Last Day (for a while)

Today was a pretty good last day. Done with all the formal work I wanted to get done, I spent the day mostly having fun and taking care of things that needed attention (e.g. sweeping my room, cleaning the sink one last time, etc.). I spent most of the day with my Creole teacher, who took me on a tour of Cayenne. Unlike other tours that I had done myself, he was able to add personal touches, pointing out where he went to grade school, where he learned to swim, which neighborhoods were ethnic enclaves now and back in the day, etc.). We also went to some of the surrounding towns, which are much less developed and far more beautiful than Cayenne. We stopped at a local cocoa farm which used to be the plantation of the King's doctor in the 1700's. Across the street from there was an abandoned fort, which was underwhelming-- so underwhelming that even the colonial French people never really used it for much of anything. We also went to a beach on a dirt road full of potholes (or 'chicken nests' as we say in French), and we happened to meet a couple of friends of his who were fishing. Just after we got there, they caught a burbot (poson krapo 'toadfish' in the local creole). This fish sells for 25€ per kilo (16 bucks a pound) in France. But as seen in the picture from the web, it's an ugly fish.



After a quick visit to see some Amerindian stone drawings along the road, we then picked up his wife and went back to his house for lunch (keep in mind I was taking lots of vocabulary notes the whole time). At his house I had a very special meal called bouyon wara. Though its name indicates that it's a broth made from the local awara fruit, it's actually more of a stew with smoked fish, chicken and pork. It was quite yummy. The superstition is that anyone who eats it is doomed-- I mean, 'bound'-- to return to French Guiana someday. So I guess it's official.

In a few minutes I'll go to a bar to meet a friend and tomorrow I'll head to the airport, so in all likelihood, I won't post till at least Wednesday night. I do plan to keep posting once I'm back in the U.S., particularly pictures of things that I haven't been able to post yet due to the loss of my camera cord. So if you've enjoyed the blog, keep checking in for at least a little while.