Amerindian Village

Yesterday, we went to an Amerindian (indigenous people) Village. We had to take this huge army truck through the bush for 45 minutes to get there. There was white sand everywhere. It felt very quite and remote, and I wasn't sure if I wanted to be in a place like that. We played cricket and swam in the black water. When we were done with cricett this woman Kristen asked to take some of the children's picture with her digital camera. Then as she was showing the pictures to them, all the other children ran over to look too. They followed her and this other girl, Liz, for the rest of the time.
Driving through the bush.
St Cuthbert's


I also had my site placement interview. I talked about how I wanted to be kept busy and that the presentation that this one woman gave about the Red Cross in Region 9 sounded superb. She was energetic and had a contagious, positive attitude. I also mentioned that if I worked in a health clinic, I'd like to be involved in family planning. I don't want to be in Georgetown because of all the unwanted male attention. I also mentioned that I didn't need to be extremely close to other volunteers because I want to be forced to integrate as much as I can into my community. I felt good after the interview, so we'll see what happens.

Get ready for a long one

I haven't mentioned this yet, but there is trash everywhere. You see trash on the sides of the roads, in the trenches, and near water sources. There are hardly any trash cans around and if there are, they are mostly found in cities. In the villages there is no trash pick-up system. Instead people burn their trash. Although I haven't seen this, I heard that people dump their trash in poorer areas. Our health trainer has told us that water sources are often contaminated because of the trash disposal. But don't worry, I only drink bottled water and my host family has a filtering tank for all other water uses. In one of our Creolese cultural sessions we learned about the 6 different ethnic groups:
1. African
2. East Indian
3. Chinese
4. Amerindians/Indigenous peoples
5. European
6. Portuguese
We also learned the derogatory names, respectively:
1. Blackman/dog
2. Coolie
3. Chinese
4. Buck
5. Redneck
6. Redneck
If you notice, there is no derogatory name for the Chinese. Our facilitator said you don't mess with the Chinese because they have sharp knives. Someone might try to mock the way they say fried rice because they can't pronounce the Rs or even try to mock the Chinese language, but afterwards, they immediately run away [hahaha], I got a huge kick out of that one.

Wednesday was Phagwah, the Hindu New Year. In the U.S. the Hindu community refers to it as Holi. In celebration we visited Paul's family. They surprised us by dousing us with water, colored powder, and glitter. But there was also a steady flow of alcohol, music, and of course food. We had famezzelli (a noodle dessert), palurri (fried flour) with a spicy, mango sauce, and a chick pea dish. It was hella fun, but I definitely needed a nap afterwards. ;)
Btw, remember how I mentioned names for different ethnicities? There are also names for people of mixed ethnicities. For example, I'm considered a red woman, which happens to be the most desirable type of woman right now. Yeah...I'm hot. :)




Friday was Culture Day. We went to this camp that is often used by large groups for recreational purposes. We learned to play cricket, the national sport. It's hard to explain, but I would compare it to baseball. It was really fun. My team lost 43 to 48, but that's okay because I was the second best hitter on the team. Yeah for me and my athletic abilities! Then we had lunch. I had chow mien, fried chicken, a cassava ball (it's a boiled egg fried in cassava), palurri, chick peas, cook-up rice, and potato salad. For dessert we had red cake, which looks like a cinnamon roll with coconut dyed red in the crevices. And, we had a banana nut cake. Mmmm, Mmmm good. After lunch, we learned about dancing. Claudius kinda showed us how to move our hips, but the main focus was how to behave at a party. Girls shouldn't let guys grab them to dance. You should leave adequate space between your bodies, and you should be careful about letting guys buy you drinks. Also, he mentioned that everyone will get proposed to--girls and guys.. And, he said to be weary of falling in love too quickly. A lot of Guyanese view PCVs as a ticket to the U.S. The final activity of the day was swimming in the river. Now this isn't just any river. They call it black water. The vegetation secretes a substance that turns the water black. But really the water is a blood red. From afar it looks black, but when you're in it, your skin looks red. I've never seen anything like it.

First week

The first week of training is over. We learned about the different levels of healthcare. The first 3 are known as preventable healthcare and in levels 1 and 2 health education is stressed. Levels 4 and 5 are hospitals with specialized areas.

We also did a lot of Safety and Security sessions. Yesterday, we toured the "red zones," all the places we shouldn't go. We talked about ways to protect ourselves and our personal stuff like never flash a big wad of cash, keep your money in different pockets, don't let anyone grab at your stuff. The last one is particular useful in the bus parks. These men called "touts" try to fill up the buses in order to make more money. They are very aggressive in securing passengers to the length they will grab you and your stuff to lead you towards their bus. And the buses are out of control. They don't have a regular schedule and they drive super fast warning (with their persistent honking) pedestrians, bikers, and other drivers not to get in their way. Despite their speed, they're apparently pretty skilled; you don't hear about many accidents.

As far as the food goes, it's pretty good. They only thing is we often have heavy meals for breakfast. Twice we had these sausage things that are pretty much hot dogs. One time we had it with mustard, ketchup, and mayo. The other time it was sauteed with oil, onions, and such. I eat a lot of rice, but I'm used to that. Today, I had "cook-up" with beef, chicken, some other meat, caloulo (a green), carrots, coconut milk, and spices. It was yummy. Other notes about the food: the outside of oranges are green, I eat mangos and guava, the bananas are mini size, and we eat dahl purri (it's a kind of bread made with chick peas; something in between nan and roti).

Host family

I made it! I'm here in Guyana. Yesterday, was my first night with my host family. They're great!! I have a really good feeling about them especially compared to my Italian experience. I live with a married couple who have no children. They're in there early 30's. We are in a small village outside of Georgetown.
The host family

The house.

Today was the first day of training. We talked about the primary healthcare system in Guyana. It focuses on preventative care rather than curative care. We just had a general introduction and will go into more detail tomorrow. We talked about medical stuff as it relates to our health as PC trainees. Then a cultural facilitator talked about the creole culture. She taught us some phrases in Creolese. Here's one "yuh han sweet, man." Can you guess what that means?

My minutes are almost up. I'll update later.

Goodbye U.S.

Today is my last day in the U.S. We fly out at 1:40pm. These last couple have days have made me even more excited about going to Guyana. The group seems fantastic. Here's a little break down.

There are 20 of us--15 women and 5 men.
There are 2 Black Americans, 3 Asian Americans, and 15 White americans.
Most of us are between the ages of 22 and 26. There is a 30 yr old, 48 yr old, 50ish yr old, and 60ish yr old.
We have one married couple who are around my age.

Everyone is from all over the U.S. and there's one other girl's from Texas.

During our stay in Miami, I ate a lot of Cuban Cuisine, and all the places we went had the menu in Spanish and then translated in English. That reminds me, I'm excited about the Guyanese food. I'm very interested to see the African and East Indian influences ;)

Well, I have to get ready to check out of the hotel.

Guyana...here I come!

How far will I go?

Today, my journey as a Peace Corp volunteer will begin when my plane takes off at 6:47 AM. I'm going to live and work in Guyana, South America for the next 26 months. First, I'm flying to Miami, where there will be a 2-day orientation. On Friday, I'll fly off to Georgetown, Guyana. And, then, my whole world will be turned upside down.

I've had an array of feelings about leaving--disbelief, sadness, nervousness, and excitement. But no matter what I'm feeling, I know I'm ready.

This blog is my attempt to chronicle my experience as well as stay in touch with those I love. There are a lot of unknowns about where I'll be and the availability of communication, but in the end I think everything will turn out all right.

Wish me luck!