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| Beginning line up for sports day |
Sometimes I
wonder when we day dream if it is a way to reset our minds, to flush out
everything inside for a minute and fill it with some sort of great desire. Today I woke up straight day dreamin’. I visualized how I was going to run and then
actually went for a run. I day dreamed
about far off things, tried to get through the rest of my work-out but ended up
laying on the floor day dreamin’ for almost an hour. I decided to chop off a good bit of my hair
and went into work. Nothing much was
going on except the looming excitement of sports day on Friday. In Guyana, there is a whole month where
schools are dedicated to sports. They
compete against one another and it’s a really big deal. Not many schools actually have organized
sports so it is an opportunity for the kids who like sports to really
shine. Some of the events for our sports
day include late for work, where you have to get dressed in a sort of relay
race, staff race, and more traditional 400 meter runs. I seriously challenged a student of mine to a
roti curry eating contest and I’m pretty stoked if I get to participate. I can chow down some food like it is nobody’s
business.
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| Showing off their cheers and banners |
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| My co-worker and her son watching sport day |
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| African Honey Bees that the "Beeman" removed from my school last year |
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| LOVE this river view at sunset |
I gaffed a
bit more at work and headed out to meet a counselor for GLOW. Of course, I had nothing at home for dinner
so I stopped by my favorite baked good stand and ran into the Beeman who is one
of my favorite guys in Guyana. He is the
NICEST person ever and sort of reminds me of Bubba Gump when he talks about
shrimp, except talking about bees. He
told me once that Guyana has one of the largest varieties of bees in the world
and many scientists come down to study them.
I happened to be biking towards where he lives, so we rode down together. The GLOW counselor lives in a spot I’ve never
been to before, but it was a quiet and seemed like a very neighbor oriented
community. A charming setting of an Indo
community nestled right on the outskirts of a cane field. The family was so nice and in true Guyanese
fashion, offered me cashew fruit and drink and some sweeties. We talked a little about camp and everyone
was excited about it. A little over a
month to go! I biked back home on the
last tails of the sun and greeted other neighbors along the way. I was smiling and just felt truly at
peace. It was one of those moments that
you think “this is why I’m here, this is what it is all for.” I mean everywhere you are, you have days
like that, but this moment was unique to my life here in Guyana, the just sigh
and soak it all in sort of thing. My
little neighbors came running to greet me and I had to stave them off a bit so
I could get changed and wolf down the chicken sandwich I purchased
earlier. It was good, like everything
they make, but it was the first time I had it.
Definitely hit the spot. I
realized I was out of toilet tissue so I had to ride down to Rasta man’s shop
and along the way ended up walking my bike and gaffing with a neighbor. I don’t know what it is about this time of
year, but everyone has bbqs or fairs or weddings, or something. I have been invited to several things
already. I was here last time this year and didn’t seem
to notice all these things. It is
interesting what time will do. Of course
you can’t just sit idly, I’ve been striving to be considered “neighbor” for a
long time now. And ya know what? I got it, at least by one person. She said “you know, you’ve always been a
good neighbor, always helping out when we need something and being there.” I honestly couldn’t be more proud of
that. Part of the reason why today
seemed to flow so harmoniously is because my present and future are intertwined
with my community and I guess today I was feeling especially connected.
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| Walking out on the road in my village |
It is amazing how important that connection
is to the key to your happiness and success here.
I road back
up to my house and the kids came running back down again. We did some drawings and I was going to do
some work on my computer, but my one little neighbors started reading Charlie
and the Chocolate Factory out loud. I
shut my computer and helped her sound out words or explained definitions. So many of these kids I see here might not
know how to read or write too well, but they also seem eager to know. I wrote the word TIME on a sheet of paper and
kept tracing it over again in different colors.
Sometimes you want it to speed up and sometimes there just never is
enough of it. It is one of the most precious things we can measure out, divide,
and make use of yet it remains quite the anomaly. How does it pass so quickly? How much do we have? If only I had enough time to sit and read
with each of these kids each night. How
amazing would they be at reading? While
it may never seem like enough, nothing can replace the time you do make for all
the little or big things you do. Maybe
it was starting the end of my MPH or feeling particularly part of the community
today, but for now I feel like I’m going at the right speed; content. Just daydreamin’. :-)
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A bunch of us went to town to watch Guy25 (the newbies) swear in
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| My friend's picture I sent in of an Amerindian boy in Guyana made the front cover!! |
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