Back From Hello

While Lindsay and I were still in CBT (Community-based Training), we had the opportunity to visit the Afobaka Dam with our language class. I took pictures. I’ll link to those shortly. First, a little history.

The dam at Afobaka, officially titled the “Prof. Dr. Ir. W.J. van Blommesteinmeer” was completed in 1965 and its reservoir reached full capacity in 1971. It was constructed by the Suriname Aluminium Company (Suralco) in order to power their smelter. Through an agreement with the Surinamese government, Suralco was given the requisite water and property rights to complete the dam. The Surinamese government received a guaranteed percentage of the power produced by the plant.

In the end, everyone was happy, except of course, for the few thousand people who were displaced when the reservoir flooded to full capacity. Some of these people moved into government and/or Alcoa-built housing. Some moved to other villages or to the city. Some founded new villages. In the words of Vonnegut, “So it goes.”

Here is a link to my pictures. I hope you enjoy.

So, a couple of months ago, our host mom gave birth to a beautiful baby girl and was sweet enough to name her after Lindsay (sort of). Given my troubles with uploading all of my pictures when I’m in the city, and the fact that the baby shares a name with Lindsay and not me, I left the blogging up to her.

But, I finally got the chance to upload all of the pictures to my photosite so even though it’s a few months late, here is a link to all of the pictures of little Rachel Josina Lindsay Smit.

Since arriving here in Suriname two months ago, I’ve taken an awful lot of pictures. I was trying to think of a way to share my favorites with you but there are often so many stories, and so many layers to those stories, that I’d have to do an entire post for almost every individual one. Instead, since it’s been so long since I’ve been able to post about much of anything, I decided to break my favorite images up into four groups. I’ll put each group of pictures in their own individual post with little or no comment just so you can get a good taste of what life has been like here. First, I’ll start with People, then move on to Places, Things, and finally Wildlife.

Here are some of the plants and animals that have caught my eye since I got here:

Since arriving here in Suriname two months ago, I’ve taken an awful lot of pictures. I was trying to think of a way to share my favorites with you but there are often so many stories, and so many layers to those stories, that I’d have to do an entire post for almost every individual one. Instead, since it’s been so long since I’ve been able to post about much of anything, I decided to break my favorite images up into four groups. I’ll put each group of pictures in their own individual post with little or no comment just so you can get a good taste of what life has been like here. First, I’ll start with People, then move on to Places, Things, and finally Wildlife.

Here are some of the things that caught my eye:

Ed. note: If you’re viewing this on Facebook, click here to visit my site and get the full experience.

Lindsay and I drove up to the Bay Area for Thanksgiving this year and spent some time with my family. My brother Todd and sister-in-law Moka live in Mountainview so my mom, brother Edgar, and other sister-in-law Anne all flew in to spend the holiday out West. The seven of us went hiking in Muir Woods, took a trolley tour of the city, and had ice cream at Ghirardelli Square all on top of getting to stay in Moka’s sister’s amazing house. We had a great time, and of course a great meal and I’m really glad we all got to be together.

Beyond all that, I don’t really have all that much to say and I really just want to share the pictures I took, so I’ll get on with the show. I picked out a bunch ones that I liked but if you want to wade through all of them (I know I would) you can find the gallery here. Anyway, on with the show. Enjoy! (Click the images to enlarge.)

On Friday, we all drove around the corner from where we stayed to St. Mary’s College and took some family photos. The colorful leaves provided us a great backdrop for some really pretty shots.

After the photoshoot, we returned home for some wonderful food at a beautiful table.

The next morning we cleaned the house and got ready for our trip out to Muir Woods. Given that it’s a redwood forest, I had to take the opportunity to catch a few more shots of the colorful leaves before we were surrounded by evergreens.

We made a stop at the end of the Golden Gate Bridge to take a couple of pictures, I mean, since it was on the way and all.

Upon arrival at Muir Woods, we were greeted by what appeared to be, at first glance, a California condor, so I quickly snapped a picture. A little googling later, I realized it was just a turkey vulture. I like the shot nonetheless.

Next, of course, came the trolley ride of the city, complete with complimentary Santa hats, a gingerbread house, and “caroling”.

To close out the night, we walked from Fisherman’s Wharf to Ghirardelli Square for some sundaes.

Well, that’s it. I hope you enjoyed seeing them as much as I enjoyed taking them. Thanks for stopping by.