Saying goodbye to Samru Dam

I am officially a Peace Corps Volunteer as of today! We had our swearing in ceremony this morning and it is a great relief to be done with training. So as a transition I figured I would say my goodbyes to the place I've been living for the last two months.

 

Good bye dog (that has no name that I know of but I lovingly named ralph)

 

Good bye bridge that likes to go under water when it rains :)

 

Good bye Oriane's pink house

 

Good bye pink bridge that meant we were almost home!

 

Good bye very tempting sign for rat hunters (almost quit the Peace Corps for this)

 

Anyone else see what's wrong?

 

Good bye training center!!!!!!!!!!!

 

And finally, good bye our mascot Eloise! 

better late than never - MASH!!!

So mash was a few weeks ago but I'm finally getting around to adding some pictures :) enjoy!

 

White woman repping Jesus, ha ha

 

Where can I get these pants?!

Tons of winding (way of dancing)

 

Someone left their shoes...

Phagwah and site assignment

Yesterday was Phagwah and it was a blast! It is a celebration of good triumphing over evil. They celebrate it by attacking each other with colored powder. I think my pictures will explain it better:

                                                  Before....

After....

Happy Phagwah!

And my site assignment...drum role please..... Georgetown! I'll be in the capitol working in a special needs school. I'm very excited and I'll be visiting next week so I'll hopefully have more information then! 

 The girls of GT!

No matter where I be...

I am a Guyanese! I've had that song stuck in my head forever! It's so catchy!

Things I'm realizing I've taken advantage of my whole life: air conditioning/fan, microwave, clean water, reliable electricity, dish washer, washing machine, DRYER, having a basic knowledge of what is in my meals, internet, phone, cold weather, privacy, light after 8:00, quiet, things starting on time

Things I'm adapting to: heat, sipping, bugs everywhere, animals everywhere, random rain, being called 'Miss' by all my students, unfamiliar food, washing clothes by hand, extraordinarily loud music and tv, 'Guyana time'

Things I'm thoroughly enjoying: most of the new food (some not so much), the rain, new friends, teaching, new ideas, sharing knowledge, beautiful flowers, new experiences (such as Mash!)

Well that is all for now, hopefully I can add to this more (especially the last one) as I spend more time here :)

My adventure thus far

So I'm in Guyana! It's been pretty crazy. Training is...challenging. There are a lot of ups and downs. But I'm getting through it. I've been exposed to a lot of new foods, some which I really like, such as dry foods, sapadilla, soursap, and lots of rice dishes, and others that I'm not too fond of, such as salted fish. Sleeping in a mosquito net is something I'm also having to get used to, but it's worth it to not get eaten alive at night. I spray on bug spray at least twice a day and I'm still covered in bites. Guess that's what happens when you go to the land of many waters, ha ha. But don't worry, I'm taking my malaria pill. I was going to add some pictures but my stolen internet connection is far too slow for that!

Day 2

So I've finished staging! It was basically a general training on peace corps itself and safety and such. But very informative. We still haven't gotten much information on the country itself but I'm sure we will when we get there! I'm sitting in the airport right now waiting for the flight. Only 2 1/2 hours left, ha ha. I sure hope I can sleep on the plane. If not, tomorrow is going to be a very long day. I'm really enjoying this group of people so far. We are all a little different but we are all here for the same reasons. I've gotten along really well with everyone.

So far there are only two things I've regretted not bringing: a watch and a guitar. I'm sure I'll be able to get a watch there or get one sent to me. The guitar though, I think I'm SOL. Unless my family comes to visit and I can persuade them to bring it to me. We'll see I guess :)

Well I'm gonna skype Chris now, so long!

Day 1

So I've begun my Peace Corps journey! Mostly I've just been on planes but it's still been an adventure. Once in Philly, I met a lot of the other volunteers. We all went out to dinner and had a great time getting to know one another. I also got to skype my family and Chris. It was really good to see them. I know this is short, but I'm exhausted and need some sleep!