After an intensive few days from Roanoke > New York > Georgetown > Iwokrama > Lethem > Road to Aishalton, we finally reached around 10pm Friday. That left us with only 4 days in Aishalton. Chris and I felt really good about sharing where we live, our work, and our experiences with family. It was nice to have someone see the well where we pull our water from, to eat the pizza we made in our little brick oven, and to meet our neighbors, coworkers, and friends. It was funny to watch them washing their clothes in the creek and see mom teaching 10 kids how to play Spoons, the card game. Honestly, we just had a good time together and completely forgot to take out the camera. I realize now that was a mistake. How nice it would have been to have a momento – a snapshot of mom in the creek, or Stephen with his new friend, Dell, or all of us eating dinner for our neighbor’s birthday. Whoops.
On the other hand, I have been thinking about cameras and photographs. And, I think they can really remove you a layer from a situation. A camera keeps you (on some level) from experiencing the moment and puts into documenting mode. Which is not necessarily a bad thing, but it can be. So, I am sorry I don’t have more pictures to share. But, I am a little glad I just enjoyed my time with mom and Stephen without being too worried about documenting it for all to see.
When it was time to leave Aishalton, there was more disaster. As I’ve said, transportation here is… Awful. Terrible. No good. Very bad. All I’ll say is that mom and I were sitting inside an old vehicle that no longer worked, which was being taken back to Lethem inside of a gigantic Bedford. So, we faced out the back in old vehicle seats. And then the rain started. Our little old vehicle offered some protection, but there was no back window, so we got wet. Bless Stephen, who was standing in the back of the Bedford, and got soaked. Then, the river was high and we couldn’t cross. It was a long day and a long night. It was expensive and uncomfortable, but we got ourselves back to Georgetown in time for mom and Stephen to make their flight.
Did they have a ‘good’ time? I think you’ll have to ask them. Are they glad they came? I’m sure of it. They saw a part of the world few Americans see. They got see their amazing daughter and son in law. They also go a bit more of an adventure than we had planned on. When I tell people how crazy the trip went they say “Oh, but look at all the stories they can tell.” Ugh…. A bit like telling someone who’s been through a horrible experience that “It all works out for the best.” Not exactly untruth, but not exactly the most relevant response. All I can say is, Thanks to mom and Stephen for coming. Thanks for putting up with all the mishaps and not once complaining and not once getting stressed out. It was great to have you here. Excited to see you when we get home. J
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