Yesterday we celebrated our 1st Thanksgiving in Guyana as a Peace Corps family. As the day started off, it definitely did not feel like Thanksgiving. First of all, it was 85 degrees out with about 90% humidity and a blazing hot sun. Also, everything was open and running, cause here in Guyana it was just like any other Thursday. It was very weird; we all knew it was Thanksgiving but it just didn't feel like it.
Myself and a few other volunteers in my area planned to do a Thanksgiving dinner for about 12 people at Yesenia's house, a volunteer that lives about 15 minutes away from me. We did all the shopping on Wednesday and managed to find a Butterball turkey (yes, a real American turkey), boxed Stove Top stuffing and canned cranberry sauce at the American grocery store in the capital. Another volunteer, Carissa, is a really good cook and she had a bunch of recipes for different casseroles, au gratin potatoes, broccoli and cheese, mashed potatoes and creamed corn. The amount of food we bought was ridiculous. We had 9 different side dishes, plus the turkey. Since we are in Guyana, we drank rum and made pina coloadas, a new Thanksgiving tradition :)
I went over to Yesenia's house Thursday morning and we, along with Carissa and Alyssa, began cooking. Carissa was the head chef and the rest of us helped out with peeling and chopping various vegetables, making the salad and the bread and other various tasks. Since it was so hot and we had the gas stove and oven running all morning and all afternoon, we were constantly stopping to cool down. We would peel a few potatoes, then go stand in front of the fan for a cool breeze. Chop up an onion and then stand in front of the fan. I don't think 4 people have ever sweat that much making Thanksgiving dinner before. We managed to finish everything in record time, I was quite impressed with us all. We had dinner at 4pm and it was absolutely delicious. We had all the Thanksgiving stables, including pumpkin pie for dessert. There were 14 of us there, including Yesenia's host mom Molly and Alyssa's boyfriend Damian. It was the 1st time either of them had ever had a Thanksgiving meal before. We had Damian try everything 1st and it was adorable how excited he was to try the turkey.
After we ate, we did the "what are you most thankful for" game. One girl brought hand turkey cut outs and we all wrote down a few things we were thankful for this year. Most of us said good friends, family, our delicious meal and, of course, our Peace Corps experience. Then it was time for dessert, homemade pumpkin pie, banana bread, and brownies. I ate so much food that its 24 hours later and I'm still full. And there was still enough left for everyone to bring home leftovers, which we all know is the best part of Thanksgiving.
Today I managed to do a little Black Friday shopping. We get paid our monthly stipend on the 25th of each month, so I went out today to do my grocery shopping for the next few weeks. I went to my usual vegetable and fruit lady and, during our usual bout of small talk, I told her about Thanksgiving and Black Friday shopping back in the States. She thought it was the funniest thing that some people camp out in front of stores to buy things, I told her that people will do crazy things to get a good price. In honor of Black Friday, she decided to give me a free watermelon. Best Black Friday deal I've ever gotten :)
Here are some pictures of our awesome Thanksgiving feast!!!
Friday, November 25, 2011
Friday, November 18, 2011
Working at the clinic
My official title as a Peace Corps volunteer (a.k.a, the one I'm gonna put on my resume cause it sounds more impressive than it actually is) is "Community Health Education Promoter". All of the health volunteers work in either health centers or hospitals and several volunteers also work in their village schools, doing health classes or health and exercise clubs. One of the 1st things I said during my first pre-site placement interview was that I did not want to work in schools. I'm not a teacher and I really have no interest in becoming one and, while I love working with babies and toddlers, once kids hit primary school age, I start to lose more and more patience :)
My site placement in the village of Vreed-en-Hoop, which is along the coast in Region 3, has me working at the West Demerara Regional Hospital, which is the only hospital in the region. It has a surgery theatre, a maternity ward, a dentist, and x-ray facilities. After my original placement in records didn't work out (long story), I sort of placed myself in the maternal and child health clinic. In my clinic, we work with pregnant women and children under 5. The clinic is open Monday through Thursday from 8 am until around 2pm, or whenever the last patient leaves.
Monday and Wednesdays are infant and toddler day or, "cute baby day". Children under 5 come in for a checkup once every 2 or 3 months. They get their weight, length or height and then any vaccines that they may need. Most of the time my Mondays and Wednesdays are spent weighing and measuring the babies, which I love doing cause they are adorable and it's always fun to watch their reaction to the 'weird white lady nurse', as I'm affectionately called. There is a slight occupational hazard that at least 3 babies will pee on me in the course of a morning, but that's a risk I'm willing to take. That's called being Peace Hard Corps :)
Tuesdays is antenatal clinic or, "pregnant lady day". During this clinic I usually sit in with the Medex and help her with the examinations. I've learned to take the fundal height, blood pressure, and listen and measure the fetal heartbeat. I really enjoy this clinic, especially since I'm considering doing a maternal and child health concentration in PA school when I get back. On Tuesdays is when I do the majority of my health talks, mostly about nutrition. Thursdays is also antenatal clinic but for high risk mothers. Any pregnant woman that is considered high risk has to travel to our hospital for all of her antenatal checkups while she is pregnant. A woman can be deemed high risk for many different reason, such as having diabetes or PIHBP ( pregnancy induced high blood pressure), or if she has had complications in previous pregnancies, or if she is older than 35 or a teenager (In Guyana teenage pregnancy is considered 16 and under. Even if the girl is married she still has to attend high risk clinic and speak to a social worker). Thursday is also the only day that we have a doctor at the clinic to do the examinations, an OB/GYN from Cuba. Monday through Wednesday we just have a nurse, a Medex, and a midwife.
I am really enjoying my work at the clinic, mostly because it is very hands on and I feel like everyday I am getting more and more technical experience to bring home with me. I get to work directly with the patients and give health talks to women who live in my village. It's nice to walk down the street, going to the bank or the market, and have women recognize me and say "Good morning nursie". A few of my pregnant patients have given birth since I've started working and I love the fact that I have been able to be with them during their pregnancy and will now be there when they bring their baby to clinic.
After the new year I'm hoping to start a few more projects, one focusing on maternal nutrition and the other helping with community outreach for the HPV vaccine, which the government of Guyana is going to start distributing in my region. Even though I only work Monday through Thursday from 8am until about noon, I feel like I am keeping busy, especially since time is flying by. We celebrated our 9 month anniversary in country this past Tuesday, which blows my mind. Also, I will be home in the states in just 31 days, a trip which I am so excited about it's borderline ridculous :)
My site placement in the village of Vreed-en-Hoop, which is along the coast in Region 3, has me working at the West Demerara Regional Hospital, which is the only hospital in the region. It has a surgery theatre, a maternity ward, a dentist, and x-ray facilities. After my original placement in records didn't work out (long story), I sort of placed myself in the maternal and child health clinic. In my clinic, we work with pregnant women and children under 5. The clinic is open Monday through Thursday from 8 am until around 2pm, or whenever the last patient leaves.
Monday and Wednesdays are infant and toddler day or, "cute baby day". Children under 5 come in for a checkup once every 2 or 3 months. They get their weight, length or height and then any vaccines that they may need. Most of the time my Mondays and Wednesdays are spent weighing and measuring the babies, which I love doing cause they are adorable and it's always fun to watch their reaction to the 'weird white lady nurse', as I'm affectionately called. There is a slight occupational hazard that at least 3 babies will pee on me in the course of a morning, but that's a risk I'm willing to take. That's called being Peace Hard Corps :)
Tuesdays is antenatal clinic or, "pregnant lady day". During this clinic I usually sit in with the Medex and help her with the examinations. I've learned to take the fundal height, blood pressure, and listen and measure the fetal heartbeat. I really enjoy this clinic, especially since I'm considering doing a maternal and child health concentration in PA school when I get back. On Tuesdays is when I do the majority of my health talks, mostly about nutrition. Thursdays is also antenatal clinic but for high risk mothers. Any pregnant woman that is considered high risk has to travel to our hospital for all of her antenatal checkups while she is pregnant. A woman can be deemed high risk for many different reason, such as having diabetes or PIHBP ( pregnancy induced high blood pressure), or if she has had complications in previous pregnancies, or if she is older than 35 or a teenager (In Guyana teenage pregnancy is considered 16 and under. Even if the girl is married she still has to attend high risk clinic and speak to a social worker). Thursday is also the only day that we have a doctor at the clinic to do the examinations, an OB/GYN from Cuba. Monday through Wednesday we just have a nurse, a Medex, and a midwife.
I am really enjoying my work at the clinic, mostly because it is very hands on and I feel like everyday I am getting more and more technical experience to bring home with me. I get to work directly with the patients and give health talks to women who live in my village. It's nice to walk down the street, going to the bank or the market, and have women recognize me and say "Good morning nursie". A few of my pregnant patients have given birth since I've started working and I love the fact that I have been able to be with them during their pregnancy and will now be there when they bring their baby to clinic.
After the new year I'm hoping to start a few more projects, one focusing on maternal nutrition and the other helping with community outreach for the HPV vaccine, which the government of Guyana is going to start distributing in my region. Even though I only work Monday through Thursday from 8am until about noon, I feel like I am keeping busy, especially since time is flying by. We celebrated our 9 month anniversary in country this past Tuesday, which blows my mind. Also, I will be home in the states in just 31 days, a trip which I am so excited about it's borderline ridculous :)
Sunday, November 13, 2011
More pictures!!!!!
Here is a link to some more pictures for everyone to enjoy: another beach day at Leguan Island, a jiandi at a host family's house and, of course, a few choice pictures of Nala, the most awesome cat in the world. Enjoy :)
Friday, November 11, 2011
The kind of thing that would only happen to me.....
This morning, I got locked inside of my apartment. Yes, you read that correctly. I got locked INSIDE. These are the kind of Peace Corps hardships that I have to deal with :)
Today started out like any other morning. Woke up at 7, only slightly hungover from our pizza and red wine party the night before ( In my defense, the wine hangover had nothing to do with the getting locked in my apartment. Though maybe that would of at least been a good excuse). I climbed out of bed, took 2 steps, and proceeded to step on a small, almost microscopic piece of glass that managed to slice the bottom of my foot open. I should have taken that as a sign to just go back to bed. After cleaning up the small pool of in my bedroom and diffusing that medical emergency, I took a shower, made some coffee and went to open my front door.
My door is a pretty standard Guyanese door. There are 2 parts; a wooden door that has a top and bottom that open separately and a metal gate that locks into place using a padlock. when I tried to open my door, the wooden door opened just fine but when I tried to use my keys to remove the padlock and open the metal gate, it wouldn't open. The key would slid in and turn but the lock wouldn't pop open. The lock is kind of old and has given me some trouble before, I sometimes have to jiggle it a little to get it open. But this morning the humidity or the rust or the heat had finally won and the lock just would not open.
So there I was trying to pry a metal gate open, using just my less than impressive upper body strength, when I decided I may need some outside help, unless I wanted to literally have to climb out a window every time I wanted to leave my house. I got some coconut oil, which I use in my hair, and poured some on the key and the lock, thinking that maybe it would loosen something. Five minutes later I was still stuck in my house but now both my hands and the lock smelled like delicious coconuts. I called my downstairs neighbor to see if she was home and if she could go get my landlady. She was at work but she gave me Auntie Sarita's number. I called, told her that this wasn't a joke but I was actually locked inside my house. Auntie Sarita, her cousin, her cleaning lady, her son, and her son's friend all came over to try and help. Auntie Sarita's son, Bangi and his friend Bar went and got a tiny handsaw and proceeded to try and saw off the padlock to free me. I was more than a little scared that one of them would saw off a finger and then, not only would I be still stuck in my apartment, but there would also be a finger on my floor. After 15 minute, they finally got the padlock off and my gate was able to open. Of course after all of this I was running late and I had to rush to shower again and get dressed (Yes, it is so hot here that, at 8 in the morning in November I worked up a sweat trying to unlock a door).
So that was how my day started. I'm now at the Peace Corps office in town, treating myself to some air conditioning and lunch out, which I think I deserve. Just another day and another struggle in the life of a Peace Corps voulnteer :)
Today started out like any other morning. Woke up at 7, only slightly hungover from our pizza and red wine party the night before ( In my defense, the wine hangover had nothing to do with the getting locked in my apartment. Though maybe that would of at least been a good excuse). I climbed out of bed, took 2 steps, and proceeded to step on a small, almost microscopic piece of glass that managed to slice the bottom of my foot open. I should have taken that as a sign to just go back to bed. After cleaning up the small pool of in my bedroom and diffusing that medical emergency, I took a shower, made some coffee and went to open my front door.
My door is a pretty standard Guyanese door. There are 2 parts; a wooden door that has a top and bottom that open separately and a metal gate that locks into place using a padlock. when I tried to open my door, the wooden door opened just fine but when I tried to use my keys to remove the padlock and open the metal gate, it wouldn't open. The key would slid in and turn but the lock wouldn't pop open. The lock is kind of old and has given me some trouble before, I sometimes have to jiggle it a little to get it open. But this morning the humidity or the rust or the heat had finally won and the lock just would not open.
So there I was trying to pry a metal gate open, using just my less than impressive upper body strength, when I decided I may need some outside help, unless I wanted to literally have to climb out a window every time I wanted to leave my house. I got some coconut oil, which I use in my hair, and poured some on the key and the lock, thinking that maybe it would loosen something. Five minutes later I was still stuck in my house but now both my hands and the lock smelled like delicious coconuts. I called my downstairs neighbor to see if she was home and if she could go get my landlady. She was at work but she gave me Auntie Sarita's number. I called, told her that this wasn't a joke but I was actually locked inside my house. Auntie Sarita, her cousin, her cleaning lady, her son, and her son's friend all came over to try and help. Auntie Sarita's son, Bangi and his friend Bar went and got a tiny handsaw and proceeded to try and saw off the padlock to free me. I was more than a little scared that one of them would saw off a finger and then, not only would I be still stuck in my apartment, but there would also be a finger on my floor. After 15 minute, they finally got the padlock off and my gate was able to open. Of course after all of this I was running late and I had to rush to shower again and get dressed (Yes, it is so hot here that, at 8 in the morning in November I worked up a sweat trying to unlock a door).
So that was how my day started. I'm now at the Peace Corps office in town, treating myself to some air conditioning and lunch out, which I think I deserve. Just another day and another struggle in the life of a Peace Corps voulnteer :)
Friday, November 4, 2011
Diwali
This past Wednesday was the Indian celebration of Diwali or the "Festival of Lights". It is one of the major Hindu holidays and is considered a national holiday here in Guyana. Diwali is considered the celebration of the awareness of the inner light and of good triumphing over evil. Diwal is marked most often by fireworks, lighting candles and decorating one's house with lights at dusk.
My landlords, Auntie Sarita and Uncle Ronald, invited me to their Diwali celebraton, which begins with a large meal called a jiandi that is shared in the family home. Seven curry is traditionally served, which is the most amazing food ever. It's basically a variety of vegetable curries (not Indian curry but Guyana curry, so not quite as spicy and potent), served over rice and dhal puri, which is a similar to a tortilla. The meal is usually cooked over fireside instead of a gas stove and the family sits together and eats throughout the day. There is also poularii, which are fried dough balls and fried boulanger (eggplant) with sour sauce. So yummy. When the sun goes down, everyone begins lightinging pieces of cotton soaked in kerosene (very kid friendly holiday) and put them in small clay pots. The lights are placed all over the yard, the street, the veranda, and a lot of people put up Christmas lights as well. People start setting off fireworks, which are for sale everywhere during Diwali and are so cheap. My friend Yesenia came over and we walked up and down my road, looknig at the lights, eating ice cream, and setting off sparklers with kids. It was a really fun time, even though people were setting off fireworks well into the night, some of them were so loud that they set of car alarms. It was nice to spend my first Diwali with my landlords, who I consider almost like a host family because they are so nice and always include me in holidays and family events.
My landlords, Auntie Sarita and Uncle Ronald, invited me to their Diwali celebraton, which begins with a large meal called a jiandi that is shared in the family home. Seven curry is traditionally served, which is the most amazing food ever. It's basically a variety of vegetable curries (not Indian curry but Guyana curry, so not quite as spicy and potent), served over rice and dhal puri, which is a similar to a tortilla. The meal is usually cooked over fireside instead of a gas stove and the family sits together and eats throughout the day. There is also poularii, which are fried dough balls and fried boulanger (eggplant) with sour sauce. So yummy. When the sun goes down, everyone begins lightinging pieces of cotton soaked in kerosene (very kid friendly holiday) and put them in small clay pots. The lights are placed all over the yard, the street, the veranda, and a lot of people put up Christmas lights as well. People start setting off fireworks, which are for sale everywhere during Diwali and are so cheap. My friend Yesenia came over and we walked up and down my road, looknig at the lights, eating ice cream, and setting off sparklers with kids. It was a really fun time, even though people were setting off fireworks well into the night, some of them were so loud that they set of car alarms. It was nice to spend my first Diwali with my landlords, who I consider almost like a host family because they are so nice and always include me in holidays and family events.
