The Tracys in Suriname

My most favorite sister Summer and her husband Jesse flew back with Ryan and I from Tobago to Suriname to get a little taste of jungle life. First, we all experienced New Years in Paramaribo. People started setting off firecrackers days before New Years with the grand finale on New Years Eve day. There were people and firecrackers everywhere- it was insane.

 After New Years we headed to our village. Summer and Jesse were awesome! They learned how to greet our villagers in Saramaccan and enthusiastically jumped into the Saramaccan way of life (washing dishes and clothes in the river, using the latrine and pee pot, etc). Our village loved them and gave them Saramaccan names- Waitimai and Waitipai which means good-looking daughter-in-law and good-looking son-in-law. I am sure everyone will be asking about them for months to come.

Click HERE to look at more pictures of our many colorful adventures complete with captions explaining everything. Thanks Summer and Jesse for coming to visit us! It meant so much to Ryan and I to share our crazy life with you both.

Merry Caribbean Christmas!

Cecile (Ryan's mom), Edgar (Ryan's eldest brother), Anne (Edgar's wife), Todd (Ryan's other brother), Moka (Todd's wife), Summer (my sister), Jesse (Summer's husband), Ryan and I all flew to Tobago for Christmas and it was a blast!!!

It was SO WONDERFUL to spend time with family and just relax. The beaches in Tobago are gorgeous! It was so energizing to see an ocean again. Edgar's long time friend Dave lives in Tobago with his wife and two boys and they were awesome hosts. We feasted at their home for Christmas dinner. Click HERE to see more pictures of our island adventures.

Thanks everyone for making the long trek to the Caribbean so we could see you all!

Our Little Garden!

As I am sure you know by now, getting fresh fruits and vegetables in the interior is a struggle. Contrary to what you may think, we do not have a lot of fruit trees in our village and the villagers mostly only grow starchy root vegetables (because they grow really well). We always buy a good supply the day we leave the city, but with the humidity so high and no refrigeration, not much lasts for more than a couple days. Therefore, Ryan and I planted a garden before we left for Christmas, wondering if anything would grow while we were gone. We planted watermelon, cantaloupe, cucumber, koosbanti (similar to green beans), eggplant and pumpkin.

The good news is that everything except the eggplant sprouted! Here are a few shots of everything growing.

 Koosbanti is a vine vegetable so Ryan built A-frame trellises for them to climb

He also built a dual purpose frame that serves as both a trellis for the pumpkin and a privacy wall behind our house

Cucumber plants

Ryan also turned our waiting pile into a compost pile so hopefully we'll have good compost in a few months!

Since these pics were taken, everything is growing well except it appears something is slowly killing the pumpkin. :( There is a WIDE variety of insects that could befall our little plot, so we'll see what actually comes to fruition.

No Shave November

Sorry it has been awhile since I've posted. The busyness of the holidays and not-so-great internet have made blogging challenging but I am trying to catch up!

One of our PC friends named Mark had been asking Ryan to participate in "No Shave November" since October. THEN Ryan learned that his brother Edgar was growing a mustache to raise money for charity during November. I think that sealed the deal.

Mark and Ryan

Then Ryan had the genius idea to remove the beard in stages. I am personally a fan of clean-shaved boys but it was pretty hilarious...

 Chops, mustache, soul patch and goatee

Mustache, soul patch and goatee

 Handlebar mustache and soul patch

Just the handlebar mustache.

And finally that handsome, familiar face returns!!