feels like forever since we were in Guyana.  Life is so different here. 

The Sunday before we left the friends in our Congregation threw us "surprise" going away party.  I say "surprise" because they did their best to give away the surprise.  Plus, they threw the party at our house.  Normally, every Sunday night we have a sign language class at our house.  Here's what happened. Some of the friends start showing up that are learning sign language.  Then they go outside.  A couple of sisters stay in the house with us.  Jaide asks, "where is everyone going?"  A sisters responds, "don't worry."  Then a brother shows up that is not learning sign language, comes upstairs and asks, "Is the gathering upstairs or downstairs?"  I respond, "What gathering?  We have sign language class, is that what you mean?"  (We had figured out they were throwing us a party already, but we went along with it.)  Finally, they revealed the "surprise."  We had a great time!  In true Guyana fashion, the friends went around and said what they like about us.  Some of the friends cried in expressing themselves, and what they appreciate about us.  Then, it was my turn.  I stood up and began explaining how much they all mean to us and how much they have helped us.  In a matter of seconds, the tears came a flowing.  Yup, I cried like a little girl.  Two of our deaf Bible students were there, and we interpreted all the speeches.  That is awkward.  Interpreting praise about yourself.  I felt like I was bragging.  I did it for a little bit then made Jaide do it.  After, the speeches and tears, we ate and then danced the night away.  As usual, we had a black out.  But, thankfully, Imran, our Bible student was there with his car that has a serious stereo system.  He pumped up the Indian jams and we danced some more.  It was great fun.



Market

 One last funny story.  In Guyana there are animals roaming everywhere.  Horses, donkeys, goats, cows, sheep and chickens.  Sometimes these animals leave you "presents", aka droppings.  Well, a cow decided to leave us a present right in the middle of our drive way.  I waited a few days to let it dry out.  Once dry I went out to sweep it away.  As I was sweeping I noticed an older woman staring at me.  I said, "Hi."  She asked, "Where's your mistress?(wife)"  I said, "Upstairs."  She didn't understand what I said, so she asked, "You not married?"  I answered, "No, I am married."  She replied in shock, "You sweep!  What is your wife doing?"  You see, most men there do not do any housework.  She was so shocked to see me sweeping.  Plus, she thought Jaide must be a lazy wife, forcing me to do woman's work.

In conclusion, our ten months in Guyana were truly amazing.  We had some rough patches, but we made it


Last meeting (5 deaf)

through them.  We feel we have become better people.  It has helped us develop our Christian qualites.  The things we learned will be with us forever.  As will the friends we made while we were there.  When you reach out and do more in service for Jehovah, you truly see his hand supporting you.  The love that Jesus said would be the identifing mark of true Christians is so evident in Jehovah's organization.  We feel this is seen more so when you go to another country, or go where the need it great.  You may feel alone, thousands of miles from friends and family.  But, then you meet your brothers and sisters wherever you are.  They are wonderful people that you can trust and that show love to you instantly.  Amazing!  If you are thinking about going to another country and helping out, I would strongly recommend it.  You will face challenges, its not all roses.  You need to be realistic in your expectations.  As some Missionaries explain it, your experience will be like a U, highs and lows. But in the end, the benefits far our way the challenges.   
We hope you have enjoyed the experiences we shared.  Thanks for reading.

Love,

G&J

Fun in the sun!

Today was our last Sunday meeting. We had 5 deaf in attendance.  That is the most we have come to the meeting here in Rosignol.  It was very nice to see them all there.  All of them have made such good progress in the ten months that we have been here.

Looking back over the ten months, the friends in the sign language group that come over on Wednesday, along with us, have met 31 new deaf.  Awesome!  To see their progress in understanding Bible truths and in learning sign language, makes all the sacrifices and hard times worth while.

Also, we finally saw a beach and ocean in Guyana.  This is our third time in Guyana and we had never seen the ocean here.  Last Wednesday, we saw the beach!  Picture the most beautiful white sand beach, with electric blue water.  Now, picture the opposite of that, and you have the beach and ocean in Guyana.  Due to the huge, dirt brown rivers that dump into the ocean in Guyana the ocean is dirt brown, and so are the beaches.  At least the beach we went to did not have a lot of litter.  It was still nice and relaxing to go at see it.

 Love,
G & J

Thanks for the ice cream!

