Fraternity Abroad

"We are... Parbo Delta Parbo!"

So, here is the crazy story about the past two weeks. We, all 22 of us official Peace Corps Volunteers, were supposed to leave the city on July 30, after about 6 days in the city. Due to complications, we have been here for two weeks but have enjoyed. Over the past two weeks, while I was supposed to be shopping for food and other necessities for my site, I went to the beach, twice. We visited the Jewish temple ruins out by Redi Doti. And we swore in as official volunteers at a fancy hotel where they gave us all the peanuts we could eat. Actually, like a herd, we followed the peanuts from table to table as they were being put out. As James would put it: 'there were six of us and they were delicious'. James, my roommate from Miami and again now, at the Stadz hostel, is the quotable guy from the meat bucket video--"step 1, get dirty; step 2, get clean".

Anyways, I would say that I had the most interesting adventure over the past two weeks. One night after I had come back from karaoke, myself and two other chums were standing infront of the hostel and heard some Caribbean dance music playing down the street. Needless to say, we decided to investigate. We walked inside the open venue and went up to the bar and asked one of the ladies what was going on. She told us it was her sister's bigi feryari and asked if we wanted a Parbo. So, we decided to stay. For those who do not know, a bigi feryari is a big deal. It is a birthday that ends in a 5 or 10--it was the birthday girl's 60th birthday. It was a huge celebration with a band and a video camera crew. After sitting down and conversing with some of the locals for 10 or 15 minutes, we were offered chicken on a stick and were told we could stay as long as we wanted......but only if we would dance. Much to the party's amusement we hit the dance floor and let it rip--three awkward 20 year olds in T-shirts and shorts at a fairly formal party. And, they filmed us. I have the feeling we are going to end up on America's Funniest Home Videos some day down the line, the three of us dancing like idiots.

As I was saying earlier, we have been in the city much longer than anticipated. This meant that some of us, particularly myself, had to give up our single/double rooms and be moved. The solution: move six of us onto cots in a two bedroom apartment. So, we decided to start the first Suriname Fraternity, which we called 'Parbo Delta Parbo'. It was basically a great excuse to sit around and play guitar, listen to music, hang out and eat food at Madonna's with our 'crew'. Actually, our initiation was finishing the pork chops complete dish at Madonna's restaurant--it's a big dish of pork chops, chow mein, rice, beans, french fries and kosbanti(green beans). And so, for the past week we have been able to live it up in our little paradise down the stairs and enjoy each other's company before we head out on our big journeys.

And with that, I must bid you all adeu as I will be heading to the interior tomorrow. I may be there for as long as two months. But, I am going to try to have a family member transcribe my blog for me over the phone and keep it updated every two weeks or so. So, bookmark the blog and keep checking periodically. Peace out all.