Surprise Night!

Hey there,

Well, our leaders asked us 2 weeks ago if we wanted to chip in some money for a surprise that they wanted to plan for us. Of course we all did, so we pitched in what we could and then last night was the surprise. We were out doing evangelism and stuff in the afternoon and when we came back to the camp at 6pm we were told to get ready, elegant, but casual and we were invited to eat in the dinning hall called Chateaux something or other really fancy. So we quickly got ready and were happily surprised with a beautiful dining hall all candle lit and wonderful with a beautiful spread etc. We then got served drinks, I had a Greek Frape and later a Pina Colada (virgin of course) and then we were served dinner. A mandarin salad, a huge plate of food including mashed potatoes, garlic bread, stir fry, corn, beef and yes Dad, HAM! Then we had 2 desserts both extremely delicious. All I have to say is that I'm definitely not used to eating all that rich food and so much of it so I had a huge stomach ache after, but it was well worth it. Afterwards we watched a little slide show of our group created by Caleb and then got in the van and were taken to another surprise!

Oh, at my place at the dinner table, on my name card they had written. "We love you because you always have a secret stash of food." It's sooooo true. If anyone knows me you will know that I have food around all the time...just in case I'm hungry!

So after the amazing dinner and slide show we were shipped off to Atlantis on Paridise Island. For those of you who don't know...Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen did one of their movies on this resort! It is HUGE! There is a waterslide that goes through the shark tank. They are tons and tons of tanks and undergrown walkways where you see the animals. All types, sharks, eels, sea horses, fish, sting rays, jelly fish etc. It's really cool. We went at night because in the day you have to have wrist bands and stuff. It was a lot of fun, but a really really late nite. I got to bed around 2 am which is late for me these days as I usually go to bed around 9-10pm. Anyways once I get home and salsa dancing again, I'm sure it'll all change!

So anyways, it was a nice surprise and we had a good time. I cannot believe tomorrow is my last day on the island and then back in Canada! CRAZY!

The Orphanage

Hey there,

Yesterday we went to the orphanage and played with the toddlers for a couple hours and then when the school aged children came home from school we did a little program with all our funny skits and a little Bible story and a song. It was a really fun time. Then the kids sang us a song. It was beautiful. I got to hold an 8 week old baby which was I loved. The kids were all so cute. It's so sad that more people aren't adopting these children. They are all so special. I had posted pictures, but then found out we are not allowed to do that (of course!).

April

In town, Nassau, Bahamas

Hi there,

Well, here are some pictures of when I have been in town. We got dressed up to go out for lunch the other day at the Hard Rock Cafe. That day it rained like crazy as we were shopping and we got SOOOOO wet. The road was seriously totally flooded and the cars had to plow through the water. It didn't even rain that much at that time, but the water just piled up. I had to go barefoot because I kept loosing my sandals in the river rapids that were flowing down the street!

Another day Johanne, Lanaray and I took some fotos in a nice area after a great time at the beach. It was fun!

Oh, and the crazy looking creature? That is some sort of Bahemian Junkanoo I think it's called. I don't really understand it, but they have parades and stuff with people dressed like that.

Take care!

April

Pirates and Wigs

Hey there,

Well, in the Bahamas there are tons of pirate souvenirs and a museum and stuff. So we got some pirate pictures and then there's one with me in a headlock? Is that what you'd call it? They alos sell a lot of wigs here and people use them all the time. So much easier than having to do your hair everyday. So a bunch of us girls went to go check them out. It was a lot of fun! I think I'll stick to my blonde hair for now, but what do you think? Should I cut or die it? I don't know... jajaja

Lata,
Apes

Conference in Bahamas

Hi guys,

Well, our first week in the Bahamas was filled with preparing for a conference that was to happen on Saturday. The founder of YWAM came out to speak. His name is Loren Cunningham he is there in a photo with me. He is a very inspiring man. There is a picture of a bunch of us at the conference and then one of me and Johanne all dressed up for the conference. Finally a reason to put on makeup and nice clothes! jajaja. The only thing is that it rained that day and not too many people showed up. We had a lot of extra food, but there were no problems with that really because our group just ate it all weekend.

So when we arrived we were happy to hear that there was a beach only a 15 min walk from our camp, but the first day we arrived we realized it was not that great of a beach. It was only deep enough to get our knees wet. You could walk for miles before it got deep. Then the next time we went out there we found no water at all for a really long time. I guess the tide had gone out. So it's not that great of a beach, but the one in town is a better, so sometimes we make our way over there.

Enjoy the pics.