Sunday, October 9, 2011
8 months
It's hard to believe that in just a few short days, on October 15th, I will have been in Guyana for 8 whole months. I know I probably said the same thing at 5 months and 6 months and 7 months, but for some reason this one feels different. Weirder. More surreal. Maybe its the fact that it's October and officially fall back home, which has always been my favorite time of year. This time last year, I was just getting my invitation from Peace Corps to come to Guyana, it seems so weird to think that was a full year ago. Time has taken on such a different meaning here, I swear it moves faster than it ever did back home. In 2 and a half months, just 71 days, I will be back in the States for Christmas. When I get back to Guyana on Jan 10th, the new group of volunteers, Guy 24, will arrive just 2 and a half weeks later. And then, 2 weeks after that it will be my group's one year anniversary in Guyana. And then, just 3 months after that is our Mid Service conference, which is the last Peace Corps training before our close of service, just 7 months after that ( I went through the calendar like 3 times to check all of that, it sounds so short I couldn't believe it).
It's hard not to think about all that stuff, the numbers and dates and schedules and not be a little bit freaked out. Before I left, 27 months sounded like such a long time. Now that I'm 8 months in, it seems like nothing. Just a tiny blip on the radar. How can I possibly get anything done in just 27 months? How can I make a difference, make any sort of meaningful impact on my community when it feels like I'll barely even be here? Those questions run through my mind pretty much everyday, you have those small moments of panic when another day ends and you cross it off on the calender and you have that spilt second of, oh crap where did that day just go? I think part of it is because most of us, if not all of us, by now have fallen into a daily routine that is so comfortable and familiar that I often forget that I'm even in the Peace Corps. I wake up, work out, go to work, come home and then read or watch a movie on my computer before bed. That is not unlike a typical day back home in the States. It makes everything flow together and move faster. I don't think its a good thing or a bad thing, it's just the way it is. I love the fact that I feel so comfortable in my community, so integrated and at home, that I forget that I'm not actually from here. Of course, no matter how comfortable you get, there are always those moments that make you feel like you've just stepped off the place and remind you that you're definitely not in Kansas anymore. I had one such moment on the minibus yesterday.
I was on my way from my house to another volunteers house, which is about a 25 minute minibus ride up the coast. I was standing out on the road at about 5pm, which is not a great time to get a minibus on the weekend cause there are not a lot of buses running. Finally, one stopped to let me on. As the conductor opened the door I noticed that the bus was pretty much full and I would really have to squeeze in to fit. Minibuses have 4 rows of seats, which sit 3 adults comfortably, maybe 4 if you're all relatively small. Now, not only were all the rows full but the front row, where the conductor wanted me to sit already had 4 passengers, plus the conductor. I didn't really have a choice though, as the conductor grabbed my arm and pulled me in while saying, "Come on white baby, come on". (Conductors are the guys on the minibuses who tell the driver when to stop and pick people up, they collect the money and tell the driver when to stop and let someone off. They are known to call every woman either baby or beautiful or mamie, but the white part is usually added just for me lol). So I get on the bus and the only place left for the conductor to sit is, surprise surprise, right on my lap. I'm pretty sure he knew that when he stopped to pick me up but it's too late now as the driver has already started flooring it up the road. He turns and, with his face literally inches from mine, tells me that he likes me and asks my name. I tell him my name is not important cause we probably won't be friends. He laughs and asks why not. I tell him that, even though I'm giving him the wrong 1st impression by letting him sit on my lap, I have plenty friends and my boyfriend probably wouldn't want me to make anymore (In these situations, whether you have a boyfriend or not, it's a pretty standard reply to say that you do. It tends to discourage them most of the time lol). He seemed to accept this answer and stopped talking but proceeded to stare at me for the remainder of the ride and make several attempts ot hold my hand.
Now, this situation would never, ever happen back home. How many times have you gotten on a bus and had to sit on the drivers lap? Or had someone sit on yours cause the bus was too full? Moments like that, which are not that uncommon, not only serve as hilarious stories afterwards but are definite reminders of the fact that I'm pretty easy to pick out of a crowd here. The crazy strawberry blond color that my hair has now become doesn't exactly blend well and, while this is probably the tannest I've ever been, I'm still really really white. I may have to be reminded when I'm home that its not ok to sit on someones lap if the bus is full :)
While things like that serve as reminders that I stand out, most of time I forget that I'm not Guyanese, especially when I'm out with a group of Guyanese friends. Saturday night I went to a floodlight cricket game with 2 other volunteers and a few Guyanese friends. Floodlight cricket is an event that happens about once a month when the different cricket teams from villages along the coast get together for a nighttime tournament type game. It usually starts right after dark, around 7 or 8 and can go until 5 in the morning. There is food, usually barbecue and, of course, plenty of locally brewed Banks beer (which is why I go, I'm really not a fan of cricket lol). It's always a lot of fun, the guys we go with usually are playing on one of the teams, so its nice to hang around, drink a few beers, and actually know some of the guys who are playing. When we showed up last night, however, around 7:30, there was one essential part of floodlight cricket missing. The floodlights. It was basically a huge crowd of people standing in a dark field, with only the light from the beer tent to see anything, waiting for the floodlights to show up so the game could start. Of course, as soon as they showed up an hour later, it started to torrential downpour. I'm talking, a legit monsoon style rainstorm. We all crowded under a tree, shielding each other from the rain and trying to finish our beer before it got blown away ( The guys never let us be without at least 2 beers in our hands at all times, I think its a Guyanese custom no one told me about that if you have 2 hands you always need 2 drinks). Finally we gave up, and soaking wet, made our way out to the road to find a bus back home. Even though we didn't get to see any cricket, even after the rain stopped the field was way to wet to play on, it was a fun night with good friends. Those are some of my favorite times in Guyana, hanging out on the weekends with friends, just like I would back home. It makes me feel like I'm actually building a life here, even though I will only be here for a short time. There will definitely be lots of good memories for me to look back on :)
It's hard not to think about all that stuff, the numbers and dates and schedules and not be a little bit freaked out. Before I left, 27 months sounded like such a long time. Now that I'm 8 months in, it seems like nothing. Just a tiny blip on the radar. How can I possibly get anything done in just 27 months? How can I make a difference, make any sort of meaningful impact on my community when it feels like I'll barely even be here? Those questions run through my mind pretty much everyday, you have those small moments of panic when another day ends and you cross it off on the calender and you have that spilt second of, oh crap where did that day just go? I think part of it is because most of us, if not all of us, by now have fallen into a daily routine that is so comfortable and familiar that I often forget that I'm even in the Peace Corps. I wake up, work out, go to work, come home and then read or watch a movie on my computer before bed. That is not unlike a typical day back home in the States. It makes everything flow together and move faster. I don't think its a good thing or a bad thing, it's just the way it is. I love the fact that I feel so comfortable in my community, so integrated and at home, that I forget that I'm not actually from here. Of course, no matter how comfortable you get, there are always those moments that make you feel like you've just stepped off the place and remind you that you're definitely not in Kansas anymore. I had one such moment on the minibus yesterday.
I was on my way from my house to another volunteers house, which is about a 25 minute minibus ride up the coast. I was standing out on the road at about 5pm, which is not a great time to get a minibus on the weekend cause there are not a lot of buses running. Finally, one stopped to let me on. As the conductor opened the door I noticed that the bus was pretty much full and I would really have to squeeze in to fit. Minibuses have 4 rows of seats, which sit 3 adults comfortably, maybe 4 if you're all relatively small. Now, not only were all the rows full but the front row, where the conductor wanted me to sit already had 4 passengers, plus the conductor. I didn't really have a choice though, as the conductor grabbed my arm and pulled me in while saying, "Come on white baby, come on". (Conductors are the guys on the minibuses who tell the driver when to stop and pick people up, they collect the money and tell the driver when to stop and let someone off. They are known to call every woman either baby or beautiful or mamie, but the white part is usually added just for me lol). So I get on the bus and the only place left for the conductor to sit is, surprise surprise, right on my lap. I'm pretty sure he knew that when he stopped to pick me up but it's too late now as the driver has already started flooring it up the road. He turns and, with his face literally inches from mine, tells me that he likes me and asks my name. I tell him my name is not important cause we probably won't be friends. He laughs and asks why not. I tell him that, even though I'm giving him the wrong 1st impression by letting him sit on my lap, I have plenty friends and my boyfriend probably wouldn't want me to make anymore (In these situations, whether you have a boyfriend or not, it's a pretty standard reply to say that you do. It tends to discourage them most of the time lol). He seemed to accept this answer and stopped talking but proceeded to stare at me for the remainder of the ride and make several attempts ot hold my hand.
Now, this situation would never, ever happen back home. How many times have you gotten on a bus and had to sit on the drivers lap? Or had someone sit on yours cause the bus was too full? Moments like that, which are not that uncommon, not only serve as hilarious stories afterwards but are definite reminders of the fact that I'm pretty easy to pick out of a crowd here. The crazy strawberry blond color that my hair has now become doesn't exactly blend well and, while this is probably the tannest I've ever been, I'm still really really white. I may have to be reminded when I'm home that its not ok to sit on someones lap if the bus is full :)
While things like that serve as reminders that I stand out, most of time I forget that I'm not Guyanese, especially when I'm out with a group of Guyanese friends. Saturday night I went to a floodlight cricket game with 2 other volunteers and a few Guyanese friends. Floodlight cricket is an event that happens about once a month when the different cricket teams from villages along the coast get together for a nighttime tournament type game. It usually starts right after dark, around 7 or 8 and can go until 5 in the morning. There is food, usually barbecue and, of course, plenty of locally brewed Banks beer (which is why I go, I'm really not a fan of cricket lol). It's always a lot of fun, the guys we go with usually are playing on one of the teams, so its nice to hang around, drink a few beers, and actually know some of the guys who are playing. When we showed up last night, however, around 7:30, there was one essential part of floodlight cricket missing. The floodlights. It was basically a huge crowd of people standing in a dark field, with only the light from the beer tent to see anything, waiting for the floodlights to show up so the game could start. Of course, as soon as they showed up an hour later, it started to torrential downpour. I'm talking, a legit monsoon style rainstorm. We all crowded under a tree, shielding each other from the rain and trying to finish our beer before it got blown away ( The guys never let us be without at least 2 beers in our hands at all times, I think its a Guyanese custom no one told me about that if you have 2 hands you always need 2 drinks). Finally we gave up, and soaking wet, made our way out to the road to find a bus back home. Even though we didn't get to see any cricket, even after the rain stopped the field was way to wet to play on, it was a fun night with good friends. Those are some of my favorite times in Guyana, hanging out on the weekends with friends, just like I would back home. It makes me feel like I'm actually building a life here, even though I will only be here for a short time. There will definitely be lots of good memories for me to look back on :)
Thursday, September 29, 2011
New pictures!! :)
Here's a link to one of my photo albums on Facebook, it has pictures from a trip to the beach I went on a few weeks ago. Enjoy :)
Monday, September 26, 2011
Heritage Festival at St Cuthbert's Mission
I am writing this post from the air conditioned luxury of the Peace Corps office in Georgetown. I decided to treat myself this morning to a few hours of air conditioning, mostly because the sunburn on my arms, neck, and face is fresh and still painfully pink. I was stopped on my way here by a Guyanese man who told me that he liked how my face and my hair were 2 different shades of red. Wasn't really sure how to respond to that one :) I can't really complain about this sunburn though since, #1 it was my own fault for not wearing sunscreen, and #2 it happened during an amazing weekend celebrating Amerindian Heritage month in the village of St. Cuthbert's Mission.
Here in Guyana September is Amerindian Heritage month so there are tons of festivals and events going on all over the country that showcase the culture and the heritage of Guyana's native people, the Amerindians. St Cuthbert's Mission is a village of about 1,500 people that is located about 2 hours from Georgetown in the interior. Several of the Guy 23 volunteers did their training there so a bunch of us decided to go this past weekend to attend their heritage festival. It was probably one of the best weekends I've had so far here in Guyana.
Our journey started from Georgetown, where I met up with my friends Emily and Ashley, who came in from the Essequibo coast early Saturday morning. We caught a bus from town around 8 am, which was going to take us up the main road the runs along the coast. It was about a 40 minute ride from town to a place called the Suesdyke junction, where the road splits and you can either continue along the coast or take the other main highway in Guyana, which goes into the interior. At this point we switched from bus to pickup truck, since the road into the mission is all sand and dirt and most cars and buses get stuck. We then had a 45 minute ride into the Mission, bouncing along in the back of a pickup truck, hoping that none of the potholes or sharp turns would get us tossed out. The driver of the pickup truck, Bongo, was a host dad to one of the other volunteers, so we trusted him to get us there safely. Along the way we stopped at a small pineapple farm and bought freshly picked pine to snack on for the rest of the ride.
Once we got into the Mission, which is spread out over several miles of open savannah, dense jungle, and blackwater creeks, we dropped our bags off at Bongo's house, and made our way to the town center, where all the festivities were taking place. There was a stage set up for performances and booths selling locally made crafts and food. We walked around and watching some adorable school children sing songs and read poems, and of course, spent way too much money on the beautifully made Amerindian crafts. The Amerindians in Guyana are famous for their straw basket weaving and feather headpieces and jewelry. Warning, all my Christmas gives for people were bought last weekend, and almost all of them involve colored straw or feathers :)
All of the food choices were local Amerindian dishes, such as labba pepperpot and cassava bread. This is what I had and it was absolutely delicious. Pepperpot is a dish that is kind of like a stew, meat is cooked in broth and spices and peppers for a very long time until it gets really tender and the broth soaks up all the flavor. Cassava bread is a hard flat bread that is used to soak up the broth. Labba is wild bush meat and very popular in Amerindian communities. A labba is an animal that is native to Guyana and it resembles, get ready for it, a large rodent. Sounds gross, I know, and I don't think I could actually look at a live labba and then eat one, but it really does taste quite good. And of course, you need something to wash down all that wild bush meat with. Amerindians make their own liquor, which is called Piwari or bush rum. It is made from fermented cassava, which is a root vegetable similar to a potato, and lots of sugar. It is sweet and delicious but STRONG! Depending on what batch you get, it can get you pretty high (Guyanese use the term high to mean drunk, this was very confusing at first lol).
Now, you all probably have guessed by now that Guyana is balls hot all the time. Every single day. But where I live, along the coast of the Atlantic, I get a breeze that at least makes the heat bearable sometimes. Once you get into the interior, that breeze disappears. On Saturday, sitting in the shade in St Cuthbert's, I was sweating just by lifting the bottle of Piwari to my lips. I don't think I've ever been that hot before, ever. We decided that it was probably a good point to go find a place to cool down so we walked about a mile further into the village to this amazingly peaceful and beautiful blackwater creek. The water was cool and shaded from the trees and we were able to swim and relax away from the heat and dusty sand of the village center. It was amazing. After our swim, we headed back to the center of the village to do some more craft shopping and pass the rest of the afternoon relaxing on a random veranda, drinking Piwari and eating pepperpot.
As the sun began to set and round 2 of the festivities began to get under way, myself and my friends and fellow volunteers Kristin, Meghan, and Mark decided to go to a different black water creek near Kristin's host family's house where we were all staying, to bath for the night. Using rainwater or bathing in creeks is a very common method of washing clothes, dishes, and bathing in most of Guyana. So the 4 of us were all sitting in the creek, trying to get as clean as possible with most of our clothes on and no real soap, when all of sudden we look up and a flock of macaw parrots fly over our heads, right as the sun is setting. It was such a cool moment, sitting in a blackwater creek, in the middle of the jungle as the sun is setting, and seeing a flock of colorful parrots fly by. It felt like a very Peace Corps moment :)
After that, we made our way back to the town center, for a dinner of barbequed chicken and plantain chips and, of course, more Piwari. We hung around the food and craft area for a while until around 9 pm, when we were told that we should head over to the primary school where apparently their was an all night dance party going on. At that point, most of us had had just enough Piwari to be totally into the idea of an all night dance party. We headed over to the primary school, which was packed, and preceded to take over the dance floor. The DJ was playing mostly Guyanese music, rap, soca, dancehall, and reggae but at around 1 am he decided to make a switch. All of a sudden, Elvis was playing and a whole bunch of other music that made me think I was in the movie Grease. It was such a fun time and we kept on dancing until around 2 am. Some volunteers had to get a ride out of the Mission at 3 am in order to get back to Georgetown to make the flights back to their sites so we headed back to our respective host family houses to pack and get at least an hour or 2 of sleep.
We woke up with the sun and had a quick cup of instant coffee before piling into a bus that was headed back to Georgetown. I got home around noon on Sunday and was completely exhausted and bright pink from sunburn but incredibly happy and content with life. It was an amazingly fun and crazy weekend. And, of course, I have pictures for everybody at the link below. Enjoy!!! :)
St Cuthbert's pics:
Here in Guyana September is Amerindian Heritage month so there are tons of festivals and events going on all over the country that showcase the culture and the heritage of Guyana's native people, the Amerindians. St Cuthbert's Mission is a village of about 1,500 people that is located about 2 hours from Georgetown in the interior. Several of the Guy 23 volunteers did their training there so a bunch of us decided to go this past weekend to attend their heritage festival. It was probably one of the best weekends I've had so far here in Guyana.
