So…I’ve been at my site for about a month now. I feel I have settled in pretty nicely and my
host family and school has welcomed me with open arms. At home, things to do include sitting on the
veranda, reading, doing laundry, and watching CNN with my dad Robbie. Yes, I know all about Trump and the election
and I will say that even people here in Guyana are laughing at us. Robbie and I have nice little debates on
things that are going on at home and it usually ends up with him smacking his
gums and saying “Girl!”
School on the other hand is very different from back
home. The students are very sweet and
want to please everyone. They also want
to touch you, stand very close (no such thing as personal space here), and play
with your hair. There is a lot of
downtime during the day so I am trying to keep myself busy with various
projects. The teachers have been nice
and welcoming and there’s even another Miss Rebecca! I am trying to go by Miss Becca but for some
reason people have a hard time with that name; they either say Rebecca or
Becky. Not sure what that is all about
but I am working on it!
Lindsey, a GUY 26 volunteer, and I are overlapping our
service. She lives downstairs from me at
the moment. When she moves, I’ll move
into her apartment. We are also at the
school together as well and she has been an integral part of helping me learn
my way around and meeting people. I will
truly be sad when she leaves BUT, she won’t be going far. She got a job in Georgetown at the Guyana
International Academy.
Things that have happened in the past month include holding
a monkey, WINNING Beer Olympics, Guyana’s 50th Independence Jubilee and the celebrations
the week of at school, and Mash. It has
been a very busy month but enjoyable. I
think the next couple of months are pretty low key so there won’t be as much to
report, but we shall see!!!
Beer Olympics was held at Lindsey's and my house. It brought together all of the PCV groups from around the country that were able to attend. We were separated into groups in which we came up with our country and costumes. On the day, everyone gathered and we started with the passing of the torch. The games ensued with events such as Nut Sack (see video below), Beer Pong, Flip Cup, Quarters, and Blind Man Stumble. There was a costume contest as well! I would like to say that Team Mongolia is the undisputed winner of the 2016 Beer Olympics! We are looking forward to defending our title at the 2017 Beer Olympics.
Team Mongolia
Allycia, Aly, Cassie, Me, and Marcella
Me playing and winning!
During the week of Independence, there were many celebrations throughout the country leading up to the big day. The streets were (still are) decorated in Red, Green, Yellow, White, and Black with the Jaguar in the center. Our school (as well as all other schools I am assuming) had a week of celebrations as well which included a classroom decorating contest, poster contest, and culture day. For culture day we all dressed up as a different group who represents Guyana (there are 6; African, Amerindian, Indian, Chinese, Portuguese, and European).
Lindsey (African) and I (Indian)
African Group
Amerindian Group
Indian Group
May 26th was the 50th Anniversary Guyana's Independence from Britain. There was a huge celebration all over but the biggest one was in Georgetown. We got up very early to catch our bus at 4am. We traveled to Georgetown and stayed there all day gaffing, walking around to the vendors, gaffing and watching the parade. It was a very long and hot day and I am glad we went.
Happy 50th!
One of the teachers at my school had a Luau birthday party. This is the St. Therese's crew in our outfits!
Luau Birthday Party