April

More Guyana

Hey

So here are the last bunch of pics from Guyana. Well, I actually have many more, but for now I will post these. The one with the sign says "Any time is breastfeeding time. Breastfeeding from Mother beats all other." There are signs all over Guyana even into the interior about breastfeeding. You even see them on the highway like this one in the picture. I also learned to make roti and Indian dish and I bought one of their special irons so I hope to make it when I get home. I said previously that I preached a message, this is me in the Anglican church standing at the golden eagle pulpit. No, I didn't actually preach there, but it would've been really cool. The church is beautiful, the tallest free standing wooden structure in Guyana, I think. It's also 113 years old. There is also a picture of us girls mixing cement on the Parika YWAM base. I don't know why the guys were standing around, but we women were working hard! I'd seen this being done in Guatemala all the time with the houses that we were building, but in Guyana I actually got a chance to mix the cement. HARD WORK! Lastly, there is a picture of a home down our road after a days worth of rain. It rained a lot when we were there and I totally understand now why houses are on stilts. The whole road had water up to the houses, the ditches full and everything. It rained so much in such a short time. Rainy season!

Well, I have tons more pictures, but I think that's all I'll post for Guyana for now. I am currently in the Bahamas. Actually I've been here a week already. It's nice, but I haven't seen it to be as beautiful as some of the other countries I've been too. It's very touristy and Americanized that's for sure. But I have been getting my fair share of Starbucks, Hagen Dazs and other ice creams which is nice!

Random Guyana photos

Hey,

So here are a bunch of interesting pics. They range from me trying on wigs in Georgetown. They definitely don't work for me because my hair is too blonde at the front, but it was a fun time. There's me preaching my message about loving your neighbour and the story of the Good Samaritan. There is also a picture of us on the boat on our way to a little resort where we served lunch to Mothers on mother's day. On the way over though it poured rain on us. It was crazy because it was like we suddenly drove into this wall of rain, we were soaked. Then there is a picture of me and my Shakira hair after I took out my braids that I had in for over 2 weeks! Also there is a picture of a typical home in the Guyana interior. They are all built on stilts for when it floods.

The river near our home was actually very brown and a bunch of us girls would go swimming there instead of showering when we were low on water. We'd just wear our clothes in and then decided we wouldn't need to wash them, they'd be clean after. Well...this worked until we found bug bites all over our skin and one of the girls came down with an intestinal infection. We stopped swimming in the "black water" as locals call it after that.

Swampy travels

Hi guys,

Here are some more interior pictures. You will see the outfit that I practically wore everyday in the interior. The brown skirt and green t-shirt. Our whole group was sooooo raunchy after that week, a pastor actually gave us some new clothes because most of us had tank tops and stuff, but we had to wear skirts and sleeved shirts. Oh well, it all turned out alright! :P

There are also pictures of the church we went to which was in the jungle. We had to take a boat from Kumaka to another area and then hike a little over land and then a swamp to get to the church. The swamp was really tricky because it was getting dark and we had to walk across the logs. It was even more challenging for the guys as they were carrying our heavy generator and sound equipment. We all made it though, and then had a wonderful service with the congretation who were wonderful and totally welcoming to us. You could tell they really loved to worship the Lord. I think that was my most favorite church. We had the service in the evening so on the way home it was pitch black. There was no electricity or lights or anything so we had to trek back again over the swamp on the logs in the dark with little flash lights. It was a huge adventure. We did see the tarantula at that chruch which was also cool.

Interesting Creatures in the Jungle

Hey,

Ok, imagine giving birth in this room. It's the maternity room at the hospital in the interior. The village is called Kumaka, Moruka. We stayed in a soon to be Amerindian Hostel which means it is a place where the Natives in Guyana can stay in when they are seeking treatment or their families are seeking treatments at the hospital. Some people have to fly in and out of their villages, so it can be very expensive.

Well, while we were in the interior we saw a bunch of cool animals, monkeys, aligators, tarantulas, a Tucan and weird caterpilars etc. Then there's me. I can be a little interesting at times as well! :P

Guyana

Well, aside from the luggage mishaps, when we arrived in Guyana we were super blessed because we thought we would not have electricity, a bed, or water in the building we were staying in. God totally blessed us because the day before we arrived, the electrical, water and bunk beds were put into our dorm room!!! No sleeping on the floor and we could use our mosquito nets!!

