Wem Bai? Wem Gyal? (Blog Nugget #2)

In the month we've been living in Guyana, it has exposed us to quite a different style of speech. Guyanese Creolese (a pidgin/creole English) at first can be difficult to understand. Once you surround yourself and delve into the pattern, you will find yourself not only understanding but even speaking it! This may be either a post of educating my beloved readers, or more as a pre-return warning if suddenly you can't understand what I'm saying.

Let the reader use discernment....

Without further ado, the Dictionary!


Gyal: Girl
Bai: Boy
Teefing: Stealing
Gaffing: Chatting, talking, social visit
Liming: Hanging out
Horning: Cheating
Wem Bai/Gyal?: What's happening, what's up?
De: The
She: Her
He: Him
Me: My
Dey, Abi Dey: Them
"Tr" sound: replaces "thr" sound,  Eg tree instead of three
"T" sound: replaces "th" (ending sound), Eg eart instead of earth
Contractions are pretty much nonexistent. Possessives are also not used frequently.

There are plenty of other terms and phrases and words that I cannot remember off the top of my head. If anyone has more to add, feel free to leave a comment below!

Stay tuned for the next post!

Love,

The Adventurous A.

STOP! HAMMOCK TIME! (Day #4, November 2)

The long-awaited Monday arrived. Only a few hours away from making it to our new home for the next month. The atmosphere was quite abuzz, given the last minute preparations that needed to be done prior to our boat ride. Ribz and I were introduced to a Skeldon staple:

THE MARKET.

Only in videos and pictures of other countries had I ever witnessed the systematic chaos of an outdoor town market. The cacophony completely encased all your senses. The pungent scents of freshly caught fish,  ground spices, and sweaty humanity stewed in the air. Creolese flowed as freely as the multitudes, greetings and  sales pitches blended in the mix. We knew what we came for, but in all truth and honesty, market on an empty stomach is probably not your best bet. We made our way out of the market to grab a bite.

After indulging in some fish curry, roti, and mauby (very refreshing drink made from buckthorn bark, even better with rum in it 😉), we returned to market with the goal of buying hammocks. In the case of Guyana, hammocks are as much a social necessity as they are a comfort. Gaffing and liming (see "Wem Bai? Wem Gyal?" post for definitions) would be terribly impeded without hammocks. Hammocks are the very breeding grounds of fine conversation, hours of peaceful studying or book reading, and plenty of laughs. With the purchase of said hammocks, this would be somewhat a rite of passage into the very lifestyle of the Guyanese.

Ok MAYBE I'm exaggerating, but still! You get the point.

Post hammock buying, we walked out to the dock to set up our luggage in the Orealla boat. Generally, the boats stay at dock enough time for all passengers to put their belongings in safely. Our ride wouldn't be leaving till around 7 ish, so we had time to kill.

Gaffing, or epic beatbox competition? You decide...

The time period between is a blur in my brain, just due to all the excitement. So much excitement, in fact, that when it came time for the boat to leave, I didn't even bother with laying down in the hammock. Josh,  Charlie and I scrambled to the roof of the boat and laid our heads back for an epic night of star-gazing while Jonatán stayed inside chatting away.

(Check an upcoming post for more details regarding that gorgeous night.)

5-6 hours simultaneously felt stretched out and quick as we traversed the Correntyne River past Suriname. Sleep escaped the 4 of us as we beheld the beauty and serenity of the best boat ride I've been in yet. We finally made it around 1 AM to the Stelling (Orealla dock). There, a couple named the Frances awaited our arrival and patiently assisted us with moving our stuff to our accommodations. Whilst Josh and Charlie would be retiring to their usual home, Ribz and I would be staying the night at the house behind the Kingdom Hall. The coordinator of the congregation and his wife (Sigmund and Amanda Mckenzie) generously opened their downstairs apartment for us to bed in.

What, you think that's it? WRONG! In typical Camacho fashion, some sort of odd adventure was bound to crop up, right?

