Culture Shock by Laura Davidson- September 22 2016

As I scrub the shower with familiar Lysol cleaner, I could imagine that I was in the states, but the loud kettle drum band practice from the high school across behind the house, bursting through the glass slat window, reminds me that I am in fact in Guyana.

I hear a small aircraft flying over the house. My heart leaps and dies all in the same beat. Edwin will be arriving in a small aircraft, but Edwin is not in that aircraft, not today. It's so hard not knowing when Edwin will arrive. I miss him so much! My heart feels like I have been here in Guyana for months, but we only just arrived day before yesterday.

On Tuesday, my Dad, Kathryn and I arrived at the Miami airport, we finally found a parking spot on the roof of the parking garage. Sweat immediately started dripping from our faces as we got my luggage ready and address tags put on. My Daddy got a text from James Ash, but it was too bright for him to read it. I got a call from Edwin, my phone was so hot it was uncomfortable to hold it up to my ear. "James is trying to get ahold of your Dad," Edwin told me, "Joy accidentally took her Moms computer instead of her own. James wants you to get the laptop that she has so that your Dad can bring it back up to James at Collegedale."
"Ok, I will see if we can do that." I told Edwin.

My Dad and I were trying to figure out how to transport three large 50lb suitcases, two carry on size suitcases  a large back pack, a small backpack and the car seat in its gate check bag. We were struggling. "Where are you headed?" An airport employee asked. "We are flying Caribbean Airlines." We told him.
He kindly told us that we were headed to the wrong elevator and that we were at the wrong end of the airport. "You can get back in your car and drive over there, or you can go to the terminal and walk, but it's a good half mile!"

The biggest snafu was that the car seat was almost impossible to get in and out of the gate check bag and hard to get in and out of the car. I opted for walking, which turned out ok, but ended up taking a lot longer then expected. Thankfully there was a friendly TSA worker that was headed that way, who happily helped with our luggage and answered our questions.

Miami has moving walkways which was convenient. Kathryn had been walking along with her little back pack on, like a little trouper. She even bravely tried to get on and off of the moving walkways on her own, but by the second one she lost her balance and fell. Big tears ensued. I carried her the rest of the way.

Several times along our way, we heard over the loud speakers. "Joy Ash, Joy Ash, please pick up the closest service phone for an important message."

The ticketing area for Caribbean Airlines was empty, the plane was already starting the boarding process. My heart sank. At least I didn't have to wait in line! The ticket agent said with surprise, "You are returning March 21?"
"Yes Ma'am"
"Do you have a visa?"
"No ma'am, I am planning to apply for one once I get there."
"Just a minute," the lady said as she walked away. "The country doesn't let you stay that long."
My heart sank "Lord, please work a miracle!" I whispered.
Meanwhile Kathryn was asking for raisins.
The ticketing agent returned, and without saying anything, continued processing my checked bags. Praise the Lord!
There was an elderly employee looking over the younger ticketing agents shoulder and leaning against the counter, she started mumbling and complaining about something. Finally she spoke up, "you have too much to carry on, AND the baby, that's too much, you can't handle all that."
"I will be ok." I said, trying to sound confident. I had already asked for a gate pass for my Dad so he could help me get to my gate, they had said it wasn't an option.
The elderly lady was still mumbling, "But what if there is an emergency, you have too much stuff there to carry, AND the baby, she can't handle it all." She said, trying to convince the younger lady.
They both looked at me.
"Well, what are my options?" I asked.
"You can check one of your carry ons."
"Would it cost me extra?"
"No"
"Ok, yes please, check this one please!"
Praise the Lord, one less thing to juggle. They had already checked the car seat as well.
With the paper work all done and Kathryn sitting on the remaining carry on suitcase, happily eating her raisins and being pulled by her Dado (my Dad) we rushed in the direction the lady told us we needed to go. And then we saw it. The horrendous line for security. It was time to tell my Daddy goodbye, so hard!!! "I will stay right here for an hour so I can receive the laptop, if you can get it from Joy." He said.
We entered the line waving to my Dad several times. I called Edwin crying that I was afraid I was missing my flight. He helped me calm down and reminded me that I really did still have an hour before the plane was scheduled to take off. There was a gale force rain storm blowing outside complete with thunder and lightning. I prayed that the storm would delay the flight if need be.

The line proved to be much faster moving then it had first appeared. We made it through security with Kathryn happily eating her raisins. No complications other then "Oh no, raisin!!!" As Kathryn grabbed for a dropped raisin just as we were trying to gingerly walk through the metal detector. The TSA worker only smiled as I apologized.

Soon we we had our shoes back on and we were heading to gate J10. After a much needed bathroom stop, we arrived to our gate and saw that maybe half of the passengers had already boarded. Glancing around quickly I could tell that Joy and her girls were not in sight.