Our journey started from Georgetown, where I met up with my friends Emily and Ashley, who came in from the Essequibo coast early Saturday morning. We caught a bus from town around 8 am, which was going to take us up the main road the runs along the coast. It was about a 40 minute ride from town to a place called the Suesdyke junction, where the road splits and you can either continue along the coast or take the other main highway in Guyana, which goes into the interior. At this point we switched from bus to pickup truck, since the road into the mission is all sand and dirt and most cars and buses get stuck. We then had a 45 minute ride into the Mission, bouncing along in the back of a pickup truck, hoping that none of the potholes or sharp turns would get us tossed out. The driver of the pickup truck, Bongo, was a host dad to one of the other volunteers, so we trusted him to get us there safely. Along the way we stopped at a small pineapple farm and bought freshly picked pine to snack on for the rest of the ride.
Once we got into the Mission, which is spread out over several miles of open savannah, dense jungle, and blackwater creeks, we dropped our bags off at Bongo's house, and made our way to the town center, where all the festivities were taking place. There was a stage set up for performances and booths selling locally made crafts and food. We walked around and watching some adorable school children sing songs and read poems, and of course, spent way too much money on the beautifully made Amerindian crafts. The Amerindians in Guyana are famous for their straw basket weaving and feather headpieces and jewelry. Warning, all my Christmas gives for people were bought last weekend, and almost all of them involve colored straw or feathers :)
All of the food choices were local Amerindian dishes, such as labba pepperpot and cassava bread. This is what I had and it was absolutely delicious. Pepperpot is a dish that is kind of like a stew, meat is cooked in broth and spices and peppers for a very long time until it gets really tender and the broth soaks up all the flavor. Cassava bread is a hard flat bread that is used to soak up the broth. Labba is wild bush meat and very popular in Amerindian communities. A labba is an animal that is native to Guyana and it resembles, get ready for it, a large rodent. Sounds gross, I know, and I don't think I could actually look at a live labba and then eat one, but it really does taste quite good. And of course, you need something to wash down all that wild bush meat with. Amerindians make their own liquor, which is called Piwari or bush rum. It is made from fermented cassava, which is a root vegetable similar to a potato, and lots of sugar. It is sweet and delicious but STRONG! Depending on what batch you get, it can get you pretty high (Guyanese use the term high to mean drunk, this was very confusing at first lol).
Now, you all probably have guessed by now that Guyana is balls hot all the time. Every single day. But where I live, along the coast of the Atlantic, I get a breeze that at least makes the heat bearable sometimes. Once you get into the interior, that breeze disappears. On Saturday, sitting in the shade in St Cuthbert's, I was sweating just by lifting the bottle of Piwari to my lips. I don't think I've ever been that hot before, ever. We decided that it was probably a good point to go find a place to cool down so we walked about a mile further into the village to this amazingly peaceful and beautiful blackwater creek. The water was cool and shaded from the trees and we were able to swim and relax away from the heat and dusty sand of the village center. It was amazing. After our swim, we headed back to the center of the village to do some more craft shopping and pass the rest of the afternoon relaxing on a random veranda, drinking Piwari and eating pepperpot.
As the sun began to set and round 2 of the festivities began to get under way, myself and my friends and fellow volunteers Kristin, Meghan, and Mark decided to go to a different black water creek near Kristin's host family's house where we were all staying, to bath for the night. Using rainwater or bathing in creeks is a very common method of washing clothes, dishes, and bathing in most of Guyana. So the 4 of us were all sitting in the creek, trying to get as clean as possible with most of our clothes on and no real soap, when all of sudden we look up and a flock of macaw parrots fly over our heads, right as the sun is setting. It was such a cool moment, sitting in a blackwater creek, in the middle of the jungle as the sun is setting, and seeing a flock of colorful parrots fly by. It felt like a very Peace Corps moment :)
After that, we made our way back to the town center, for a dinner of barbequed chicken and plantain chips and, of course, more Piwari. We hung around the food and craft area for a while until around 9 pm, when we were told that we should head over to the primary school where apparently their was an all night dance party going on. At that point, most of us had had just enough Piwari to be totally into the idea of an all night dance party. We headed over to the primary school, which was packed, and preceded to take over the dance floor. The DJ was playing mostly Guyanese music, rap, soca, dancehall, and reggae but at around 1 am he decided to make a switch. All of a sudden, Elvis was playing and a whole bunch of other music that made me think I was in the movie Grease. It was such a fun time and we kept on dancing until around 2 am. Some volunteers had to get a ride out of the Mission at 3 am in order to get back to Georgetown to make the flights back to their sites so we headed back to our respective host family houses to pack and get at least an hour or 2 of sleep.
We woke up with the sun and had a quick cup of instant coffee before piling into a bus that was headed back to Georgetown. I got home around noon on Sunday and was completely exhausted and bright pink from sunburn but incredibly happy and content with life. It was an amazingly fun and crazy weekend. And, of course, I have pictures for everybody at the link below. Enjoy!!! :)
St Cuthbert's pics:
Program Design and Management Conference
Two weeks ago, Peace Corps held a conference for all Guy 23 volunteers on program design and management. We were supposed to attend with our counterparts and discuss, plan, and design a project or program that we were currently working on or hoped to work on at our site. Unfortunately, my counterpart, the Medex at the Maternal and Child Health clinic, was unable to attend but I was still able to come up with a potential project.
Since I am doing my Peace Corps service as part of my Master's International program, I wanted to design a project that would not only be something that my health center needed and wanted but that would also be able to serve as part of my master's thesis when I get back. Graduating from grad school seems both blissfully far away and terrifyingly close so I knew I needed to start thinking about it sooner rather than later.
Since starting work at the maternal and child health clinic I've become more interested in antenatal health and I think I want to go into that field when I'm back home. I wanted my project to focus on the pregnant women who attend the clinic and, as I observed the women's consultations with the Medex and spoke to them one on one, I realized that nutrition during pregnancy is a major issue for women here in Guyana. There is a definite lack of education about nutrition, what pregnant women should or should not eat, what makes up a healthy diet, and what vitamins one should take while pregnant. I wanted my project to focus on nutrition education, both in pregnant women and also in community health workers so that they could better serve their own communties.
From that very basic idea, I put together a rough project outline which I hope to begin sometime in early October. I am going to select a group of 20 women who are new admits to our antenatal clinic in the month of October. I will give out an initial survey that focuses on determining their level of knowledge about nutrition in general, how that changes when they are pregnant, and what vitamins a pregnant woman needs in order to have a healthy baby. This will serve as my baseline survey. From there, I will follow these women for 9 months, or the full term of their pregnancy, giving them group and individual health talks that focus on nutrition, at every clinic visit. For women up till 6 months of pregnancy, that will be once a month and for women after 7 months, it will be about once every 2 weeks. I will focus these health talks on different topics pertaining to nutrition. After each women gives birth I will do a follow up survey to see if their knowledge of nutrition has improved. Also, I will check to see medically if they have improved health by taking vitamins during pregnancy, focusing specifically on infant birth weight and other signs of poor antenatal nutrition.
So that, in a very basic and rough nutshell, is my first project as a Peace Corps volunteer. It is something I am excited about starting and I hope that by educating the health workers as well, it is a project that is at least somewhat sustainable. And by doing a survey and generating statistical data on how many women's knowledge and overall health improved, it will be useful for when I go back to school and have to turn all this into a nice, formal paper.
Let me know what you guys all think!! I am hoping to get some feedback from my many followers on whether or not you think this project is even a good idea :)
Since I am doing my Peace Corps service as part of my Master's International program, I wanted to design a project that would not only be something that my health center needed and wanted but that would also be able to serve as part of my master's thesis when I get back. Graduating from grad school seems both blissfully far away and terrifyingly close so I knew I needed to start thinking about it sooner rather than later.
Since starting work at the maternal and child health clinic I've become more interested in antenatal health and I think I want to go into that field when I'm back home. I wanted my project to focus on the pregnant women who attend the clinic and, as I observed the women's consultations with the Medex and spoke to them one on one, I realized that nutrition during pregnancy is a major issue for women here in Guyana. There is a definite lack of education about nutrition, what pregnant women should or should not eat, what makes up a healthy diet, and what vitamins one should take while pregnant. I wanted my project to focus on nutrition education, both in pregnant women and also in community health workers so that they could better serve their own communties.
From that very basic idea, I put together a rough project outline which I hope to begin sometime in early October. I am going to select a group of 20 women who are new admits to our antenatal clinic in the month of October. I will give out an initial survey that focuses on determining their level of knowledge about nutrition in general, how that changes when they are pregnant, and what vitamins a pregnant woman needs in order to have a healthy baby. This will serve as my baseline survey. From there, I will follow these women for 9 months, or the full term of their pregnancy, giving them group and individual health talks that focus on nutrition, at every clinic visit. For women up till 6 months of pregnancy, that will be once a month and for women after 7 months, it will be about once every 2 weeks. I will focus these health talks on different topics pertaining to nutrition. After each women gives birth I will do a follow up survey to see if their knowledge of nutrition has improved. Also, I will check to see medically if they have improved health by taking vitamins during pregnancy, focusing specifically on infant birth weight and other signs of poor antenatal nutrition.
So that, in a very basic and rough nutshell, is my first project as a Peace Corps volunteer. It is something I am excited about starting and I hope that by educating the health workers as well, it is a project that is at least somewhat sustainable. And by doing a survey and generating statistical data on how many women's knowledge and overall health improved, it will be useful for when I go back to school and have to turn all this into a nice, formal paper.
Let me know what you guys all think!! I am hoping to get some feedback from my many followers on whether or not you think this project is even a good idea :)
Thursday, September 8, 2011
You know you're in Peace Corps Guyana when....
When talking with other volunteers in country, inevitably someone will throw out the phrase, "you know you're in Peace Corps Guyana when..." and then supply some random anecdote that, more often than not, universally applies to everyone in the group. Most of them are funny or amusing, often in some ironic way about how poor/sweaty/dirty/crazy we have all become since we began our Peace Corps journey. Here are a few that my friends and I have observed are true for almost everyone:
1. You own a "fancy" pair of Crocs
2. Getting ready to go out usually involves sunscreen, bug spray, or both.
3. Everyone has various tan lines on their arms and legs, depending on how often you wear different tank top/t-shirt/shorts/pants combos.
4. Dressing up or looking nice for something will most likely just mean that you washed your hair that day.
4. At the end of the month you can't afford both peanut butter AND jelly so you stand at the shelf for 20 minutes trying to decide which one to get this month.
5. You answer to someone calling you "white girl" the same way you would if they had said your name.
6. You can tell which pair of shoes other volunteers wear the most by the tattoo like tan lines we now all have on our feet.
7. You can name at least 3 different spices used in making curry
8. A week without any blackouts is considered a good week (hasn't happened yet, so that one is just a guess lol)
9. To save power/money, you walk around at night with your headlamp on instead of turning on the lights.
10. A shopping "splurge" is almost always a food item and is usually some American-brand of junk food that is almost at it's expiration date.
1. You own a "fancy" pair of Crocs
2. Getting ready to go out usually involves sunscreen, bug spray, or both.
3. Everyone has various tan lines on their arms and legs, depending on how often you wear different tank top/t-shirt/shorts/pants combos.
4. Dressing up or looking nice for something will most likely just mean that you washed your hair that day.
4. At the end of the month you can't afford both peanut butter AND jelly so you stand at the shelf for 20 minutes trying to decide which one to get this month.
5. You answer to someone calling you "white girl" the same way you would if they had said your name.
6. You can tell which pair of shoes other volunteers wear the most by the tattoo like tan lines we now all have on our feet.
7. You can name at least 3 different spices used in making curry
8. A week without any blackouts is considered a good week (hasn't happened yet, so that one is just a guess lol)
9. To save power/money, you walk around at night with your headlamp on instead of turning on the lights.
10. A shopping "splurge" is almost always a food item and is usually some American-brand of junk food that is almost at it's expiration date.
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Jungle run part deux
This past weekend, I attended my 3rd Guyana Hash House Harriers run, or just hash run for short. For those of you who haven't been obsessively keeping up with my blog and didn't read the 1st entry explaining what a hash is (shame on you) here's a brief explanation: Hash groups exist all over the world and are described as a drinking club with a running problem. Basically, groups of people get together 2 times a month and go on "extreme" runs, so not just a typical jog on a marked path or trail. The point is to have them in some kind of weird or unique or crazy environment, which here in Guyana can mean jungle. Two or three members of the group pick a place, mark out a trail (there are various rules to the club as well), and then everyone does the run, comes back, eats food, and drinks a lot of beer (it's important to carbo-load after a workout, right?).
This most recent run was set in Santa Mission, an Amerinidian community that is pretty isolated in the bush. We had to take an hour boat ride up a black water creek just to get to the village. Once we got there, the run was 6 miles total in almost complete bush, like climbing over trees and wading through creeks type of bush. It was more walking than running but in 90+ degree heat and 100% humidity, it was absolutely exhausting. But cool as hell, walking through the jungle, not being able to hear any other human being or car or any sign of civilization for miles, literally crawling through bush and balancing across fallen logs over creekbeds.
The run took just about 3 hours, since we walked most of the way through the thicker jungle areas ( and took a few wrong turns and almost ended up in Suriname, but that's not my fault, the freaking jungle all looks the same out there). After words we all ate delicious bbq chicken, cook up rice, dahl rice, and drank lots and lots of beer. One of the rules of a hash is that you can't leave any beer behind so you have to drink it all, no matter what. My group usually doesn't have a problem with that :) After the food, everyone forms a circle and the GM of the run (the guy in charge of that particular hash group) gets in the middle and starts calling up different people who, for various reasons, have to chug a beer. If you mapped out the course, you chug, if it's you're 1st run, you chug. If you were 1st back to base, or last, you chug. This time, we had so much extra beer that the GM was just making up rules for people to drink so we would finish all the beer. He made me chug because I was wearing a headband, this is not a typical hash rule :)
The hash runs are definitely a fun way to unwind, relax, and have a good time on the weekend and it's also a good way to meet new people. The Guyana hash group is a pretty even mix of locals and foreigners, mostly Peace Corps or various Embassy people. They love when new people join the group and whatever city or country you were in when you did your 1st hash is considered your "mother hash", no matter how many other hash groups you participate in. After 10 runs, they give you a hash nickname, which is almost always inappropriate and slightly offensive. I cant wait to get my hash name, only 7 more runs to go :) God knows what it will be lol.
This most recent run was set in Santa Mission, an Amerinidian community that is pretty isolated in the bush. We had to take an hour boat ride up a black water creek just to get to the village. Once we got there, the run was 6 miles total in almost complete bush, like climbing over trees and wading through creeks type of bush. It was more walking than running but in 90+ degree heat and 100% humidity, it was absolutely exhausting. But cool as hell, walking through the jungle, not being able to hear any other human being or car or any sign of civilization for miles, literally crawling through bush and balancing across fallen logs over creekbeds.
The run took just about 3 hours, since we walked most of the way through the thicker jungle areas ( and took a few wrong turns and almost ended up in Suriname, but that's not my fault, the freaking jungle all looks the same out there). After words we all ate delicious bbq chicken, cook up rice, dahl rice, and drank lots and lots of beer. One of the rules of a hash is that you can't leave any beer behind so you have to drink it all, no matter what. My group usually doesn't have a problem with that :) After the food, everyone forms a circle and the GM of the run (the guy in charge of that particular hash group) gets in the middle and starts calling up different people who, for various reasons, have to chug a beer. If you mapped out the course, you chug, if it's you're 1st run, you chug. If you were 1st back to base, or last, you chug. This time, we had so much extra beer that the GM was just making up rules for people to drink so we would finish all the beer. He made me chug because I was wearing a headband, this is not a typical hash rule :)
The hash runs are definitely a fun way to unwind, relax, and have a good time on the weekend and it's also a good way to meet new people. The Guyana hash group is a pretty even mix of locals and foreigners, mostly Peace Corps or various Embassy people. They love when new people join the group and whatever city or country you were in when you did your 1st hash is considered your "mother hash", no matter how many other hash groups you participate in. After 10 runs, they give you a hash nickname, which is almost always inappropriate and slightly offensive. I cant wait to get my hash name, only 7 more runs to go :) God knows what it will be lol.
Pictures!!!!
Here are 2 links to 2 different facebook photo albums, for those of you who don't have facebook (aka Mom and Dad) The 1st one is just random pictures taken over the past month or so and the 2nd is from the Amerindian Heritage Festival I recently went to in Georgetown. Enjoy :)
Album #1
Album #1
Album #2
7 months
Well, it is almost the 7 month anniversary of arriving in Guyana and I honestly can't believe it. It feels like just yesterday I was getting on the plane at JFK and now suddenly, not only am I in South America but I LIVE here, this is my home. I have an apartment and a job and a cat and I get to say to people "No I'm not on vacation, I really live here". It blows my mind.
Now that I've been in Guyana for 7 months and living at my permanent site for 4 months, my life has taken on a routine, which is probably why I forget sometimes that I'm not just living in South America but actually in the Peace Corps. During the week I wake up, go to work, come home, cook dinner and then watch a movie or read a book before I head to bed. The other volunteers and I talk about this a lot, that we don't actually feel like we're in the Peace Corps cause everything is so normal for us now. Our houses, our villages, our jobs, it's all just our lives now. I like that though, I think it's a true sign of integration, when you feel like any other person who lives here with a house and a job and a life.
