That Just Happened.

I just returned to the Peace Corps office after a delicious Indian food dinner with some fellow Volunteers. As five of us piled into one cab, LMFAO's "I'm Sexy and I Know it" came on the radio. The driver must have heard us joking about it because it turned the volume way up. The six of us spent the next three minutes dancing, laughing, and singing. Oh, those fleeting moments with cab drivers in Suriname, that just happened. 

Jungle Updates

I have never really been one to update my Facebook status very often, and I don't have Twitter. While a lot of things have changed since I moved to the jungle, this is not one of them. I am definitely trying new things, but my lack internet access prevents me from updating folks every time something funny or unusual happens.

A couple of weeks ago I started writing down a few things that made me laugh or think, "This is not real life." Here are a couple:

10 January- The lady that lives behind me just walked past my house and asked me to giver her underwear.   Seriously.

12 January- I took a picture of a boa constrictor. I was unsuccessful at convincing the kids they shouldn't throw rocks at it.

15 January- I am pretty confident the bats in my ceiling have expanded their family or have invited their bat friends to live there too. I am outnumbered.

17 January- In bed for the night. An overweight gecko just tackled and ate a flying grasshopper on top of my bed net. Goodnight, jungle.

19 January- Visiting Jonathan at his site for a few days. He just chopped a bat in half with his machete. I am not phased or shocked. This is normal.

25 January- I was just called to my neighbor's house to look at two dead monkeys. I think I am going to eat some later.

26 January- It's not noon yet. I just ate a monkey hand. Tomorrow I will eat McDonald's in the city.

These are just a few examples of daily life in Malobi. I have moments every single day that make me laugh at the fact that this is my real life. I feel incredibly fortunate to be in this position and to experience all of the above and many many more interesting (and sometimes bizarre) things everyday. My life is nothing less than wonderful.

I go back to site in a couple of days, and will not be back in the city until the end of March. Malobi needs a rice mill, so in the next couple of months I will begin meeting with the leaders of the village to discuss how the village may obtain one and what their responsibilities in the project will be. I also plan to re-cement the front room of my house and install more shelving. I plan to visit Jamie at her village, and she is coming to visit Malobi.

In the middle of all of this, I will celebrate my twenty-fifth birthday. Man oh man.  I never imagined I would celebrate a birthday in the jungle. Then again, I never imagined I would do most of the things I have done in the past nine months. Life is so good and so full of adventure. I am thankful for that everyday.

Boys Leadership Camp

Vision and Goals of BLC:


Since youth living in the interior of Suriname receive little encouragement to continue studies and face difficult obstacles in gaining education beyond the sixth grade, the BLC intends to encourage boys to further their education, expand their view of workforce opportunities, and take positive leadership role within their communities. 


Also, youth face additional pressures to engage in sex at a young age. Yet, they receive little to no life skills based education in order to protect themselves and their loved ones from HIV, other sexually transmitted diseases, and teenage pregnancy. The Boys Leadership Camp will focus on providing the boys with information to protect and empower themselves to make healthy lifestyle choices. 


Additional topics addressed through the various sessions and activities ate the BLC include: environmental awareness, drugs and alcohol abuse, leadership, career opportunities, and goal setting. The central theme imparted throughout the camp aims to encourage the boys to make good decisions and actively seek a better future for themselves and their communities. 


Returned campers will sustain the camp's goals and benefits by spreading their empowerment and education in the areas of environment, drugs and alcohol, HIV/AIDS, careers, goal setting, and leadership amongst their peers through their school presentations and community service project. 


On December 2nd thirty boys gathered at Tio Boto Ecolodge for 3 days of camp, lessons, and fun! I was so excited for all that they were going to learn and do. Peace Corps Volunteers have previously held a few camps for girls on the Suriname river, but this was the first for boys. Saramaccan culture can seem very male-dominated at a glance, but I think a leadership camp is just as important (if not more important) for the boys in the culture as it is for the girls.

The boys arrived Friday afternnoon, and after check-in and going over the rules, we played icebreakers and tie dyed t-shirts. Kyle and Jonathan led a lesson on the importance of taking care of the environment and the boys decorated reusable water bottles.

