Elder Jarom Harris Mission Blog - Trinidad Port of Spain 2018-20: Week 004

Dear friends and family:

Greetings from Guyana, the land of many waters...and fires! They burn their trash right on the side of the road. Every street has a different smell. That was more common while driving through Georgetown, but right now I am in a municipality called Linden (the Mackenzie side of the river). Speaking of roads, if angels weren't protecting me constantly, I would be TERRIFIED to drive here. People often drive into oncoming traffic in order to get around people. Seat belts don't exist in the back seats of vehicles.

Linden is as deep into Guyana as the mission goes, and it is very green. Neighborhood streets are like 25% potholes (which are filled with water). It makes biking very hard, but my tire has a hole in it, so we have been mostly walking and taking taxis (and by taxis, I mean
anyone who will pick us up and take us some place).

Fun fact: The missionaries had first class seating on all of the flights except for the one to Trinidad, where we had a layover.

Orientation in Curacao was a very stressful time. It was a lot of information to take in, on a very tight sleep budget. We climbed mount Christoffel, which is the highest point in Curacao, (I'm pretty sure). It was a difficult hike. The plan is that I will do the hike again on the day before I come home from my mission.

This week has been very difficult, dealing with homesickness and whatnot. I miss home so very much, but I don't think about it as much when I am out doing the work. The hymn book has been my refuge.

My companion's name is Elder Lopez. He is from South Jordan, Utah. He is a great companion, and we are getting along just fine.

We were warned about our apartment before arriving at it. Yeah, it was filthy, but we got it cleaned up a bunch. President Baird doesn't want missionaries there, though, so we may move before the end of our transfer if a new apartment is found. We are waiting for repairs on our washing machine.

We have been eating lots of toast, sandwiches, pineapple, and very small bananas! We got some more food today, though. We won't be starving, don't worry.

My shower is a pipe coming through the wall. Sometimes the water is warm; sometimes it is cold. I took a bucket shower at the apartment of the other Elders in Linden (on the Wismar side). It was cold, but there are worse things in the world.

I saw a monitor lizard! A kid chased it off before I could get a picture of it, though.

I had a very hard time understanding people at church (and pretty much everywhere, that is). It is a different English, that is for sure. I did get to speak in sacrament meeting, though. And by the way, it is a branch, not a ward. Some kids were trying to talk to me last night as we biked in the jungle, but I couldn't understand a word they said.

Here is some of the vocabulary I've learned:

Bai = boy

kyar = car

bore = hit (you head bore? = did you get your head hit/ are you dumb?)