Wait...timeout - what day is it again?

I have completely lost all concept of days of the week lately! I returned from my site visit yesterday and am back in the city until Sunday morning.

After meeting my counterpart at NAKS we headed out for a 5 day site visit.

My counterpart let me know that he held a village meeting and if any man in the village tries to proposition me in anyway, they would be delt with harshly, with the threat of being kicked out of the village! Protective Tomas.

Wanhatti is unbelievable!

It's a 3hour bumpy bus ride to the boat (it's got an outboard motor, but plank seats that honestly really hurt my butt!) :) the boat ride is about another 3 hours. It was a crazy journey (shocking...) out to site. It had rained pretty hard again, so the bus was slower moving, and the lady sitting in front of me had a case of the cha cha cha's so we stopped frequently to let her off and back on again....once we got on the boat (Tomas my counterpart made sure that I wore my bright red lifevest...safety mariah, you put on water shirt!) the heaven's opened and it poured and poured on us. They use umbrella's as shields and hide behind them and huddle under them. It's kinda fun, as you're smooshed next to each other trying not to get drenched. I played patty cake with the girl sitting across from me ;)

We arrived at Wanhatti around 5:00pm and got off the boat just steps from my house to be! Honestly it'll take your breathe away the view from my front door. It's straight up river and jungle. The pathway to the village is slightly away from the front of the house so people are walking by, but not close enough that they are in my 'space' if you will.

House:
It's an actual houselike house. Concrete floors, and wooden walls.
The radio station (it's one room) shares an area of the house. Tiny but I'm use to tiny.
Electricity CAN come on sometimes from 7-11pm
I have a bedroom!! So I can get a bed and not have to sleep in my hammack! (someone send me some sheets -- this made me sooo happy!! I have room for a bed!!) Bedroom is about the size of my bathroom in Chicago, but I'm SOO excited!
Currently there are bats living in the walls of the house, and wasps were making a hive in the corner...cockroachs the size of my plam were running a round, and a toad hopped in a few times ;)

The village and the people:

There are about 200 people total. Everyone works in the bush, they are huge gardeners. Watermelon is a favorite crop. Everyone's plots are huge, each family has at least one plot. No smaller then the size of a football field. Plots are set back in the jungle and you MUST wear boots and carry your machette. They are extremely hard workers. The men also do a lot of net fishing. It's the most traditional village on the river. Heathens is what the missionary called most of the Maroon people, I about wet my pants when I heard that. There is the Moon house and spirit strings on children. I met one pregnant lady who was covered in a healing wash (she smelled of rum and herbs and had a cracked egg on her head)
There is also a 'dead house' where they place the body of the person who has died - (they embalm them) and they party and play music and celebrate their spirit. There are things called Wintees. You 'catch' a wintee and it causes you to shake uncontrolably, talk in tongues, and basically freak the f-out. You are considered posessed by evil spirits, and have to go to the medicane man if this happens.

Mi kissie fishie fu yu!

The next morning of my stay the captian (he's the the highest of high to repect in the village - nothing happens in the villlage without his consent, kinda in a premative way of a major) came knocked on my door....I opened it and he shoved a plate with three LIVE fish, still gasping for breathe at me. You have to accept gives like this, especially from the CAPTIAN. So I took them and thanked him a bunch. I promptly put those fish in a bucket and filled it with water.

I had no idea what to do with those guys!

Next up a 12 yr old girl came to give odie. She sat down and we spoke in my limited langauge - I love that girl (I can't remember her name for the life of me) but she's awesome. (she would follow me through the village carrying a chair, everytime I stopped she would put down the chair for me to sit in....I felt strangely worshipped...) She asked me for the fish that the captian gave me, You don't even want to know how much she laughed til she cried when I showed her the bucket. She was completely confused. I did my standard response, smiled and laughed. We grabbed them out of the bucket and she took them away.

She came back 10 mins later, and they were cleaned and gutted. She hands them back to me again. Then she ran off to do her chores.

Geezz, now what do I do with them!? I don't have a fridge (or electricity) so I was like 'Thank you soo much for cleaning the fish!' It was 9:30am and I have raw dead fish in my house. I put another plate to cover them, and promptly left the house to visit with the village!

I got up to the group of women who are kinda like the leaders of the womens group. They are laughing at me. (shocking again) and have me sit down, and want me to braid their hair. Me braiding hair is usually always a disaster, but it helps to intergrate...we all get a kick out of it.

Then they lead me over to help them make cassava bread. Again there is a ton of laughter and then are loving the fact that I'm trying to flip (baaka baaka) the bread on the hot iron covering the wood fire. It was sooo hot, and smoke got in my eyes, my nose started running...it was a wonderful mess. I love these ladies! They just smile at me and cheered for me, as I flipped the bread and it went everywhere ;)

Rain came - and I headed over to meet Sa Besty. Instantly I knew I would love her. She's over 90 yrs old and cynial. She has a pet parrot named Maria. Sa Betsy -- while I was visiting her a Chinese man came on a motor scooter (I'm still trying to figure out how he got there) to sell clothes. She calls out to him, and actually did buy a blouse - as he's leaving he did something she didn't like (I think he squashed a plant with his bike) and she screams out 'you chinese dog! You're mom's a pumpkin!

Sa Betsy is fiesty!

There is a girl also named Mariah in the village. The midwife named her, the village calls her Yolanda though..so there shouldn't be any confusion.

I spent July 1st there - it was the 145 year of Masipasi, (Suriname's independance day) It's a huge celebrating, everyone hands out sweets, kids have the day off of school, and there is dancing.

One of the women came to get me, and handed me a gift - a pangi! I got gifts of sweets and they dressed me traditionally for dancing that day.

I went to church first, where they sung songs, and celebrated - then outside we sat and ate.....Wanhatti has a band (Come Back Boys) and they pounded on those drums and sangs...and we danced and danced!! Our fearless Captian was all dressed up for the occassion. (He was wearing a Sea Captian's Hat.....ya, I'm serious) He likes the rum, and got himself hammered! His wife took him, and his chair home. It was a wonderful site to see.

Wanhatti and I are going to do just fine.

Last nite we partied our butts of here in the city - karoke and fun with the Sur 12's and 13's as the 12's are heading back home this month.

As always much more to tell you - but I'm running out of time.
If you guys think about it - I would LOVE deep conditioning conditioner, leave-in conditioner, a speaker for my ipod, Secret deorderant, more flip flops. Big Red or Flare gum, pepperment patties....and nail polish for my toes. ;)

Love and kisses!! More hopefully soon before I head out to finish homestay!