Video blog 1

Preparing for Carnaval

Below are some pictures of how Cayenne has begun preparing for Carnaval (similar to New Orelans' Mardi Gras).







A kid with an object for the parade.

Getting settled

I decided to sleep in this morning to recover from an exhausting day. By “sleeping in” I mean I went to bed at midnight (10 pm in my US time zone) and got up at 10 a.m. (8 a.m. my home time zone). I immediately went to recharge my phone so I could begin to make my phone calls to get things rolling. Well, when I bought the card to get my minutes, I noticed there was a problem: It was not accepting the code. I went to the store where I bought it and they told me the customer service number. I called them, they said to have the store sell me a new SIM card because I hadn’t used the phone since July. I went to the store, they didn’t believe me. They told me to call customer service again, where employee number 2 told me that they’d reset it so that I could use it again. I’d just have to wait an hour. After waiting an hour (which I spent writing the earlier blog entries), I tried again. Still no use. So one more time, I called customer service. Employee number 3 tried a lot of different things to reactivate my SIM card, but she finally said that despite her best efforts, it had been more than 211 days since I’d used my phone (I can’t imagine who came up with 211 as a good cut-off number), I’d have to buy a new SIM card for 10€. But of course, by this time, siesta— that plague on efficiency— had already begun, so I had to wait around. I went back there, they gave me a new card, and I had almost escaped when the manager looked over and said, no, you can’t just give him a new card, he needs a new number. So now, after paying an additional 10€, I have a new number (which immediate family should receive via e-mail tonight).

Then I called Jorge, and we met up, spent the evening with his friend Samuel (who bought us dinner at a Haitian place, though I felt obliged to chip in), who Jorge said would help me find a place, thought it seemed that Samuel was unaware of this plan and now I have to get up early tomorrow and keep looking. Wish me luck!

Postcards!

I almost forgot: Anyone who would like a postcard can have one. Just send me your mailing address and your postcard preference (landscape, creole language, animals, plants, people, no preference) and at some point during the next two months you'll receive a postcard. Chances are if you have this blog address, you know my e-mail addresses, my Facebook name, my Skype, or my MSN/Yahoo address, or you know someone who does, so just get it to me through any of those means. Oh and if you're related to me, do not assume that I have your address handy.

Sunday Sunday Sunday

Sunday was one of those rare times where inattention to detail pays off. I had bought a ticket to French Guiana from Indy in order avoid the debacle of the last trip where the domestic flights were with one airline and the international trips were with another, and one leg was cancelled (you can read more about it in a post just a few posts ago). What I didn't notice about the first leg of the trip was that it had me arriving in Miami almost 24 hours before my next flight. So that meant I got to spend the day with my aunt, uncle, and cousin who I hadn't seen in about 5 years.

It was a fun, low-key day. We caught up on the last few years, had a civil conversation about politics (how often does THAT happen nowadays?), watched "The Fighter" (excellent movie) then the Oscars (I haven't seen an awards show that boring since Bryant Gumbel hosted the Emmys). It was just really nice to be able to spend time together.

My uncle took me to the airport early Monday morning, and from there, I had a boring, uneventful trip. I arrived too late to take the shuttle to downtown, so a very friendly taxi driver took me downtown to a hotel that's extremely barebones but is safe and near a supermarket. He also told me that Cayenne is going to celebrate Carnaval this coming Sunday. Already, I've seen kids (and their parents) walking around with Carnaval costumes. I'll take lots of pictures, and I'll also have my camcorders with me to post videos. I'll post again tonight, but now I have to go fix my phone. (Intrigued? Wait for tonight's post.)

Arrival!

I have arrived in French Guiana. It was a long and not particularly eventful trip from Miami to here. I'll post tomorrow about the fun day I spent with my aunt and uncle in Florida tomorroz, but I'm super tired. It's oddly nice to be back.

Overdue YouTube videos

I uploaded these videos to YouTube a while ago and just forgot about them. So, here are two videos from the military parade. The third one is of Creole dancers. Enjoy!