Going to a land between two rivers

Hooray! I did end up getting the site that I wanted and I will be leaving this coming Monday, although I think I will be posting this Monday. Regardless, I am happy, excited, anxious, etc. The last couple of weeks in training have been rather slow, so we’ve had a lot of down time. In the Peace Corps this means lots of reading, random movies (my host father loves Van Damne), and just sitting around talking about anything you can think up.

Although I don’t think I’m allowed to disclose the name of my organization, I believe I can say it is in Bartica. A nice hilly little town situation at the top of the Essequibo river delta that everybody I meet has something good to say about. It is known as a gateway into the interior, which means that it is a town that people come to coming out or going in to the interior. Consequently, Bartica is full of miners, loggers, and Brazilians (I’m not sure why Brazilians, but they have BBQ so they’re all right with me). Despite being an area of transition, I have been told that Barticans have a strong sense of community (it’s really only a 4 x 12 block grid). I have also been told or read that it hosts the Easter Regatta, a weekend of revelry, jolliness and high speed boat racing. Unfortunately I have just missed it.

As far as my living situation, again I can only speak of rumors (you never really know in the Peace Corps, things change very quickly, I wouldn’t be too surprised if I end up somewhere completely different because my house burned down or Bartica got ravaged by some natural disaster). For example, at first I was told that my house was completely furnished, including a bed, a mattress, a table and some chairs. Two days ago I found out that I have nothing in my house, so I will be sleeping in a hammock until I can find somewhere to buy a mattress. I am going to attempt to make my own bed frame. For now though, I know that I will be living with someone else, a male of 25 coming from the southern region of California. I also know that I will be living in a second story home that has an open first floor, which is nice to take in the breeze during the days. It has a balcony too! (some dreams do come true in the corps) However, the biggest rumor and most anticipated is that I might have wireless internet coming from a ******* near my house. Peace Corps Light.

As I said last post I am going to be working for a youth development organization that was set up by a previous volunteer. I have been told that they have a few computers with internet, various board games, and most exciting of all a ping pong table. So I figure that a lot of my time will be spent playing ping pong, board games or football (soccer to you Americans) with kids. Not a bad job to say the least, yet we will see.

Otherwise, family life is good. The kids were gone for a few days but they have returned and so has the noise. I still eat ungodly amounts of starch and curry. One of the dogs on my family compound just had (or dropped) a family of five with three survivors, they are incredibly small and blind for three weeks. I might take one when I come back for a five day wedding sometime in August. We’ve had a few “going away parties”, one really nice one a couple days ago that attracted quite a crowd. Without divulging to much information I will say that I have been having fun, and consequently my wallet grows thin.

I will leave you with a list.

What makes Tyler happy:

The price of Rum (world class for US$5, less than world class for US$2.50)

The amount of motorcycles

It’s the rainy season (a little bit cooler)

My site placement

Being able to cook my own food in two days

Not having class everyday

My soon to be porch

My mustache

Being in the Peace Corps

What makes Tyler unhappy:

The price of beer (won’t be found for under a US$1)

The fact that if I ride a motorcycle and PC finds out I will be sent home immediately

It’s still unbelievably hot

Packing, again

Leaving my host mom’s always amazing curry

Going to work everyday

Leaving the porch I have now, and the possibility of having no porch in the future

What girls think of mustaches

The Peace Corps

I should know soon.

Peace Corps has been keeping me busy, this four day Easter weekend was a welcome break. Prior to this I had 11 days straight of Peace Corps, most of the trainees here were on edge and ready for a little down time. Everything still remains the same, I am still in training although I only have two weeks left and both are short weeks. Although you can never really know down here, I should be hearing where my post is this coming Friday. Unlike my prior blogs, and I guess this is a excellent example of my indecisiveness, I opted to take a more urban post. If I get my first choice, I will be working at an “NGO” (I’m not entirely sure what the exact status is) working with children. It was actually set up by a prior volunteer and is just a general youth development organization. I pretty much told Peace Corps in my interviews that I wanted to play with children and would rather not end up in a health clinic or hospital (where most of the health posts are). Still, this is all guesswork, I won’t know for sure until this coming Friday, but from the people I’ve talked to it sounds like I’ll get the post. Bartica is one of the larger cities (I think it’s the third or the fourth), however large down here is around 20,000. I’ll give more information once I know if I’m there.

