X-mas in Bartica

December 25, 2006 was my first Christmas away from my family:( In preparation for this time of homesickness and loneliness most (11 out of 14) of the PCVs of Guy 17 decided to spend Christmas in Bartica together.

We traveled on Christmas Eve in a 10 passenger speed boat for an hour in the cold rain. When we arrived we had to walk a mile and a half to the place with our heavy load. In addition to my bag I was carrying watermelons and pines—the two heaviest fruits ever!

But the tiredness and back ache was worth it because the Baidarabo guesthouse was absolutely amazing. It was 3 stories high right on the black water with a swimming pool. It had gigantic windows, huge beds, and the best of all a fully stocked kitchen. Now when I say fully stocked I mean they had an oven, a microwave, a full size refrigerator, can-openers, a French press, and pots and pans galore. You might be thinking “What’s the big deal? Don’t most kitchens have those things?” Well, maybe in America, but in Guyana it’s not common to find all those things in one central location. Man, oh man, this place was fantastic!

As soon as we got there we picked out our rooms. I stayed with Liz and Malane in a king size bed. (Btw, the bathrooms had running hot water which is extra special for me because at my house in Parika I have no running water not to mention hot water). Then we started cooking. For Christmas Eve dinner we had turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, sweet mashed potatoes, bora (a local vegetable), pineapple and carrot salad, green salad, dinner rolls, and stuffing. For dessert we had cheese cake and pumpkin crispy crumble. We planned for a secret Santa gift exchange and opened our presents that night. Because I recently got a cell phone my secret Santa gave me a $2000 C-point gift card. (Don’t be too wowed. 2000 Guyanese dollars equates to 10 U.S. dollars).

The next morning we had eggs, bacon, pineapple, and pumpkin and banana bread. The majority of us spent all day lounging out by the pool while a few others went for a hike. We also played Trivial Pursuit in teams of 2, and my team won. HA! For lunch we had leftovers (there was soooo much food). For dinner we barbecued. We had hamburgers, veggie burgers, Calabrese sausage, and grilled veggies. We stayed up late drinking and gaffing.

The final morning we made waffles and eggs, and had watermelon. After a bit of lounging we sadly had to pack up and leave.

Although I was sad to be away from family, I had a fabulous time with my fellow Peace Corps Volunteers.

Please note that every single thing we made that weekend was made from scratch; therefore, everything tasted that much better.