Posting in Pictures

So, I wanted the pictures in a different order (the bottom one on top, so on) but...they take forever to download and I don't know how to re-order them. Anyway, if you want the chronological effect, start at the bottom of this post!

(Moderator's note: The girls have let me have access to this blog to help out when they are crunched for computer time. Therefore, I'm putting these in reverse order for Ellen. Cindy aka Keithslady.)

This is one of the first pictures I took in Guyana. I didn't have the presence of mind to pull out my camera upon arrival, so this is the first picture I have of Guyana. This is taken in Nigel's, one of the largest supermarkets in Georgetown (it was still small to me). I just had to capture the hilarity of a "Special" to my foreign eyes. ONLY $2,395. The exchange rate took a little while to get used to, but I've got it down pat now. It's good for my rusty math skills :)

Georgetown was nothing like I expected it to be. Even getting off of the airplane was an experience. Actually, back that up, the entire journey down was an experience. It was quite interesting to go from Rhinelander (all typical Americans on board) to Minneapolis (once again, typical Americans) to Ft. Lauderdale. Ft. Lauderdale was interesting. We had to get our tickets since we had an airline change. Finding that was interesting, we were misdirected a couple of times, but finally found "Caribbean Airlines". We were the only white people to be found in that line. That was strange. Then we got on our flight later on, once again, two of the very few caucasions. Disembarking was cool. There were coconut trees, the sound of steel drum bands, and a big "Merry Christmas" sign over the tunnel that led into the airport. We had no trouble getting through customs, or getting our passports stamped. God was very good to us with all of that. Georgetown=biggest city. In my mind that meant it must be the best city to represent Guyana. The place was crazy. We walked through the streets in part of the city, ate breakfast, tried to find a bathroom. We finally found the public restroom after being led on a wild goose chase by a man who said he'd guide us there for a small fee. The public restroom was astonishing. After paying your $20, you could go inside the cardboard-floored building with vile odors, then use their toilet. I didn't get to fully experience it. I glanced inside and decided I could wait.

This is taken from the ferry as we left Region 5. Everyone refers to the ferry as "The Stelling" (see the sign). We got off the ferry at New Amsterdam, about an hour and 45 minute drive from Corriverton. The ferry has just lost most of its business though as the bridge that was being built across this river has finally opened up. Note the water. I wasn't tempted to dive in, despite the heat.

This shows the church and the house in one shot. The stairs lead to the main sanctuary. We have services below though, in the room directly below because one of the women in the church has heart complications and shouldn't use the steps. The window you see on the white part of the building, the right hand side of the picture, is the room I'm sitting in as I type :~) That's the house. The bedrooms are both upstairs, as is the computer room, study, and both bathrooms. Downstairs has a living room (which is rarely used), entryway, dining room, and kitchen. It's fairly small, but really we don't need any more space than we have. Plus..."love grows best in little houses, few walls to separate". You can hear just about everything everyone says no matter where they are. Okay, so that's a bit of a stretch. The windows all are open all the time, with screening and bars, and you can easily hear conversations taking place in the kitchen from the bedroom. Another strange thing about Guyana: all of the windows on everybody's houses are barred. All of them. I don't think I've seen one unbarred yet.

This is our beautiful bed. The room is pretty small, but we definitely manage. It was kind of different for me to walk into a room, bed made, no comforter. We wouldn't end up using it anyway.





This is the view from our bed, everytime we lie down at night. This is Guyana's version of air conditioning, actually, we have it pretty good. We enjoy having some air movement, especially on the 85 degree nights. I must say the mint green walls were a bit disconcerting at the beginning.


Anyway, that's just a snapshot of that day for you. I need to go. It's pretty late here and I want to be up at a decent time tomorrow. I will post more pictures (hopefully in the right order), but, like I said, they take a while to download and I can only seem to do five at a time.