When we walked inside, we met our host, Andy. We went further inside to get our dental luggage from the conveyor belt. People started clearing as their luggage came, leaving just our group. We were all working together to retrieve the luggage. After everything was unloaded, we realized we were still missing some of our stuff. We still don't know where it is. Luckily we packed smart for this situation and separated the supplies into different suitcases. We walked outside and our whole group was amazed by everything even though it was pretty much a parking lot. Lots of pictures were taken. We were loading our carry-ons to the back of a pick-up truck. This truck was going to follow us to Andy and Kathleen's house, which was about three hours away.
All of us loaded into a Guyanese church bus. It had Bible sayings decorating the exterior. The inside had bout five rows of bench seats that looked like two people sat on one side with one person on the other separated by an aisle, but you could fold down the aisle seat and four people could sit in a row. The driver's seat was in the front on the right side.
It was such an adventure when we started riding! At first it was an adventure just to see the architecture and land. The houses were so varied. There would be a run down shack with fancy curtains next to a huge mansion next to a church or mosque next to a Chinese restaurant. The siding of houses was either made of wood siding or plastered stone/cement. Many of the houses put their clothes out on the line to dry. For trash, they just put a pile out by the road and lit it on fire.
The next part of the adventure was the crazy driving. I have never heard so many car horns- not even in Chicago. First of all, they drive on the left side of the road. There is no hesitation for passing, even when there's soon-to-be oncoming traffic. There are also a lot of walkers and bikers and mopeders, so there's a lot of swerving, and each time someone passes, they honk a few times just to let you know they're there. Animals complicate the situation even more. Cows, goats, dogs, horses, chicken, etc. roam around like deer and you have to avoid them. They will even run out in the middle of the street in front of your moving car.
We drove in different areas- the country and downtown. We drove through downtown Georgetown (the capital) and saw the parliament building. I even saw a KFC. There was a lot of commotion and music downtown. We stopped at a fancy hotel to use the restroom. Then we drove to the dental clinic and had lunch. We sat in the bus and they handed each of us a take-home meal in a Styrofoam tray. It had a salad, pasta salad (yum), rice (yum), and chicken on the bone. We each got a fancy drink. There were three different flavors. One tasted like grass, one tasted like brown sugar an ginger, and one tasted like yummy passion fruit. The only good one was the passion fruit. Then we started driving again. We had already been driving for about an hour- hour and a half and we still had about two to go.
We drove past the market where they had hanging meats and lots of fruit. Andy bought a bunch of bananas and we each got one. They were little and were the best bananas I've ever had!
The last part of the adventure happened when we were about an hour away from the hospitality house. The bus suddenly broke down. We opened up a compartment in the front/middle of the bus and smoke came out. We all piled out of the bus into the hot Guyana heat. After quick thinking, they came up with a plan. They wanted to unload the pick-up truck, put that luggage onto the broken down bus, and have us load into the back of the pick-up truck. So we made sure some people stayed with the bus and luggage, while 22 of us stood in the back of the moving pick-up truck. We rode for about an hour and a half like that. It was so fun with the hot sun shining, but it was so windy you didn't notice the heat. One of our people, Norma, had a bunch of hats that she let us wear for sun protection even though half were lost throughout the ride because of the wind. We also had sunscreen. On the way we stopped at Andy and Kathleen's main house to use the restroom. We finally made it to the hospitality house and everyone was exhausted.
Here is a video of us in the back of the pick-up truck:
The house has a kitchen, living room, a few bathrooms, a girl's bunk area, and a guy's bunk area. The girl's room has five-ish bunk beds. Ashley and I are shared one. I got the top bunk. The house is actually very clean, so I like that. The one downside is that it is way too hot. I sweat just sitting here, which is rare because I'm usually cold. The windows are always open, so there's a nice breeze and the fans are going, but it's still way too hot. We're just not used to it. We had some down time, so some people slept and I journaled.
Here is a video of the house:
As I was journaling, our luggage and the van showed up! So we unloaded. Andrea, Katie, and I wanted bug spray , so one of the doctors said it as on the counter, so I grabbed the insect spray on the counter and we went outside. After we covered ourselves (except our faces) we went back inside. Kathleen right away smelled something weird and yelled at us because we didn't put on bug spray- it was insect repellent for the house, so it was toxic to our bodies. So we needed to shower right away. There was a black-out right before that though, so I didn't know if the showers worked. The showers get water from large, pressurized buckets outside. The black-outs happen often to the community because there is not enough energy to supply everyone, so randomly the power will go out for a while.
We were able to shower. The water is cold, which actually isn't bad here. They want us to take a two minute shower, which I thought wouldn't be too bad, except the pressure is awful, so it's like a trickle of water. After I was all showered, clean, and cooled off (for a few minutes), it was almost time to eat. Kathleen made us a wonderful dinner. Molly, the 15-year old neighbor helped. They made yummy bread/pitas, with a carrot cheese dip for sandwiches, banana/plantain chips, sweet potato chips with a sweet sauce for dipping, fresh pineapple, and a coconut cake dessert. We had fresh starfruit juice to drink. It was all so yummy! The food here is delicious and healthy too.
After dinner, Andy and Kathleen talked to us about simple rules and what to expect. At the end some people went to bed, but a group of us stayed awake to play Catch Phrase. We played three games (guys vs. girls) and the girls won each time!
Now it's time for bed. It's 10:45 pm and I'm still hot! Fans are blowing, lights are off, I'm next to an open window, I'm not covered in any blankets or sheets, and I'm hot. I am going to go to bed though because breakfast is at 7 am then we're going to church.
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