Today's Best Place

Mabaruma is a small town (pop 1500-2000) built on the ridge line above two valleys. The people here are mostly Amerindian; the native population of Guyana before the English, Dutch, blacks and East Indians arrived. They are short, dark skinned and have dark hair. Mabaruma also has a fair number of blacks but I think fewer East Indians proportionally then Georgetown (a note on race and the discussion of race in Guyana: there is no such thing as political correctness. If someone is black, you call them black (or even “coolies”-British carryover). If someone is East Indian it is okay to say so. It isn’t even considered derogatory to call someone fat or “fine” (skinny). You are what you are. As I was walking the other day a little girl called out to me “White Miss! White Miss! Good afternoon!” and that was just right). Things are just tougher here; laundry, clean water, food. They all require much more work to get then in the states. Even the vegetables are tougher. I went to the market on Tuesday with Shundel and was so excited to find something they called spinach there. As soon as I got it home I rinsed it, bleached it, rinsed it in clean water, and then stuck it into my mouth. Mid-chew Shundel queried, “What’s that you’re eating?” 

“Spinach!” I replied triumphantly. 

“Ohhh...it make your mouth itch!” 

And just about then it started. “Spinach” here has tiny spines on it. I spat out the offensive vegetable and dejectedly garaged salt water to clean my cuts. Lesson learned. 

I feel safe here in Mabaruma-despite the vegetables. There is little crime, I haven’t seen any snakes (I’m guessing they are not terribly common-both Dani and Micah run around barefoot and the worst they get aside from cuts are chiggers, which, while unpleasant, are not dangerous), and the people like both Americans and missionaries. The sun pretty much sets and rises at 6 each day. Bucket showers take a little getting used to but they are quite doable. There are far too many bugs to count or stress about. So I’m trying to stop. 

I am not comfortable here yet but I see how I could be comfortable here and that is encouraging. I miss home. Being away at college or camp and being away in Guyana are much different. Something about knowing that my parents or friends could not be here quickly even if they really wanted to be makes it feel much farther away. I have been having some culture shock-trouble eating new food (beyond when the food tries to eat me), waking up happy, etc etc. The end of last week and beginning of this week were particularly hard but Wednesday, Thursday and today have been much better. I hope and believe that things will continue to get better. One day at a time.

I know I am supposed to be here. To get me here has been a journey, one that I will write about some other time. But through the process I have seen the hand of God and I know that I am supposed to be here. And so here I am. Uncomfortable but adjusting; knowing that I am in the right place. Which, really, is the best place to be.

Arrived in Mabaruma.

Wings for Humanity eventually opted for making a special flight out on Monday to get Laura, Dani and I from Georgetown. There wasn’t going to be room with the body (which, my mistake, was actually coming from Georgetown to Mabaruma) A special flight costs them in gas, versus when they are able to bring out a medivac patient the government hospital will pay their transport costs. Currently, there isn’t lots of extra money for flights like bringing me in or transporting other non paying customers (for example THE pastor for Region 1. He is responsible for 8 churches spread over the jungle) although a Sabbath School class in Southern California gives them $500 monthly which covers about one extra flight. 

I'm smiling so you can't see my teeth chattering.

Getting into the little Cessna 182 I realized that this is truly the craziest thing I’ve ever done. Everything I had brought with me, my two suitcases, violin, computer, bible, journal, pictures, and my new kitten were packed into the plane all around and on top of me. We took off with Laura in command. Mabaruma is about an hour’s flight over the jungle from Georgetown. Greg Van Fossen flew out to get us and he and Laura chatted on the radio the whole way back while I tensed and tried not to scream into my headset every time we hit a cloud with it’s bumps. They also found that particular flight a good time to talk about emergency procedures. Since the best thing to hear flying over a remote jungle is of course a discussion of “Glide, Gas, Gab, and Get out.” It really wasn’t that bad, by the end I was able to almost enjoy it. Greg is an experienced pilot and flight instructor and Laura has been flying here in Guyana for the last five years-and hey, at least now I know they think about what to do in an emergency. Guyana from the air is pretty; very green, lots of silver glinted rivers snaking through green jungle. After about an hour of flight time we flew over the Mabaruma airstrip to check out the runway and then landed smoothly. We were greeted by a crowd of children from Hobo Hill-adjacent to the airstrip. They were mostly happy to see Dani, curious about my kitten-in-a-box, but smiled and told me their names. I showed them my violin and played “Amazing Grace”. Jud and Karen Wickwire-the parents of the third family in the Wings for Humanity Guyana trio arrived and together we unloaded the plane and loaded the taxi-it was a tight squeeze but we eventually got everyone’s stuff to the right places. I arrived at my new house in Mabaruma and met my housemate Shundel. She is medical missionary who graduated from Bethany Medical Missionary College in Bethany Guyana. Shundel spends her days visiting people and giving hydrotherapy treatments and massages and taking classes. She hopes to get into a nursing program sometime next year. I moved my stuff in and fell into bed exhausted.