So the first week we had lectures and the second week we went for our outreach to the interior. It was a LONG trek to get there. 2 boat rides, one 1/2 an hour, then an hour drive and then a 2 hour boat ride from one river, along the ocean coast onto another river. It was a lot of fun. On the second river we passed many Amerindians using their only mode of transportation, little canoe style boats which looked very unstirdy, but they seemed to know how to use them. Actually one time (I felt really bad about this) our boats wake made a little canoe boat flip over that had little girls in it. I don't understand how mothers can just let their babies sit at the front of the boats and just paddle at the back without life jackets. I guess it's just how it's always done. I did sleep on the floor in the interior and had to have a mosquito net as they have malaria there, but luckily none of our group members got it. You can see my Tortuga (Turtle) pillow there, helps make my bed feel more homely!

The interior was incredibly beautiful. The water in all of Guyana is brown though, even the ocean coastline is brown, none of the beautiful tourquise water, but that's because of all the rivers that flow into the ocean and all the silt and stuff.

I must admit I have never sweat so much as in Guyana and not been able to get clean as in Guyana. My feet seem to have permanent black spots on them. It rained practically every day which just created mud all over the place. But that gave us water to shower with so once we were out of the interior at least we could shower. Now in the Bahamas, we even have WARM water, but I still can't seem to get my feet clean!!!! I'm in definite need of a pedicure.

Arriving in Guyana without luggage SUCKS - A RANT

Hi Guys,

Well, it's definitey been a long time since my last post so I am going to catch up with my month in Guyana. We took a fligt with a company called Liat and I will tell you NEVER EVER use this airline. It was the worst possible airline I have ever taken, the service was aweful, but to make things even worse when I arrived to check my bags which I thought I could have 2 of 50lbs each like any other airline they said I had to pay for my second bag which was 25lbs because my big bag was 50lbs. I had to pay $50US. I was so angry because our group didn't know this before hand and I new that according to previous standards I had extra space so I started packing things for others to make my bags heavier. But then I ended up having to pay $50US for stuff I didn't even need to bring. Anyways, I was quite angry at the line, but then on the plane the service was aweful and the attendant super rude. BUT...to make matters worse, when we arrived in Guyana...thank the Lord we all arrivde safely, but 11 of our bags did not come with us. I was SUPER upset because they made me pay extra and then they didn't even bring all my bags, only the small bag. This was very frustrating for me as well as the others on my team. So we waited at the airport for A LONG time to find out what would happen and they said they would come later that nite or the next day. So the next day a couple people had to go back to Georgetown which is about an hour drive away to get them, but again they didn't all come in the first flight so they waited ALL day long until all the bags arrived. WOW! It was really annoying, but thankfully we got all our stuff. I just want to let you all know though, that I would NEVER ever recommend this LIAT airline to anyone EVER in the future.

So here are a couple pictures of us in the airport and then there is also a picture of the longest floating bridge in the world which crosses a large river.

Island Tour and Braids!

Hey Guys,

I got braids done! Kezia from the base did them for me they turned out really well! At least I think so! We also went on a tour of the island and I put in a few pictures to show the beauty of the coast. It's amazing because on the Atlantic coast the waves are huge and crazy, but on the Caribbean coast, they are so tame and calm. It's amazing what an amazing imagination God had to create our world and each country just so beautifully. I also have a picture in there of sugar cane, the crop that is grown in the area that I'm in. The sugar down here is awesome as I hear the rum is as well, but I haven't tassted it!

Anyways, tomorrow I am leaving for Guyana. Home to the Amazon Jungle which we will be living in! We will be in Parika for three weeks and the interior for one. It should definitely be an adventure of a lifetime. I don't think I'll have much communication until the Bahamas at the end of May, but if I'm lucky and get a chance, I'll send out an email and let you all know how it's going.

Miss you all!

April

Sean Paul Concert on the Beach in Barbados!

Hey Guys,

Well, last Sunday we had a wonderful time on the beach at a Sean Paul concert! We were chilling at the beach listening to the Dj's and whatnot until Sean Paul came on. At this time we were trying to figure out a way we may be able to sneak in. We didn't have the money to buy a ticket and figured it could be fun. We had no luck though so we decided we'd just hang on the beach and dance to the music. We were however trying to get pictures with our cameras through cracks in the tent where the concert was being held. It was really crazy though because Erin, Catherine and I were the only white girls on the entire beach with all the Bajan's smoking up and drinking. All the tourists were inside the tent watching the concert because they bought the tickets. Anyways, Maxi Priest was the first band on and during their performance the people outside, right by us cut a tear in the tent to see through. They also started pulling down the walls and stuff to peek over. Every time the police came by though, they'd quickly put the tent wall back up. Anyways, once Sean Paul came on though, there was no stopping it, everyone went crazy, tore down the tent all and trampled their way into the concert. Of course, we joined them. It was a good time. I mean, I'm not super crazy about Sean Paul or anything, I like his Reggae music, but just watching him on the beach in Barbados was super cool!

Cya!