Saturday consisted of waking up to a workout and breakfast before starting lessons for the day. The boys attended lessons on drugs and alcohol and HIV/AIDS. I helped Harvey, a man from the city, facilitate the lesson on HIV/AIDS. It felt good to help facilitate a lesson in another language. I was pretty proud of myself. Harvey talked to them about preventing HIV/AIDS, what the letters stand for, and what the disease does to your body. After his talk I led a couple of games based on the information he gave them. We played a condom game race similar to musical chairs. The boys passed around condoms. If the music stopped on them they had to break the blown up condom and answer the question inside. We also passed around pictures from our HIV/AIDS visual toolkit, and the boys had to explain why someone could or could not catch HIV from the situation in the picture. After lessons and lunch on Saturday, a women's group from Masia came to perform a skit in which the stress the importance of guarding oneself agains HIV. The boys spent the afternoon playing soccer and making instruments out of recycled materials to use later in the camp. The night wrapped up with Harvey giving his testimony and talking to the boys about his living with HIV and the decisions he should have made differently.

Sunday the boys had lessons on goal setting and leadership. They played soccer again that afternoon, and we ended Sunday night with a bonfire ceremony, smores, and a battle of the bands using the instruments they made on Saturday. They were divided into four groups. Each group had to play their instruments and sing a song they wrote about one of the four lessons they attended. It was so much fun listening to all of them sing their songs and play their homemade instruments. After the battle of the bands the boys were able to stand up (if they wanted to) and talk about what they had learned that weekend. We sat around the fire while those who wanted to stood up and said thank you to all of the leaders and talked about the lessons they would take back to their villages. I have to admit I got emotional. I was so moved by the things they were saying, and was so excited and happy for all that they learned over those few days. I felt like I watched them grow up a little that weekend. For a few minutes I sat there thinking of my role as a Peace Corps Volunteer and being in this small country. There I was sitting around a bonfire at the end of a really fun weekend with thirty boys that would not have happened without the Volunteers in this country. I got to be a part of a change in the lives of those kids. I know that. What a cool feeling. The cooler feeling is the fact that they changed mine and they have no idea.

Before the boys left on Monday, we held a certificate ceremony and played capture the flag with them. After playing capture the flag, the boys huddled up for one last cheer. Before they finished the cheer, we Volunteers attacked them with water balloons. It was awesome.

What a great weekend for those boys, and what a great weekend to be a part of. I am so thankful for all the hard work and energy that went into hosting it. I am so thankful for the boys that came for being so involved. I am most thankful for all that they learned.

The whole group

Boys from the school in Masia (Masia, Malobi, Heikununu)

A single hand cannot lift the boat over the rapid. 

HIV/AIDS lesson

Instrument making

WATER BALLOONS! 

The Stuff They Don't Tell You

Early in December my buddy, Marco, fell and hurt her leg. There was no open wound, but in the following days she became very sick. I sat with her on December 9, while her mom went to a neighboring village to find a bush doctor. Marco was lying on a foam mattress on the floor inside their house. I sat on the porch and helped move her mattress outside and back inside trying to keep her as cool as possible. I could tell at that point she was very sick. She was a normal looking nine year old, and had lost close to ten pounds in less than a week. She was helpless and probably pretty annoyed with me for trying to get her to drink water every two minutes. 

Beta returned a few hours later with the bush doctor. I sat on the porch as he rubbed oil on her leg. I finally had to leave because it was too hard to see my friend in that much pain. I have seen my momma upset when I have been in pain, and in that moment, I understood a little better as to why. I love Marco and it upset me to see her in pain and so helpless. 

On the morning of December 11, I sat with Beta for a minute before Shannon and her parents arrived for their visit to Malobi. Marco could barely talk and was totally helpless. I watched as Beta sat behind her and propped her up while she attempted to fee her noodles. Later that afternoon, Shannon, her parents, and I were sitting with my neighbor Kayen. Beta came over and told Kayen that she needed him to take her and Marco to the clinic a few villages up river. (Kayen is the school boatman). Beta looked worried. Kayen said he would take them, so Beta tied her nine year old child on her back because she couldn't walk, and they left. 

Beta came back to Malobi the next morning. She and Marco had been sent from our nearby clinic to a clinic down river. An America doctor was there that day, and said that Marco needed to be flown to the city. Beta put her on a plane before she returned to Malobi. Beta's sister was going to pick Marco up when she arrived in the city. 

