Sweatin' to the Oldies

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Well perhaps not sweating to the oldies at the moment, but definitely sweating a lot. In addition to the very North American behavior of moving from air conditioned building to air conditioned building, we have adopted a few Surinamese practices for handling the heat.

To Wit: two, or sometimes three showers per day to cool off, men going shirtless around the home in the evening (not particularly pretty, but effective), and women going, shall we say 'alfresco', under their summer dresses.

Yesterday we used the pool at a downtown hotel for a few hours, and it saved us. Today, we stayed put and did a few things around Astrid's house in the morning and are checking out a mall with an internet cafe this afternoon.

The Carnival of Wellness

Later we are going to watch a parade of sorts that is an annual event here. It started several years ago with a group that started walking for exercize, and now it is a festive event that attracts teams of walkers from across Suriname and even from other countries. Sort of the Carnival of walking, I guess. Today is the second of four days that the groups will be walking a different route in Parimaribo, and they will pass by this mall around 5pm. Will report more on that later.

bus-spotting

Here's a nice picture of Bob Marley and a lion on the front of a local bus. It seems that the bus drivers personalize their rides with a lot of decals, and it has been fun trying to figure out what the picures are as the busses drive by. I've become somewhat compulsive about checking each bus as it's gone by. So far, the majority of pictures are of Bollywood action movie stars that I don't recognize, next would be Bob Marley. I have seen a few Barack Obama pictures, Che Guevara, a Britney Spears, at least one George W Bush, and was surprised to see an Osama Bin-Laden. Surprisingly, no Hugo Chavez, Fidel Castro, or even a Mandela. Astrid is generally puzzled why I would take such an interest in this.

Another hobby I didn't know existed

Tell me you knew about keeping 'Twa Twa' birds, and I will say you are lying. Lots of people here (including Astrid's dad, and her brother-in-law Steven) raise these nondescript looking little birds in their homes. They are marvellous singing birds, so that's understandable. But here's the cool part. In order to keep the birds happy (and willing to sing), their owners walk them twice a day in their cages. I even saw a guy the other day riding his bike on a busy street with the birdcage fastened around his neck somehow. The cages are identical to the one that tweetie bird occupied in the cartoons (rouneded top, but flat sides)

Hospitality

The hospitality has been amazing. We've now been entertained by every member of Astrid's immediate family, and are starting to work through the cousins. Abbey in particular appreciates having some regular playmates her age, and has slept over twice at Astrid's sisters' places to hang with their kids, who are on a two week school break.

Hope to bring you more on Sunday. Cheers.

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Photos

Twa Twa Birds
Meet Hank's favorite Twa Twa bird: Charlie Pride