Rollin' up the river

"I'll cry when Sleemai leaves for America."--younger woman
"I won't be sad when Sleemai leaves, because she'll take me back to America!"--older woman

I recently ventured out from the confines of Gunzi to see what lies up the river in the deep southern reaches of the Suriname River. I departed Saturday, January 16. I had expected to leave Gunzi in the early afternoon but the boatman I was waiting on had other plans--I got the infamous "dalek" treatment which meant we'd leave when he felt like it. So I was picked up at Gunzi near five o'clock and hopped the boat with fellow Peace Corps Volunteer and my dear buddy Taangapai--"The Strong Son". Going down river, we had two unexpected stops. Our first was at Bendikwai, where we met up with our Peace Corps friend Bendikwaipai. Yep, his village seriously calls him that, it's hilarious. After hanging around until our boatman was ready to leave we headed further up river and he took care of some short business in a village called Pikislee. Taangapai and I remained on the boat as there is no Peace Corps Volunteer in Pikislee. After about a 15 minute wait we were finally ready to depart. The young lad who was the 1st mate under the captain of our motorized canoe was sure we'd arrive in Zemoise at 8 pm. He was wrong. At 8 pm, in the pitch dark without a flashlight, we were firing up the rapids near Masia creek. To make matters worse, it had also started raining. I was pretty sure we were not going to make it to Zemoise but by 9 pm we had arrived. Upon arrival, we found a dead rat in Taangapai's house. We threw it outside in the bush, cooked up some velveeta cheese shells and called it a night.

The next two days were an introduction to village life in Zemoise. We met up wtih Captimai, the other volunteer in Zemoise. I attended the two volunteers' English class in Zemoise and then Taangapai taught me how to make mango wine which has turned into a potential project possibility for the tourist camp in Gunzi. We spent the better part of the second night listening and dancing to The Killers. This amused the village children. The next day was pretty low key and I was waiting around until the late afternoon to hop on another boat and go further south--up the river, to the furthest Peace Corps site along the Suriname River, Gaanslee.

Gaanslee was an interesting trip. First, there is no electricity in this village which I had only experienced once before. This basically means that everyone wants to hang out at night as opposed to sit in their house and watch movies every night which is what happens in Gunzi. Also, the volunteer in Gaanslee had a big rat infestation due to the way her house had been built. I hate rats. I spent two nights and one day in Gaanslee. During the day I spent there, we did a quick tour of the village and I got to see some great wood carving work some of the guys in the village had done. We walked further south along the river, through two more small villages until we reached the point where the river splits into the big and small river. This is an important part of Sarramaccan culture. On an island at the end of the rapid where the big river begins is where the Sarramaccans first broke the reeds to consecrate the land for themselves. Here, we took a boat across the river to a village called Djumue and then walked through Bendikonde, where there is a radio station, to the Graanman Konde, Asindohopo. Of course, we visited the Graanman's house, the Sarramaccan equivalent of a govenor's mansion I suppose, but unfortunately he was not there. We also toured the Graanman street and hung around the area for a whiles. At one point, while I was sitting on a log above a small creek taking a picture of a very large and cool looking tree, three local kids told me there were kaiman below my feet. I quickly ran away.


After the Gaanslee trip I decided to slowly but surely head back down the river, back home to Gunzi. First I made a return to Zemoise for the day where I hung out with Taangapai once more. We made some more wine, walked to a village called Pempe, played some soccer with the villagers in Zemoise and watched Team America--an abnormally productive day on our part. I decided to leave a day early and headed for Futunakaba, a big church village. Here, I met up with Bendikwaipai and Futunumai. The highlight of our day was playing cards and listening to the new Green Day CD. Unfortunately, there were more rats in Futunakaba and sleeping was minimal once again--darn rats! Finally, after 6 nights and at least 10 villages later, and probably 15 rats seen, I caught a boat back to Gunzi. Of course my stay was short as that afternoon the villages came to my house and told me to pack up my football shoes as I'd be playing in a scrimmage game later that night.

*Pictures of this trip are on the facebook, check them out!

Droppin 2 in Jaw-jaw

"It's Cristiano!"--village kid

A few of the village kids have taken it upon themselves to start calling me Cristiano, like the Portuguese footballer. Although my ball skills have significantly improved I don't think I'm quite deserving of a nickname like that yet. Although they might be calling me Cristiano because I like to show off and ball hog and one or two of those kids definitely thinks I'm a jerk. Yeah, maybe it is fitting then. Either way, better than some of the other nicknames they've tried to give me--one guy recently tried to change my village name from baziapai to Gunzi man. Furthermore, the Captain still calls me Kashewpai, the name of the previous volunteer. He calls me that so often sometimes I wonder if he has forgotten the last volunteer left for the States several months ago. After living here for several months, I am not even sure I can remember what my legal name is anymore.

Anyways, this post is about football or as it is called in America, soccer. My first experience playing in Suriname was during the orientation with some teenagers from Lelydorp who were taking it easy on us Peace Corps Volunteers. My next experience was during my homestay experience near Brokopondo. I played usually 3 or 4 times a week with some kids ranging between 8-12. They kicked my rear pretty much every single time. Then I showed up in Gunzi where there was one weekly game every Sunday night. For a while the game had completely stopped and it looked like my ball dreams were over. But recently, the village has put together a make-shift team.

The first game I played in I was brought on as a late substitute in a blow-out during a friendly game with another village. I had one or two decent touches and just mostly ran around. My next game I unexpectedly got the start in a scrimmage. This time I was playing with a few of the Gunzi guys for a neighboring village called Laduani. I had one good forward pass between two defenders to start a breakaway that nearly led to a goal but then missed several balls thereafter and was pulled within 10 minutes of the start by some "coach" who came on the field and was yelling at me to get off. He also used some choice words when he pulled me off the field and I had to restrain myself because had this happened in America I would've given him an ear full that would've made my old man proud. After he pulled the rest of our villagers early in the game, we left just after half and no one from our village has played with that team again. Since then, my village's team, the Gunzi team has been playing in a local club league. They have yet to start me in an actual game but brought me along to a big scrimmage game in a village called Jaw-Jaw about two weeks back. Despite the fact that I'm not the worst player of the group, I was snubbed of a start and brought on at about half time. Much to their surprise, I netted two goals that night. Yes! The first one was nice, I caught a rebound off the goal keeper and put it in the back of my net with my left foot. It was a bit reminiscient of my first goal in youth soccer, everyone on the sidelines was more excited for me than I was. The next one was a bit of luck. I had put the defender on my back in the middle of the box and was asking for a ball in the middle from my teammate who was within 10 yards of me. He decided to be selfish and shoot the ball. Trying to avoid the ball I turned my body and it richocheted off my back, confusing the goal keeper--who would've made an easy save, and going into the back of the net for my second goal and to seal the victory for our side in the scrimmage. I sheepishly laughed and shrugged my shoulders. I was snubbed of any playing time in the next game but my game is definitely improving and I am playing more confidently. I'm hoping at some point down the line, when my game has improved even more, I'll get some playing time against Laduani and put one in the back of the net against them. And I'll be sure to let that "coach" know that I'm #1--just like Rick Barry!