My job is still going well; I am at the maternal and child health clinic at the regional hospital. I only work with pregnant women and children under 5 which I really really like. I get to interact not only with the health care workers and nurses at the clinic but with the patients as well. I do health talks about various topics such as nutrition and breastfeeding (FYI, I am now a breastfeeding expert I've given so many freaking health talks on it lol). I like being able to talk with people one on one and really do grassroots outreach and education. That being said, the schedule is pretty light compared to what I was used to back in DC, with my 12 hour double bar shifts and full class schedule. I definitely have plenty of free time to lay in my hammock and read :)
As much as I am enjoying my time here in Guyana, I am also very excited to come back home for a visit in December. I bought my ticket and will be arriving in the Land of Plenty on December 20th. I may or may not have a panic attack when I walk out of the airport and it's less than 80 degrees but I think the best solution to that is to get me into the nearest sports bar and force feed me fried food and beer :) I have a list of things I want to do when I'm home, both in Allentown and DC, and 99% of them involve food and/or alcohol. And seeing my family and friends of course :) So let the countdown begin....(less than 4 months to go....)
Now that I've been in Guyana for 7 months and living at my permanent site for 4 months, my life has taken on a routine, which is probably why I forget sometimes that I'm not just living in South America but actually in the Peace Corps. During the week I wake up, go to work, come home, cook dinner and then watch a movie or read a book before I head to bed. The other volunteers and I talk about this a lot, that we don't actually feel like we're in the Peace Corps cause everything is so normal for us now. Our houses, our villages, our jobs, it's all just our lives now. I like that though, I think it's a true sign of integration, when you feel like any other person who lives here with a house and a job and a life.
My job is still going well; I am at the maternal and child health clinic at the regional hospital. I only work with pregnant women and children under 5 which I really really like. I get to interact not only with the health care workers and nurses at the clinic but with the patients as well. I do health talks about various topics such as nutrition and breastfeeding (FYI, I am now a breastfeeding expert I've given so many freaking health talks on it lol). I like being able to talk with people one on one and really do grassroots outreach and education. That being said, the schedule is pretty light compared to what I was used to back in DC, with my 12 hour double bar shifts and full class schedule. I definitely have plenty of free time to lay in my hammock and read :)
As much as I am enjoying my time here in Guyana, I am also very excited to come back home for a visit in December. I bought my ticket and will be arriving in the Land of Plenty on December 20th. I may or may not have a panic attack when I walk out of the airport and it's less than 80 degrees but I think the best solution to that is to get me into the nearest sports bar and force feed me fried food and beer :) I have a list of things I want to do when I'm home, both in Allentown and DC, and 99% of them involve food and/or alcohol. And seeing my family and friends of course :) So let the countdown begin....(less than 4 months to go....)
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
My 1st Guyanese wedding
Last weekend my landlord’s daughter, Aarti got married. Now, you should know that this wedding was apparently the wedding of the century as my landlord had been planning and getting ready for it for years. It was literally the only thing I heard about since I moved in 4 months ago, I was invited over and over, and then invited again, and then one more time, just to be safe. I tried to explain to my landlords, Uncle Ronald and Auntie Sarita, that since the wedding was taking place literally in my backyard, I probably wasn’t going to miss it but eventually I just started nodding and making some comment about how excited I was for the food (why else did they think I was going?). So after months and months of talking and preparing, the wedding finally happened the weekend of August 6th.
This was my first Hindu wedding so I actually was excited to see all the different traditions and ceremonies, the only thing I knew for sure was that an Indian wedding starts on Friday and ends Sunday and that there would be seven curry served at some point ( FYI, seven curry is the best food to ever exist. More on that later). I wasn’t sure exactly what was going to happen, at what time, or where, but I figured I would just follow the crowds of people and hang around the massive tent now covering my backyard and I wouldn’t miss much.
The first event took place on the Friday night before the wedding ceremony at the bride’s family’s house (which also happens to be my house). In the Hindu culture everything between men and women is very, very separate and weddings are no different. The bride’s family has their own celebrations and the groom’s family has there’s. At no point on Friday did I see the groom or his family. In fact, I didn’t even know what the groom looked like or what his name was until 5 minutes before the ceremony on Saturday. So on Friday night the bride’s family and friends (and me, that random white girl who lives upstairs) headed out at sunset to a “sandy area”, which I think is traditionally supposed to be a beach but who’s really paying attention, so that the mother of the bride could dig a small hole in the sand and then do a dance around it with other female members of the bride’s family. I asked someone what this process represented and I was told that by digging the first layer of sand, the mother of the bride is ensuring that the bride will have a marriage that produces many children (gotta focus on the important stuff). Auntie Sarita was dressed in a beautiful yellow sari and there were drums playing and clapping as she danced and as we all walked back to the house. When we got to the house we watched some more dancing by the bride’s family, ate some delicious channa (chickpeas) and maitai (kinda like a donut, it’s basically fried dough with sugar), and then watched the bride come out and do a religious ceremony with a lot of whispering and praying. I tried to find out what was happening but no one really seemed to know what was going on. Oh well, the food was good :)
Saturday was the big day, the ceremony and reception. The ceremony took place at a Hindu temple and lasted 3 and a half hours. It was interesting to see the ceremony but since it was all in Hindi and the chants were so fast anyways, I didn’t know what was going on at any given point. But the really important stuff happens after the ceremony. That’s when the seven curry is served. Seven curry is a traditional food that is eaten at weddings and other religious events. Basically, you get a big palm leave that’s about six times the size of your hand and put a big spoonful of rice in the middle. Then, you get seven smaller servings of curry around the edge of the rice. My favorite is the pumpkin or the potato and channa, but there is usually eggplant, red bean, eddo, and various other types of vegetable curries. It is seriously the most delicious thing ever, even if you don’t like curry. Plus you have to eat it with your hands, taking a little bit of rice and mixing it with the curry. So good and so much fun (and the reason you sit through a 3 hour wedding ceremony done only in Hindi lol). The reception afterwards is pretty similar to an American wedding, lots of music and dancing and some more food. The stuff on Sunday is a little more low key, you’ve still got music and dancing but for significantly less time than on Saturday. Also, on Sunday you’re allowed to eat meat again (Hindu tradition says no meat for the week before the wedding and on the wedding day itself) so we got to slaughter 3 sheep for some mutton curry. And when I say slaughter I literally mean they killed the sheep about a foot from where we ate it. It was pretty delicious, I have to say :)
Overall, it was an interesting and fun experience. Getting to see a different wedding tradition was really cool and, when you add in the delicious food, it was definitely a great weekend :)
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Further adjustment
So over the past few weeks my job assignment as a Peace Corps volunteer has changed dramatically. The job that I was first given when I was chosen to work at West Demerara Regional hospital is no longer the job I am working on, at least it’s no longer my primary job. Originally, I was assigned to work with the assistant hospital administrator (AMA) of the hospital and the Regional Health Officer on developing mental health programs throughout the region and also on creating, implementing, and maintaining a waste management disposal program at my hospital. Both of these project started out well, I did a lot of research on the issues, the current status of mental health and waste management in Guyana, what the current resources are, what needs to be improved upon, and what was feasibly sustainable at this time, given the current landscape. This went well for the first 2 weeks I was at my site; I was able to do a lot of this work on my own, which was good because the AMA is usually very busy. However, about 3 weeks in, my research was done and I was ready to move onto the next step, with the help of the AMA. This is when I began to run into some issues. Both of my projects were too big to develop and implement on my own, huge systems changes, even just within the hospital, is not something I am qualified or even capable of doing on my own. I needed the AMA to assist me in the next steps. However, he was extremely busy with the day to day runnings of the hospital and, while still committed to the projects, was not able or prepared to take the necessary time to work on them. I did not see him or have contact with him for almost 2 months, during which time I literally had nothing to do but walk around the hospital and try to find people to talk to who would need me to do something.
It was maybe one of the most frustrating times I have ever experienced. There I was, a Peace Corps volunteer with a college degree and field experience and almost a complete master’s degree in public health and I was just walking around aimlessly, sitting outside people’s offices for a few hours before finally giving up and going home. I felt useless and frustrated and I was more than a little bit afraid that this was going to continue on for my full 2 years. I started going to the computer room for a few hours in the morning, to help transfer paper records to the new electronic medical records system, until one morning I walked in and there was someone sitting at my desk. The hospital had hired someone full time to do the medical records and my assistance was no longer needed. I literally had no place to go or be at the hospital, no physical place to go and spend my day except my house. That was the final straw for me. I went to Peace Corps and spoke with my program manager. I told her what was happening and explained, as politely as I possibly could at that point that she needed to get in contact with the AMA, who was supposed to be my counterpart on these projects (but who had never answered one email or phone call from me and who I hadn’t seen or spoken to in 2 months) and let him know that I was going to find my own projects outside of his office unless he stepped up and started working with me again. I gave him a week, and after still hearing nothing from him and sitting outside his office for hours at a time, waiting for him to make time to meet with me, I had finally had enough. The next day, which was about 2 and a half weeks ago, I went to see Nurse Johnson, who is in charge of all the health clinics in the region. I told her my situation and explained that I was completing my master’s in public health and had a specific interest in maternal and child health (MCH). I asked her if she knew of any projects involving MCH that could use my assistance, that I was a free resource who was here for 2 years to do development work and I was ready, willing, and desperate to get my hands dirty. She immediately took me over to the maternal and child health clinic at the hospital, spoke to the medex who ran it and told her that I was a Peace Corps volunteer who was going to be working at the clinic with them for 2 years. The medex asked me if I could come every day and help the nurses, sit in on exams and consultations, and give weekly health talks to the women on various health topics. I swear, I almost gave both the medex and Nurse Johnson a hug and a kiss right there.
This new assignment at the clinic is absolutely perfect for me. I only just started last Wednesday and clinic only runs Monday through Thursday from 8am to noon, but it is so much better than wandering around aimlessly, waiting for the AMA to get his act together, and feeling useless and bored. Basically what I will be doing is attending the various clinics they have during the week that are specific to women and children. For example, every Tuesday is antenatal day, when pregnant women come in for routine checkups and every Wednesday is infant and child day, when women bring in their young children for checkups. I help the nurses fill out records; I do height, weight, and blood pressure. I sit in with the medex and sometimes the doctor when one is available and help with exams. Once or twice a week I will be giving health talks to the patients on various issues such as breastfeeding, nutrition, and HIV/AIDS.
Today was antenatal day, when all the pregnant women come in for checkups. I helped the nurse find all of the women’s health cards and then weighed all the women and updated their cards. I then went in with the medex and assisted her in examinations. I learned how to measure the belly for fetal height, feel for fetal presentation so that we can see whether the child is facing with its head the right way. I also learned how to listen for a baby’s heartbeat without an ultrasound machine, which was so awesome. The medex even let me help with full examinations of new admissions, which includes full gynecological exams. It was definitely a new and different experience, but absolutely incredible. Next week, I will be doing a health talk with the women on exercises they can do during pregnancy. Right now, I am planning on just observing and helping out where I can while I figure out what types of long term projects the health center may need. I already have a few ideas but I want to get settled and comfortable with my new position before I start talking about changing things or implementing new ideas. If my counterpart, the AMA, still would like to work on his projects with me I am definitely still interested in that but until then, I will be putting most of my time and energy into the maternal and child health clinic. But, even more important than that, I am finally happy with my job assignment and I actually feel like I am being helpful and useful and doing something good with my time
It was maybe one of the most frustrating times I have ever experienced. There I was, a Peace Corps volunteer with a college degree and field experience and almost a complete master’s degree in public health and I was just walking around aimlessly, sitting outside people’s offices for a few hours before finally giving up and going home. I felt useless and frustrated and I was more than a little bit afraid that this was going to continue on for my full 2 years. I started going to the computer room for a few hours in the morning, to help transfer paper records to the new electronic medical records system, until one morning I walked in and there was someone sitting at my desk. The hospital had hired someone full time to do the medical records and my assistance was no longer needed. I literally had no place to go or be at the hospital, no physical place to go and spend my day except my house. That was the final straw for me. I went to Peace Corps and spoke with my program manager. I told her what was happening and explained, as politely as I possibly could at that point that she needed to get in contact with the AMA, who was supposed to be my counterpart on these projects (but who had never answered one email or phone call from me and who I hadn’t seen or spoken to in 2 months) and let him know that I was going to find my own projects outside of his office unless he stepped up and started working with me again. I gave him a week, and after still hearing nothing from him and sitting outside his office for hours at a time, waiting for him to make time to meet with me, I had finally had enough. The next day, which was about 2 and a half weeks ago, I went to see Nurse Johnson, who is in charge of all the health clinics in the region. I told her my situation and explained that I was completing my master’s in public health and had a specific interest in maternal and child health (MCH). I asked her if she knew of any projects involving MCH that could use my assistance, that I was a free resource who was here for 2 years to do development work and I was ready, willing, and desperate to get my hands dirty. She immediately took me over to the maternal and child health clinic at the hospital, spoke to the medex who ran it and told her that I was a Peace Corps volunteer who was going to be working at the clinic with them for 2 years. The medex asked me if I could come every day and help the nurses, sit in on exams and consultations, and give weekly health talks to the women on various health topics. I swear, I almost gave both the medex and Nurse Johnson a hug and a kiss right there.
This new assignment at the clinic is absolutely perfect for me. I only just started last Wednesday and clinic only runs Monday through Thursday from 8am to noon, but it is so much better than wandering around aimlessly, waiting for the AMA to get his act together, and feeling useless and bored. Basically what I will be doing is attending the various clinics they have during the week that are specific to women and children. For example, every Tuesday is antenatal day, when pregnant women come in for routine checkups and every Wednesday is infant and child day, when women bring in their young children for checkups. I help the nurses fill out records; I do height, weight, and blood pressure. I sit in with the medex and sometimes the doctor when one is available and help with exams. Once or twice a week I will be giving health talks to the patients on various issues such as breastfeeding, nutrition, and HIV/AIDS.
Today was antenatal day, when all the pregnant women come in for checkups. I helped the nurse find all of the women’s health cards and then weighed all the women and updated their cards. I then went in with the medex and assisted her in examinations. I learned how to measure the belly for fetal height, feel for fetal presentation so that we can see whether the child is facing with its head the right way. I also learned how to listen for a baby’s heartbeat without an ultrasound machine, which was so awesome. The medex even let me help with full examinations of new admissions, which includes full gynecological exams. It was definitely a new and different experience, but absolutely incredible. Next week, I will be doing a health talk with the women on exercises they can do during pregnancy. Right now, I am planning on just observing and helping out where I can while I figure out what types of long term projects the health center may need. I already have a few ideas but I want to get settled and comfortable with my new position before I start talking about changing things or implementing new ideas. If my counterpart, the AMA, still would like to work on his projects with me I am definitely still interested in that but until then, I will be putting most of my time and energy into the maternal and child health clinic. But, even more important than that, I am finally happy with my job assignment and I actually feel like I am being helpful and useful and doing something good with my time
5 months in: Random thoughts
So the other week I decided to try my hand at being domestic, seeing as though I am living alone in my own apartment for the 1st time ever, and sew my own window curtains by hand. Having nice curtains in one’s house is a pretty big thing here in Guyana. Every window and sometimes every doorway have its own curtain and the designs are carefully selected and changed every couple months and for every major holiday. People have special curtains that only go up at Christmas or when someone gets married or when a baby is born. And of course, these curtains are usually sewed by hand. When I moved into my apartment my landlady had put up her good Christmas curtains on all my windows and about 2 weeks ago she took them down to use in her own home when her daughter gets married in early August. This left me in somewhat of a predicament, since the distance between my windows and my neighbors is about 1 foot and my windows were now fully exposed. I decided that the obvious solution to this was to buy fabric and sew curtains. Sounded simple enough. I went and bought fabric, a nice light blue with a rose/bird design (the pickings were slim at the store), got out my little travel sewing kit, and blocked out a whole Sunday afternoon. My apartment has 6 decent sized windows and about halfway through the first curtain I started to think that maybe I wasn’t cut out for the whole domestic seamstress housewife thing. My stiches were crooked, I couldn’t measure to save my life, and the only thing I could find to hang them up was this ghetto looking blue rope. Plus Nala kept thinking that rolling around in the fabric and chasing after the rope was the best game ever. But I powered through, cause already made curtains are incredibly expensive and I had already bought the fabric and I am in Peace Corps gosh darn it, I should be able to sew a few lousy curtains. Four hours later they were done, slightly crooked and hanging on hammock rope but they were up and now my neighbors could no longer look out their windows and accidently see me walking around with no pants on (In my defense, it is stupidly hot here every single day)
Jump to the next afternoon around 5: My landlady, having seen the evidence of new curtains through my windows comes up to check them out. She takes one look, feels them between 2 fingers and just shakes her head and says “Me resew for you. Don’t trouble, me resew.” And epic fail. She takes down all my curtains (And there went my plans to walk around pants-less later) and resews them all herself. When she brings them back 2 days later, they look professionally done and she even hangs them up with special elastic curtain rope that I had no idea even existed. Guess my inner housewife still needs a little bit more work :)
Jump to the next afternoon around 5: My landlady, having seen the evidence of new curtains through my windows comes up to check them out. She takes one look, feels them between 2 fingers and just shakes her head and says “Me resew for you. Don’t trouble, me resew.” And epic fail. She takes down all my curtains (And there went my plans to walk around pants-less later) and resews them all herself. When she brings them back 2 days later, they look professionally done and she even hangs them up with special elastic curtain rope that I had no idea even existed. Guess my inner housewife still needs a little bit more work :)
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Time flies....