Beta received word that night that Marco made it to the city, and that she was going to have teeth pulled the next morning. After talking to Beta, I found out that Marco's body was full of infection. Beta was worried, and so was I. However, I was filled with hope at the thought of her being in the city and at a hospital. I spent that afternoon thinking of hugging Marco and making her popcorn when she returned to Malobi. I absolutely could not imagine my life in Malobi without that bubbly child. 

I woke up at seven o'clock a.m. on December 13 to the sound of screaming coming from Beta's house. I heard Beta and a few other women crying the night before and it turned out they were just extremely worried. Something told me this was different. I made myself get out of bed and walk over despite my fear of finding out what I didn't want to find out. When I saw a lot of women standing outside of Beta's house, I knew what had happened. Marco died the night before. I never thought my villagers would see me cry, especially not like that. There were close to fifty women standing in and outside of her house. The girls Marco's age, on their way to school that morning, stopped at Beta's on their way to the river. They didn't make it to school that day. They wept for the loss of their friend. 

I walked into Beta's house and hugged her. We cried and embraced for a few minutes before I sat down. I sat at her house for a couple of hours and decided I was never going to stop crying if I didn't leave. I went back to my house and called a few of my close PCV friend, and then I called my momma. 

As my mother told me how sorry she was, I was once again reminded of what it feels like for someone to love you so much that they hurt when you hurt. I was experiencing a wide range of emotions at that point. I was sad because Marco is gone. I was an angry American. I was angry with their culture and the way they do things. In her heart, Beta truly believed she was doing the right thing by telling the bush doctor and having him come check on Marco, but it didn't help. I was a thankful American. I cannot imagine ever becoming that sick and my mother waiting to take me to the doctor. I played the "what if" game. What if she had gone to the city a few days earlier? What if I had told Beta how much I thought Marco needed to go to the doctor sooner? 

As my mother spoke words of comfort and wisdom, I was calmed a little. She told me how hard infection throughout one's body is to fight even in America. She told me not to be judgmental of their culture, (I thought I was the Peace Corps Volunteer) that we don't know how long she had been sick before this. Maybe an infection is what caused her to fall and not the other way around. She said maybe others in the village would look at this situation and potentially do things differently in the future. She was right. Playing the "what if" game is never productive and never good in a situation like this one. 

Marco was buried in the city on December 17. I still have trouble believing that when I return to Malobi tomorrow, Marco will not be there to greet me with a hug. I will never hear her sweet voice call my name again. It's hard to accept. I don't know what it feels like to live in Malobi without her. So, as I start this new year, I start a new chapter in my Peace Corps service. 

I think every Peace Corps Volunteer has thoughts before they depart for their country of service of "What if something happens to a family member or friend?" "What if someone in my family dies?" At least I asked myself these questions. I never once thought that I would be here for seven months and have to deal with this. I never imagined I would grow to know and love folks in my village and have to deal with their deaths. These are the things they don't tell you when you apply to be a Peace Corps Volunteer. These are the things I didn't think about before coming here. 

"Those little things? Those little moments? They aren't little."

-Steven Potter

This Year

I feel like everyone says it every single year, but seriously, I cannot believe another year is coming to an end. So much has happened this past year, it's hard to capture it all in one blog post. Hopefully I have been doing an okay job of that since I started this blog. My friend and fellow PCV, John, posted a blog listing a few of the things he had never done before coming to Suriname. I think it's a neat way to reflect on all of the new experiences that were brought to me this year as I prepare to bid adieu to 2011. I am stealing his idea, but you can click here to read his blog. Sorry if it is more interesting than mine.

While most of the things I have experienced since being here are new and different, these are a few that stick out in my mind.
Before I moved to Suriname, never had I ever...

• eaten a mango fresh off of the tree (or ground)
• bathed in a river or with cold water
• been to the jungle
• eaten a pig's tail or a piranha
• spoken anything besides English on a daily basis
• had such a great tan in December
• used a latrine
• held a baby sloth
• held so many babies
• washed clothes and dishes by hand
• lived without refrigeration and running water
• lived alone
• gone a week without washing my hair (Bonnaroo is 4 days, people)
• been to South America
• owned a machete and given it to children to use
• had to deal with bats and rats helping me inhabit my house
• seen a tarantula in person
• not freaked out when I saw any size or type of spider
• tied and slept in my own hammock. outside. in the jungle.

These are things that I did not resolve to do in 2011, but I am incredibly thankful that I have experienced them. Isn't that the way it usually is? I think so.

