Little Man's 1st Visit to the Ocean

Views of the Atlantic from the sea wall...

Low carbon transport options...

Well, I don't think this will be Aidan's first swim in the Atlantic...but a good look may just motivate everyone to stop using plastic entirely. Bleh

You remind me of me

I just finished a great book by Dan Chaon: "You remind me of me". I haven't read a good one like this in a LONG time. It kept me up last night, and I finished it today, first chance. This passage, in particular, struck me...making me read it three times. Nora's in the midst of contractions, about to have a baby:

It's hard to believe this is how it's done. That this is how we get here into the world, by accident or design, the microscopic pieces of ourselves borne by fluids and blood and growing into a tiny kingdom of cells inside someone else's body. It seems so difficult to become alive. So improbable.

...How can it be possible? she wonders. How can you come to understand your life when even the beginning is so complicated: a single cell imprinted with the color of your eyes and the shape of your face, the pattern on your palm and the moods that will shadow you through your life. How can you be alive when every choice you make breaks the world into a thousand filaments, each careless step branching into long tributaries of alternate lives, shuddering outward and outward like sheet lightning.

Maybe it struck me because we've just started a new path in life,

maybe because having a baby myself makes me think more about how to learn from mistakes and lead a more meaningful life,

maybe because it's hard to understand your life as you live it.

Diana

Density

No, not destiny, as many of your cerebral cortexes may have led you to think you were seeing - I mean density, as in - according to Diana - the chief characteristic of the space between my left and right ears and just above my neck and below my scalp.  Why is Richard's first post entitled "density"?  That is a good question.  I suppose that after staring at a blank screen for about 5 minutes after being chided by Diana for the 7th time this week about not posting something on what is supposedly "our" blog, I am beginning to believe the slight.  At least, that is what came to mind.  Perhaps it's that, like my lovely wife Diana, I am a total neophyte at blogging -- but wait, I've just had an insight!  If blogging is the online, written equivalent of just spewing out of your mouth whatever is streaming through your consciousness without any filter whatsoever, then I stand a pretty good chance of being the world's greatest blogger in ... well, right about now.  Wouldn't you concur, Diana?

And now for something marginally different -->  

On Father's Day, Richard attempts to show off to Aidan how big and strong he is by swimming from one end of the Ambassador's pool to the other underwater.  The only monkeywrench in this brilliant plan is the, ahem, turbidity of the water -- let's put it at something between split-pea soup and a freshly pureed shooter of wheatgrass.  So I'm swimming underwater in what feels like a masterful performance when, as I begin to sense that my svelt, glistening, dolphin-like body must be only strokes away from my heroic destination, I - wait a minute, that was the wall!!!  Yes ... head, rather, face first.  Not feeling much pain, I gently check for any superficial damage, and sensing very little I exit the pool nonchalantly, hoping no one had noticed.  Well, that's when the blood started to flow.  Suffice to say that I was quickly introduced to the best Guyanese emergency medical services available ... which was a twenty-something doctor from Nigeria who really didn't feel like describing what in hell he was doing in Guyana and a nurse who, to put it charitably, was just going through the motions.  The tally - two stitches.  OK, let's dismount from this ridiculous vignette by saying that every foreign service officer has vivid memories of their first post; mine is a gash stamped indelibly right between my eyes!!!  What a debacle.

But it's been all uphill from there ...

Richard

Quality That's Simply Irresistible

I forgot the funniest morsel of all...one of the best selling local breads is Bakewell bread. So when someone asks me to spell the name, I just say, "like the bread", and then I get a very nice, knowing smile from the asker.

Diana 

... OK, I'm going to have to piggyback on this one.  So the bread is called Bakewell - yes, that is lovely.  Mom, Dad, Susan, Colleen, everybody else - we've finally made the big-time!  We're on a bread bag in Guyana!  Yeahhhhhhh!!!

Richard

More on Guyana

Some interesting morsels (and don't forget to click on the links to learn more):

• Eddy Grant is from Guyana. Sing with me: "We're gonna rock down to Electric Avenue, and then we'll take it higher..."

• to lime = to hang out

• They would like to forget about the Jonestown Massacre (leader Jim Jones); wouldn't you?

• ~42 Peace Corps Volunteers working in health and education/community development

• A common pastime in Georgetown is to lime on the sea wall in the evening. The sea wall spans almost the entire country on the Atlantic Coast. Guyana is below sea level, meaning that a sea wall is necessary to prevent flooding (although due to the poor infrastructure, floods are somewhat common, the last bad flood occurred in 2005). What's strange is that we live less than a mile from the sea, and I have yet to walk along the sea...and I'm a beach person!! My first 9 years were near the beach in Florida. I love everything about the beach: the sounds, the smells, the people watching, sand between my toes, laughter and sunshine. The problem: there is no beach. I feel the breeze from the ocean, but no sand..just murky water. There is beach farther up the coast where 4 different species of sea turtles lay their eggs, but not here. I want to take Aidan there.

• Guyana means the land of rivers (but Richard insists it's the land of many waters). What's here? the world's tallest single drop waterfall, Kaieteur Falls (yes, taller than Niagara), one of the few remaining pristine and biodiverse rainforests left (bordering the Amazon), with 100s of bird species. This can, and hopefully will, translate into ecotourism and bird watching tours, as long as they can keep it pristine and relatively untouched. We have to take a plane to get to the Falls.