Hello Everyone,

Whats going on?  How ten months have flown by!  In a little over a week we will be heading home.  Crazy!  Some of our friends in the sign language group in New Amsterdam had a going away dinner for us.  In typical Guyanese fashion, we were made to feel embarrassed and self conscious.  Our dear friend, Kortel, you could say took the lead in this.  He asked everyone to tell us something the appreciate about us or if they want to thank us for anything.  The volunteers did not come fast, so he started calling on people to speak.  All the friends were very sweet and kind in their words.  Finally, I wanted to say something to them all.  Honestly, I almost cried.  I had to fight back tears as I expressed for Jaide and myself how much we appreciate them.  How we have learned so much from them, and pray they continue to help the deaf.  One of the hardest part of coming to an area that needs help, is that you form good friendships.  They become your family.  Saying thank you and goodbye, hard.  We don't know when we will see these wonderful friends again.  Our favorite comments came from Anthony and Sharon.  Both of them are deaf.  Anthony related, "Before the two of us preached together.  We talked, laughed, it was fun.  Then you bought me ice cream.  Thank you."  Next, Sharon said, "Before, on Wednesday we preached together.  I enjoyed it.  Then we got ice cream.  Thank you."  It seems our friends' favorite memory of us involve ice cream.  We do love getting ice cream.  It really helps on those long days as the heat beats down on you.  It broke our hearts as a few of the deaf would ask us, "We love you.  You fly back to the States, why?"  Their faces full of hurt and sadness.  We will always treasure our time with all of them.

This past week was Circuit Overseer visit.  We really enjoyed our time with Shannon & Rosalia Rainey.  Super couple.  Gilead graduates, that have been in Guyana 6 years now.

Guyanese word of the day:  Look! or Hello!(pronounced ello)  Here in Guyana when you want someones attention its what you yell.

Love,
G&J

Sunday best

Hello Everyone,

How are you?  Yesterday was the last full sign language meeting for us before we come home.  We had a full 

bus, including 6 deaf!  The meeting was great.  The total attendance was 78, with 32 deaf.  It's really encouraging to see the progress many of the deaf students have made in the almost 2 years that we have know them.  After the meeting Lionel, a Bible student of mine, came up to me.  You could tell he was really impressed by the meeting and all the effort Jehovah's Witnesses put into teaching the deaf.  As he went around meeting other deaf, he was surprised to find out that many didn't go to school.  They had grown up never learning sign language, but they can now sign. Much of their life and language skills have come from Jehovah's Witnesses teaching them.  Lionel was blown away.  He went to a school for the deaf, where he learned.  Jaide explained to him that we go, sit and teach the deaf.  It doesn't matter if they know sign language or not.  For the first time I could see appreciation in Lionel's eyes.  He was excited for us to come back Wednesday for our study.  He kept asking, "You're coming Wednesday, right?" Normally he is very passive about his study.  He said, " Jehovah is good.  This (meaning the meeting) is nice.  I need to keep learning."

If you have read our blog in the past, you may have noticed we talk a lot about the music in Guyana.  It's hard not to.  Part of the culture here is to play your music loud.  So, unless there is a black out (power outage), you most likely are going to be hearing music of some sort of the other.  You wake to music at 5:30-6am, all day and even go to bed with music sometimes.  Well, when we went on the trip with our Congregation to swim in the black water creek, we got a special treat.  For most the time at the creek, we were the only group there.  It was great.  Then came a couple of cars.  One backs up to the table next to ours, and out piles the people, the food, bottles of vodka and drinks.  The the back trunk opens to reveal his huge stereo system, which he immediately starts blasting Caribbean R&B/hip hop.  Its about time to go anyways, so we start packing up.  There is arouns 35 of us, so it takes a little time.  A few minutes later another car pulls in and parks on the other side of us.  Same procedure, people out with food and alcohol, open the doors and trunk and blast the music.  This time chutney/soca music.  It was quite the audio experience,  both competing for who is loudest.  AHH, a beautiful day out in nature.

Pictures:  Top; The group from our side of the river that went to meeting. Bottom; Lionel and his daughter.

Guyanese word of the day:  get ya give.  Translation: If you have a little money, you give to those in need.

Love,

G&J

Swimming in Guinness!

Hey Everyone,

Swimming in "black wata"

How are you?  Have you ever dreamed of swimming in Guinness?  You know the dark, Irish stout beer.  We got to experience almost what that would be like.  In Guyana they have what the locals call "black water" creeks. Its called "black water" creeks because the water is so dark, almost black.  I hear it is from all the leaves and debris that fall into the water in the rain forest and decompose.  All I know is it looked like a creek of Guinness that we went swimming in.  Does it taste like Guinness? You ask. Sadly no.  Its kind of eerie swimming in water so dark that you can't see whats below you.  An anaconda or a alligator.  I was so jumpy that if I stepped on anything that didn't feel right I would scream like a little girl and jump.  It was fun day, slightly rainy and cool, but a good time.

