Do They Know?

Things I didn't know until I moved to Suriname (Or realize I needed to know):

-Spray sunscreen is the best and worst thing ever. Best because you just spray it on. Worst because if you miss a spot you get selective sunburn. I'm currently only burnt on my right shoulder.

-Jungle rot is a special thing that can be found in incredibly humid climates. Basically it eats everything. Everything. Elastic in your clothes, books, playing cards and the the little thing that makes Ipods change songs and volume. Where as I am used to being damp and sticky, my Ipod doesn't like it so much.

-Driving on the otherside of the road is hard because you have no idea where the side is; and you need to stay on the road because usually the road is several inches higher then the dirt beside it. The phrase "You're going to fall off" can be regularly heard when my roommates and I drive.

-Rain can soak you through in about 2 mins. Not kidding.

-Mosquitoes are tireless creatures who's only goal in life is to eat you alive. And they live in packs here. The only thing that can save you - the electric mosquito bat. Get one. It's fun!

-White people are fascinated by other white people. They tend to stare at each other when they come into contact and are basically thinking something along the lines of "white people? what are they doing here?".

-If you have light hair and light eyes everyone assumes you're Dutch and so they try to speak to you. Usually it's several mins of not understanding a word they say before I can break into the conversation and ask if they speak English.

-International pancake week? Why?

-Hanging your clothes on the line is nice but a clothes dryer would be wonderful to shrink them back every now and then. Plus something is eating little holes in my tank tops and I only have so many (thank you jungle rot).

-Cotton candy will actually melt off the stick before you have a chance to eat it all.

-Reese's Peanut Buttercups are hard to find however we managed to find the one store down here that stocks them.

-It doesn't matter where you're going, if you're female, the men here think they are entitled to hit on you. They're not. Makes me glad sometimes I don't speak Dutch. Or that my best Dutch word is no.

-Students like to repeat the following words when I say them: out, about, mouse and house. The high school girl (who comes to my class to help in the afternoon) and I spent a good 5 mins one day where she tried to make me say house like an American. I'm not capable. But we both laughed.

-Some holidays are really just North American concepts. Like Halloween and Valentine's Day. And on that note, happy Valentine's Day! Thank you for reading along. I love you for it.