On November 1st while Christians honored their blessed saints for All Saints Day, Magda and I celebrated our first Hindu holiday, Diwali, a festival of light. On this day, Hindus celebrate the triumph of good over evil by lighting their homes with diyas, small homemade candles fashioned out of red ceramic dishes, coconut oil and twisted cloth for a wick. Mother Lachme, one of the ten main deities of the religion, is the “patron saint” of these festivities.

Magda and I were invited to a student’s home in a neighboring village to celebrate. We ate 7 curry with rice out of a large lotus leaf - with our fingers, a skill we’ve been slowly cultivating. Afterwards we helped the family light over 500 diyas which they then in turn placed in neat rows around their yard. We also lit sparklers, flares, and spun steel wool - a very dangerous form of entertainment that involves steel wool. Imagine SOS pads shoved on the end of a wire coat hanger, set ablaze, and then spun around over your head sending a smattering of golden sparks in all directions. After we had our fun with fire, we walked down the street admiring the other Hindu houses swathed in light. Note: If there is a death in the family, they observe but do not participate in the fanfare.

All and all, Diwali was a very unique experience and will without a doubt prove to be one of my favorite memories of Guyana.

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I recently went on a day trip to two waterfalls in Guyana. The top photo is of Kaiteur Falls. It's a 741 foot drop. There has been a drought lately instead of a rainy season so the flow is apparently only at 25-30% of what it could be. The bottom photo is of Orinduik Falls which was in the middle of a savannah. We went swimming there. These places were amazing. I really don't see how Guyana doesn't have a massive ecotourism industry.

My roommate and I recently began volunteering at an orphanage that is about 5 minutes away from our house. We go two days a week after school and play with the young kids and help the older ones with homework. Only about half the kids there are actually orphans. Some just get dropped off when their families can't afford to feed them for awhile. They are all really sweet. It's nice to just be able to play with them and have fun.

It approaching the Hindu Festival of Divali so there has been lots going on in school lately. Today the Hindu Student Group put on a massive dance show. It was like seeing a stage version of a Bollywood film. Other students have been setting off fireworks in school which is less fantastic and involves more police.

Finally, we had a spaghetti sauce fiasco. My roommate bought peppers at the market and was assured that they were sweet peppers. They were definitely not. I chopped them for spaghetti sauce and soon after my hands started burning for the next 12 hours. The sauce itself was painful to eat. The next night we put a spoonful of it into a different sauce and that sauce was even too spicy. We've decided that the original sauce could be used as a biological weapon.

We are going to more Divali events this weekend. I suspect they will be exciting!

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