She's gone

My last passage was about my daughters journey to Guyana. That was on Thursday. I had a three day weekend. I'd like to say it was restful, but in many ways it was stressful. That's because of what happened yesterday. The painful call to Courtney before she climbed aboard a bus headed deep into the rain forest. She's on it right now as I write this. She boarded it around 9 pm last night. It will be a sixteen hour journey.

Why so long? It's the rainy season in Guyana. Apparently the pot holes on the roads in the hinterlands are the size of some of the craters on the moon. She's going to try to sleep on the journey. I can't imagine how difficult that will be when you are being jostled around throughout the trip.

She's been gone now since July 7Th. So why am I being such a baby about this. Well she's always been a phone call away at a hotel in Georgetown. Now nothing but silence for 18 days. So we worry! What happens if there is a wreck? What happens if some crazy animal chases her around the forest? What happens if she falls in love with a rain forest tribal leader and decides to stay in the forest forever? See what I mean? This is the first day, can you imagine how many wild scenarios I will have by day 18?

So far she's been having a good time and keeping us updated on what's happening in her life by sending us missives from an Internet cafe. Her first e-mail came on July 9Th.

"Hey Fam!!! This place is fantastic. Its crazy. Its like nothing I've ever experienced and i love it!! Every corner i turn is something i wouldn't expect and its like I'm a little kid learning how the world works all over again. We have class every day from 1 to 3 at the University of Guyana and we had our first class today. I forgot how much i loved taking Mentore's classes cuz everything he says is basically golden."

Two days later she wrote:

"Hey Fam!! I'm just chillin at the Internet cafe and decided to shoot you guys another email. There isn't too much new stuff going on here- i mean each day is still an adventure but i suppose i might be getting used to that mentality. Today me and Sean (a kid on the trip with me) made our first venture out to the city by ourselves. We rode on a minibus, which is the only way to get around here. Minibuses are crazy because they are really just big vans and anyone can get one and then they just drive around in circles from Georgetown to the neighborhoods around it."

Then came her trip to an Eco-tourism resort. She took her family along on the journey with this descriptive e-mail.

"Yo fam what up? So arrowpoint the resort was AWESOME!! i have never seen so many stars in my life. It was on a creek off the demerrara river- a huge creek so it kinda seemed like a river to me. We got to kayak down the creek and down little tributaries off of it. The kayak trip was so cool because we went down this tiny creek where there were trees covering the sky. It was super green 5000. The rain forest is impressive! We got to stay in little cabins and canoe and swim in the creek. The food was the best food Ive ever had in my life. (except moms of course) "

Nice save on the food comment. Now no more e-mails, no more phone calls, just lots of prayers for our 20 year old daughter. By the way while I read the news, she's making it.

This is the picture from the Guyanese Chronicle. She's pictured in the middle in the front row. Professor Mentore from the University of Virginia is standing directly behind her.

Here is the link to the article on the Denis Williams summer school if you have time to read it.

http://www.guyanachronicle.com/ARCHIVES/archive%2022-07-07.html#Anchor----------13540

Until tomorrow have a great day!