I think I have to give 2011 the credit for being one of the biggest and most defining years of my life. It has been huge. I was invited to serve as a Peace Corps Volunteer and I accepted. I spent so much wonderful time with the people I love in preparation for not being able to spend time with them for a little while. I said goodbye to my dear family and friends knowing I would not be able to hug them for a while. Without knowing it, I also said goodbye to Mexican food and the joy it brings to my life for equally as much time. (Honestly, this year could have turned out totally differently had I know there was none to be found in this country). Finally May arrived and, despite being terrified, I boarded a plane bound for Miami.

Almost eight months later I sit here reflecting on the experiences I have had and the people that have been a part of them, and despite not being filled with Mexican food, I am filled with gratitude for the life I lead and the folks in it who make is so much sweeter.

The coming of the New Year is always a little sad for me, and that's because the current year is always pretty rockin' for me. I'm sad to see 2011 go. It has been a tremendous year. Good luck, 2012.

As I look forward to the many adventures, challenges, and experiences 2012 is sure to bring, I want to wish all of you a very happy New Year. Thank you for supporting me and keeping up with my life in 2011.

"And surely you will buy your cup and surely I'll buy mine and we'll take a cup of kindness yet for auld lang syne."

I'll Be Home for Christmas If Only in My Dreams

Today is Christmas. It's my first Christmas away from my family. This Christmas I treated myself to a nice hotel room with a really comfy bed and a tv. Last night I took a hot shower for the first time since May 2. All I could do was smile, like an idiot, the entire time. Although I have to admit, like most experiences I've had in this country, it felt foreign. I am staying at this nice hotel with my friend and fellow PCV, Jamie. We had dinner by the pool last night and a delicious breakfast this morning. I have spent the majority of today in my room, watching tv and taking advantage of the hotel's internet. It has been super relaxing, and I will not judge myself if I cry when I have to check out tomorrow. 

Being away for the holidays has been an odd experience. However, I have not been as sad as I thought I might be. I know my family members are having a great holiday, and that makes me happy. I miss them and completely wish I could be there, and obviously they wish the same. 

Christmas love. 

I Skyped with the family this morning and we opened presents. Santa made it to Suriname and I am so very thankful he did. 

The Hawaii Bowl was on ESPN here today. Southern Miss to the top! 

This Christmas I traded peppermint mocha and time with my family for Peace Corps service and bug bites. I traded scarves and gloves for a really great tan, and traded turkey for pizza. I am where I should be this Christmas and, as always, I am overwhelmed with the love and support from those who mean most to me. 

And so, this Christmas I will remind myself (as I sweat and scratch bug bites) that I am here because I believe in a world governed by love and peace. I will remind myself that it is this way because the world was given a Savior, and that I am saved because of Him. On this night divine I will rejoice with the weary world and do so because of the love, joy, and peace, that lives within me because of the love that is so freely given to me. 

Happy Christmas! 

Polly Wants Nothing to do With Me

A few weeks ago I had a conversation with one of my neighbors and her bird. This woman's house is behind mine, and her bird wakes me up every single morning at about seven o'clock. Other than this bird, things are relatively quiet around my house. I had been sitting with her for a few minutes when she asked if I could write papers (like a passport) for her bird and take it to America. I did not want to be rude and ask if she was crazy, so I said, "Maybe." She then proceeded to tell me that the bird will talk to me and ask me questions and I need to answer him when he does. As I was looking in the tree above us for the bird, I asked her where the bird was. Her response was "Ma sabi sei. Kande hen go a pei ma hen o ko bakka." Translation" "I don't know. Maybe he went out, but he'll come back." I had to hold in my laughter for the duration of this conversation. 

A few days after our conversation I went back to try and talk to the bird. The lady was wrong. The bird did not ask me questions, so I tried talking to him. I wish I could say that the bird was simply ignoring me, but that's not true. As I stood under the tree talking to the bird, the bird climbed higher and higher up the branches. To which my neighbor said, "Oh he's scared of you because you're white." This cannot be real life. An animal is afraid of me because I am white. I've already had to deal with most children crying at the site of me, and now a bird? Geez. I would like to say that the babies and toddlers of Malobi are making great strides in accepting my white skin. I get more hugs than I do screams, and that is a huge improvement.

Now, if only this bird weren't hurting my ego. 

I literally had to sneak attack this bird for this picture. It kept running away from me. Not kidding.