• We'll be driving on the "wrong" side of the road...you know, being a former british colony and all

• Until last year, no traffic lights - I cannot imagine. The driving is scary here, and would be worse without traffic lights. The funny thing...the lights are solar powered...so as soon as they were installed last year, some crafty characters figured out how easy it was to take them down and sell them on the black market. They're getting better at locking them down now, but they consistently disappear...

I'm sure I'll be able to provide you with more morsels as I learn them!

Regarding the last post. I must add that it is a luxury to have a nanny even though I'm not working. We couldn't do it if we were in the States, financially speaking. However, it might just be the only thing that will keep me sane, as I just don't know that I'm stay-at-home full-time mommy material. I truly applaud all of those Moms out there. Especially single Moms. How do they all do it? My special monkey is well worth everything (I absolutely love the cuddly hugs he gives these days)...what Mom wouldn't say that? but it can be difficult, particularly if you are used to being rather independent for so many years. 

Enough on the Mommy front...maybe we'll have a Daddy post soon?!

Do I know how to blog?

Okay, so since I started this blogthing, I've been reading a lot of other blogs. I go to a few blogs that are written by friends, I read what they have written recently, and then I click on some of the blogs that they recommend. 

and I read, and read, and read...

and the first thing I think is, how do these individuals have so much time to blog (and most of them have kids)? as well as read other blogs and make comments about them?

I can barely get myself together enough to take a shower when that little toddler is asleep (right now!)...and btw, I haven't taken that shower yet!

so the next thing I think is, do I know HOW to blog? I read some posts that are so insightful, so funny...you feel as though you can almost get into the mind of someone else....of course, they are choosing what to write and post, and I believe you can never really know anyone completely, but you do understand a different part of someone by reading what they choose to write about. 

So, do you understand me any better? My insecurities then come to the surface...will you like me less? I don't want to sit here and write about the blah blah mundane...but I want it to be interesting...in the end, we all want to be liked...loved, right? is that too cliche? To those serious expert bloggers out there, is this the way to blog? 

btw, I think I've found a nanny for 3x a week. I'll still be here a lot of the time, but that will give me time to not only do some consulting work (I hope), but also write some meaningful blogs (maybe?!).  And get all those things done that I thought I might get done before leaving DC.  and we'll have the nanny on saturday, so maybe Richard and I can go out for Saturday brunch dates! Now that is exciting! 

Dr. Seuss

From there to here,

from here to there,

funny things

are everywhere.

-from "One fish two fish red fish blue fish"

One of the joys that I've rediscovered from having a child is Dr. Seuss. You grow up with a fond memory of his books, but only remember certain phrases...or maybe the most vivid memory has to be The Grinch. Here's a book that I know I read a thousand times as a child, yet didn't remember the very adult message that is always present in his books. You read the same books over and over again to your child, and Dr. Seuss is one of the few that you don't get bored with...at least I don't!

So what are the funny things here? Richard might be a better person to tell you than I, as I haven't been out too much. Without a car or nanny yet, it's a bit difficult. I think what strikes me the most is the interesting blend of cultures here. There is a small population of amerindians (native to the area), but most of the population is split between those with african heritage who were brought here by the British as slaves, and those with heritage from India who were brought here as indentured servants after slavery was abolished. So, my immediate thought is, what food does that give us? You can find good chicken curry and roti (in between naan and pyllo dough), as well as juicy tomatoes and lovely bananas/plaintains and mango. Butternut squash is also a staple, and one of the produce that they are promoting for export. While I have heard that there is tension between the two main groups, so far it seems that it is political in nature. Everyday folks seem to get along just fine, although I haven't lived here long enough to perceive any underlying tensions. Richard might be able to fill you in more, as he's been working the consular window on a daily basis. Here's a good site, to give you a flavor of the culture, and what looks like a very fun festival, some of which will be held very close to our house: www.carifesta.net/x/home.php

Although I haven't been out a whole lot on my own to explore, we have been fortunate to have been invited to quite a few get togethers and events. So far we've been to brunch, I've been to a playgroup with Aidan, walked in the National Park (very small with manatees in a little pond - more on that later), I went out one night without Richard with some of Richard's coworkers, Richard found a sitter to take me out with some coworkers for my birthday, we've been to a little girl's (Chaiya) 1st birthday party, and we hosted Aidan's 1st birthday party on Sunday. We also just got back from the 4th of July party at the Ambassador's house. So, meeting everyone and trying to remember names and affiliations!

I can't quite believe Aidan is one. I go back and forth between wanting him to start walking and talking, while not wanting to give up "the baby".  I presume that is the nature of being a parent, and will be for the rest of my life!  I think he's on the verge of talking...he ALWAYS wants to know where Maggie is and Maggie then has to hide to avoid the grabbings. He was waving goodbye and I think said "bye bye"...but haven't heard it again so I'm not quite sure. He gives the most delightful hugs to us and to his stuffed animals when I tell him to give one a hug. He is the most precious little being in the whole wide world :)