Goodbye 2011 Hello 2012

Hello Everyone,

I am sorry that I had taken so long to blog, but the holiday season kept me busier than ever. I can't believe all the holidays are already over I feel like I haven't stopped moving in weeks.

Since I last left you i've had adventures making sugar cookies with friends, working long hours at the hospital and having orphan boys over at the house.

For Christmas we took three boys into our house Steve, Junior, and Joel. They came over to our house around 4pm on Christmas eve. That night I made chicken curry for dinner and we played with them. It's always really fun to have the boys around and now that we have had them over multiple times it becomes much easier. We watched one of our new christmas movie's that we bought for when the boys came over. One of the small boys Steve fell asleep on the floor. Everytime we tried to move him off the floor and onto the couch but he would just wake up, get up and go back on the floor. After a while we just decided to leave him. Silly boy! :)

Christmas morning we woke up around 6:30 and the boys were all ready to open up their presents. We had a great time watching them although I was quite groggy. After the boys finished opening up theirs we took our turn. I got a nice purse from Audrey, some stationary from Sarah and some nice black and white earrings from Meg. I was most excited about the purse because it's something i've needed for a really long time. We all got ready and took the boys to church Christmas morning. Church was pretty quite since most people go on Christmas eve. After church it was time for Sister Julie to pick up the boys and bring them to another ladies house so we could go eat lunch at the convent. We went over to the Meadowbrook convent around 12pm. All of the Sisters of Mercy in Guyana were there for the celebration. We had a wonderful lunch with ham, turkey, potatoes, macaroni, rice, cranberries, stuffing, and other random salads. It was a really great meal. For dessert we had plum pudding with rum butter. It's a really rich dessert but it was good.

After we came home the boys played with their toys and we took our turns relaxing and enjoying the day off. For dinner we ate a left over concoction that Sarah made. It was actually pretty good! :) Last year we had egg rice for Christmas dinner - so really I feel like anything could have been an improvement.

We woke up boxing day and spent the day playing with the boys. Around 3pm we ended up taking them downtown to the "Main Street Lime". This is when people go down to main street and hang out. They have different vendors selling this - food, drinks and trinkets. It was a good afternoon. They hadn't started selling all the much yet - but it was still good to take the boys for a walk. After that we took the boys back to Plaisance where the orphanage is which is about a 15 minute bus ride from where we were. We dropped Sarah and Meg off at home because our house is also along the route and then Audrey and I continued on the way. Meg and I were in the back with two of the boys and when Meg got off all of a sudden I was with the two small boys in the very back corner of the bus. Another lady came on and we were all squished. The boys seemed to enjoy it - :)

After we dropped the boys off Audrey saw a friend of hers. They asked us if we would like to go for a walk around the village the orphanage is in. It was quite an adventure walking around the area. I have to say that I am always reminded how much I haven't yet seen. We all kind of have the different areas that we know very well and I do not know the area around the orphanage well. It was a good adventure and a nice long relaxing walk after dropping the boys off. We were to go out with our friends later that night but we were all so exhausted that we decided just to go to sleep instead. We kind of felt like little old ladies. :)

For the past two weeks I have been working at the hospital all the time. I didn't actually take any time off when school closed because one of the social workers at the hospital left the job and it was down to two of us. In the week before and after christmas there were many days of working straight through lunch and then realizing I hadn't taken time to eat until about 2pm. It was very exhausting working so much but at the same time rewarding. I really had to remind myself to take my time with each patient when really I just wanted to rush through since there was a line outside my door which felt like it would never end. I have to say that I am so thankful for my co-worker Terese. She is in charge of pulling charts, answering phones and data entry. She was always very helpful and helps me to stay positive. Many people were in and out taking leave and doing their last minute christmas shopping so I always felt under tight constraints and she really helped me to stay positive. This past week one day everyone but four of us called in sick. I was secretary, social worker, free tester, chart puller, and id card maker all at once. :) What an adventure.

On the 30th the doctors at the hospital who work in the Hiv program bought us lunch. One of the doctors were thanking us for all the hard work and she said: "Now, I know we are all overworked and underpaid... but that's not the reason we do this". It really helped me to remember after two weeks of working hard that its not about my non existant pay check, or about the appreciation that other people give me - but rather that I am able to help someone else. Working before christmas is not easy, money is always an issue and dreary stories before christmas don't really bring much cheer. I reminded myself that we got to stay positive despite all circumstances because we just got to take the good with the bad.

New years eve around here always starts off with church that brings in the new year. We went to church in our neighborhood at 10:30 and were home by 11:45. We had a bunch of friends over after church for a small get together at our house. We played music, danced, ate cook-up, and had a good time. Eating cook-up rice is a tradition on "old years night" as the Guyanese call new years eve. I can say that by the time my head hit the pillow the sun was shining very brightly. Ahh the joys of being young.

I look forward to all that 2012 has to bring. I was talking to one of my friends about if the world is going to end in 2012, and if you believe it is I have a great idea. You can just send me all your excess money so I can do a little bit of good in case the world ends anyway. :) Ok?! LOL

The welcoming of 2012 was slightly awakening for me because this is the year that I go home. People would always ask how long I would be in Guyana and I would say I'm going home in 2012, and now... I say august. Ahhh.... hmm.... It's a good, scary, sad, and hopeful feeling all at the same time.

This past week school started back and I was glad to see my students. Although I was glad to see them it is very typical that many students don't show up until the second week so it was very laid back. We started to discuss about how there are so many things that we don't know about which we could find out about on the internet. They didn't believe me so I started to ask them questions about WWII. They knew absolutely nothing about WWII and were shocked at the stuff we could find. I felt like my Grandpa Jon would have been proud of my history lesson. :) Although, it was very simplified but at least they know that it happened.

At the hospital this week I was talking to a patient about the fact that no matter where you are in life or what your HIV status is you always have problems. She said to me: "Before I was positive I had man problems, when I became positive I had man problems, and when I became big I still have man problems" Big referring to being old in age. We all have problems, but I honestly think half of life is our attitude towards our problems. She reminded me half the battle is staying positive.

I am looking forward to this week ahead of me. I don't have any big plans coming up but am hoping that school this week the students will get back into routine and we will actually get some work done.

I am wishing you all a very happy and blessed 2012. Continue to keep me in your prayers as I continue to pray for my family and friends back home. Until next week.

All my love,

Ashley Ann