I called Edwin to tell him we had made it to our gate, but Joy must have already boarded. "When you enter the plane, ask a flight attendant where Joy Ash is sitting so you can get the laptop from her and hand it to an airport employee to take to your Dad." Oh no, Kathryn was barefoot, where were her shoes! Big sigh of relief, they were only a few feet behind us in line. As I was getting Kathryn's shoes back on, I heard my name. I whirled around and there was Joy and her girls!!!! I gave her a big hug and we both said, "I am SO glad to see you!" She had been worried that I wouldn't make the flight. They had been in a nearby restaurant, that's why I hadn't seen them when I first came up. But it seemed like a miracle that she had appeared!

"Do you know about the laptop mix up?" I quickly asked Joy.
"Yes," she said hanging her head, "I accidentally got my Mom's laptop instead of mine."
"Well we have been talking to James and he wants you to give your Mom's laptop to my Dad who is waiting for it at security. My Dad will take it back to TN and give it James, so he can get it back to your Mom!!!" I said as fast as I could. Joy immediately went into high gear, "But I don't want to miss this flight!!" She said.
"No, hand the laptop to a TSA worker and tell them to take it to David Dence, security knows he is waiting for it."
"Watch the girls." Joy said as she ran
toward security.
After proper introductions were made between the little girls, I called my Daddy and told him Joy was headed his way with the laptop. "Hang on, here she comes now!" He said.

The rain had delayed the loading of the luggage onto our aircraft, so the personal weren't in any hurry and where happy to wait until Joy returned. We didn't have long to wait and soon we were all safely in our seats on the airplane. Kathryn and I had been talking about flying on the airplane all day, so she was very excited to crawl up in her seat and proudly buckle her seat belt herself! We called a few family members to tell them one last goodbye before my phone would be put on hold for the next six months.

We had an uneventful flight. Kathryn had napped in the car on the

way to the airport, so she wasn't inclined to nap in the airplane. She enjoyed looking out the window and eating fishy crackers. There were little islands below us, most of the times I looked out the window. The blue water was to pretty!

We enjoyed a pretty sunset, then after dark we landed in Port of Spain, in Trinidad/Tobago. I was sad that it was dark, we were not able to see a thing except a few lights right before we landed. It was a short lay over and we stayed on the aircraft. Soon we were ready to take the short flight over to Georgetown Guyana. There were not a lot of passengers, so Jenna and Julianna were able to sit with us. The Girls enjoyed plying during our flight.

At about 9:30 pm we arrived safely in Georgetown Guyana. We exited the back of the plane, walked down the stairs and across the Tarmac to the small terminal building. We stopped to snap a few pictures, so were last in line at customs. Kathryn had been such a good little traveler all day, but about the time it was our turn at the window, she didn't want to be confined or constrained any more. I tried to answer the ladies questions while Kathryn was having a tantrum. Thankfully the customs personnel were understanding and were happy with my answers and let me through! Praise the Lord!

Miracle of miracles, all of our luggage and all of the Ash's luggage arrived safe and sound, though a little damp from their proximity to the gale force rain that they had encountered in Miami.

We had several carts full of luggage. After one last check point we made our way out of the building with two personnel helping push our carts of luggage. "Did James say anything to you about who was picking us up from the airport?" Joy had asked me earlier. No, he hadn't. "James told me that he would ask someone with a pick up to come pick us up." Joy continued, "I sure hope he didn't forget."

"I sure hope he's here!" Joy said as we made our way across the small porte cochere and into the relatively small and dark parking lot. Praise the Lord, there were church members Marvin and his wife Catherine waiting for us in their pick up truck. "We are so happy to see you!" Joy said "Thank you SO much for coming to pick us up."

It took Marvin some time to mound our belongings into the bed of his pick up and get it all securely tied down. After joy paid the two personnel that had helped with our luggage, the five of us piled into the back seat of the pick up. Kathryn thought it was grand to get to sit on Mommy's lap. It was so different having the driver on the right side of the vehicle and driving on the left side of the road! At one point I looked up and just about panicked seeing the "driver" with both hands on the cell phone, then I remembered that that was the passenger sitting on the left side! The roads were quite rough. We had a 45 min ride to where we would be spending the night.

"How is the crime in Georgetown?" Joy asked, hoping for a good report. "It's funny that you should ask that," Catherine said.
"Why, what happened!!!" Joy asked, all ears!
"We were robbed at gun point last night."
"Oh that's terrible, are you all ok? Was your daughter with you?"
"Thankfully our daughter was with her grandparents. Marvin and I were on the sea wall, it was after dark. Two men kept passing us. I told Marvin that I didn't feel safe and that we should leave."
"But just then they came up to us, pulled out their guns and said don't move or we will shoot." Marvin took up the story. "We didn't have a choice, they took everything."
"Even my wedding ring!" Said Catherine.
"Oh I am SO sorry that's terrible." We were all saying at once.
"It's ok, I still have my husband." Catherine said.