Kenton & Graem

One Bible student, Loreen, who struggles with comprehension, had a break through this week.  She successfully remembered the signs for father, mother, son and daughter.  Then Jaide thought, "I am ready to teach her that God is the Father and Jesus is the Son."  She started to explain this to her, really feeling like they are getting somewhere.  Then Jaide asked her to draw the Father and Son in heaven.  Loreen drew three people.  Confused, Jaide asked, "Who is this third person?"  Loreen confidentially signed "mother."  Jaide had to smile, and think, "What have I done?  I spent all this time teaching her what a family is.  A father, a mother, a son and a daughter.  Now, I have to explain that Jesus had no mother in heaven."  So, Jaide erased the picture of the woman in heaven and signed, "No mother."  She didn't know how else to explain it.  You should have seen Loreen's face!  Priceless.  You could see Loreen trying to process this new information.  Wheels turning, face contorting as she tried to figure this mystery out.  One step in the right direction; she is comprehending signs.  One step back; she now thinks Jesus comes from a broken home.

Guyanese word of the day:  Jumbee umbrella.  Translation: mushroom.  So, in Guyana they would call a "ghost" a Jumbee.  I guess they have carny jumbees here.

Love,

G&J

Top Ramen & peanuts!

Hello Everyone,

Our dog aka tick bag

Hows it going?  The generosity we experience here is awesome!  Many people want to show their gratitude for what we do, so they give us treats.  Like, for example, soda, crackers, pastries and sometimes full-on meals.  Last Wednesday everyone was super generous, giving food left and right.  By the time we arrived home we had, 3 packets of Top Ramen, 6 packets of instant oatmeal (sugar-free), half a bag of New York Yankees peanuts in the shell, a loaf of bread, a box of linguine noodles and 6 eggs.  Random, right?  We usually get mangoes or bananas to take home, but this time it was carbs all the way. We truly appreciate their gratitude. They give us what they can, happy that we are taking time to teach their family.  How did they know Jaide never eats Top Ramen, but for some reason was craving it that very morning?  Dinner that night hit the spot.

Sunday, we had 3 deaf come to meeting.  Yeah!  It has been a while since we have had 3 of our students come to meeting.  Very encouraging.  We were also happy that one local brother that is learning sign helped us interpret.  It is going to be hard to leave, especially leaving Imran and Afroze.  The two of them are awesome students.  We just pray that they keep up their studying and go to meeting when they can.

Pants fail

If you have been following our blog, you know that we get called "white guy" and "white girl" daily.  My favorite thing is when Guyanese men impersonate how a white guy talks.  Apparently, when we, white guys, talk we sound like a stereotypical computer nerd or Steve Urkel.  And we say "Hey Guy."  Every time anyone has impersonated a white person, that is what they say.  It was funny when a truck full of sugar cane workers are driving by and half of them yell out in their white man voice, "Hey Guy!"  One man instead of calling me, "white guy", "white boy", "white man" or "whitey", calls me Steve.  One time he said it sounds like a white guy's name.  So, I just go with it.  Hello, my name is Steve.

Guyanese word of the day: DoughSay.  (Spelled phonetically)  Translation: pancakes.  Go ahead and go to IHOP and place your order for some doughsay and see what they do.

Love,
G & J

"You're getting fat!"

Culture is a funny thing. In America, if I am feeling fat or ugly, I know I can count on my best girl friends to tell me I look great, even if I don't. I know that if I happen to gain a few extra pounds or experience a breakout, my fellow Americans will think twice before they point it out to me.

But Guyana is different. I suppose they appreciate honesty, rather than flattery. In case you wanted to go to meeting and forget you look less than stellar, you will be disappointed. One must have thick skin. Your acne will be pointed out as boils and if you gain a few extra pounds, you will be called fat. A few weeks ago I went door-to-door with some sisters. Over and over again, I was told I looked tired. The worst thing was that I wasn't tired at all. I told them this and still I was told I was tired. I gave in, “Ok, I must be tired.”

Last night, having a bit of a cold, I went to meeting, knowing that I don't look or sound my best. I'm sure just out of concern, the friends want to express sympathy over my less than beautiful appearance. One sister, said “I noticed you look sleepy.”  I saw her again this morning and she reminded me that last night I looked so sleepy. One brother said, “Your voice is hoarse. But you know, it sort of fits your character. You know cause you're a bit funny.” I really don't know how to take that one. My voice is almost gone because I'm sick and that somehow fits my personality. The all time best comment, though, I can't attribute to my cold. It goes like this, “You're getting fat. I guess the Indian and Guyanese food is treating you well.”

What have I learned from all this? One culture is not better than the other. They're just different. Some actually like to be called fat. And maybe some think that if they point out how you look, they are telling you they care. I must forget my previous notions to become offended and learn to say, “Thank you” before I run home to burn a few calories and put some cucumbers on my eyes.

I hope to be a better person after this. But, if I came home and something like, “You're fat” or “Why would you wear that color?” or “What's wrong with your face?”, please just remember where I've been. It just means I care.