the heliconia

The expertise was done on my crashed Opel Corsa. It would cost €8500 euros to fix whereas it's worth €1250 euros. Our insurance company will buy the Corsa for €1000 euros. So, we're going to have to purchase a used-car soon.

Our upstairs neighbor told us that she's had 4 crashes over the past 5 years, and each time it wasn't her fault. She asserts that driving here is a lot more dangerous than in France because the population is so much younger. In fact, over 50% of the population in French Guiana is less than 26 years old, just like in many African countries.

Luckily, I'm able to garden in my backyard to cheer me up.  One of my favorite flowers in my garden is the heliconia, a curious orange flower I'd never seen before coming to French Guiana. (Click on pictures to enlarge)

The heliconia is very common here and you'll find giant patches of them along roadsides or in vacant lots.

As it opens, it begins to look like a flame. The flower also lasts for several weeks and then a new heliconia sprouts up alongside the old one. They reproduce fast!

On Sundays, Jack and I like to go out for a walk. In this picture, we'd gone to downtown Cayenne (place des amandiers) and decided to stop for a drink at a café.