just now

I arrived on the Essequibo coast almost 3 weeks ago with the intention of moving into my new house and beginning my service. Things don't always go as planned. Life near the equator is strange. You see, there are no seasons. It's always summer. There are no mornings, no afternoons, and no evenings. When the sun rises, it rises all the way, and when it sets, well, it just sets. Complete darkness in a matter of seconds. Everything in between is just midday.

I had to make a trip to Georgetown on Saturday to retrieve some packages from home that were being held at the post office. My watch stopped working at 11:20 a.m. and I spent the entire day having no clue what time it was. Before I caught on, I actually thought it was 11:20 for most of the day! As I was taking the speedboat home, I thought that it could be any time between 2 and 6 p.m. I forget sometimes that time even exists because there are no indicators. It's permanently noon on a hot summer day. That being said, no one is in a hurry to finish my house.

Further proof that time is irrelevant in Guyana is the phrase "just now." What does "just now" mean? Well, it means that something is going to take place in an unspecified time period. For instance, you may ask a mini-bus driver when his bus is going to leave. "Just now, Miss, just now." You may wait 1 minute, or 10, or 20, or an hour. You never really know. You may ask someone what time dinner will be ready. "Just now." When a meeting will start. "Just now." Or even when your house will be ready so that you can move into your community and start work. "Just now."

I realize that I may be coming across as frustrated or annoyed but I'm not at all. I've learned a lot about acceptance over these past few months. Sometimes you just have to let go of all expectations. You simply have to live in the present moment. Once you stop thinking about what's even going to happen in the next 10 minutes, "just now" makes perfect sense. In the States, our days are almost always predetermined. We have the whole day mapped out before we even get out of bed. The alarm goes off at a specific time. We leave for work at a specific time. We clock in at a specific time. We take lunch. We go home. We cook dinner. We watch the evening news. And before you know it, it's bedtime. Things are different when time doesn't exist. The sun comes up, you get out of bed. Once you finish the morning chores, you go to work. When you get hungry, you go home for lunch. Start to get restless in the afternoon? Workday is over. You cook when you're hungry. You sleep when the mosquitoes are hungry. It's simple. What you don't get done today, you can get done tomorrow. No deadlines, no timelines, no schedules. You just live life.

Farewell for now, all you slaves of the clock. I promise to write again just now.