To begin, we had the opportunity to go with some friends to a place about 3 hours from where we live to enjoy a day of rest and relaxation, the name of the place, "Splashmins". Basically it's a water resort where you can swim, paddle boat, play volleyball and have cook outs. It does have a little beach but no one actually lays out and tans, everyone is there for the swimming. Here are some pictures of our day in the sun and the sand.
For some time we have been wanting to visit the area of Linden which is to the southwest of New Amsterdam about a six hour car/bus ride. The congregation in that area was having their Circuit Overseer visit and was hoping for some help with the interpreting, so Crystal and I finally got our chance to go. After a long day of traveling, which began by catching a car to Georgetown, upon arrival at GT you are overtaking by bus drivers trying to persuade you to get in there bus, if you are a first timer or a timid person this experience can be frightening to say the least. Once you commit to a bus then you sit on the bus (no A/C) and wait till they fill the bus which may take five minutes to an hour or more. Here is what you see when your waiting....
But once we finally got on the rode and arrived at Linden around 4:30, it was easy going after that. The congregation was very warm and friendly and the area of Linden was refreshingly clean and quite. They have a big Bauxite mining company in this area and some of the locals are Amerindian descent so it was neat to see the ethic diversity. The town sits on the edge of the Demerara river and has a small fleet of boats ferrying people to and fro across the river, on the Linden side you can feast upon the deliciousness of Churchs chicken and Marios pizza, which of course we did...twice. Here is a picture of Crystal near the boats.
As many of you know for foreigners you have to leave the country ever three months to renew your visa so this time we decided to visit Surniame. We left early Saturday morning for the Stellen (boat dock) to catch the ferry to Surniame. All went well and soon we were under way....
We traveled with some sisters who had never been to Surniame before, so the four of us stayed in a guesthouse near the Kingdom Hall in the town of Nickerie. There we enjoyed some shopping, eating and just laying around. We were hoping to travel into the capital, about a three hour road trip, but things did not quite work out so next time we hope to plan better and see more of the country. By the way if your planning on traveling to Suriname be sure to have U.S. currency instead of Guyanese, the exchange rate is much better and also remember when arriving in Suriname from Guyana the time is one hour ahead. One thing I appreciated about the area we were visiting was the overall cleanliness, in Guyana most of the waterways are filled with trash and the water itself is disgusting but here as you can see, it was just the opposite. Also check out the restaurant we ate at, somebody took a long time painting the walls every wall was painted like this.
Times have been good for us lately and our little world is spinning along just fine, but so many around us are in desparate need. Our neighbor recently ask for some assitance becauser they had no food in the house. We helped out best we could and the little boy who lives there was soon trying his best to make his own food contribution. The video below shows what he was able to do and it also provides you a glimpse of our place. Enjoy!
Yes, I did mention that we bought a motorbike. It's just a 125cc so we won't be winning any races but we feel it will help us to get around better and ease the physical demands put on our bodies. Some of the brothers and sisters are not very supportive of our decision because of the risk and possible injuries that could result in riding in this area but we are going to do our best to be safe. I hope that all will go well and Jehovah willing we'll keep stickin'round. We send our greetings to all.
Scott & Crystal
