I published a lot of new posts…. All written at different times of course. I was unable to upload pics, but they will come soon! A random note to friends and family: if you attempt to call anD I don’t answer, try again… my phone is a little messed up and by the time I answer it you hang up and I can’t tell who called! Sad day! Try again! Love you all!

Site Assignment!!!

I am very excited about my placement! I became a bit worried because during my interview the program managers made it sound as if they wanted to send me to a placement that nobody seemed to want. I told them that I am very adaptable and would make the best of wherever they sent me…but it worked out that I got one of my top two choices because I had stated that I wanted to be able to utilize my skills!!! Yippee!!! I can’t say exactly where I will be living or working, but I can tell you a little about them. I can no longer be called “Jungle Jenny” because I do not have a remote placement in the interior. I will be living in one of the 6 towns in the country. Therefore, I will have easier access to amenities such as food, electricity and even internet! Even though it is still a third world country, I will not be “roughing it” like you may imagine a traditional Peace Corps volunteer to be doing. I saw a picture of my house and it looks fabulous! As for my job, I was hoping to be placed somewhere that I will be pretty busy and this seems to be the perfect fit! My primary assignment actually has two assignments built into one site. I will be working fulltime at a school with nursery through secondary students. I will also be working at nonprofit NGO (nongovernmental organization) working to train and teach literacy to community members and with youth on issues including domestic violence, drug and alcohol abuse and AID/HIV awareness. There is a large focus on incorporating the arts into the youth program, which should be a lot of fun! I was also told that there is a special education school in the area that needs assistance; because that is my passion I am really hoping to be able to spend a lot of time collaborating there as well! Looks like I might not have as much down time as I thought. I can’t wait to get started!

We have our swearing in ceremony this coming Thursday and I will no longer be a PCT! I will officially be a Peace Corps Volunteer! FINALLY! Then, it is off to my site bright and early Friday morning. I will try to keep everyone updated on how the move goes. Wish me luck!

Site Selection

So this week we had our site selection. In normal Peace Corps fashion, we did not get to see the possibilities until the day after they told us we would, oh well. We actually had a very good system worked out and nobody killed anyone over a chance to read a packet. The way PC Guyana has it worked out is that they put together packets of information on each possible site for the trainees to work for the next two years. There is information on our projects, counterparts, housing, village/town, amenities, etc. We get to read over all 32 packets, after which we have to write an essay on our top 5 choices and why and our bottom 3 choices and why. This is very nice as most trainees in other countries do not get a say in where they are placed. Next, we get to meet with the PM’s (program managers) for a final interview and then next week they will reveal our final destination. I hope that I did not make a mistake. I only wrote my essay for my top two choices…kinda seems like I put all my eggs in one basket, but I didn’t. The problem was that there were so many cool places that I couldn’t pick why one was better than another. I love the jobs and project possibilities of my top 2 choices, other than that I stated my abilities, placement likes and dislikes, and said to put me wherever I will be best used. I came into this with an open mind and I really think it is important to keep that! So wherever I am meant to be placed is where I will be and I will make the best of it!

Lake Capoey

Our group of education trainees took a tour (field trip) to Capoey Mission Amerindian village. We broke into groups and had a teenage guide take us around the village and tell us all about it. It was beautiful! We had an opportunity to see a woman making cassava bread, a staple food item of the Amerindians. It is quite a process to make! The cassava is a root vegetable that grows beneath the cassava tree. It is dug up and part of the tree is replanted and can be re-harvested in a year. The cassava is grated down and put into a long tube (I forget the name but it kind of looks like a huge Chinese finger trap- right?) and the liquid is squeezed out. The liquid is poisonous at this stage, it must be boiled down to a thick sauce called casareep. Casareep is used to flavor foods and as a preserving agent, most commonly used in a favorite dish called “pepper pot.” After the liquid has been removed from the cassava, it is dried and placed on an outdoor stove made of mud to make the bread. The bread is then thrown on rooftops to dry in the sun. Cassava bread is the most delicious cardboard I have ever eaten!!!

