Oct 13

The day finally arrived when we could go pick up our shipment from Georgetown. It was suppose to arrive on the 9th, so we gave it several days to clear customs before we even attempted to get it. Aaron came along to lend a helping hand and also see if he could finally get some information about changing his ticket out of here. We left at around 5:30 in the morning and rode through a beautiful morning on the river. The boat trips on the river always seem to make me happy. It's so nice!

Instead of taking a taxi all the way from Parika to Georgetown, we took a shortcut where we could cross the Demarara River by boat taxi and end up right in downtown where we needed to be. The stelling (boat dock area) was an absolute zoo that time of morning. I guess everyone was making their way to work in the city or something. People were packed together like cattle, each trying to be first on the next available boat over. When the three of us finally stumbled onto one of the claustrophobia-inducing boats, we sat in the back waiting to start over. When the life jackets were handed out, somehow they were one short and Aaron didn't get one. They made him get off and wait for the next boat. Poor Aaron wasn't happy about that, but there wasn't much he could do.

When Michael and I reached the other side, we watched intently for the boat that had Aaron. It was like Where's Waldo. You'd think the only white guy would be easy to spot, but there were so many boats coming over at once, and so many people milling about, that it was harder than we though. He finally made it over and we hurried into the city to start our day.

We gave ourselves plenty of time in Georgetown since we all had things we needed to get done. Our first stop was an Internet Cafe where we were all happily getting things done until there was a blackout. Georgetown (and pretty much any other town in Guyana) is subject to very random blackouts since their power infrastructure is not what it should be. Oh to be in America! Michael and I decided to get some of our shopping done while Aaron visited Caribbean Airlines to change his ticket. We had booked his ticket for him to be in Guyana a whole year. That was a bit long for him so he wanted to change it so he could leave a bit sooner.

By the time we were ready to finally check on our shipment, Aaron had purchased a ticket out of the country. He was scheduled to leave the next morning at 5:30. Wow! I knew he was ready to leave, but I didn't realize he would be leaving that soon! He had basically decided that he was ready to get back to life in the US and get a little more serious with the direction he was headed. "All the best Aaron!"

When we found the shipment dock where we understood our belongings would be waiting, we were sent to a fancy schmancy office to talk to a lady about the ship. It turns out that dock wasn't even where we were suppose to be. The lady did her best to point us in the right direction. Poor Michael had to make several different phone calls before we finally found out that our belongings were still in the middle of the Atlantic somewhere and wouldn't be arriving until the 20th. Oh Bugger!

At least we got a bit of shopping done before we dejectedly made our way back to Bethany, sadly empty handed.