Baby Shower!!

Hey Everyone,

Another week has come by quickly and it brings me closer and closer to 18 full months in Guyana. I can't believe how quickly time is going by.

As you all know last week Sunday was Superbowl Sunday! Yay Giants! I went over to my co-worker Niall's house. He and his wife, Shereyln, were very great hosts to watch the game with! We ate hot dogs, chips and had beer to drink! :) What a perfect combination for the super bowl! We all realized just how much we all missed watching American Football! It was great to see some commercials from back home but unfortunately most of the commercials were not the original ones which was sad.

Monday was a holiday which was fun. One of my friends came over which was nice we just sat and talked and listened to music. After that it was a pretty rainy day so I decided to go over and hang out with my friend Andrew. We watched a movie called Real Steel which was AMAZING. I thought it was such a cute movie and I really recommend it.

It was so hard to go back to school after having a long weekend but it was worth it. I've really gotten into the hang of teaching and it isn't as stressful as it was before. I find it much more natural than before. This week we spent time going over different websites and pointing out how to find out if it is a credible site or not. Not all of the boys showed up so I ended up having a free period. Tuesday also happened to be African American AIDS awareness day. I talked about it with my class and they thought that it was unfair they had a full day for "black people" and AIDS because they said what makes us any different. I thought it was interesting that it was their first reaction. We talked about it some more and I think by the end the understood that it wasn't meant to be in a racist way. Those boys really make me smile with some of the questions they throw at me. If you ever want to have to think through something just bring it up to a bunch of teenagers and they will make you really explain it well.

Wednesday one of my co-workers and good friends from the hospital brought in lunch because it was her birthday. I think it's really cool that on people's birthday here in Guyana they often give away more than they expect. They are celebrating their life with you. It's a great thing to be more focused on giving rather than receiving.

On Wednesday I had a group of young adults come in to get free tests. They really make me laugh because their questions and concerns are so raw and uncensored. I really realize how genuine young people can be and I appreciate the joy it brings me. They admit their mistakes quickly and are able to laugh at them. I hope to always be able to laugh at myself. One young man told me how he believed the greatest problem in Guyana is that people are uneducated about HIV. I wanted to hug him and say thank you, someone else agrees!!!

Thursday is always one of my favorite days at school because I have a class that just loves to crack jokes and make me laugh. I always try and keep them on topic but somehow they end up asking me a question and distracting me to a topic that is COMPLETELY unrelated. This week in class they ended up getting me to talk about President Obama. I don't even know how we got there. They constantly make me laugh and I really look forward to teaching them. Afterwards some of the girls came up and helped me really do a deep cleaning of my room. I enjoy having the girls in small numbers because it's easier to talk with them. They ended up sitting there and playing with my hair because they all say I have "dolly hair". I don't mind!

Friday like always is chaos at the hospital and nothing was new with that. At one point in the day I had to take lunch so I escaped to another part of the hospital to eat quick or I knew it was never going to happen. It was one of the first days I really got to talk with my supervisor about everything that happened while she was gone. I am really glad to have her back because she is such a great mentor to me. On Friday someone came in and was talking to me about when I leave to go back to the states and as I was talking to them my boss said: "She's not going back to the states, I told them to not let her out of the country." Ahh I feel loved.

Today I came to Berbeice because one of my good friends sister is having a baby shower and she invited me. I ended up making the cupcakes for the shower from scratch!! I have kind of become a famous baker here for cakes, cupcakes and bread. I don't really know how this happened but I guess i'm glad for the fame. I took a break to quick come and write this blog because I wanted to post it before Sunday.

The one thought I have in my mind all week has come from this whole Catholic contraception dialogue. Now I'm not going to share my opinion but it has made me think. People were talking about how 98% of Catholic women use contraception. I said to myself okay fine, but that doesn't change what the church teaches. If all of a sudden all Hindu's started to eat beef - that wouldn't make it right - it just means they weren't following their faith. We all have free will, and so if someone doesn't want to follow the religion they proclaim that doesn't change the religion just the person. I think sometimes we are spoiled because we are used to democracy. Most religions aren't democracies because they based on the fact that their is some sort of absolute truth. I much more appreciate someone who finds out why a religion teaches something, understands why, and then chooses to disagree then someone who blindly disagrees because it isn't convenient for them. Many atheists who have done their research make fools of religious people who pick and choose what they like but have no reason for anything.

Life is too short to agree blindly and lack passion.

Love Always,

Ashley Ann