The fact that July 1st is tomorrow is blowing my mind. How fast is this year going by?! It can’t just be me who feels like what happened 2 weeks ago seems like it happened yesterday and the fact that I’ve been gone for almost 5 months seems like 5 days. My friend Alyssa and I have been talking about going home for Christmas for weeks now and yesterday I realized that I already need to buy my plane ticket at the beginning of next month. Crazy, right?
And in just 2 short weeks it will also be the 5 month anniversary of being in country and the 3 month anniversary of being an official Peace Corps volunteer. Also in 2 weeks is the reconnect conference that all of us Guyana 23 volunteers are required to attend. It is always set 3 months after being sworn in and living at your permanent site and it is basically when all the new volunteers get together with Peace Corps staff and talk about our sites, our jobs, what we like, what we don’t like, and what Peace Corps can (hopefully) do to help. It is also the time when all the volunteers get to see everyone again after being apart so inevitably there is a lot of gaffing (gossiping), liming (laying around in the sun), and sporting (drinking rum) that goes on :)
So I’m sure I don’t have to remind everyone that a very important and momentous occasion occurred recently, on the 23rd of June to be exact. Yes, that would have been my 24th birthday. Other than feeling slightly old at the age of 24, my birthday was very relaxed and low key, which is how I wanted it. My one friend baked me a delicious chocolate cake, which I have been eating for breakfast all week, and a few other friends made me a bottle of homemade rice wine (pretty much a bunch of rice, sugar, and water that you let sit and distill for a few weeks until it becomes a very sweet tasting alcoholic beverage. Delicious). I woke up late (which around here is 8 am), lounged in the hammock, and then had a few beers down at the docks with some friends (yes that is as shady as it sounds but it is also very fun and very Guyanese.) Overall, it was a very good day and I’m lucky to have so many good friends that were here to share it with me.
I’ve had some time off of work this week so I have taken it upon myself to do some walking around and exploring of Georgetown, which is the capital. Now, I love Guyana and it truly is a beautiful country but Georgetown is just not a very aesthetically pleasing town. It definitely is not the kind of city you walk around to look at the sites and enjoy a beautiful day, mostly because if you are looking for sites and not where you’re walking you’ll step in some sewage and it’s hard to enjoy a beautiful Guyanese day when there is a distinct smell of urine in the air. However, if you look for them, there are some areas of Georgetown which have quite a bit of character to them, you just have to know where they are :) One of my favorites is Regent Street, which runs almost the entire length of the city and is the main shopping hub. There are small shops and stands lining the street selling everything from clothes and shoes to pirated movies and music to snacks. You can’t walk more than 3 feet without running into a music stand blaring the latest reggae or hip hop or 80’s power ballads right next to a guy selling water coconuts. I love that Regent Street is always busy and crowded and the same vendors are always out in the same spot, rain or shine.
On a recent trip to Georgetown, a friend and I had an experience which I think everyone back will find amusing. We were on the hunt for a bathing suit, which is almost impossible to find in Guyana. (Guyanese don’t wear swim
suits, they swim in their clothes or their underwear. This is one trend I will not be adopting, I promise. ) So as we were looking for the elusive American style bathing suit we were directed to the “City Mall”, which is the only mall or large indoor shopping complex in Guyana. It is about a fourth of the size of a traditional American shopping mall but when you go inside it pretty much looks the same. It has 3 levels of stores, kiosks and a small food court downstairs. Now when my friend and I walked into the mall we pretty much stood in the entrance for about 5 minutes with our mouths hanging open. It had been quite a few months since either of us had been inside a mall and it’s amazing how the culture shock can hit you, even when it’s something as simple as a shopping mall. We just stood there, looking around, and saying “Oh my god, it’s like America. It’s like a real mall. This is so weird.” As we were trying to decide where to go first, my friend tapped me on the shoulder, pointed at something and said “Look”. Where was she pointing, you ask? At the escalator. The only escalator in the country of Guyana and it’s located in the City Mall, between the 1st and 2nd floor. Here’s something I think everyone at home should try. For the next 5 months, don’t go anywhere where there is an escalator. Don’t use one, don’t look at one, don’t even think about them existing, and then go and try to get on one. It is terrifying. It actually took me a minute to step onto the strange moving stairs contraption. It was hilarious and weird and it made me wonder what I’m gonna do when I get home and I have to get in an elevator, something else that doesn’t exist in Guyana. Now that is gonna be some serious culture shock :)
And in just 2 short weeks it will also be the 5 month anniversary of being in country and the 3 month anniversary of being an official Peace Corps volunteer. Also in 2 weeks is the reconnect conference that all of us Guyana 23 volunteers are required to attend. It is always set 3 months after being sworn in and living at your permanent site and it is basically when all the new volunteers get together with Peace Corps staff and talk about our sites, our jobs, what we like, what we don’t like, and what Peace Corps can (hopefully) do to help. It is also the time when all the volunteers get to see everyone again after being apart so inevitably there is a lot of gaffing (gossiping), liming (laying around in the sun), and sporting (drinking rum) that goes on :)
So I’m sure I don’t have to remind everyone that a very important and momentous occasion occurred recently, on the 23rd of June to be exact. Yes, that would have been my 24th birthday. Other than feeling slightly old at the age of 24, my birthday was very relaxed and low key, which is how I wanted it. My one friend baked me a delicious chocolate cake, which I have been eating for breakfast all week, and a few other friends made me a bottle of homemade rice wine (pretty much a bunch of rice, sugar, and water that you let sit and distill for a few weeks until it becomes a very sweet tasting alcoholic beverage. Delicious). I woke up late (which around here is 8 am), lounged in the hammock, and then had a few beers down at the docks with some friends (yes that is as shady as it sounds but it is also very fun and very Guyanese.) Overall, it was a very good day and I’m lucky to have so many good friends that were here to share it with me.
I’ve had some time off of work this week so I have taken it upon myself to do some walking around and exploring of Georgetown, which is the capital. Now, I love Guyana and it truly is a beautiful country but Georgetown is just not a very aesthetically pleasing town. It definitely is not the kind of city you walk around to look at the sites and enjoy a beautiful day, mostly because if you are looking for sites and not where you’re walking you’ll step in some sewage and it’s hard to enjoy a beautiful Guyanese day when there is a distinct smell of urine in the air. However, if you look for them, there are some areas of Georgetown which have quite a bit of character to them, you just have to know where they are :) One of my favorites is Regent Street, which runs almost the entire length of the city and is the main shopping hub. There are small shops and stands lining the street selling everything from clothes and shoes to pirated movies and music to snacks. You can’t walk more than 3 feet without running into a music stand blaring the latest reggae or hip hop or 80’s power ballads right next to a guy selling water coconuts. I love that Regent Street is always busy and crowded and the same vendors are always out in the same spot, rain or shine.
On a recent trip to Georgetown, a friend and I had an experience which I think everyone back will find amusing. We were on the hunt for a bathing suit, which is almost impossible to find in Guyana. (Guyanese don’t wear swim
suits, they swim in their clothes or their underwear. This is one trend I will not be adopting, I promise. ) So as we were looking for the elusive American style bathing suit we were directed to the “City Mall”, which is the only mall or large indoor shopping complex in Guyana. It is about a fourth of the size of a traditional American shopping mall but when you go inside it pretty much looks the same. It has 3 levels of stores, kiosks and a small food court downstairs. Now when my friend and I walked into the mall we pretty much stood in the entrance for about 5 minutes with our mouths hanging open. It had been quite a few months since either of us had been inside a mall and it’s amazing how the culture shock can hit you, even when it’s something as simple as a shopping mall. We just stood there, looking around, and saying “Oh my god, it’s like America. It’s like a real mall. This is so weird.” As we were trying to decide where to go first, my friend tapped me on the shoulder, pointed at something and said “Look”. Where was she pointing, you ask? At the escalator. The only escalator in the country of Guyana and it’s located in the City Mall, between the 1st and 2nd floor. Here’s something I think everyone at home should try. For the next 5 months, don’t go anywhere where there is an escalator. Don’t use one, don’t look at one, don’t even think about them existing, and then go and try to get on one. It is terrifying. It actually took me a minute to step onto the strange moving stairs contraption. It was hilarious and weird and it made me wonder what I’m gonna do when I get home and I have to get in an elevator, something else that doesn’t exist in Guyana. Now that is gonna be some serious culture shock :)
Sunday, June 19, 2011
4 months of service: Food, the rainy season, and bugs, bugs, and more bugs
So I am officially 4 months into my Peace Corps service. I cannot believe how fast that time has gone by. It seems like only yesterday I was leaving my house in Allentown for the hotel in Philly for my pre-service staging. And yet here I am a real, live, true Peace Corps volunteer in South America. Still sounds insane, right? :)
One of the things that people always ask me about living in Guyana is what I eat. People back in the states probably don’t know what Guyanese cuisine is; I definitely didn’t before I moved here. As a Caribbean nation on the South American mainland with large Indian, African, and Chinese populations, Guyanese food is as diverse and unique as the people who live here. The cuisine is dominated by fresh fruits and vegetables. There are markets and produce stands in every village and farming is a large sector of the economy. Balanger (eggplant), pumpkin, channa (chickpeas), and plantains are definite staples in my diet. Most vegetables here are made into a curry and served with either rice or roti, which is similar to a flatbread. For all my Kenyan family out there it is very very similar to chapatti, and just as delicious :) Chicken and beef are very prevalent but I rarely eat meat here, mostly cause you have to butcher it or cut it yourself (refer to my previous entry about de-feathering a chicken). Also, any precut meat is cut up and sold on small wooden carts on the side of the road or open air stores that are not very appealing to the appetite with flies and dust everywhere. You usually have to soak all meat in vinegar for at least 30 minutes before you cook it to kill anything you don’t want to ingest. I’ve pretty much gone mostly vegetarian since I’ve gotten here, with the occasional piece of chicken, but I swear the first thing I’m eating when I’m back home is the biggest steak I can find :) My favorite thing about the food here in Guyana is the abundance of fresh tropical fruits. Watermelon, pineapple, papaya, and guavas make a weekly and often daily appearance in my diet and they definitely taste much better and much fresher than anything you can get back in the states. My three favorite Guyanese foods are definitely chicken curry, pumpkin with roti, and cassava chips with plenty sour. Don’t worry, my goal from now until December is to master those 3 recipes so I can make them for you all back home :)
Now that it is June here in Guyana we have just entered one of the rainy seasons. There is no such thing as winter, spring, fall and summer here, just rainy or dry. And always, always hot. Rainy season means that is will probably rain at least once a day for three months and the rain will not just be quick showers, but complete and total downpours. They usually only last 20 or 30 minutes but can occur several times a day. You always have to walk with your umbrella during rainy season. (In Guyana creolese instead of saying “I carried my umbrella” you would say “I walked with my umbrella”). Rainy season means that during the rainfall the temperature drops to only 75 or 80 degrees Fahrenheit and the humidity becomes tolerable. This is the only time you can reasonable say the words “I feel” and “cold” in the same sentence while standing in Guyana and this is only if you forgot to walk with your umbrella and are now soaking wet from walking home in a monsoon. (This happens to me often.) The one really good thing about rainy season when you live on the coast is that the breeze is usually stronger and more frequent. In a country where air conditioning is a rare luxury and blackouts commonplace (which means no fan), a cool breeze is essential. There really is nothing quite like standing at the sink doing dishes, sweating of course, when all of a sudden a cool breeze blows in through the window and slowly washes over you. You can’t help but stop what you are doing, close your eyes, and savor that brief moment of relief from the heat. You really learn to appreciate the magic of a cool breeze when you live 5 degrees north of the equator. It is something you never quite have the time to appreciate back in the States but here it can instantly change your mood for the better.
Guyana has a shit ton of bugs. There really is no other way to say that which would do justice to the literally hundreds of bugs I encounter on a daily basis. Ants, flies, spiders, cockroaches, mosquitos just to name a few, are literally everywhere. All the time. But what’s even crazier than the sheer number of bugs present at any given moment is the way your reaction to them changes. When I first got to Guyana, I’m sure I swatted at every fly and mosquito and brushed away every ant that came crawling towards my dinner plate. Now, 4 months in, the mosquitos and I have come to a mutual understanding that if they come anywhere near me, I will spray them so hard with Mozipel (the industrial strength Peace Corps mosquito spray) they won’t even see it coming. I barely hear flies buzzing anymore; I just wipe my counter down with bleach for the 3rd time that day and wait for them to fly away on their own. And as far as the ants go….let’s just say that I’m pretty sure at this point I’ve accidently eaten more ants than I’ve brushed away from my food. So I guess I’m not completely vegetarian :) It’s weird to think about how something like bugs can become a normal part of my life when back home you would call an exterminator at the first sign of a cockroach. Luckily I don’t have many in my house but I have seen a few since I’ve moved in. There is no such thing as an exterminator here, it’s just me, a shoe, and a giant can on heavy duty insect repellant and then the hunt is on :)
One of the things that people always ask me about living in Guyana is what I eat. People back in the states probably don’t know what Guyanese cuisine is; I definitely didn’t before I moved here. As a Caribbean nation on the South American mainland with large Indian, African, and Chinese populations, Guyanese food is as diverse and unique as the people who live here. The cuisine is dominated by fresh fruits and vegetables. There are markets and produce stands in every village and farming is a large sector of the economy. Balanger (eggplant), pumpkin, channa (chickpeas), and plantains are definite staples in my diet. Most vegetables here are made into a curry and served with either rice or roti, which is similar to a flatbread. For all my Kenyan family out there it is very very similar to chapatti, and just as delicious :) Chicken and beef are very prevalent but I rarely eat meat here, mostly cause you have to butcher it or cut it yourself (refer to my previous entry about de-feathering a chicken). Also, any precut meat is cut up and sold on small wooden carts on the side of the road or open air stores that are not very appealing to the appetite with flies and dust everywhere. You usually have to soak all meat in vinegar for at least 30 minutes before you cook it to kill anything you don’t want to ingest. I’ve pretty much gone mostly vegetarian since I’ve gotten here, with the occasional piece of chicken, but I swear the first thing I’m eating when I’m back home is the biggest steak I can find :) My favorite thing about the food here in Guyana is the abundance of fresh tropical fruits. Watermelon, pineapple, papaya, and guavas make a weekly and often daily appearance in my diet and they definitely taste much better and much fresher than anything you can get back in the states. My three favorite Guyanese foods are definitely chicken curry, pumpkin with roti, and cassava chips with plenty sour. Don’t worry, my goal from now until December is to master those 3 recipes so I can make them for you all back home :)
Now that it is June here in Guyana we have just entered one of the rainy seasons. There is no such thing as winter, spring, fall and summer here, just rainy or dry. And always, always hot. Rainy season means that is will probably rain at least once a day for three months and the rain will not just be quick showers, but complete and total downpours. They usually only last 20 or 30 minutes but can occur several times a day. You always have to walk with your umbrella during rainy season. (In Guyana creolese instead of saying “I carried my umbrella” you would say “I walked with my umbrella”). Rainy season means that during the rainfall the temperature drops to only 75 or 80 degrees Fahrenheit and the humidity becomes tolerable. This is the only time you can reasonable say the words “I feel” and “cold” in the same sentence while standing in Guyana and this is only if you forgot to walk with your umbrella and are now soaking wet from walking home in a monsoon. (This happens to me often.) The one really good thing about rainy season when you live on the coast is that the breeze is usually stronger and more frequent. In a country where air conditioning is a rare luxury and blackouts commonplace (which means no fan), a cool breeze is essential. There really is nothing quite like standing at the sink doing dishes, sweating of course, when all of a sudden a cool breeze blows in through the window and slowly washes over you. You can’t help but stop what you are doing, close your eyes, and savor that brief moment of relief from the heat. You really learn to appreciate the magic of a cool breeze when you live 5 degrees north of the equator. It is something you never quite have the time to appreciate back in the States but here it can instantly change your mood for the better.
