dirty feet and measuring tape

I'm writing this post from my modest bedroom, veiled by a partially functioning mosquito net, clad in my favorite pj pants (which I've had since I was 16) and my boyfriend's t-shirt, and listening to one of my favorite albums, Bon Iver's "For Emma, Forever Ago." This is the closest I'm going to get to home right now. I've been neglecting my blog for these past few weeks not because I haven't had anything to say, but because I didn't really know how to start recounting all of the experiences I've already had here in Guyana. The first three weeks here have flown by, making me realize that I should start writing now before I forget some of these experiences. So here goes.


In order to more effectively prepare us for the experience we will have in Guyana, Peace Corps divided our training group into two camps- urban/coastal and remote. I was sent to the remote training site along with 11 other trainees. Throughout the weeks, our remote training group has diminshed to only 7 trainees. The rest of the 20-30 something (I've already lost count!) trainees are in a city along the coast. I'm quite content to be here- It's a small Amerindian community with a population of approximately 1,500 people, located in Region 4 of Guyana. I have a fantastic host family! I live with my host mom, Anita, my host dad, Linden, my host brother, Kimmon (16), and host nephew, Robern (7). Unlike the other shy and reserved women in the village, Anita is confident, out-spoken, and full of life and positive energy. Linden is a miner and travels into the hinterland regions for work, so I haven't seen much of him, but I do know that he's an excellent conversationalist, is very attentive, and is quite the pastry chef. Kimmon received his teaching certification and now teaches at the local secondary school. He's a super smart kid, very mature for his age, and constantly listens to music on his mp3 player. Robern is a pretty cool little kid. I never knew that a 7 year old could be so self-sufficient! Lately I've been reading with him during the day or after dinner- he does great in math but seems to have fallen through the cracks in reading. I've made getting him up to speed my own little project while I'm here in the community.

I spend most of my "free" time helping Anita in the kitchen or doing daily chores, but there's always a few minutes each day to spend lounging in the hammock with a good book. Time moves slowly here but there's always so much to do! Simple chores like bathing, washing clothes, preparing meals, and tidying up take a huge chunk out of the day. On a typical day, I wake by 6:00 a.m., practice yoga outside for about half an hour, take a bucket bath, dress, and eat breakfast (usually fried plantains or a boiled egg with fresh orange juice) before heading to training sessions at 8:00 a.m. At the end of the day, I get home just in time to help Anita with dinner. I can now make four types of Guyanese bread: roti, dry bake, oil bake, and fry bake (roti is my favorite). My favorite Guyanese dishes are the curries- I can make a mean potato and eggplant curry, and pumpkin curry with roti is one of the best meals that I've ever had. Oh, and the chickpeas (which the Guyanese call channa) are delicious anytime of the day- I particularly enjoy them for Sunday brunch :) There's also no shortage of fresh fruits here- pineapples, mangoes, paw-paw (papaya), bananas, oranges, coconuts, and passion fruit are a few of the things you can literally find just lying around. We have orange and coconut trees in our own backyard. In case anyone was wondering, grating coconut is not for the faint of heart- it's quite the workout!



Our training sessions have been going well. Today I gave my first health talk at the local health post and was very pleased with how things went. The talk was on family planning (my favorite health topic) and the birth control methods available to the community. We had an audience of about 15 secondary school students and a few young adults. I never thought that after only 3 weeks in country I'd be standing in front of a group of Amerindian teenagers talking about pregancy prevention and how to effectively use condoms, considering that Amerindian communities are known to be extremely conservative and that the schools have no existing sex education curriculum, so I'm ecstatic that the topic went over so well! The community health workers have requested that our health trainees present further talks on the topics of HIV/AIDS, other STIs, and drug and alcohol abuse. I finally feel like I'm actually doing something here, which is a wonderful (and much needed) feeling.

As I was walking home this afternoon, I was approached by a woman in the community who had heard through the grapevine (which is quite extensive around these parts) that I needed a pair of slippers to wear around the house. I had never met her before, but she came running out of the house when she saw me passing by, measuring tape in hand, and quickly introduced herself before she proceeded to lean down and measure my dirty feet. She asked me if I prefered any particular pattern and if I needed them by any specific time, to which I answered no to both questions. She replied that she already had the fabric picked out for me and that I would have the slippers by tomorrow. This must be how celebrities feel during the award's season. I continued to walk home with a grin on my face and an added hop in my step when I heard a little voice call out my name in a half-giggle, half-shrill of excitement. I looked up to see the bright, pretty face of a little 4 year old girl who lives down the street. I smiled, waved back, and walked away with a warmed heart, tears in my eyes, and an even bigger smile on my face. Today was some kind of small accomplishment. Here's hoping for many more.