Skin: Update on December 6, 2009

If there is one thing that we all need a reminder of every day it is that one cannot judge by what is seen. I almost feel bad for explaining this port for what I saw when we arrived. Sure, on the outside you have one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere, and the Ship is docked in one of the worst parts of one of the worst cities. There is so much more to this place, and these people. Fitzy and I went out one day to find somewhere to play basketball when somebody showed us to a court that is in an area we aren’t supposed to go, and only around ten minutes away from the ship. Fortune would have it that the guys that play there play four times a week. Little did we know when we went down there a couple days later that some of the guys that play are on the national team or even the Guyanese And-1 team. We were in over our head. The play is also more physical than I had ever seen, even in the prison in Trinidad. We’ve played four times already, and have a chance all next week to go, and people are starting to recognize us in the neighborhood. But we are starting to earn our respect for coming back and being able to perform, even though they still call us “white boy”.
Today, four of us went to one of the guys’ churches for a little culture experience. The Church was in the same neighborhood as the court (which is the most dangerous neighborhood in Guyana) and only a little ways away from the court. By the time we were about 10 minutes from the court still, we could hear the music being played. When we got there, we learned that they were doing a 24 hour praise service. So, the four of us sat there, the only white folk, and the only folk not dancing and shouting, with a grim on our face. It was cool, and they certainly have a different way of worshipping, it was almost like a dance party. The band included a steel drum, and there was a man with a “reggae” voice singing backup, giving the worship music a different sound. What a cool experience to be in such a different place. The world is so big…