Tuesday, February 24, 2009

It really is hot

The equator is a line that means the closer you get the hotter it gets. The jungle is a place that makes everything wet and humid. The equator and jungle together equal sweat. It's hot here, sweat is just another part of life. However, after a unusually cold winter up in Jersey it's kind of nice at the moment.

Right now we are staying in a hotel in Georgetown and soon will move to our homestays, where we will be for the next two months. After that we get our posts, where we will be for the next two years. The days have been long, we are in meetings pretty much all day, where they tell us how to be safe, culturally sensitive and of course adhere to the increasingly long list of rules that the peace corps lays out.

Although I can not say too much now, (I have to read up on what I can and can not say publicly) there have been some rumors that are not too pleasant. When I find out the exact rules on what I can say, I will let you guys know. Regardless, know that I am well and increasingly excited and anxious.

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Down to the Wire

I would like to think that this will be my last post before I leave, reiterating how anxiety has set in, how simple packing decisions become hour long mental debates only adding to my anxiety. All of it is unnecessary, I really don't know what my living situation will be like, or various other things that only being in Guyana will tell. Yet, I can't help but try and guess.

And again, now more so than before, is the stress of the present. With only one week left I have come down to my Lasts. Sometimes I feel like a convect on death row, doing all the things that I'll be deprived of in the next two years, which for me is close enough to death, perhaps that's a little too morbid, but two years is a long time. Seeing people, getting my last staples of Jersey dining (pizza, bagels, etc.), and trying to do as many things first world as possible. It's a lot to think about. Sometimes this stress turns to apathy, why put so much value on something that is going to be nonexistent in my next two years.

On more positive note, excitement is starting to become something more realistic. I watched a BBC documentary that claimed Guyana has "the largest unspoiled Rain Forest left on the planet", which is quite a statement. If you would like to see it the two episodes are on youtube, search "Guyana lost land of the jaguar". So, one week left until I am in the jungle with 25 ft anacondas, the largest spiders in the world, and more mosquitos than I would care to think about.

If I haven't seen you and said some sort of goodbye, please try and contact me, I would love to say goodbye.