Unconditionally Blessed: Twaylingay! (Twins!)

"Twaylingay" was probably the first Saramaccan word that Todd and Moka truly memorized. That's not a surprise since as soon as any of our villagers saw Todd and Ryan together that is all that they could say. That's right! Our second and last pair of visitors were none other than the San Francisco branch of the Dapremont fam and we had a great time!

First, we showed Todd and Moka around Paramaribo for a day or so. The most exciting part of this for Ryan and I was crashing at their fancy hotel and taking hot showers! Although, we did take them to the Butterfly Park which is pretty cool.

Morpho Butterflies (see the bright blue on their wings)!

Next, we set off for what they really came for- the jungle! In our village, they met a lot of our friends,

they saw the beautiful river (it's really high right now),

they celebrated Lefurny's 6th birthday (more on this to come),

they helped wash dishes in our creek,

and we put them to work in our English lessons.

After a few days in our village, we headed upriver in a dugout canoe to see more of Saramaka.

Ryan and I have been wanting to visit the Saramaccan Museum (another item on my bell list) that is in the second largest village on our river- Pikin Slee. Since Todd has done his own research on Saramaccan culture, we thought he and Moka would enjoy it as well. It was small but very nice.

We slept in a nearby village at another Peace Corps volunteer's house and walked the 20 minutes or so through the jungle to Pikin Slee for the day. It was a lot of fun!

Thanks to our fellow volunteer Evan for being an excellent guide. From Pikin Slee we went straight back to Paramaribo by boat and then van to send Todd and Moka off. I think they were a little tired from our jungle adventure...

Todd & Moka trying to sleep in the van on the way back to the city

Thanks so much Todd and Moka for taking the time and effort to come all the way to Suriname. We know it is not an easy trip and genuinely appreciate you two sharing in this crazy adventure with us. For the rest of our lives, we'll always have Suriname!