*** I have awesome pics of this but it is taking too long to upload so I will have to attempt again later... sorry***

Training

So training is very interesting….some fun….some not so fun…. But it is what it is and we are almost done!!! I feel like it had been forever, but at the same time the time just flew by. I loath the longs days of sitting in training listening to unorganized lectures, doing 5 million skits because that is supposedly more interesting than the lectures!?! And tons of group work that none of the trainers even listen to when we present…I LOVE TRAINING! So other than that fun…what is training really like? Honestly, it reminds me of the days when I was pledging my sorority. No, there is no hazing involved! Basically they give you tons of group projects to make you go crazy, then keep you in class so late that you don’t have time to work on it and you have to be in your home-stay by dark (6pm). Oh by the way, transportation stops at 6pm too. They also like to play the game “we will only tell you a day or two before you have to present the information” or “ by the way, you also have three more very meaningful assignments to do tonight that are due tomorrow morning.” Also, a lot of the projects include working with community members. This would be a good thing if we were staying here and could start something sustainable or meet with the groups again, but we are leaving soon. Therefore, they just have to be kind and let us use them to get our projects done for class. Peace Corps also loves acronyms- all PCT’s learn to adore KEEPRA and PACA. I do believe that some of the trainees really are getting a lot out of training in all honesty, especially the people who are not used to teaching or speaking to groups of people. Essentially that is what all PCV’s will be doing. I have to say I really like our Education Trainer! He is very experienced, does experiential learning activities, and provides us with a great deal of resources. I know that I complain, but overall it is a good experience I suppose. I think it is funny though, at first I was assuming that the reason they gave us so much to do was an attempt to stress us out and teach time management skills. The reality of it is that after training a big issue with volunteers is the lack of activity and how to manage a massive amount of down time. Everyone from home kept saying that I would be less stressed when I got here and it would be a nice relaxing change from the crazy classroom I had in the states. As it is definitely not stressful in the same sense here, there are different stresses. A CRAZY Peace Corps statistic that they keep reminding us is that the stress and adjustment that a PCV goes through is equal to that of going through a divorce or losing a family member….crazy right?

This week was the observation of two religious holidays in Guyana, Youman Nabi (Muslim) and Phagwah (Hindu). I celebrated Phagwah with another volunteer’s host family. Phagwah is a Hindu celebration of rebirth and spring where water is thrown on people and then they are covered in various colored powder. “Playing Phagwah” as they say is great fun, but quite a mess too! I scrubbed in the shower over and over and I am still stained orange, kinda like a fake tan! Early in the morning I went for a run and a family and group of young boys having parade, yelling and banging pots and pans, got me! They dumped buckets of water over my head before I could successfully save my ipod (don’t worry, it dried out). Then hey rubbed pink and red powder all over my face and kissed me saying “Happy Phagwah!” Then I had to run through the next village and home all phagwahed! My family laughed at me when I returned home!


On Tuesday a large group of Volunteers, families, and Peace Corps staff went to Lake Mainstay to swim in the black water. The water is actually very clean and the color of Coca-cola. The vegetation releases tannins into the water making it a dark reddish-black color and very good for you skin. It was very cool. My host mom came along with a few other moms from my village. They packed great food for us and we had a picnic. We had chicken curry with dhol pori (which is like roti- an amazing Indian flat bread but made with split peas too), channa (chickpeas cooked with onion, garlic and spices), Guyanese baked mac and cheese, chowmein (similar to Chinese), and bora (Guyanese string beans- like ours but skinny and really long!). My mom taught us how to play some games. We had a human tug-o-war (no rope) match and the girls beat the guys! HA-HA! We also played bog and bone, which is similar to steal the bacon. It was a nice day away from training that’s for sure!!!

Just Now

The Guyanese have a phase they use...."just now." That is used when they say that they are going to do something. For example, "Jenny, when will you update your blog?" "Oh! Just now." Just now can mean 5 minutes, 5 days, or 5years. So, now my answer to people's questions back home about when something will occur here will be... "Just now!" I can't beleive that I have only been with my host family for a week now, It seems like forever. They are so nice! It is just me and my mom and dad, no children. However, my mom and I can sit and gaff (chat) all evening long. This is great because there isn't anything else to do right now. My living conditions are very nice. I have a nice room and my family provided me with a TV, VCR, and DVD player. I haven't used them though becuase I do not want to get accustome to using them and not have them for two years in my site. I have electricity, running water and a pretty nice shower too. The bugs aren't too bad and I only have little lizards in the house, like in Florida. The food is good too. My host mother took me to her gym...yes...her gym! It is like a little barn with a group of woman only. They have some equipment and we do a mix of aerobics and yoga....it is a lot of FUN!!! It reminds me a of home! Who would have thought I would be going to the gym three times of week in a rural village in Guyana!?! We are told that our training is in the safest region in the country. This is a great feeling for now as we adjust, I just hope that Im in a good area for my 2 year site assignment. I started work at my training school on Monday and got to go back today. The students are wonderful and VERY well behaved... but I would be too if the fear of lashes was put into me! We observed on Monday and today two other volunteers and myself gave reading assessments. The results were pretty much what I expected, a few on target, most a bit behind, and a few drastically behind. However, you will find that in the US schools too. I get to teach next week and I will try to let you know all about it. I attempted to include a video of the school students signing their school song during the morning assembly that they have every Monday and Friday, but it wasn't uploading. Hopefully I will post it soon. I haven't seen anything too crazy, except for all the farm animals all over the roads. When I find something crazy... I will post it!:)