Guyana has a shit ton of bugs. There really is no other way to say that which would do justice to the literally hundreds of bugs I encounter on a daily basis. Ants, flies, spiders, cockroaches, mosquitos just to name a few, are literally everywhere. All the time. But what’s even crazier than the sheer number of bugs present at any given moment is the way your reaction to them changes. When I first got to Guyana, I’m sure I swatted at every fly and mosquito and brushed away every ant that came crawling towards my dinner plate. Now, 4 months in, the mosquitos and I have come to a mutual understanding that if they come anywhere near me, I will spray them so hard with Mozipel (the industrial strength Peace Corps mosquito spray) they won’t even see it coming. I barely hear flies buzzing anymore; I just wipe my counter down with bleach for the 3rd time that day and wait for them to fly away on their own. And as far as the ants go….let’s just say that I’m pretty sure at this point I’ve accidently eaten more ants than I’ve brushed away from my food. So I guess I’m not completely vegetarian :) It’s weird to think about how something like bugs can become a normal part of my life when back home you would call an exterminator at the first sign of a cockroach. Luckily I don’t have many in my house but I have seen a few since I’ve moved in. There is no such thing as an exterminator here, it’s just me, a shoe, and a giant can on heavy duty insect repellant and then the hunt is on :)
Monday, June 6, 2011
My weekend jungle run
This weekend I got to have a pretty unique experience, an experience that was so incredibly fun and definitely something I will remember for a long time. On Saturday this past weekend myself and some fellow PC volunteers joined a group called the Georgetown Hashers. The "hashers" are an international running club that have chapters in most major cities around the globe. They actually refer to themselves as a "drinking group with a running problem" but we'll get to that part of the story later :) Basically they are a group of people who get together every couple of weeks and go for runs, usually between 4 to 6 miles, through courses that have been laid out ahead of time by the "hare" which is the name of the person who organizes the race. The runs are usually through what is considered rough or difficult terrain, something that makes the run a little bit unique or exciting and not just your average jog in the park. This week's hasher run was a "jungle run" which is exactly what it sounds like :)
Everyone met up at the British High Commission in Georgetown at 1 pm, the group was made up of embassy people, expats, some local Guyanese, and Peace Corps volunteers. There were 5 or 6 of us who were going on our 1st run and we were referred to as hasher "virgins". We all loaded up in various cars and trucks and headed outside of the city, about an hour away into the jungle. Literally into the rain forest,which covers about 70% of Guyana. I had to ride in the back of a pickup truck, which was both fun and terrifying as we sped down the highway going almost 50 mph. We arrived at the house where the run would start and received instructions on the rules of a hasher run. Since it was a jungle run, everyone was required to stay together as much as possible. The trail is always marked by piles of shredded paper and, when you pass one you have to yell out "On, On!" so that people behind you know they are headed the right way. The hasher tradition was started by the British in the mid-20th century, so there are various other rules and traditions. One runner carries a small bugle type horn with the on the run and blows it occasionally to keep everyone on the same trail.
And then you start running. This jungle run was just about 4 miles over extremely rough terrain. Wet sandy mud that went up hills, through the bush, and through creeks. At one point we ran through an open field that happened to be filled with pricker bushes and razor vines. My legs got pretty beat up from that, which was even more annoying when we realized we had gone the wrong way and we had to turn around and go back through it all. But the best part of the whole run was when we went through the jungle. Think about that comes to mind when someone says the words "rain forest" or "jungle" to you: that picture, that image in your mind is what we ran through. Except there was so much dense vegetation, so many vines and trees and bushes that our run was more like a walk with a purpose :) It was amazingly cool and beautiful and awesome. It was definitely a moment when I kept thinking to myself, holy crap, I live in South America now.
Eventually we made it through the jungle, finished the 4 mile run and made it to the end point, a small open field near a creek. Now, most of you are probably wondering why anyone would run 4 miles, in the jungle, in hot and humid Guyana. The reason is quite simple: at the end of the run there is good food and unlimited cold beer just waiting for you :) We had bar-be-que chicken, rice, and potato salad to reload on all those carbs we just burned off and, of course, cold refreshing beer. Now at this point, the whole thing becomes very much like a frat house, which I found amusing and awesome. Everyone grabs a beer, forms a circle and cheers to the hares, who plotted out the course that week. Then everyone sings a very scandalous and inappropriate song as the hares chug a beer. After that, the hasher virgins get in the middle of the circle and have to introduce themselves. And of course, we each had to chug an ice cold beer, which is never fun. And if you can't finish chugging, the beer gets poured on your head. There were 2 other PCV's who were also hasher virgins along with myself and the group of PCV's who had done this before took it upon themselves to scream "Chug, chug" at us as we drank. Luckily, all 3 of us finished our whole beer. Clearly a very important talent to have as a development professional :)
After all of that it is time to just hang out, eat good food, drink more beer, and reflect on how out of shape you actually are. The hashers do a new run with a new course every 2-3 weeks and I'm already excited about the next one. It was so much fun and we got to hang out with some really awesome, fun people. And the food and the beer didn't hurt :) And so that was my weekend, definitely going down as one of the top Saturdays in Guyana so far.
Everyone met up at the British High Commission in Georgetown at 1 pm, the group was made up of embassy people, expats, some local Guyanese, and Peace Corps volunteers. There were 5 or 6 of us who were going on our 1st run and we were referred to as hasher "virgins". We all loaded up in various cars and trucks and headed outside of the city, about an hour away into the jungle. Literally into the rain forest,which covers about 70% of Guyana. I had to ride in the back of a pickup truck, which was both fun and terrifying as we sped down the highway going almost 50 mph. We arrived at the house where the run would start and received instructions on the rules of a hasher run. Since it was a jungle run, everyone was required to stay together as much as possible. The trail is always marked by piles of shredded paper and, when you pass one you have to yell out "On, On!" so that people behind you know they are headed the right way. The hasher tradition was started by the British in the mid-20th century, so there are various other rules and traditions. One runner carries a small bugle type horn with the on the run and blows it occasionally to keep everyone on the same trail.
And then you start running. This jungle run was just about 4 miles over extremely rough terrain. Wet sandy mud that went up hills, through the bush, and through creeks. At one point we ran through an open field that happened to be filled with pricker bushes and razor vines. My legs got pretty beat up from that, which was even more annoying when we realized we had gone the wrong way and we had to turn around and go back through it all. But the best part of the whole run was when we went through the jungle. Think about that comes to mind when someone says the words "rain forest" or "jungle" to you: that picture, that image in your mind is what we ran through. Except there was so much dense vegetation, so many vines and trees and bushes that our run was more like a walk with a purpose :) It was amazingly cool and beautiful and awesome. It was definitely a moment when I kept thinking to myself, holy crap, I live in South America now.
Eventually we made it through the jungle, finished the 4 mile run and made it to the end point, a small open field near a creek. Now, most of you are probably wondering why anyone would run 4 miles, in the jungle, in hot and humid Guyana. The reason is quite simple: at the end of the run there is good food and unlimited cold beer just waiting for you :) We had bar-be-que chicken, rice, and potato salad to reload on all those carbs we just burned off and, of course, cold refreshing beer. Now at this point, the whole thing becomes very much like a frat house, which I found amusing and awesome. Everyone grabs a beer, forms a circle and cheers to the hares, who plotted out the course that week. Then everyone sings a very scandalous and inappropriate song as the hares chug a beer. After that, the hasher virgins get in the middle of the circle and have to introduce themselves. And of course, we each had to chug an ice cold beer, which is never fun. And if you can't finish chugging, the beer gets poured on your head. There were 2 other PCV's who were also hasher virgins along with myself and the group of PCV's who had done this before took it upon themselves to scream "Chug, chug" at us as we drank. Luckily, all 3 of us finished our whole beer. Clearly a very important talent to have as a development professional :)
After all of that it is time to just hang out, eat good food, drink more beer, and reflect on how out of shape you actually are. The hashers do a new run with a new course every 2-3 weeks and I'm already excited about the next one. It was so much fun and we got to hang out with some really awesome, fun people. And the food and the beer didn't hurt :) And so that was my weekend, definitely going down as one of the top Saturdays in Guyana so far.
Friday, June 3, 2011
Second month of service: Random Thoughts
It is crazy to think that, not only is it already June, but another week has gone by and the weekend has officially begun. The days and the weeks here just seem to go by so fast. One minute it’s Saturday and myself and a fellow volunteer are talking about how fast the past week just went and then the next minute I swear it’s already the next Saturday and the same conversation is taking place. It’s hard to think about where the time goes, especially when my days have become so routine, so normal. I get up and go to work, come home, cook dinner, maybe read or watch a movie on my computer before bed and then wake up and do the same thing the next day. It’s amazing how easily and seamlessly one goes from just being in a different country to actually living there, and doing all the normal, everyday things that you do at your home, at work, in your village. I got to thinking the other day about how things I do every day or every week here in Guyana are so normal, so a part of life that I never even had to think about back home in the States.
Like getting drinking water. In the U.S., no one ever wonders where the water that flows out of the tap comes from or if it’s safe to drink or whether you will run out. You turn the tap on, water comes out, and you drink it. Simple. Here in Guyana, like many places in the world, its not quite so simple. First of all, you can’t drink the water that comes out of the tap. No matter where you are, tap water is undrinkable. Every morning when I wake up I go into the kitchen, fill up a pitcher with tap water and pour it into my water filtration system, which is basically two plastic buckets that sit on top of each other with a Brita type purifying filter inside. That is the only water that is safe to drink. Problem is, if you forget to fill up the buckets and you run out, it takes a good 2-3 hours for water to run through. Nothing like being hot and sweaty and thirsty and just sitting there watching water drip through the filter. And not only is the tap water unsafe to drink, it can run out. A lot. Most people here have big black tanks next to their house that collect rain water and gets some water pumped in from storage tanks. But when that water runs out, you’re looking at another couple hours at best before the tanks fill up again and you have running water. Don’t be surprised if, when I’m back home in December, you find me being amazed at the fact that you can turn on a faucet, get water all the time, and drink it right away.
How about doing laundry? If you’re looking for a way to kill 2 or 3 hours, laundry is the way to go. Of course, it can’t be raining or night time when this happens. Once a week, I bring my laundry out to the front of the house and fill up 2 buckets with water and add detergent . It’s then time to separate out my clothes and begin scrubbing and cleaning them by hand in the 1st bucket and then rinsing them out in the 2nd. When you’re done with that, you simply hang them out on the clothes line and pray that it doesn’t rain for the next 5 hours, which during rainy season almost never happens.
Now of course it was 95 degrees and 100% humidity out when you were doing your laundry at 7am, so you’ve probably worked up quite the attractive sweat. Nothing new there. Time for the 1st bucket bath of the day. I have an indoor bathroom, with a tiled shower that’s actually nicer than some bathrooms back home. However, there is no actual shower inside, just a pipe coming out of the wall about 6 inches off the ground. No problem here, just fill up a small bucket, soap yourself up and then dump the freezing cold rainwater on your head. 3 or 4 buckets of water later and you’ve probably gotten most of the soap off your body and a good amount of the shampoo out of your hair. One more bucket of cold water over your head just for good measure and that is how you take a bucket bath :)
Of course, there are many other good life skills I am acquiring down here that will really be helpful when I move back home. Of course, that’s only if I’m moving back home to the States in the 18th century :) Bucket baths, laundry by hand, pumping your water, those are just the best ones. I can now light a fire to cook on, know how much weight a horse can pull on a wooden buggy, and, of course, de-feather, skin, de-gut, and butcher a whole chicken. I’m thinking of adding that last one to my resume.
Those are just a few of the activities in my life that have now become routine. It’s kind of funny how quickly those things become normal. The 1st week I was in Guyana and I helped my host dad butcher an iguana for our dinner, I laughed to myself about how quickly and dramatically my life had already changed, knowing that there was so much more to come. As strange as it seems, the transition to this new life has been pretty easy, pretty smooth. I can already anticipate that it will be the transition back to my old life in D.C. that will be a rough road. And who knows, maybe I will bring the art of the bucket bath and open-fire cooking back to D.C. :)
Like getting drinking water. In the U.S., no one ever wonders where the water that flows out of the tap comes from or if it’s safe to drink or whether you will run out. You turn the tap on, water comes out, and you drink it. Simple. Here in Guyana, like many places in the world, its not quite so simple. First of all, you can’t drink the water that comes out of the tap. No matter where you are, tap water is undrinkable. Every morning when I wake up I go into the kitchen, fill up a pitcher with tap water and pour it into my water filtration system, which is basically two plastic buckets that sit on top of each other with a Brita type purifying filter inside. That is the only water that is safe to drink. Problem is, if you forget to fill up the buckets and you run out, it takes a good 2-3 hours for water to run through. Nothing like being hot and sweaty and thirsty and just sitting there watching water drip through the filter. And not only is the tap water unsafe to drink, it can run out. A lot. Most people here have big black tanks next to their house that collect rain water and gets some water pumped in from storage tanks. But when that water runs out, you’re looking at another couple hours at best before the tanks fill up again and you have running water. Don’t be surprised if, when I’m back home in December, you find me being amazed at the fact that you can turn on a faucet, get water all the time, and drink it right away.
How about doing laundry? If you’re looking for a way to kill 2 or 3 hours, laundry is the way to go. Of course, it can’t be raining or night time when this happens. Once a week, I bring my laundry out to the front of the house and fill up 2 buckets with water and add detergent . It’s then time to separate out my clothes and begin scrubbing and cleaning them by hand in the 1st bucket and then rinsing them out in the 2nd. When you’re done with that, you simply hang them out on the clothes line and pray that it doesn’t rain for the next 5 hours, which during rainy season almost never happens.
Now of course it was 95 degrees and 100% humidity out when you were doing your laundry at 7am, so you’ve probably worked up quite the attractive sweat. Nothing new there. Time for the 1st bucket bath of the day. I have an indoor bathroom, with a tiled shower that’s actually nicer than some bathrooms back home. However, there is no actual shower inside, just a pipe coming out of the wall about 6 inches off the ground. No problem here, just fill up a small bucket, soap yourself up and then dump the freezing cold rainwater on your head. 3 or 4 buckets of water later and you’ve probably gotten most of the soap off your body and a good amount of the shampoo out of your hair. One more bucket of cold water over your head just for good measure and that is how you take a bucket bath :)
Of course, there are many other good life skills I am acquiring down here that will really be helpful when I move back home. Of course, that’s only if I’m moving back home to the States in the 18th century :) Bucket baths, laundry by hand, pumping your water, those are just the best ones. I can now light a fire to cook on, know how much weight a horse can pull on a wooden buggy, and, of course, de-feather, skin, de-gut, and butcher a whole chicken. I’m thinking of adding that last one to my resume.
Those are just a few of the activities in my life that have now become routine. It’s kind of funny how quickly those things become normal. The 1st week I was in Guyana and I helped my host dad butcher an iguana for our dinner, I laughed to myself about how quickly and dramatically my life had already changed, knowing that there was so much more to come. As strange as it seems, the transition to this new life has been pretty easy, pretty smooth. I can already anticipate that it will be the transition back to my old life in D.C. that will be a rough road. And who knows, maybe I will bring the art of the bucket bath and open-fire cooking back to D.C. :)
Friday, May 13, 2011
My one month anniversary
One month ago today, on April 13th, myself and 35 others were sworn in as Peace Corps volunteers. The next day we were suddenly on our own, alone in new houses, starting crazy new jobs, trying to gracefully and nonchalantly integrate into our new communities even though we stick out worse than sore thumbs. The Peace Corps kid gloves were officially off. No more host families to coddle and shelter us, no more training staff to solve all our problems, no more “I’m just a trainee” excuse. Shit just got real.
The integration process this first month has been relatively smooth, with a few minor bumps along the way just to see if I’m up for the challenge. It started out like any other time when you move into a new town or a new neighborhood. In the states, you try and meet the neighbors, find the closest bank, grocery store, bar (just me?), ice cream store (just me again?) and you slowly but surely fall into a new routine. It was a similar process for me here in Guyana when I moved down the coast to my new village of Vreed-en-Hoop. Finding the closest bank and grocery store was easy; there is only one of each within 20 miles of my house. Meeting the neighbors was also easy, my house is so close I can literally reach out and touch the house next door to me. And with everyone always liming and gaffing on their front steps it’s hard for them not to notice the white girl dragging suitcases through the alley. Side note, I have already decided that I am bringing none of the clothes and supplies I brought here back with me. No way am I dealing with those ridiculous suitcases again.
The first month as a volunteer was both full of activity and down time. There is so much to experience, so many new things to do and figure out and wrap your head around. But at the same time, the first month of service provides one with a lot of free time, a lot of moments to lay in the hammock, feeling totally alone in this strange new world and wonder, what the hell have I gotten myself into? You have a lot of time, probably too much time to sit and think about who you are, who you want to be, and inevitably, if that person you want to be is the same person you actually will be after 2 years in the Peace Corps. I already knew that I wasn’t the same person I was when I was 12 and first discovered what Peace Corps was and had that first thought of, oh that might be a cool thing to do when I grow up. But over this last month I’ve also realized that I’m not the same person I was when I applied for Peace Corps, now over 2 years ago, or even the same person who got on that plane at JFK 3 months ago. It’s a really freaky moment when all the pieces suddenly fall into place and you realize that that feeling you’ve been feeling, that weird ache in your gut is just you realizing for the first time what you actually want your life to look like. Almost enough to knock me clear out of my hammock :) Now I won’t bore you with the mundane details of exactly what I come to discover about myself and exactly what I want my life to be (hint: it’s probably the opposite of what most of you are thinking) but it has definitely made me appreciate being in the Peace Corps even more, it made me thankful for this time in my life that I can have this crazy adventure, this wild roller coaster ride, and then come home in 2 years and start down a different path towards the life I want.
