Everything you wanted to know about life in Guyana

My sister emailed me to mention that I have not done any blog posts in August, so I figured I should do one right away.  Although I have thought of several to write, life here does not include the incessant internet use that made so much of my life in North America.  This is said to cover any lack of initiative or laziness on my part, and sounds so much better - noble even.

Sister did ask some questions which will be the basis of this blog.

The Rain -- We are moving into the 'hot' season [everything is relative] so it does not rain every day like it did when we came, but today we had what they call a 'white rain.' I think because it is heavy enough to make the air look white, not to mention that the whole sky is white as well.  Since most places on the coastal plain are barely above sea-level, and some not quite above high tide, a heavy rain means flooding.  The city is full of ditches which they call gutters, and like any gutter, they are intended to take the rain away.  But when it rains heavily, the water stretches from the one gutter to the other on the sides of  Lutheran Courts - surrounding the church with water and generally making a mess for about half a day or more till it subsides again and you can distinguish the gutters in isolation.

Gutters are not only the storm sewers, but they are the 'grey water' sewers as well.  While the toilets go into a septic system, the sinks and shower and laundry go directly into the gutters.  Gutters are often filled with weeds, grasses and even larger aquatic plants.  Surprisingly, either they don't smell bad or we have gotten used to the smell, because although the one gutter runs directly behind the house, we don't smell it.  But with everywhere being so close to sea-level, the water must run very slowly.

The Fresh Water system is quite simple:  Water flows by gravity from the 400 gal. black tanks (B) into the house [and, in our case, the church] for domestic use. The concrete reservoir holds about the same amount of water as the two tanks.  It is filled by rain water from the eaves of the house - much like prairie cysterns once were - and/or by the city water that comes in via the pump and pipe system (C).  The pump also allows for filling the tanks from the reservoir.  This is all a manual operation in that someone [that is, me] has to set up the pump and plug it in  properly either to pump from (A) to (B) or from the city main to either place.  City water runs three times a day for one to three hours each time.  Although 'natives' can generally drink this water, visitors can't and some natives don't, so there is quite a market for bottled water.  We use bottled water for drinking, but the piped water can be used for most cooking and washing.

What came as a bit of a surprise is that there is no water heater - other than the kettle on the stove.  Early morning showers can be quite cold, but by afternoon water sitting all day in a black tank can be quite warm.

Food -- The fruit pictured at the top of the page is Breadfruit.  It is cut from the tree by using a hook on a stick or a machette in the hand of a climbing person.  The hook is an iron knife on a long pole.  Since breadfruit trees can be 30 to 50 feet tall, with a long pole you can at least get the lower ones without climbing.  One of our favourite new foods is breadfruit. Not native to this part of the world it was brought to the Carribean as a cheap food to feed slaves.  It turns out that it is also easily grown, nutritious and tastes good.  There are many ways it is prepared, many of which are similar to potatoes.

Beside breadfruit, several fruits that are not exported and a few that are expensive in North America, are also available for reasonable prices at the local market, stores, or from street vendors, as are ones you would know like bananas, mangos, limes [usually key limes], oranges, etc. Many fruits and vegetables that are available here are not actually grown here.  Most root vegetables are difficult or impossible to grow here because they would rot in the ground, but you can find potatoes and carrots in the stores and markets.  In the Lutheran Courts are several trees and fruit bearing bushes.  In our garden [about 50' x 65'] we have two coconut palms, one mango tree, two pomegrate bushes, a guava bush, a 'five-finger fruit' tree [known to you as 'star fruit'], an orange tree,  two stands of banana trees, and a stand of 'soft' sugar cane [not the same variety that commerial sugar comes from], a passion fruit vine, and three pigeon pea bushes [a bean similar to navy beans], three different kinds of Thyme, plus a variety of flowering plants.  And the garden isn't half full.

Any of the items mentioned here can be further researched on the internet, but if there's some clarification needed, I am always here - leave a comment.

I'm ending here so as not to be overly boring.  Bits and pieces will continue to unfold about life in Guyana.

Peace.