After the couple went back to bed, Ribz and I made the bed and got ready to finally go to sleep. Except.....there was a third party present in the room. A good-sized  spider decided it would be nice to have a sleepover in the corner. Naturally, my initial reaction was pull out Ki-Ki (my constant companion camera) & immediately start taking pictures of it. My brother's reaction? Not so gracious. 😂 in an attempt to rid the room of the unwelcome roommate, Jonatán struck valiantly with a flip flop, but alas it dashed away into the night. This rendered me in tears of laughter and my brother quite awake for next 3 hours or so.

DUN DUN DUNNNNNNNN!!!!!!

No worries, the spider reappeared and was promptly "taken care of."

So much for a calm first night in Orealla!

Stay tuned for the next post!

Love,

The Adventurous A.

Tenisha and the Tablet (Blog Nugget #1)

Do you remember a moment in this life where everything you have ever worked for, everything you have ever worked for, everything you've tried and fought for and reached out for, culminates into a single event that validates all your efforts? I have lived a very satisfying life, it's been truly my privilege that I live for Jehovah. I had a moment while in Skeldon that captures this exact sentiment. Let's go back to this important Sunday (November 1, Day #3)

Or rather, let's start with an email, dated October 8, 2015.

In preparation for this trip, we had sent emails to both Josh and Kayla asking if there was anything either them or anyone else in their area needed or wanted from the States. In the reply message from Kayla, one point stood out: she asked for nothing for herself. Here's the excerpt from that particular email:


            As for me, I'd like to inquire of something,  do you know of any brother or sister near you who has an older electronic device that you can put the jw app on that they don't use anymore and are willing to part with. I have a diligent and studious bible student, who just joined the school and became a publisher.  I would love for her to have something she could do more research on. If not that's ok, but if you ask around and it's available,  that would be so awesome






Unselfishly, Kayla requested this tablet for the lovely Tenisha. Seeing that her home circumstances are not particularly favorable to her studying and progressing, the fact that she continues to grow spiritually is beautiful to behold. My family and I were determined to see to it that she somehow got her tablet. But how? So the search began!

I started by asking some of my fellow Bethelites if they might keep their eyes peeled for said tablet in the hoppers or donated. A few days turned up no results, much to our dismay. With the leave date approaching, the Camacho clan brainstormed. Collaborative efforts bred this idea: use social media to ask around. I took to my Instagram account and posted a request for any of my followers to please help in the search.

A day after posting, a reply came! A brother from New Mexico messaged me and informed me that he happened to have a tablet in excellent working condition that had the JW Library app and other apps installed already. He promptly mailed it and within 5 days it was in New York. Jehovah truly answered prayers there!!!!

Fast forward to November 1, at Lena's house.

The majority of the guests had left us, leaving only Kayla, Tenisha and myself. We had finished the study, nearly complete with the Bible Teach book. For some odd reason, I truly did not expect to be present for whenever Kayla decided to gift Tenisha with the tablet. The next several minutes were heart-warming.

Kayla casually mentioned how proud she was of her progress, and how Jehovah was even more proud of her. She reassured Tenisha of His approval and that no matter what, He would make sure to bless her for all her efforts and perseverance. She then proceeded to pull the tablet out of her purse and give it to Tenisha.

The poor girl began to weep profusely.

This in turn made ME start crying.

The appreciation that poured out of her was so very genuine, one couldn't help but be swept in that precious and perfect moment. THIS was all worth it. In that small time period, all of OUR efforts to get to Guyana were completely worth it. The happiness overflowed massively. She gave me the biggest hug and couldn't say thanks enough.

I promised I wouldn't post a picture of that moment, but if you ever want to see either the brief video or pictures I took, feel free to ask to see them next time we hang out.

That's all for now, hope you enjoyed the first Blog Nibblet!

Stay tuned for the next post!

Love,


The Adventurous A.

Day #3 (November 1)

Feelin' kinda Sunday!

Yet another beautiful hot hot day, naturally, as we headed out to the Brighton Congregation's meeting. Caught a ride with Kayla to pick up her student, Ria (see Day #2 for details). So young but so eager to go! This put us all in quite a good mood. It took about 40 minutes to reach the Kingdom Hall via car, which with the general hilarity of the car group went by very quickly.