Yesterday, a decent number of the trainees went to a nice little lake in the area. The highlight of my day however, was not the lake but rather when the local chinee man showed up and brought chow fun. I had told him a few weeks ago at the restaurant that I wanted some and he said he’d brought it for me. There’s a lot of chinee restaurants down here, actually they are probably the most popular type of restaurant down here. The only downside is that they only sell fried rice and chow mein. I still have yet to try the “fried wantons”, which I assume are some sort of dumpling. Continuing with food, I learned how to make a curry today, it’s really not that hard but involves a lot of spices. My host father was on a delivery, so with the Muslim away we ate pork. They pressure cook almost everything down here so the meat is usually very tender (it is also usually bone ridden, fatty, in small quantities and extremely fresh, I actually plucked a chicken a couple weeks ago). I also am going to a jandi (sp?) tomorrow, which is a Hindu celebration of some sort, but we get seven curry quintessence of dining down here. I’m starting to notice that my food paragraph is getting long, I guess some things don’t change.

I brought back the mustache, it’s a Peace Corps Guyana Male Health Volunteer tradition, and I’ve learned throughout life the peer pressure is not worth fighting. My host aunt said I looked like a real American. She also continues to introduce (or drag) young giggling women to me at a rate of about 2 or 3 a week.

Other PC news, we had our first trainee go home and our first trainee end up in the hospital. The girl who left had some tough living situations. The girl who got sick spent a week in the capital with dengue fever, fun fun. I have yet to contract anything serious, but my allergies have kicked in and cause mild discomfort.

I’m starting to understand most of what’s being said to me, but there are still some people that I don’t have a first clue of what they are saying. Some examples, “meh nah know” (I don’t know) or “dem breeze be high today, bai” (it is very windy today man). Or if you want to emphasize something you don’t say very, but just repeat the adjective “dem bai is bad bad bad” (that boy is very bad). I find myself unconsciously speaking it sometimes.

And although I won’t post this today, I should say happy birthday Tim, I would call if I could.

Training is almost done, that's good news

Training is a little arduous, and I am very happy to say that I am half way done. The remaining four weeks will go a little faster, and probably the biggest news of all we get our "site packets" (information about the different sites that we may go to around the country) this coming Friday. As for history, I just finished my Volunteer site visit with a girl right outside the capital. And although I wanted to go Bush for my visit it was nice to be near the capital with all her conveniences. To name a few, iced coffee, cheeseburger, pizza hut, and some delicious fried shrimp (or prawns, as they call normal sized shrimp here), and apart from food some other errands that I needed to get done.

Other news, I've heard (rumors are the thing to talk about here, both in the PC and amongst the Guyanese) that there will be a few sites in the Capital. This makes my site decision making a little more tricky. If I could get a spot in Town that would be ideal, however I think these will be much sought after and other people will probably fight harder. We will see. Otherwise if I'm not in town I think I would rather go more remote, bush. 

Last week I had to do a talk at a health clinic to about 20 pregnant woman. I was the only man in the room and the topic was breast feeding. I tried to keep it humorous, always making fun of the fact that I was talking about something that I have and will never be able experience first hand. Most jokes went over well. However, when I tried to explain the convenience of breast feeding, and how it is easy to lose bottles and forget to bring them, I made the joke that it is pretty "difficult to lose your breast". Nobody laughed, except my supervisor in the back. Can't win them all.

Another humorous bit, my host family is constantly trying to set me up with any woman in sight. The other day I came down the stairs around 6AM and there was a young Indian girl there who was introduced to me as "Cheese". My host father quickly pointed out that I could be called bread and that bread goes on top of cheese. An awkward morning to say the least.

The PC held some award ceremony for a children's art competition, and I went with my volunteer. I got to meet the American Ambassador and the Guyanese Ministry of Health. It was a reminder of how small the country is, it is really hard to fathom a country the size of the county I grew up in. Everything is a little more accessible. Also, the ceremony had a delicious spread of fried goodness.

As for the future I have four weeks left in training, I head back to my training site tomorrow, after a "bush cook" (essentially anytime you cook over an over fire, think picnic). We will continue training, be picking our sites soon, and then move into them within a month's time. 

Chiney Boy!

Although these two posts are being posted on the same day, I wrote them at very different times. The first I wrote on the third of the month and this one just yesterday. Internet is hard to come by, there are only two real options, one that the Peace Corps set up and then another that is relatively expensive. Regardless, nothing much has changed, I am still in the same routine of class, coming home early and going to sleep early. I am starting to learn the area a bit more, but travel is expensive, so I spend most of my days around where I live. Classes are still long, and there seems to be a growing resentment amongst the trainees for the long days. I still eat ungodly portions of carbs, but I am running now to balance it out and also to jumpstart my digestive system that direly wants some fiber.

