Change is'a coming..

They same some things will never change. In Guyana I think change is what some never want, but it is coming.  At the end of this month a new president will be put in office and some fear things will not go well. For us it could either be helpful with regard to our visa's or it could bring a premature end to our stay, time will tell.  We're not overly concerned about how things will change, truthfully I imagine things here will pretty much stay the same, so our intent is to keep doing all we can till we can't do no more.  

At the beginning of this month our 90 visa was up and we needed to leave country in order to have it renewed so we decided to visit Trinidad for a few days and that was a very nice change.  Trinidad is modern and mostly clean country with many of the same stores and "goodies" found in the US.  While there we had the opportunity to visit the Branch office and go to a Sign Language meeting, (they have 3 congregations on the island) all of which we thoroughly enjoyed.  Here are some pic's...

While visiting the island we stayed with a sister and her family, they rolled out the red carpet for us and made us feel very much at home.  I personally loved their backyard and spending time walking through it with "granny" and listening as she told about each of the trees and the fruit it bore, I could have spend hours in that place and in her company, her name is Sheila.

As you can see Crystal only arrived after the fruit had been gathered, some things never change.  The weather did not cooperate with us when we were there and so we did not get a chance to visit the mountain areas but we did manage a drive by and these pictures give you an idea of the landscape.  We are hoping to return sometime next year and have more time to explore.

Since we're discussing the idea of change, one thing that remains the same here in Guyana is the constant existance of large animals in all corners of society.  No matter where you go you will probably find yourself sharing that space with some large domestic creature.  Recently one such animal has decided to bless us with his presence on a daily basis, if we leave our front gate open for just a brief moment he will make a straight path to our yard.  I have had to sternly talk with him "eye-to-eye" and escort him from my green pastures on many occassions.  Well, since he is such a regular visitor, we decided upon a name for him, "Rambo", see if you can figure out why?

In New Amsterdam the city does not offer much in the way of recreational opportunities.  But, one thing that is does have is a local swimming pool.  It's not much just a large rectangle with "kinda" clean water in it.  There isn't any lounge chairs or nice amenties to facilitate your every whim, but it's cheap, refreshing and simply a nice change.  We had a large group meet at the pool after Saturday service and a good time was had by all.  In the pictures you'll notice some other white folk, they were visiting for a month and will hopefully come back again soon, they live in Sarasota, FL, so some of you may see them at the assembly. 

If you look closely at the first picture in the center at the top, hanging on the edge of the pool is me, (that's my camio appearance in this blog).  As most of us know the bible states clearly that the scene of this world is changing, (1 Cor. 7:31) whether we want it or not it's coming.  Crystal and I are happy to say that the changes we have experienced in our lives because of moving here has helped us to see that the world is in need of a serious make-over, may all of us stay poised for future events that will lead to most significant change ever to face mankind, the ushering in of Jehovah's new world. (Dan. 2:44). 

We look forward to seeing everyone when we come home in February, till our next blog.  Be safe and keep on the watch for Rambo, he may be coming to your yard next. 

Scott & Crystal

House Pics!

Let me start off by apologizing for the brevity of this blog. It's been a crazy week and just no time to write a proper blog full of news and poetry. That being said, I do want to at least get some pictures up. We have been promising pictures of the new house for some time now, so I at least wanted to get these posted before we leave for Trinidad. Yes, our 90 day visa is up and we must leave the country for a couple of days before we can return for another 90. Sadly we must visit a beautiful tropical island in order to fulfill Guyana's visa requirements (sniff). You can tell I'm greatly saddened at this prospect :)

You have probably noticed up to this point that Scott has been writing all of the blog postings. He told me after the last post that it was my turn. I so wanted to write more, but for now this is all the time I have to get this posted before we leave. I do promise pictures of our trip to Trinidad in the next blog. Until then these will have to do.....

They call this a "flat house", since most houses here are built on stilts. The yellow rope you see hanging is where I hang my hammock in the afternoons.

The Living Room (You can pretty much see the basic layout of the house dining/kitchen in the back, 2 bedrooms and bath off the living room to the right)

This desk and chair was made by one of Scott's Deaf students.

Ditto for this table and chairs

The Kitchen (The tennis racket you see hanging on the wall is actually a very effective bug zapper-a must have here in
Guyana.)

The Guest Bedroom (Here you can see the window screens that Scott had to make himself)

Our Bedroom

The Bathroom has a large standup shower.

I'm so proud of our real American closet! It has built in drawers and shelves. Most people here don't have a closet, they just fold all thier clothes on a shelf or buy a small wardrobe.

I just had to include these last two pics of Scott doing yard work. For those of you that know Scott, you know this is his "passion" and yes, he does still sweep the yard!

As promised before, we will have a more detailed blog up by next week sometime. Until then, just think of us in Trinidad and know we are having a good time!