The public talk ended up being VERY well timed. It was given by an elder from the Mahaicony congregation named Steve Booth, geared specifically to the youth. I could see Ria paying full attention, eyes never leaving the speaker except to find the scriptures. She even got to comment a couple of times!

Privileged to have been present for Ria's first meeting

The Chans

Brighton Kingdom Hall

Don't worry, didn't forget Mark!!!

After associating with the congregation a tad, Kayla and I took Ria back home. No plans? No problem! We set out for Lena's house to hang out. Transportation, however, would prove to be...interesting. You see, the cars and busses do not run with any kind of regularity on Sundays. The two of us ended up finally catching a typical  overstuffed minibus to Lena's.

When we arrived, we found her and her daughter Nadia busy at work seeding baigan (see Nom-Noms of Guyana post for details). The process of seeding is a fascinating one. You take the veggie and roll it back and forth either with your shoe or bare foot (I opted for shoe because, well, shoe). This loosens the seeds inside, making it easier to start the next step. The baigan is then submerged in a large bucket of water and burst, releasing the seeds. The bad seeds, full of air and rot, will immediately rise to the surface, whereas the good seed will sink to the bottom. After bursting and seeding all the baigan, the top layer of bad seed gets skimmed and the rest of the water gets strained to catch the good seed. The remaining seed is then left out in the sun to dry and be used for the next planting season.

BAIGAN!!!

Naturally, upon seeing the process, Kayla and I set out to help them along. It was soooooooo fun. Our hard work was rewarded with more iguana, plantain chips, a bunch of local fruit and ice cream. This branched off into gaffing with the family and visiting friends who swung by. Among this group was a very progressive study named Tenisha. I will go into more details regarding her in the next post.

After spending a few good hours at Lena's, we headed back to Kayla's to meet up the boys. An extremely welcome gift in the form of our missing Guyana guy awaited there. Charlie Brohard, the second brother whom we had dropped off at the airport earlier in the month with Josh, had fallen ill and had to receive medical attention in Skeldon. Personally, I hadn't thought he'd been able to join us to go back to Orealla, but he recovered enough! The Guyana team was reunited! The night concluded with a rather engaging Skype call with one of the main contacts and helpers to our trip, Tom and Michelle Sanchez (see nutso42.blogspot.com post for the picture evidence).

Stay tuned for the next post!

Love,

The Adventurous A.

Nom-Noms of Guyana: Georgetown/Skeldon Edition

If I have anything to say regarding the food here in Guyana so far, it's DELICIOUS! The Guyanese have a penchant for having savory hearty meals for every time of day. Snacks? Hearty. Breakfast? Hearty. Lunch? Hearty? Dinner? Hearty.

Hearty Har Har.

Here's a run-down on the yummy tummy treats Ribz and I have enjoyed in the small period of time in Georgetown/ Skeldon.

Baigan: eggplant. The way I enjoyed it at Kayla's house was roasted directly on the gas stove. It's cut open and stuffed with chopped onion and garlic. After that, the flesh is scooped out of its skin and smooshed together and eaten with crackers.

Channa: garbanzo beans fried in coconut milk and various spices. Common street snack. Basically whatever you want to season it with is fair game.

Chow Mein: Apparently there's a large Chinese influence in Guyana, so you'll find quite a number of Chinese restaurants scattered through Skeldon. Personally, the place I went was not impressive at all, in my opinion. Here's hoping that the next time I'm in Skeldon I'll find a better experience than the first time.

Curry: GAAAAAAAH. The staple!! I can't even begin to describe the deliciousness of curry. Saucy, spicy, flavorful, I only have good things to say. It's a culinary chimera chameleon. Fish curry, chicken curry, you name it they've got it! Paired with white rice, it's used for whatever meal you so desire.

Eddo: The edible corm of the taro root. Boiled into the consistency of mashed potatoes, if seasoned correctly it is very "crave-worthy".

Icee: You remember the frozen juice/syrup/chemical liquid sticks that haunt every single summer, cutting the  edge of your mouth but taste AMAZING? Well here in Guyana they take the same liquid but use it to make soda. Excellent idea, Guyana, good job.

