October

October began with a Jhandi at Seeta's house.  Seeta is Aly's host "sister" and landlord.  She also lives across the street from Aly (I have talked about both of these ladies in previous posts).  Seeta has become like a second "mom/aunt/sister" to me and I have officially claimed her when Aly leaves (which we will not talk about).  Moving along...I was invited by Seeta to participate in the preparations for her Jhandi which is a big deal!  It is about a week long process of buying tons of food, preparing the food to be cooked, then cooking the food for seven curry.  I was able to make it on the Sunday before the event and clean callaloo (type of spinach) as well as roll out some puri. There's a saying, if you're puri is round, you are ready for a husband...I am not ready for a husband 😄

On Monday, I arrived early to help with setting up the wreaths (I made one!).  One of the aunties then dressed Aly and I for the event.  I was deeply moved by the invitation to be a part of the process as well as witness the beautiful occasion.  

As the Jhandi began and I noticed there were not many people in attendance, became concerned with the amount of food made versus those in attendance.  Turns out I had nothing to be worried about since part of the Jhandi is to give back.  Seeta wanted a small group around her but made enough food for at least 100 people.  The leftovers were packaged up and she, her husband and sons delivered it to a local orphanage in the area.  The more I learn about the Hindu religion, the more I love what it stands for and the people who believe.  I will only post a few pictures here.  The rest you can see on facebook.

Aly with the callaloo

Making puri

Not husband worthy

Aly and I

Ceremony

Wouldn't be a Jhandi without Seven Curry!

Aly, Seeta, and I

School has made it's way through a full month and I think I am getting in the swing of things.  I have started working with an area band once a week.  They are smart, talented, and eager to learn.  I mildly impressed them on my first day by actually knowing what I was talking about!  The way they learn is by ear.  This is truly a talent as they do not know the correct fingerings of their notes, but will guess until something comes out correctly!  Very impressive ears, but I helped them find the correct fingerings so it would make it easier for them.  They seemed grateful and it made me happy working with musicians again.  Since I have started working with them, I've attended a couple of their performances.  One was a church service at the New Amsterdam Fire Station and another was the Breast Cancer Awareness March (more about that below).  

As I talked with the director, he informed me the instruments were donated from a friend in New York but they are short of supplies such as valve oil.  This does not deter the students though who I hear practicing at random times throughout the town.  A few live by me so I can hear them clearly.  I am glad they have a place to play and learn music. 

It's school sports again!  This time it is Inter-School sports held at the Esplanade.  All the primary schools in and around New Amsterdam met on a hot, blistering day to compete in track and field competitions including running and shot put.  St. Therese's put on a great showing by walking away with 3rd place!!!

Ready to race!

Warming up before their turn

Because who doesn't need a donkey at sports day?

My girl Aly!  We've been spending a lot of time together lately!  She came over one Friday night and we cooked black bean burritos and drank beer!  We were eventually going to watch a movie, but we talked so much we never got to it before we passed out!

Rolling the tortilla with a vinegar bottle

Our special bean and cheese dip

As everyone in the world knows, October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  We celebrated this in New Amsterdam by participating in a March from the end of Stanleytown all the way through New Amsterdam.  It was a long walk but for a good cause.  I killed two birds with one stone as I marched with some teachers from my school as well as with the band I have been helping.

St. Therese's teachers

The cow was mesmerized by the march.

October is also the month Hindu's celebrate Diwali.  Diwali is the celebration of light and has many activities throughout the week.  One we participated in at school was making rangoli.  This is particular drawings filled in with colored rice.  Each grade level completed their own, then it was capped off by a performance including poems, songs, and a skit.  

And who can forget Halloween!  This holiday is not celebrated widely here but they do know about it.  A few of us NA volunteers and local Guyanese decided to dress up and attend a Halloween party at one of the local clubs.  It was nice to get dressed up and we definitely had fun!  We were all prepared for a Thriller dance competition (learned it in our workout class), but they waited until almost 2:30am to start it and by that time, most of us had gone home to crash....maybe next year.

My homemade butterfly costume

Sarah (bat girl) and Damaris (Mexican Gangsta)

Pinky (Killer Nurse) and Vanessa (Sexy Witch)

End of the night selfie!