So one month in, this is pretty much where I’m at. Having crazy existential, self-realization moments in the jungle. Who knows, maybe it’s the result of all the heat and rum my body has been subjected to since I’ve been here. Either way, I’m excited to see what month two has in store for me and, the way time has been moving so far, my 2 years will be done before I know it, and probably before I’m ready for it. Happy one month anniversary to all my fellow Guy 23 volunteers, we are one month closer to accomplishing something truly amazing. Love to all my family and friends back home, I miss you all every day.
Love,
Lindsay
The integration process this first month has been relatively smooth, with a few minor bumps along the way just to see if I’m up for the challenge. It started out like any other time when you move into a new town or a new neighborhood. In the states, you try and meet the neighbors, find the closest bank, grocery store, bar (just me?), ice cream store (just me again?) and you slowly but surely fall into a new routine. It was a similar process for me here in Guyana when I moved down the coast to my new village of Vreed-en-Hoop. Finding the closest bank and grocery store was easy; there is only one of each within 20 miles of my house. Meeting the neighbors was also easy, my house is so close I can literally reach out and touch the house next door to me. And with everyone always liming and gaffing on their front steps it’s hard for them not to notice the white girl dragging suitcases through the alley. Side note, I have already decided that I am bringing none of the clothes and supplies I brought here back with me. No way am I dealing with those ridiculous suitcases again.
The first month as a volunteer was both full of activity and down time. There is so much to experience, so many new things to do and figure out and wrap your head around. But at the same time, the first month of service provides one with a lot of free time, a lot of moments to lay in the hammock, feeling totally alone in this strange new world and wonder, what the hell have I gotten myself into? You have a lot of time, probably too much time to sit and think about who you are, who you want to be, and inevitably, if that person you want to be is the same person you actually will be after 2 years in the Peace Corps. I already knew that I wasn’t the same person I was when I was 12 and first discovered what Peace Corps was and had that first thought of, oh that might be a cool thing to do when I grow up. But over this last month I’ve also realized that I’m not the same person I was when I applied for Peace Corps, now over 2 years ago, or even the same person who got on that plane at JFK 3 months ago. It’s a really freaky moment when all the pieces suddenly fall into place and you realize that that feeling you’ve been feeling, that weird ache in your gut is just you realizing for the first time what you actually want your life to look like. Almost enough to knock me clear out of my hammock :) Now I won’t bore you with the mundane details of exactly what I come to discover about myself and exactly what I want my life to be (hint: it’s probably the opposite of what most of you are thinking) but it has definitely made me appreciate being in the Peace Corps even more, it made me thankful for this time in my life that I can have this crazy adventure, this wild roller coaster ride, and then come home in 2 years and start down a different path towards the life I want.
So one month in, this is pretty much where I’m at. Having crazy existential, self-realization moments in the jungle. Who knows, maybe it’s the result of all the heat and rum my body has been subjected to since I’ve been here. Either way, I’m excited to see what month two has in store for me and, the way time has been moving so far, my 2 years will be done before I know it, and probably before I’m ready for it. Happy one month anniversary to all my fellow Guy 23 volunteers, we are one month closer to accomplishing something truly amazing. Love to all my family and friends back home, I miss you all every day.
Love,
Lindsay
Friday, April 29, 2011
National Vaccination Week
This past week in Guyana was National Vaccination Week and maternal and child health departments in every region across the country had events, seminars, and rallys to promote vaccination, safe motherhood, and HIV/AIDS awareness. On Thursday April 29th, the maternal and child health department in my region, region 3, held a walk-a-thon and rally in my village that I was lucky enough to be a part of.
It started at 9am when nurses, medex's, community health workers and volunteers from every health center in the region gathered together to walk 2 miles along the main road in Vreed-en-Hoop. Carrying banners and signs and chanting "Immunize your family, protect your community", we marched along, hoping to engage the community in the fight to get a 95% complete vaccination rate for all of region 3. It was inspiring to see so many health workers take time off from their jobs and their lives to help promote such an important message, one that is so vital to ensuring that people are as healthy as possible.
After the march, we made our way to the central market area in the village, right next to the dock where all the boats to and from town are. There, we set up a tent with tables that had posters, pamphlets, and displays with information about vaccinations, safe motherhood and breast feeding, as well as HIV/AIDS and family planning. Under the tent was an area where several nurses were giving out free vaccines for yellow fever, MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) and tetanus, for anyone who needed one. All health care in Guyana is normally free of charge but often times people are unable to get to a health center to receive care and, since there is no law requiring children to be fully vaccinated before attending school, many people have not gotten vaccinated as children.
As the nurses and medex's set up the vaccination area, myself and a few other volunteers set out to recruit passersby to stop and get vaccinated. In the crowded area of the market, there were many people walking past, on their way to and from the boats and most of them were curious as to the huge white tent set up and all the people milling around. And of course, it only added to their curiosity that strange white people were stopping them and asking if they had all their vaccinations up to date :)
I was amazed at the number of people who not only stopped to see what was going on, but looked at the posters and asked questions, not only about vaccinations but about health in general. People were honestly curious about why vaccinations are important, what they do, and who should get them. It felt really good to be out there, talking to people and feeling like I was actually making a difference, even if it was a small one. By the end of the 1st hour, standing out in the hot midday sun, I had gotten 6 people to go get vaccinated, convinced half a dozen others to come back later in the afternoon, and given an impromptu health talk on malaria prevention.
The thing about Peace Corps work, and development work in general, is that the majority of the time, you don't feel like you're actually making a difference. The problems, especially health problems, are so massive and daunting, and you are just one, tiny person that it feels impossible to actually make any sort of lasting change. You have to constantly keep reminding yourself that if you can change one life, one person, one family, to live a healthier life then you've made a difference.Yesterday, I think I really felt that for the first time since I've been here. After hours in the hot sun, I was dehydrated and sunburned, but happy. A few hours of my time spent and I had convinced a young mother to get her yellow fever shot and an older gentleman to get tetanus. Another couple wasn't sure if they had ever gotten MMR and, after talking with another man, he realized that he had gotten a yellow fever vaccine so long ago and never remembered to get another one, until today. It was so encouraging to see people genuinely concerned about their health and willing to take a few minutes out of their day to go get vaccinated and be an example to their family and community. It was definitely one of my better days here in Guyana :)
Love and miss you all,
Lindsay
It started at 9am when nurses, medex's, community health workers and volunteers from every health center in the region gathered together to walk 2 miles along the main road in Vreed-en-Hoop. Carrying banners and signs and chanting "Immunize your family, protect your community", we marched along, hoping to engage the community in the fight to get a 95% complete vaccination rate for all of region 3. It was inspiring to see so many health workers take time off from their jobs and their lives to help promote such an important message, one that is so vital to ensuring that people are as healthy as possible.
After the march, we made our way to the central market area in the village, right next to the dock where all the boats to and from town are. There, we set up a tent with tables that had posters, pamphlets, and displays with information about vaccinations, safe motherhood and breast feeding, as well as HIV/AIDS and family planning. Under the tent was an area where several nurses were giving out free vaccines for yellow fever, MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) and tetanus, for anyone who needed one. All health care in Guyana is normally free of charge but often times people are unable to get to a health center to receive care and, since there is no law requiring children to be fully vaccinated before attending school, many people have not gotten vaccinated as children.
As the nurses and medex's set up the vaccination area, myself and a few other volunteers set out to recruit passersby to stop and get vaccinated. In the crowded area of the market, there were many people walking past, on their way to and from the boats and most of them were curious as to the huge white tent set up and all the people milling around. And of course, it only added to their curiosity that strange white people were stopping them and asking if they had all their vaccinations up to date :)
I was amazed at the number of people who not only stopped to see what was going on, but looked at the posters and asked questions, not only about vaccinations but about health in general. People were honestly curious about why vaccinations are important, what they do, and who should get them. It felt really good to be out there, talking to people and feeling like I was actually making a difference, even if it was a small one. By the end of the 1st hour, standing out in the hot midday sun, I had gotten 6 people to go get vaccinated, convinced half a dozen others to come back later in the afternoon, and given an impromptu health talk on malaria prevention.
The thing about Peace Corps work, and development work in general, is that the majority of the time, you don't feel like you're actually making a difference. The problems, especially health problems, are so massive and daunting, and you are just one, tiny person that it feels impossible to actually make any sort of lasting change. You have to constantly keep reminding yourself that if you can change one life, one person, one family, to live a healthier life then you've made a difference.Yesterday, I think I really felt that for the first time since I've been here. After hours in the hot sun, I was dehydrated and sunburned, but happy. A few hours of my time spent and I had convinced a young mother to get her yellow fever shot and an older gentleman to get tetanus. Another couple wasn't sure if they had ever gotten MMR and, after talking with another man, he realized that he had gotten a yellow fever vaccine so long ago and never remembered to get another one, until today. It was so encouraging to see people genuinely concerned about their health and willing to take a few minutes out of their day to go get vaccinated and be an example to their family and community. It was definitely one of my better days here in Guyana :)
Love and miss you all,
Lindsay
Friday, April 22, 2011
April 22nd, 2011
So I have officially been a Peace Corps volunteer for over a week now. I've moved and settled into my new apartment, complete with 2 hammocks and an adopted pet kitten named Nala. I started my new job at the hospital on Monday and they already have given me another project to add to my workload but I'm excited to get started. I feel like I've been here for years and I feel like I just got off the plane yesterday, all at the same time.
While this has been an exciting whirlwind of a week for me and my fellow Guy 23er's, it was a bittersweet week I'm sure for another batch of volunteers who had their COS on the 13th (close of service, which means their 2 years are up and they have to return to the states). I ran into many of them at the Peace Corps office in town as they wrapped up few last minute items and I had a brief, fleeting thought that in 2 short years, I was going to be exactly where they are. It dawned on me how short of a time period 2 years actually is and that, befoe I know it, I'll be back in the states, not as a Peace Corps volunteer but a Returned Peace Corps volunteer. I know that I'll be so busy with projects over the next 2 years that their is no way time won't just fly by. That notion made me pause for a minute. When you finally accomplish a dream you've had for years, serving in the Peace Corps, the only thing crazier to imagine that actually doing it is imagining it being over. It makes me even more determined to make the most out of these next 2 years and to get everything I possbly can out of this expeience.
One of the major reasons I know I will be so busy over the next 2 years is my job at the hospial. My supervisior has so many ideas and projects he wants me to get started on that it is almost a little bit overwhelming. The first project is the most daunting but also the one I'm most excited about. Currently in Guyana, there is almost no treatment/prevention/rehibilitation services avaliable for mental health. Even though suicide, alcoholism, and domestic abuse are major issues throughout the country, the social stigma surronding them is so strong that there is almost no way for a person to seek help or get information. The current minister of health has made it a personal crusade to change the status of mental health in this country by implemting new policies, new training programs, and new prevention and treatment services. My job is to tell him what those should be. I am pretty sure that my supervisor and I
are the only people actively working on this. No pressure. And that is just the first project they want me to do. Like I said, overwhelming and daunting and super exciting all at the same time. I'm definitely gonna need that vacation in December :)
I promise I will write more soon. It's Easter weekend so I have the next 4 days off, plenty of time to lay in my hammock and update everyone on my life :) Miss you all, hope everyone back home is well. Can't wait to start getting letters from everyone!!!
Love,
Lindsay
While this has been an exciting whirlwind of a week for me and my fellow Guy 23er's, it was a bittersweet week I'm sure for another batch of volunteers who had their COS on the 13th (close of service, which means their 2 years are up and they have to return to the states). I ran into many of them at the Peace Corps office in town as they wrapped up few last minute items and I had a brief, fleeting thought that in 2 short years, I was going to be exactly where they are. It dawned on me how short of a time period 2 years actually is and that, befoe I know it, I'll be back in the states, not as a Peace Corps volunteer but a Returned Peace Corps volunteer. I know that I'll be so busy with projects over the next 2 years that their is no way time won't just fly by. That notion made me pause for a minute. When you finally accomplish a dream you've had for years, serving in the Peace Corps, the only thing crazier to imagine that actually doing it is imagining it being over. It makes me even more determined to make the most out of these next 2 years and to get everything I possbly can out of this expeience.
One of the major reasons I know I will be so busy over the next 2 years is my job at the hospial. My supervisior has so many ideas and projects he wants me to get started on that it is almost a little bit overwhelming. The first project is the most daunting but also the one I'm most excited about. Currently in Guyana, there is almost no treatment/prevention/rehibilitation services avaliable for mental health. Even though suicide, alcoholism, and domestic abuse are major issues throughout the country, the social stigma surronding them is so strong that there is almost no way for a person to seek help or get information. The current minister of health has made it a personal crusade to change the status of mental health in this country by implemting new policies, new training programs, and new prevention and treatment services. My job is to tell him what those should be. I am pretty sure that my supervisor and I
are the only people actively working on this. No pressure. And that is just the first project they want me to do. Like I said, overwhelming and daunting and super exciting all at the same time. I'm definitely gonna need that vacation in December :)
I promise I will write more soon. It's Easter weekend so I have the next 4 days off, plenty of time to lay in my hammock and update everyone on my life :) Miss you all, hope everyone back home is well. Can't wait to start getting letters from everyone!!!
Love,
Lindsay
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Officially a Peace Corps Volunteer :)
It has finally happened. After all these years, all the applications, all the waiting and paperwork, all the uncertainty and nervousness I offcially swore in as a Peace Corps volunteer, part of the 23rd group of Americans to serve in Guyana, on April 13th 2011.
There really are no words to describe how I am feeling right now. I happy and excited and nervous and scared and a million other things all at the same time. Tomorrow I move into my new apartment and on Monday I start my job at the hospital. For the next 2 years I will be a community health development worker in the beautiful country of Guyana. It it so crazy to think that it now my life, I feel like just yesterday I was in DC, working doubles at the bar and trying to stay awake in class :)
I am so excited to start this new adventure and the next chapter of my life. Of course, knowing that my family and friends back home support me and encourage me unconditionally makes living and working in a foreign country for 2 years that much easier. I miss and love you all and I can't wait to see you all in December, with plenty of pictures and stories to share.
Love
Lindsay
There really are no words to describe how I am feeling right now. I happy and excited and nervous and scared and a million other things all at the same time. Tomorrow I move into my new apartment and on Monday I start my job at the hospital. For the next 2 years I will be a community health development worker in the beautiful country of Guyana. It it so crazy to think that it now my life, I feel like just yesterday I was in DC, working doubles at the bar and trying to stay awake in class :)
I am so excited to start this new adventure and the next chapter of my life. Of course, knowing that my family and friends back home support me and encourage me unconditionally makes living and working in a foreign country for 2 years that much easier. I miss and love you all and I can't wait to see you all in December, with plenty of pictures and stories to share.
Love
Lindsay
Monday, April 4, 2011
New Address :)
Hello all,
I have a new, permanent address for everyone. Any letters, packages, birthday presents (hint, hint) can be sent to the following address:
Lindsay Perlman
25 New Road
Vreed-en-Hoop
West Coast Demerara
Guyana, South America.
Anything currently in the mail that is going to the other address at the Embassy will still get to me so no worries there, I just have to go pick it up at the Peace Corps office so it may take a little longer than normal.
I have a new, permanent address for everyone. Any letters, packages, birthday presents (hint, hint) can be sent to the following address:
Lindsay Perlman
25 New Road
Vreed-en-Hoop
West Coast Demerara
Guyana, South America.
Anything currently in the mail that is going to the other address at the Embassy will still get to me so no worries there, I just have to go pick it up at the Peace Corps office so it may take a little longer than normal.
Friday, March 25, 2011
10 Fun/Intersting/Hilarious Facts about Guyana and my integration process, so far :)
1. The phrase "just now" is used all the time when refering to meeting someone, arranging a time, or making plans. For example: "When are you coming by the house?" response, "I am coming just now." It can mean literally just now or in 10 minutes or in 2 weeks. Very annoying, yet very handy in getting out of things you don't want to do.
2. I went to the grocery store the other day to buy a chocolate bar and rum (the essentials) and the chocolate bar cost twice as much as the rum. Enough said.
3. I have found myself picking up on certain Creolese phrases, such as ending sentences with "don't cha know" and saying "Me nah know" or "Me no like". It will be fun when I use those back home and people just think I have really poor grammar :)
4. I have discovered that large groups of white people make me feel uncomfortable, since I am now used to being the only white person I see for days at a time. If I pass another white person on the street I find myself wondering who they are, why are they here, and why don't I know them. I'm assuming that means I'm fully integrated :)
5. A woman at my health center asked me the other say if I had gotten whiter. I may be the only
Peace Corps Guyana volunteer who doesn't tan and comes back to the states paler than she left.
6. People will repeat a word 2 or 3 times when they want to emphasize something instead of saying really or very. So in the states we would say "That dress is really pretty." or "That candy is very good." In Guyana Creolese you say, "That dress is nice nice" or "That candy is sweet sweet."
7. As a way of hitting on a woman (which Guyanese men do every day, all day, never ending, especially the strange white girls walking around) they making a sound at you calling "sipping". It basically sounds like you are doing a combination of blowing someone a kiss and sipping out of a straw. Will not be importing that pick up line back to the states :)
8. People say good night here as a way of greeting someone after dark. Instead of using it to say good bye, like we do in the states, people in Guyana say “Hello, goodnight.” So confusing the first time you hear it
9. My host mom constantly tells me I eat like a bird or that I am a "funny American eater" because I only take one scoop of rice with my curry, instead of the traditional 3 or 4 giant spoonfuls that is considered appropriate in Guyana.