Iguana: yes yes I did it. I ate it. I ate iguana. Sorry Sandy, you were an awesome pet but my goodness, your kind make a great lunch. This is what Lena (Day #2) made us. Believe me, I had quite the mental debate prior to consumption. Refuse to eat and save face, or have bragging rights FOREVER....tough no? Sure, when it's cooked it still has very dark green skin attached to all the ligaments but still! If you ever get the opportunity to try iguana, I highly recommend it.

Pepsi: But wait, there's Pepsi in the States! Why is THIS here?!? The one-up Guyana gets in the soda department is that instead of high fructose corn syrup, they use real sugar (FROM REAL SUGARCANE GROWN HERE). So yes I believe I may never enjoy a soda (or "pop" as my brother's Midwestern roomies may vouch for) in the U.S. ever again...

Pilao: white rice and beans cooked together.  Same principle as Cuban congrí but different flavor. Guyanese food favors Indian spices generally.

Roti: the Indian bread of goodness. Perfect for sopping up curry sauce, it's a delectable finger food. It's soft and chewy at the same time, a most excellent accompaniment.

Tart: A sweet pastry that you fill with the jelly of your choice. The one I tried was pineapple.

Water Lily Seeds: I've seen these plenty of times before, but never assumed they were edible. Arranged very prettily in the pod, there are about 10 spaces where the seeds nestle in. You pop the pod off the plant and start shaking the seeds out and eat them straight. They have a hard nutty quality that'll jar your jaw but still taste great.

And there you have it folks! The first leg of the food posts! Stay tuned for more of the blogs!

Love,

The Adventurous A.

Day #2 (October 31) or The Best non-Halloween EVER

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh  no trick or treaters this particular Halloween. Our very first official day in Guyana began with a hearty breakfast courtesy of my hostess for the next couple of days: Kayla Seebaran.

This fiery young need greater heralding from Trinidad had been one of my main contacts in the whole planning process. She, along with a few other like-minded single girls, lived right behind the Skeldon Kingdom Hall. Her other two roommates, Amy and Michaela, were up and around when she and I prepared for the field ministry. Josh and Ribz then met up with us at the house and we made our way to go to the service meeting.

Extremely excited for our first service day....some more than others...

Now, you'll have to know,  many of the friends in this area of Skeldon/Corriverton do not own vehicles. Wherever you need to get to,  there are plenty of taxis and minibusses all vying loudly to get your patronage, or you could just walk. This morning, we had a ride from one of Kayla's elders in the Brighton Congregation, "Uncle" Richard Joseph.

(As a note, in Guyana a term of respect for those your senior is calling them either uncle or aunty. It reflects the same code of familial respect prevalent among the Indians. Also, many people you meet in the ministry refer to anyone they view as religious as "brother" or "sister".)

A short ride later, we arrived at a shaded area in front of one of the houses in the territory. We had a nice size field service meeting, after which we divided and made our way to go witnessing. My partner for the rest of the day was Kayla, while Jonatán stayed with Josh and another brother named Michael Somwaru.

To get a good idea of how preaching is done down here in this part of Guyana, picture the scene: the extremely happy-colored houses are all right by the road. Bright,  lush gardens decorate the front yards, peppered by the occasional fruit tree. There's then what is called the "bottom house", the lower open level of a home set for the sheer purpose of hanging hammocks, cooling down and "gaffing". Gaffing is a cultural staple, a lively conversation between host and guest, shooting the breeze in a most neighborly fashion. You stand outside the front gate, call out loudly "INSIDE?" and await an invite to enter their bottom house. Once inside, you can comfortably begin talking and getting to know your host.

Anyone who knows me well enough knows that I do not regularly raise my voice very loudly. The whole aspect of having to call out "INSIDE" made me feel quite a bit nervous. After a couple of practice rounds with the ever helpful Kayla, I attempted my first door in Guyana. A middle-aged mother named Sonia called us into her bottom house and invited us immediately to talk. She then proceeded to call her daughter and husband (Trisha and Junior, respectively) to join the conversation. I began a study with Sonia and Trisha from the Good News brochure right from the get go.

