Toshao

After a few weeks of practicing I was finally able to first of all remember and second of all pronounce this word. It is the local word for ‘Chief’ (opperhoofd – in Dutch). Because yes it’s really true Indians have chiefs. They do not have feathers on their heads (only with traditional celebrations) but that doesn’t make them less of a chief. Every village has a toshao, who’s being elected by the village. On a different note I haven’t stumbled upon anybody called ‘Dancing with wolves’ or ‘Hunting with eagles’ yet they have quite regular names like Lindsey James for example.
Disregarding a toshao is head sin number one. Before entering a village you have to get permission from the toshao. Addressing the toshao without calling him a toshao might result in a very short visit to the village. But then again they deserve that amount of respect because being a toshao is a hell of a job. They are representatives of the village, police men, judges, councilors, psychiatrists, spokesmen, mediators and leaders all at the same time.
Before this weekend a toshao was still some sort of a mystery man to me. The leader of a clan with a mystic aura around him. But now the mist has cleared up I know everything there is to know about toshaos. Last Saturday and Sunday I was so lucky to attend the Regional Toshaos Conference in Lethem (a town on the border with Brazil). A whole room filled with toshaos, about a hundred of them. To take it up a notch I even facilitated a number of workshops for them over the weekend. They explained to me in detail what it is like to be a toshao, the joys and the difficulties.
Let’s hooray for the toshaos!

Some short notes:
It seems like my house is slowly getting somewhere, I expect to move in within 10 days… (have to stay positive).
After they had seen me at my new house, they have decided to build the walls a lot higher than planned (that’s probably the reason why it’s taking that long, it’s my own fault, I shouldn’t have been so crazy tall). Wish they had build the walls of my current showers a bit higher as well, have to duck while showering to prevent them from seeing parts that they shouldn’t be seeing (no there’s no roof, it’s an open air shower).
Motorcycle is not in sight yet, now studying for my theoretical exam, while I only will be driving on roads without signs, traffic lights, or any other traffic participants for that matter.
Horse is in sight! Shared my wishes (black or brown, healthy, easy to handle) with the horse guy and he will go and get my horse just now…
Survived my first Guyanese allergy attack, the extreme polka dot pattern was very worrying to some. Got some undefined pills and cream that seemed to work.
Before I forget (again) hereby my address:
Voluntary Services Overseas Guyana
Attn: Marieke Timmer
PO BOX 12199
Georgetown
GUYANA
SOUTH AMERICA
PS: do not forget to include South America, many letters first go to Ghana before they get here…