Sunday February 13th- February 14th: Staging.
I met three other trainees on the shuttle to the hotel. I was exhausted from the traveling that day, but so excited to meet everyone. We all registered and officially became Peace Corps property. J The next day we did some skits, learned a few things and packed our bags for the airport. The bus ride to JFK was long, but comfortable. We commented on how we would miss plush American transportation. Wow how SO right we were. (I will explain our current mode of transportation later.)
Once we got there we all trudged up the long uphill path to the Delta International counter. Most of us had two suitcases and a backpack or other bag. We must have been a sight: 37 Americans with 2 years of belongings in tow! Oh yeah, and it was cold… Aaahhhhhh cold, how I miss you already.
Security was surprisingly easy. We arrived at the airport around 9pm and our flight was not scheduled to leave until 1am. Cool, so we had plenty of time to hang out, grab a super expensive bite, hang out some more, and wait. Well our flight was delayed by about 40 minutes. By this time I was pretty sleepy. I thought this would work to my advantage- sleep on the plane right? HA, good one. Luckily fellow PCT Alicia switched seats with me so I could have the window. Our 6 hour flight was soooooooo long. It wasn’t until about 2 hours out that I realized they had current television shows available. I watched 30 Rock, and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. I filled out the insanely ambiguous immigration form after consulting with my buddies. Our first glimpse of Guyana was that of a beautiful sunrise than the lush greenery.
Tuesday February 15th- Thursday February 17th –Training Week 1.
When I stepped off of the aircraft onto the stairs, I felt the heat and humidity. It was 8am and already super hot. After standing in the immigration line, for what felt like forever, I finally located my luggage and was sent over to customs. This was the part I was dreading. I envisioned having to open my meticulously packed bags, show the contents to a customs official then try to shove everything back in with a huge line of people waiting behind me. Thankfully none of this happened. I rolled my bags up to the podium, the nice lady checked my passport and that was it! I was greeted outside by numerous current PCVs. I was then escorted across the parking lot to more PCVs with ice cold coconuts with straws. MMMMmmm nothing like fresh cold coconut water! I was given a tag for my bags which designated the training group I would be in. Urban! J I would have been happy with Remote too, but electricity and running water is oh SO nice.
I said goodbye to my bags yet again. PC took them to my host family’s house that day while we were whisked off to a hotel in Georgetown. The ride took a little less than an hour and thank goodness for Tony, a current PCV. He was so informative! Once at the hotel, we all had to meet for our first training session. Honestly I cannot remember anything from that day; we were all SO tired. I do remember being fed rice and chicken after being given a painful Yellow Fever shot. My first night in Guyana was surprisingly restful- I woke up early the next morning for yoga and was eager to start learning! We had so many sessions that first week and were on lockdown in the hotel. We did get out Tuesday to a ‘water park’ of sorts. We all took a swim test in black water- yummy yummy black water. NOT. The kayak portion of the test was fun. I raced Laura O. and nearly beat her…even though she had about a two minute head start. The rest of the week was filled with rice, chicken, fish, juice and training sessions.
Friday February 18th: Meet Host Family Day.
We were driven to our training site where at least one member of nearly each host family was waiting for us. I walked around the group and introduced myself to everyone. As I was nearing the end I kept thinking “Are you my mother?” (just like your book Kate). But when I got to the last one I was pretty disappointed- no one claimed me. Other trainees were claimed, but then most of us were not. So then the families were given different fruits (mostly strange Guyanese fruits which we had never hear of). I was given a slip of paper with “Star Apple” written on it. Hhhmmmm ok star apple- any hints please? I walked around until my host mom Sally smiled and I was told she was my host mom. She is so lovely! The first few minutes were a bit awkward, but then we caught a minibus together and I felt more comfortable. We got off at our stop and had to wait a long time to cross the busy street. WOW people drive fast here!
Sally walked me to our house and led me in. I met my Host dad and brother. They were so nice and welcoming. My room is so nice- I have a new mattress, a great mosquito net and a beautiful new wardrobe. I didn’t want to unpack anything that night because I was so tired. We watched a movie then I went to bed.
The next morning I was up at 5am. So, here in my neck of the woods in Guyana there are about 30 roosters roaming around. Some are enclosed in the neighbor’s yard, but a lot of them wander around the streets. Yeah, they start making noise at 4am! Every morning like clockwork- 4 am. Why they begin crowing before the sun comes up? I have NO idea. They actually do not stop until about 6pm. Want to sleep in? Too bad!
Saturday February 19th: Market day.
It rained for about 4 days straight. This is the hot season isn’t it? Climate change rears its ugly head even near the equator….So the market was muddy and gross. Sally led me through pretty quickly. I saw so many crazy things: meat being chopped up, cows everywhere, chocolate soy milk, odd fruits and veggies, kids being excellent salesmen and so many other things. We spent two hours there which was apparently a short trip.
I found out that a fellow trainee Carissa lives in my neighborhood. She came over for lunch then I went to her house for a bit. Her family includes a bunch of cute little kids and 7 puppies.
Sunday February 20th – Saturday February 26th: Training Week 2
Language- I haven’t mentioned it. Oh my, Creolese is hard to describe. I will work on explaining that later when I can understand more of it.
Laundry- by hand. It wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be- maybe that is because my host mom Sally did a lot of it. As it was hanging to dry Carissa, my host brother Arif and I went for a walk to the sea wall. I didn’t realize how close we were to the ocean- maybe 100 yards. Awesome right? Well, it would be if there were sand and the water was blue. J As you can see there is a cement wall and because of the tides, no sand- oh yeah, and the water is brown. (The color is due to all of the plant matter which falls into the many rivers and streams which flow to the ocean.)
Bucket bath- YUP! I cannot believe how much water I used to use just to clean my body and hair. By using a bucket I only use about 2 gallons or less for the entire process. It is freezing cold water; I guess that also helps cut down the amount I use…
Food- So different. My host mom makes one big meal in the morning and that is what we eat for breakfast and lunch. They don’t really eat dinner, so it isn’t a big deal to only cook once a day. The breakfast food takes a bit of getting used to as it usually contains rice, roti, vegetables and some sort of meat or fish. We have curry a lot. Not the curry you may be thinking of- pretty much anything can be called curry, cook up or stew. There are also different names for common vegetables. More on that later.
Karate- Carissa and I take Karate classes on Tuesdays and Fridays. The kids are learning respect and getting a workout. What a shock it was to work out here. The heat intensifies every physical activity, so it felt like a Bikram class! Even at 8:00 at night, it is HOT.
School- I visited the school in my community during lunch on Thursday. I encountered great culture shock. I won’t go into it now, but I will say that the grade 2 kids (which I will be teaching during training) have a BLAST during their 1.5 hour lunch break.
Carissa’s birthday party was super fun!
I am looking forward to Training Week 3!