10. Yes, it really is ridiculously hot and humid here all the time. You literally sweat just sitting or standing around doing nothing. I worked up a sweat watching TV the other day. Very attractive.
2. I went to the grocery store the other day to buy a chocolate bar and rum (the essentials) and the chocolate bar cost twice as much as the rum. Enough said.
3. I have found myself picking up on certain Creolese phrases, such as ending sentences with "don't cha know" and saying "Me nah know" or "Me no like". It will be fun when I use those back home and people just think I have really poor grammar :)
4. I have discovered that large groups of white people make me feel uncomfortable, since I am now used to being the only white person I see for days at a time. If I pass another white person on the street I find myself wondering who they are, why are they here, and why don't I know them. I'm assuming that means I'm fully integrated :)
5. A woman at my health center asked me the other say if I had gotten whiter. I may be the only
Peace Corps Guyana volunteer who doesn't tan and comes back to the states paler than she left.
6. People will repeat a word 2 or 3 times when they want to emphasize something instead of saying really or very. So in the states we would say "That dress is really pretty." or "That candy is very good." In Guyana Creolese you say, "That dress is nice nice" or "That candy is sweet sweet."
7. As a way of hitting on a woman (which Guyanese men do every day, all day, never ending, especially the strange white girls walking around) they making a sound at you calling "sipping". It basically sounds like you are doing a combination of blowing someone a kiss and sipping out of a straw. Will not be importing that pick up line back to the states :)
8. People say good night here as a way of greeting someone after dark. Instead of using it to say good bye, like we do in the states, people in Guyana say “Hello, goodnight.” So confusing the first time you hear it
9. My host mom constantly tells me I eat like a bird or that I am a "funny American eater" because I only take one scoop of rice with my curry, instead of the traditional 3 or 4 giant spoonfuls that is considered appropriate in Guyana.
10. Yes, it really is ridiculously hot and humid here all the time. You literally sweat just sitting or standing around doing nothing. I worked up a sweat watching TV the other day. Very attractive.
March 24th, 2011
So I had a very exciting weekend celebrating the Hindu holiday of Phagwah. I had never heard of it before I came to Guyana but here it is pretty much equal to Christmas in terms of how much people freak out about it. It was offcially on Sunday but people started celebrating on Saturday and contunied into Monday, which the government declared a national holiday as well. Even though its a Hindu festival, most people in Guyana celebrate it whether they are Hindu or not. And I've decided that the reason for this is that the holiday of Phagwah is pretty badass.
It started on Saturday, when I was taken to some Auntie's house with my host family (any older female relative or close female friend of any age in Guyana is called Auntie so I'm not sure who exactly this person was) and was basically force fed obsence amounts of food. It starts with seven curry, which is the offical dish of Phagwah. Seven curry is served in a giant bamboo leaf and is eaten with your hands. You start with a huge scoop of white rice on the leaf and then add in the seven different types of curry. They are all vegetable curries (no meat is eaten during Phagwah) and they are all extremly delicious. My favorites are the pumpkin, boulange (eggplant), baji (spinach), and bora ( potato). I ate enough seven curry for 3 or 4 people but it was totally worth it :) After the seven curry was done we had sweet rice (tastes exactly like rice pudding) and sweet cake (tastes exactly like a macaroon). It was so delicious, I don't think I've ever been that full. And of course there is always plenty of rum around for the men to drink. And apparently, being a white woman is the same as being a man, because I was constantly being served rum as well.
On Sunday, the actual day of Phagwah, families and friends gather at each others houses to celebrate "Holi Day" and to "play Phagwah" How does one play Phagwah, you may be asking? Simple. You dress all in white, run around, and throw neon colored powder on each other. Literally. That is the whole holiday. You get baby powder mixed with various colors, neon blue, pink, purple, orange, etc. and run around smearing it on each others faces and clothes (most people mix the powder with water to make sure it sticks). I went with some friends into town to the National staduim where they had a huge Phagwah party with music and free powder. It was insanity. I was completely covered in color, mostly blue for some reason, by the end of the day. I looked like someone had dumped a bucket of paint on me. It was so much fun, running around yelling 'Happy Phagwah' and just dumping colored powder on complete strangers. And of course, everyone wanted to Phagwah the white person and yell "Welcome to Guyana!" so I'm pretty sure my group got over-Phagwah-ed. There was Bollywood and Chutney (Indian) music blasting, powder and water going everywhere and people just running around having fun. It was a pretty good time, I may have to start celebrating Phagwah in the states when I get home.
The highlight of my Phagwah experience is that I got to meet, take a picture with and Phagwah the President of Guyana. He showed up at this event at the Indian Cultural Center we went to and he went right into the crowd and took pictures with everyone. So we all grabbed a little bit of powder, walked up individually to the President, said "Happy Phagwah Mr. President" and then smeared neon orange powder on his cheek. (Yes, it was as awkward as it sounds :) My friend has the picture of me with the President on her camera, as soon as I get it I will post it online. We are both covered in colored powder and look pretty ridculous but it was pretty awesome to get to meet and play Phagwah with the President of Guyana.
Definitely the highlight of my crazy Phagwah weekend. Pictures will be posted soon so you all can seen me looking like I'm in the Blue Man Group with blue powder and paint all over me :)
Love,
Lindsay
Pictures of Phagwah and my new apartment!!!!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2078255&id=1277258438&l=572ff39abd
It started on Saturday, when I was taken to some Auntie's house with my host family (any older female relative or close female friend of any age in Guyana is called Auntie so I'm not sure who exactly this person was) and was basically force fed obsence amounts of food. It starts with seven curry, which is the offical dish of Phagwah. Seven curry is served in a giant bamboo leaf and is eaten with your hands. You start with a huge scoop of white rice on the leaf and then add in the seven different types of curry. They are all vegetable curries (no meat is eaten during Phagwah) and they are all extremly delicious. My favorites are the pumpkin, boulange (eggplant), baji (spinach), and bora ( potato). I ate enough seven curry for 3 or 4 people but it was totally worth it :) After the seven curry was done we had sweet rice (tastes exactly like rice pudding) and sweet cake (tastes exactly like a macaroon). It was so delicious, I don't think I've ever been that full. And of course there is always plenty of rum around for the men to drink. And apparently, being a white woman is the same as being a man, because I was constantly being served rum as well.
On Sunday, the actual day of Phagwah, families and friends gather at each others houses to celebrate "Holi Day" and to "play Phagwah" How does one play Phagwah, you may be asking? Simple. You dress all in white, run around, and throw neon colored powder on each other. Literally. That is the whole holiday. You get baby powder mixed with various colors, neon blue, pink, purple, orange, etc. and run around smearing it on each others faces and clothes (most people mix the powder with water to make sure it sticks). I went with some friends into town to the National staduim where they had a huge Phagwah party with music and free powder. It was insanity. I was completely covered in color, mostly blue for some reason, by the end of the day. I looked like someone had dumped a bucket of paint on me. It was so much fun, running around yelling 'Happy Phagwah' and just dumping colored powder on complete strangers. And of course, everyone wanted to Phagwah the white person and yell "Welcome to Guyana!" so I'm pretty sure my group got over-Phagwah-ed. There was Bollywood and Chutney (Indian) music blasting, powder and water going everywhere and people just running around having fun. It was a pretty good time, I may have to start celebrating Phagwah in the states when I get home.
The highlight of my Phagwah experience is that I got to meet, take a picture with and Phagwah the President of Guyana. He showed up at this event at the Indian Cultural Center we went to and he went right into the crowd and took pictures with everyone. So we all grabbed a little bit of powder, walked up individually to the President, said "Happy Phagwah Mr. President" and then smeared neon orange powder on his cheek. (Yes, it was as awkward as it sounds :) My friend has the picture of me with the President on her camera, as soon as I get it I will post it online. We are both covered in colored powder and look pretty ridculous but it was pretty awesome to get to meet and play Phagwah with the President of Guyana.
Definitely the highlight of my crazy Phagwah weekend. Pictures will be posted soon so you all can seen me looking like I'm in the Blue Man Group with blue powder and paint all over me :)
Love,
Lindsay
Pictures of Phagwah and my new apartment!!!!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2078255&id=1277258438&l=572ff39abd
March 25th, 2011
I know it has been a while since I've written a blog post and so much has happened in the past couple of weeks, I'm not even sure where to begin!
First off, I finally got my permanent site placement and job assignment!!!! So exciting! Everybody ready? Drum roll please.....I got Region 3, West Coast, West Demerara Hospital!! Woot Woot!! Since I'm sure you guys have no idea what I'm talking about when I say Region 3 West Coast I'll explain, don't worry :)
Region 3 is the region of Guyana where I've been doing my training and where my host family lives and is located between the Demerara River and the Atlantic Ocean. It is right across the river from the capital, Georgetown and this will be the region I call home for the next 2 years. Currently I am with my host family in a village right along the ocean called Meten-mer-Zorg ( The majority of village and town names are left over from either Dutch or British colonialzation). My apartment where I'll be living after training ends on April 13th is about 25 minutes down the main road that runs along the coast (going towards Georgetown) in a village call Vreed-en-Hoop. Vreed-en-Hoop means 'peace and love' in Dutch, how awesome is that? :) I have my own apartment, which is really nice and comes furnished, and its on the top floor of a two story house. Another volunteer from last years group lives below me and my landlord lives in the house right in front of me. I am about a five minute walk from where I'll be working and either a 25 minute boat or bus ride to Georgetown. My village is a pretty good size and has a bank, post office, market and small grocery store as well as some small shops that sell snacks, drinks, and clothing. I will also be living right across the street from Chesters Fried Chicken resturant (like a KFC) which is the only place where women can go and have a drink (just beer) since the local rum shops or bars are only frequented by men. Definite bonus :) Oh, and my apartment has a room for my hammock (love that) and wireless internet is included in my rent. Overall, this place is nicer than the closet that barely passed for my place back in DC :)
And my job is even more exciting than my new apartment! I was assigned to work at West Demerara Hospital, which is the only major hospital in Region 3 and the 2nd largest public hospital in Guyana. My counterpart/mentor is the Assistant Hospital Administrator, Mr. Hira and he is pretty much in charge of hospital policy and making sure that the hospital runs as smoothly as possible on a day to day basis. My job at the hospital will be to work with Mr. Hira and the Regional Health Officer Dr Persuad (the guy in charge of every health center and hospital in region 3) to create and implment mental health policy in Guyana. Right now, like a lot of developing countries, there is no mental health policy in Guyana. There is no national policy or best practices in place to identify, treat, or prevent mental health or substance abuse issues. Suicide, depression, and substance abuse are extremely high in Guyana but they are not seen as health problems and often stigmatized so that people don't seek help. My job for the next 2 years will be to create a national policy on mental health, substance abuse, and domestic violence and submit that to the Ministry of Health. No pressure or anything :) I am so so so so excited to get started on this. I know it will be a lot of work but being able to work on something like this, to actually develop working policy and possibly implement real change in Guyana is amazing.
I also have another secondary project to work on, in my spare time from creating national health policy (hilarious). Mr. Hira also wants me to work on creating a sanitation and hygiene policy for the hospital and work with the doctors, nurses, and other staff members to follow it. Right now, medical waste is disposed of with the regular trash, there is almost no concept of seperating out hazardous waste or bodliy fluid waste or even used needles. Everything gets lumped together and then dumped. I have witnessed red hazardous waste bags full of god knows what just sitting out in the open. I've seen nurses wear the same pair of disposable gloves to give injections to 3 different patients, without stopping to change the gloves or wash their hands. It is very disheartening to see such practices going on, especially when these are basic things that can be done very easily and have such a huge effect of health and disease control. So hopefully I will be able to put together a working policy on that and get the staff to understand why it is important to follow it and maintain it at all times.
My 3rd project ( not sure how long they think i'm going to be here) is to help in setting up the first and only electronic medical records system in the country. Right now every patients medical records are on paper and the system is ineffective and disorganized. West Demerara hospital is slowly moving towards putting all the information on computers and making it so that every health center can access the same medical records system. I will help out with gathering the information and inputting it into the system.
So that is my official job and site placement!!!! Everyone was so anxious and nervous to find out and they really made us wait until the last minute. I could not be more happy with my placement, it fits me perfectly and the location where I will be living is exactly what I wanted, an urban area on the coast close to other volunteers. It really is the perfect assignment :) I still have 3 more weeks of training so I don't officially start my job or move into my apartment until April but I am very excited to get started on what I know will be a challenging and rewarding 2 years. Love and miss you all, can't wait to start getting some letters from everyone!! (hint hint, my mom and dad have the address for you all)
Love,
Lindsay
First off, I finally got my permanent site placement and job assignment!!!! So exciting! Everybody ready? Drum roll please.....I got Region 3, West Coast, West Demerara Hospital!! Woot Woot!! Since I'm sure you guys have no idea what I'm talking about when I say Region 3 West Coast I'll explain, don't worry :)
Region 3 is the region of Guyana where I've been doing my training and where my host family lives and is located between the Demerara River and the Atlantic Ocean. It is right across the river from the capital, Georgetown and this will be the region I call home for the next 2 years. Currently I am with my host family in a village right along the ocean called Meten-mer-Zorg ( The majority of village and town names are left over from either Dutch or British colonialzation). My apartment where I'll be living after training ends on April 13th is about 25 minutes down the main road that runs along the coast (going towards Georgetown) in a village call Vreed-en-Hoop. Vreed-en-Hoop means 'peace and love' in Dutch, how awesome is that? :) I have my own apartment, which is really nice and comes furnished, and its on the top floor of a two story house. Another volunteer from last years group lives below me and my landlord lives in the house right in front of me. I am about a five minute walk from where I'll be working and either a 25 minute boat or bus ride to Georgetown. My village is a pretty good size and has a bank, post office, market and small grocery store as well as some small shops that sell snacks, drinks, and clothing. I will also be living right across the street from Chesters Fried Chicken resturant (like a KFC) which is the only place where women can go and have a drink (just beer) since the local rum shops or bars are only frequented by men. Definite bonus :) Oh, and my apartment has a room for my hammock (love that) and wireless internet is included in my rent. Overall, this place is nicer than the closet that barely passed for my place back in DC :)
And my job is even more exciting than my new apartment! I was assigned to work at West Demerara Hospital, which is the only major hospital in Region 3 and the 2nd largest public hospital in Guyana. My counterpart/mentor is the Assistant Hospital Administrator, Mr. Hira and he is pretty much in charge of hospital policy and making sure that the hospital runs as smoothly as possible on a day to day basis. My job at the hospital will be to work with Mr. Hira and the Regional Health Officer Dr Persuad (the guy in charge of every health center and hospital in region 3) to create and implment mental health policy in Guyana. Right now, like a lot of developing countries, there is no mental health policy in Guyana. There is no national policy or best practices in place to identify, treat, or prevent mental health or substance abuse issues. Suicide, depression, and substance abuse are extremely high in Guyana but they are not seen as health problems and often stigmatized so that people don't seek help. My job for the next 2 years will be to create a national policy on mental health, substance abuse, and domestic violence and submit that to the Ministry of Health. No pressure or anything :) I am so so so so excited to get started on this. I know it will be a lot of work but being able to work on something like this, to actually develop working policy and possibly implement real change in Guyana is amazing.
I also have another secondary project to work on, in my spare time from creating national health policy (hilarious). Mr. Hira also wants me to work on creating a sanitation and hygiene policy for the hospital and work with the doctors, nurses, and other staff members to follow it. Right now, medical waste is disposed of with the regular trash, there is almost no concept of seperating out hazardous waste or bodliy fluid waste or even used needles. Everything gets lumped together and then dumped. I have witnessed red hazardous waste bags full of god knows what just sitting out in the open. I've seen nurses wear the same pair of disposable gloves to give injections to 3 different patients, without stopping to change the gloves or wash their hands. It is very disheartening to see such practices going on, especially when these are basic things that can be done very easily and have such a huge effect of health and disease control. So hopefully I will be able to put together a working policy on that and get the staff to understand why it is important to follow it and maintain it at all times.
My 3rd project ( not sure how long they think i'm going to be here) is to help in setting up the first and only electronic medical records system in the country. Right now every patients medical records are on paper and the system is ineffective and disorganized. West Demerara hospital is slowly moving towards putting all the information on computers and making it so that every health center can access the same medical records system. I will help out with gathering the information and inputting it into the system.
So that is my official job and site placement!!!! Everyone was so anxious and nervous to find out and they really made us wait until the last minute. I could not be more happy with my placement, it fits me perfectly and the location where I will be living is exactly what I wanted, an urban area on the coast close to other volunteers. It really is the perfect assignment :) I still have 3 more weeks of training so I don't officially start my job or move into my apartment until April but I am very excited to get started on what I know will be a challenging and rewarding 2 years. Love and miss you all, can't wait to start getting some letters from everyone!! (hint hint, my mom and dad have the address for you all)
Love,
Lindsay
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