As for the future, I have pretty much decided I want to be in the bush. It will have it challenges and its drawbacks, but I don't think I could justify living around the coast for two years. Life would be easier, but it wouldn't provide the newness that I hope will keep me going for the next two years. As I've mentioned before one of the main reasons I joined was to learn another language. And although right now the local dialect, Creolese, sounds like anotherlanguage it is merely a Carribean form of English. Next week we will be staying with current volunteers at sites around the country. I am hoping they send me bush so I can see what I probably will be getting myself into.

On a lighter note, I have finally been identified as "chiney", the cover all word for anything remotely oriental here. Other terms that are used for orientals, are "Jackie Chen" and "Bruce Lee". I have yet to be called either, but there is a korean girl here that has gotten both. I have to say that I am a little jealous.

I don't want to write too much, but that's most of what I have been experiencing. I am well, and enjoying my stay here thus far.

A Couple of Weeks Late

This was written on the third of the month. Sorry for the delay. Enjoy. And I didn't make it private yet, so I'm hoping this is OK.

Usually by now two weeks means a couple of countries past, a handful of stories and something to say about the culture. However, being with the Peace Corps, makes everything run a little slower than this. Training is not fun, actually it reminds me a lot of grade school. We go to class from 8:30 to 4:30 (they have no problem making us stay late either) and then have to be home by dark. In addition to the rule of being home by dark, taxis stop around 6:00 here, so it is impossible to go anywhere after 6:00. Thus, I have gotten into a schedule of catching a couple beers after school at the local "Snackette" with some of my classmates all the while worrying about catching a taxi around 6:00. I eat, talk with my family and Megan (a trainee who lives with my host aunt) and usually retire to my room around 9:00 only to wake up at 5:30 or so and do it again. Even more, I bring bag lunches to school and have very curious parents (comparatively speaking though mine are pretty easygoing). It is very different from my usual travel experiences.

Besides the long weeks in class, and they are very painful classes, there are a lot of advantages to my situation. First, I am living with a very Indo-Guyanese family. It's kind of like a family compound, altogether there are eleven family members in four different houses spanning three generations. Most of the day the women (Patsi my host mother, Pam her sister, Samantha Patsi's daughter in law, and one more daughter in law) do domestic chores and hang around the "first floor" (it's not walled in, my house is lifted) talking and taking care of the kids, there are four (Nyron 1, Tyrone 5, Crystal 8, Javid 12). The men (Farouk my host father, Kem his son, Imran his other son) are gone most of the day driving trucks to and from the capital and elsewhere. The duties of the family are very much divided along gender lines.
The diet here is mainly rice or roti (an Indian flatbread) with some sort of meat (usually chicken or fish). Although the food is not too varied (gotta love curry) and lacking in vegetables, it is almost always very good. I've been told that my mother is one of the better cooks. They also have a table that always has some sort of fresh fruits on it, I've already eaten about a half dozen new kinds.

I am about a five hour journey from the capital, Georgetown (Bus, boat, Bus) in an area known as the Essequibo Coast. Becuase of "safety concerns" I am not allowed to be more specific. It is dotted with small towns every couple of miles that usually have a gas station with a small convenience store and a weekly market in some towns for produce. In between the towns are medium sized rice fields, which are the main source of income here on the coast. Only about a mile off the coast the jungle starts and never really ends. 90% of the population lives on the coast. Think rice fields and palm trees. It is a very relaxing area, people are super friendly and welcoming. Although there is a very gossipy culture here, you really have to be careful what you say and where you go. Women aren't allowed in bars (or Rum Shops as their known here) unless they want to be known as a prostitute. Most locals say they prefer it to the crime ridden Georgetown. A coastal vibe without the beach (they are more landfills, than areas to relax). Personally though, the thing about Guyana that I like most is the complete absence of tourism and really American culture in general. There are a lot of connections to America (family and business), but I can go through a whole day feeling like I truly am somewhere else. Most people here think that New York makes up the majority of America.

As for the Peace Corps, the big rumor going around is that most of us are being sent into the bush. I'd say more than half of us though do not want to be sent in. And I'd also say that more than half of us wouldn't make it in the bush. I am still deciding, although I am leaning towards going. Depending on how deep they send me, this could mean no electricity, water, phone or internet, and no way out for months at a time. That would be super bush. Most sites do have at least one or two of those amenities. Compared to the others here I have a lot fewer connections back to the States, so I think I would fair better in a isolated spot. Actually the assignment I really want is with the Red Cross doing water sanitation, because they are constantly going from village to village in the bush. We will see.

So for now, all is well, I take two showers a day. Our group of 33 (known as Guy 21) is getting along fairly well, and we have 7 more weeks of traning.

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.

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.