"Watch out!" Joy shouted.
Right in the middle of the street was a bull slowly chasing a cow across the road.
"Welcome to Guyana!" Marvin said cheerfully as he stomped on the break and safely swerved around the bovine.
I enjoyed trying to absorb as much as I could out the windows. Mostly what I saw was poorly lit, well barred homes.

"What's that, what's happening?" Jenna and Julianna both asked at once. "It's ok, just be very quite." Joy told them. Up ahead was a traffic stop, a police man (I hoped they were police and not thugs!) with a long rifle stood on each side of the road. We slowed to a stop. I stared straight ahead as they peered in the Windows. Marvin said "Good evening." They returned the greeting and let us go. I turned to see two police stopping the oncoming traffic as well, it looked like it was quite backed up. I was thankful that we were not delayed.
"What were they doing? Why were they doing that?" The girls asked.
"It's ok, they do it just because they can." Their mother responded.
"Were they board? So they decided to do that"
"Maybe."

Marvin let Joy use his borrowed phone, to call James to let him know we had made it safely. Then Marvin kindly stopped at the side of the road briefly to make the phone a wifi hot spot and set up my phone so I could call Edwin on messenger.
A disheveled man walked close to the car. "Who's that?" The girls whimpered. "It's ok," Joy soothed, "it just looks like a retarded man, he is just begging."

Soon we were bumping down the road again. It was so good to see Edwin on messenger and let him know we were ok. The call was lost and I continued our conversation by typing, but the road was so rough that it made typing just about impossible. All to soon we were safely at our destination and I had to tell Edwin goodbye.

The apartment that we are staying in is at the Davis Indian Adventist Hospital. I was surprised to see amenities like a fridge with freezer, washer and dryer, carpet in the bedroom and even an instant hot water device in the shower. It took a while to get all our luggage in the house, everyone showered and bedded down for the night. Joy and the girls had been traveling for almost 24 hours. We were all happy to sleep in in the morning. The unfamiliar jungle sounds startled me awake. What a racket!

Some one, and we are still not sure who, left some fresh fruit and almond milk for us in the fridge, for our breakfast! Praise the Lord!

We needed water, and food, the AC fixed, propane, a new door knob, another fan, a frying pan, wifi and SIM card for Joys phone.... We all headed downtown in the Ash's van.
"It's not safe to have your phone out while you are in town, once you are in the stores you can take your phone out. It's not safe to take a back pack or large purse of any kind, because you will have to leave it at the bag bay at the store and they will relieve you of all your valuables. It's not safe to drive with your purse or any valuables in the front seat, they will just reach in and take it....." As Joy filled me in, I was left wide eyed, speechless, and I must admit, a little terrified!

Our first stop was the Adventist Book Center! How lovely, it was quite a nice establishment. I met one of the pastors and several other church members there. Our next stop was the hardware store. We had to park a little ways away from it and walk. There was a flat bed truck filled with humongous sacks of rice. "That's a lot of rice!" Jenna said. "Semi truck!" Kathryn said.
The streets are dirty and noisy with street peddlers pressed up against closed store fronts.

The hardware store had an amazing verity of goods. Pretty much everything a hardware store in the US would have, plus just about everything a dollar store would have. Rows of dishes and kitchen supplies. An area with silk flowers, vases and other pretties. If the price tag says $1,000. It's only $5.00 in US money.  Before buying a light bulb, Joy took it to the electronics counter so they could check to make sure it worked. Before buying a fan, an employee took it out of its box and put it together enough so that it could be plugged in to make sure it would run. Joy wanted to buy a leaf rake for the yard, they had rakes, but no handles for them.

When Joy had made her final selections, an employee at a counter added up her purchases on her computer and gave Joy a scrap of paper with her total scribbled on it, but kept the good.  We stood in line at a glassed in booth, the girl there received Joy's cash. We stood in another line and at that counter they bagged up our items and handed them to us. At the fourth line a man checked our receipt and let us go. If we had left a bag at the bag bay, we would have had to wait in that line as well. Cas Anderson wasn't kidding when she told me that you have to stand in line a bunch of times for anything you do in Guyana!

Kathryn was crashing so Joy graciously took us back to the house so I could put Kathryn down for a nap while she continued our errands. Jenna and Julianna crawled into their bed saying  "We're sleepy too!"  All four of us slept until almost five pm. It felt good to catch up on sleep.

It's so different being in the minority in a country. To feel like a sore thumb and a target. It gives me an appreciation for people of other lands making their home in the US. "So this is what it feels like to be floundering around in some one else's culture, to be the outsider." I said to myself.
I have a lot to learn, and even though I may never learn to love the city, I know that soon I will feel right at home here in Guyana. I can't wait to head to the interior when Edwin gets here!