Foto Friday

School bus? Yes. Everyday this bus comes in the morning to pick up the children and drop them off in the afternoon. I look at it and wonder if this is the same bus that Rosa Parks rode back in the day. 

Going Home

In 4 days I will be in America. Yay!!! : D This blog is not over, neither will the posts diminish for the next 2 weeks (hopefully), because this is only a visit. I am going to visit my friends and family even though honestly I gave gotten used-to Suriname. Of course there are people that I miss, like my Dad and sister (not my mom because she is here visiting), but I am glad to get a chance to see their faces. I was thinking about the first thing I wanted to eat...mmm....Subway! I want to get a turkey sandwich wrap with some chipotle sauce, baby spinach, olives, onions, ranch dressing, swiss cheese, and have it toasted! Whooo...hooo! That is going to be so good. That is just one of the many restaurants on my list. Seeing that I am on a strict budget I may not get to go to all here on my list: Chinese restaurant [only for broccoli and tofu in garlic sauce w/ fried rice], Subway, Taco bell, Chipotle, Chik-fil-A, Coconutz Fusion, Papa Gyros (great greek food), Casa Blanca, any Indian restaurant, Cheesecake factory....can't think of anymore,  but please if you have any ideas I'm willing to hear.

Apart from the food I am really looking forward to shopping at the thrift store. I just love a good bargain for great quality stuff. Can't wait to go to Walmart and Target! Actually take a hot shower. My house only has cold water. You know there are usually two knobs on every sink...well not everywhere do you have the luxury of two knobs here. Most times it is one knob for the cold. If you have a tank though that faces the sun during the day, you will have the privilege of feeling nice warm water on your skin. The cold water is actually good for you though. Some say it will make you sick, but I think I have gained a strengthened immune system seeing that I haven't gotten sick. I hope too many things haven't changed since I've been gone, but I guess I'll find out when I get there.

America here I come...

Hot Road

Today I just came back from the interior and it was such a beautiful experience. It was hot, but the trip was definitely worth it. About 90% of Suriname is comprised of "bush". Leaving only about 10% developed. To me if you come to Suriname and haven't visited the interior then you haven't really visited Suriname. Traveling on the road though is pretty difficult, mainly because of the heat. Where I went was a little village called Lesplansi. To get there, from Paramaribo, you have to drive for about 4 hours south to Atjoni, a little pit stop dock to all the Saramaccan villages. From there you get on a canoe and drive or ride rather for about 40 minutes to Lesplansi. There enjoy the love of simplicity!

Back to the heat...When I said heat the road is HOT! Unfortunately there hasn't been any rain for almost a month now. So imagine the pavement just being beaten by the Amazon sun day in and day out. Depending on the type of tires you have, one of them might give out on you. This trip I experienced just that. As we were driving back this afternoon we saw about 5 tires just give out. Our tire is actually included in the 5. The driver had good control and thank God we were safe. The rubber gets so hot that the tire just explodes. Explodes is a really strong word, but it will give you an idea of the heat. Regardless of the heat I would take that road just to see my friends in Lesplansi.

Praying for rain...

Where is Suriname Anyway?

When I tell people that I am in Suriname, most of them think that it is in Africa somewhere. LOL! I guess if you don't really stop to think about it Suriname could be just about anywhere. With Dutch as their first language Suriname is nestled between Guyana, French Guiana, and above Brazil. Suriname was once known as Dutch Guiana  before they gained their independence in November 1975. Foolishly assuming that all South American countries speak Spanish, except for Brazil of course, I was very surprised to find out they speak Dutch here. Of course during the Transatlantic slave trade most of the European countries that could wanted to get in on the benefits. The Dutch were in control of this territory importing slaves and exporting rich resources. Little known fact, from Wikipedia, is by 1815 there were 5 Guianas: Spanish Guiana (Venezuela), British Guiana (Guyana), Dutch Guiana (Suriname), Portuguese Guiana (Brazil), and French Guiana. Below I have put a map of Suriname so you can examine the different cities, towns, and districts. Unfortunately where I live just wasn't good enough to make it on the map. If you look closely for Paramaribo, the capital, then find Groningen I live between the two closer to Groningen just before the river.

Click here to learn even more about Suriname 

Learning more about Suriname everyday...

Best Neighbors

Well my neighbors are the best. Why? When we first got here we didn't know ANYONE, of course, cause we were new. We did have a Suriname native take us around with them as they did their daily activities. Our neighbors went so much as to take us to both of the conventional malls here in Suriname. After the mall we went to a place called Alegria, meaning joy in spanish, to get ice cream. Alegria is a mini version of Chuck E. Cheese's.

On another day they invited us over to have dinner with them and boy was it good. The mom is an excellent chef. She made a slammin' fried fish, greens, and rice. She actually taught to make this dish that I call Surprise Yucca Balls I don't remember the actual name of it. The name I gave it though pretty much describes what it is. You partially boil the yucca/cassava/manyok, whatever you would like to call it. Then, you drain the water, mash up the yucca and cook it in a pan, season it up. Once seasoned and thoroughly cooked, let it cool. Once cool take the surprise (which is a boiled egg) and cover the egg with the cassava, making a ball. After forming all the balls, beat an egg. Dip the yucca ball in the beaten egg then fry the ball. Hmmm....mmmm.....good! Eat it as a snack or for a meal with greens. You have your starch, protein, and veggies for a balanced meal.

Oh! I can't forget to tell you that they are from Guyana so they speak English. That is why we can appreciate them even more, because we can actually communicate to them without translation.

There are many good people in Suriname, but my neighbors...the best!

Foto Friday: 2nd Dose

Best Neighbors This is Safia (left) and her mom, Shoba, (right). They are the best neighbors a person could have. Next week I will write a post about them. There is also the brother, who doesn't like pictures, and a father. 

Foto Friday

La Nature Enjoying the sun, flowers, and grass on a beautiful day of clear skies. In the back is a side view of my house. 

Good Eats

I have almost eaten food from all the cultural/ethnic groups in Suriname. There are many places to good to find these different foods. Among all of them my favorite is the East Indian dish, roti and curry chicken. The restaurant that is most commonly visited for this delicious delight is Roopram Roti Restaurant. I am not trying to advertise, but if you are new in Suriname and can appreciate spicy Indian food, definitely you should visit Roopram. There are other Roti shops like Joosie's, which I have been meaning to visit, but just haven't gotten around to it yet. 

My husband's favorite food in LIFE is rice. Here in Suriname the Javanese have a unique rice that has definitely deepened his love for rice and it is called nasi, which means fried rice in Indonesian. Now this is not just any type of fried rice. This fried rice includes but is not limited to carrots, celery, chicken, corn [sidebar: just noticed 4 C's, if you put these four only your nasi is C to the fourth power] and other things that you may like to spice it up. To top it all off there is a sauce that they pour over while they fry to give it  the brown color and extra good flavor. Obviously sounds like I  like it to. I do, but I can get rice any day. 

Lovin' roti over rice...