I have a little friend!

Another week down...

The other day I was walking down the streets of Georgetown and I saw a man wearing all orange. His shades, shirt, shorts, hat and even his converse were orange. I laughed to myself and said: "That is something I will miss when I am back home". I continued to walk down the street and make note of things that would be different from back home.

There is the constant honking of the cars and mini buses which seems like it will never end. You have people sitting on the side of the road selling all sorts of odds and ends. As I was walking down the aunt of one of my students from last year stopped me and was asking me how I was doing. She told me how the girl was now pregnant and that she was due in August. I miss my girls from last year and wonder what the rest of them are up to. At least the one who is pregnant was one who gradutated so she has her certificate. 

I notice the people walking down the street selling different types of snacks. Green mangos that they have cut up that they would put hot sauce and salt on, a snack called chicken foot which is made out of flour and spices, a bag of freshly cut pine, platain chips and maybe even a tamrind ball. Tamrind is a sour syrup that they boil til it's thick and mix with hot sauce and then roll in sugar. Although it may not sound appetizing it grows on you and has even become on of Sarah's favorites.

I noticed all the garbage on the sides of the road and the cracks in the side walks. The fact that if you really stop and smell you can smell the dirty trench water flowing between the sidewalks and the street. It made me grateful for the fact that I have learned to overlook this eyesore and find the good amoung the rubbish.

As I was walking I reached the stoplight I looked across the road and I saw my boss with her grandchild. He 18 months old and absolutely loves me. His grandma pointed me out and immediately he began to laugh and smile. As soon as I was able to cross and go over her basically jumped into my arms and started laughing. I was grateful for the familiarity of people and common faces that I now see around the city. You really feel like you belong when you can't go out on the road without at least seeing one person you know or recognize.

It's the simple things in life that I've really been enjoying.

This week has been great because on Monday my boss brought her grandson to work because he had to go to the doctor. He really made me smile because as soon as he came into the office he ran and came to jump into my lap... Hmm if only I could bring him home!! He really is quite a handful so after he went to the doctor I spent a lot of the day walking around with him and keeping him busy. In fact I am pretty sure that he had me circling the yard about 100 times. :) In the afternoon he fell down and started crying, which luckily finally made him fall asleep. Unfortunately we really have no place to set him down so he had to sleep in my lap... :) By the end of the day my hair was a wreck, my skirt full of sprite and I had been fed a million biscuits because he wouldn't eat one if I didn't. :) Such a great day.

Two individuals who came to Guyana last year for a short term mission came back to spend another 10 days with the boys from the orphanage. Last saturday they had a fun day for the boys in which we spray painted t-shirts to look like they were tied dyed, played football, colored, blew bubbles and just had a overall amazing time. It really reminded me that there are so many people out there who are willing to help the orphans of the world. It gave me a second wind and a sunny disposition reminded myself that people do care, and people are still passionated about the world. Thanks Jeff and Meg for making me week! :)

Love and prayers,

Ashley Ann