After that amazing first experience, we continued out in service down the territory. Kayla and I then made our way to some of her return visits. This led us to one of her studies named Lena. She is a former Hindu  who has since been progressively studying for about two or three years. She and her daughters are attending meetings regularly and associating with the congregation. A warm and loveable person, she immediately opened her home to us and fed us lunch. (See next post Nom-Noms of Guyana: Georgetown/Skeldon Edition for more details on our exotic meal).

Such a hospitable host, very typical quality of the Guyanese

To wrap up our service day, we called on two of Kayla's highly intelligent young girl studies, Elizabeth and Ria. Listening to these small children (11 and 9 respectively) made me feel the first pang for my own Bible studies back at home. Few things are as theocratically endearing as hearing a young person declare their faith and learn about Jehovah. It truly is beautiful.

A rousing yet hilarious game of Bananagrams (aka Scrabble on speed) finished this very fulfilling day. If Skeldon is THIS good, imagine Orealla.....

Word

Stay tuned for Day 3!

Love, The Adventurous A.

Day #1 (October 30)

I think that today can be summed up into "why, I never!"

Why, I never had less nervousness on a takeoff.

Why, I never have seen so many bright, delicious-looking Carib/European houses.

Why, I never...But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me do as my mother so lovingly says whenever I relate a tale, "start at the beginning, and when you get to the end, STOP."

Day #1: 10/30/15

Our flight was at 7:40am. JFK is a cool 2 hour drive from our home in Wallkill. This would entail arriving at the airport at 4ish, THEREFORE leaving at 2ish. NOT WORTH SLEEPING! The whole clan stayed up, to quote Mr. Lionel Richie, "ALL NIGHT LONG!" Between the last minute suitcase checking, blanket hauling and transportation finalization, we kept ourselves quite busy!

The drive was relaxing, quietly savoring the final moments with the family. Two hours flew by in no time. My tummy was jumpy in excitement. Jonatan (who will now be referred to as Ribz for the rest of this adventure) was equally as antsy in anticipation.

Off to a happy, sleep-deprived start!

Upon  arrival, after hauling off our luggage and saying the final goodbyes,we were off! If it isn't obvious already, my brother and I are quite the novice travelers, so all the minor details are made to be a big deal. Extremely nice check-in lady? WONDERFUL! Easy breeze through security? AWESOME! Granted, we had to wait a tad to get on board, but this mattered not considering the trip that lay ahead of us.

We were in the air about a good 5-6 hours or so (JFK to Trinidad). In that time period, Ribz and I (mostly Ribz, because I was asleep during parts of that flight) got to witness to our seatmate. Marvis, a resident of Linden, was a very sweet-natured quiet young man. He works and lives in New Jersey, but was heading home to visit family. Apparently, during the flight, he mentioned to my brother that his grandfather was/is a Witness, which sprung a long and productive conversation which included sharing the Why Study the Bible video.

At 12:30 on the dot, we landed in Trinidad. Unfortunately, we never got to explore the Trinny airport, due to the fact that the plane would be the same aircraft taking us to Cheddi Jagan Airport in Guyana. At least we got free in-flight breakfast (spinach frittata, sausage, potatoes, wheat roll, fruit cup and orange juice) to keep us satisfied. The remainder of our travel was very pleasant, only a few jolts in the air and upon landing in Guyana.

WELCOME TO GUYANA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We arrived in one piece, overjoyed to have made it! After the usual formalities (passport stamping and customs and luggage retrieval), we met up with our fantastical host Josh Westfall (for more incredible Guyana adventures, check out his blog at nutso42.blogspot.com ) and our ride, Daniel Adams. Daniel is a brother who also is a taxi driver by trade and was willing to take us the 3 hour drive from Georgetown to Corriverton/Skeldon (where we would be staying a few days until our boat to Orealla). Instead of just merely taking us from point A to point B, however, they showed us a few local sights and made the ride extremely pleasant.

Example of the lovely architecture of Georgetown

Gorgeous seawall at Georgetown

We got our first taste of typical Guyanese food in the form of chicken and potato curry with white rice. Absolutely delicious! The drive consisted of plenty of conversation, singing, laughing, star-gazing, picture-taking and general happiness. By the time we arrived, we were wired and tired. Great end to a most exciting day.

Stay tuned for Day #2!

Love,

The Adventurous A.