Bartica!

Last weekend I went to visit my British friend in Bartica.  Here are a few brief observations.

Bartica is a prety laid back town.  It's about an hour up the Essequibo River, and its the last town before you really get into the jungle, so there's a lot of mining influence.  This also means there are a fair amount of Brazilians there.  I think the mining money and Brazilian influence makes it a pretty laid-back party place, moreso than other parts of Guyana.

Drank a lot of beer with some other white guy volunteers.  There are a couple of older British and Australian guys and a couple of Peace Corps volunteers as well.  Most of the Guyanese people I hang out with drink hard liquor because its cheaper, but it was nice to have a change of pace.  The place they normally drink at is called Ease the Stress, which is a pretty fantastic name.  At Ease the Stress I saw a couple small groups of women out at the bar, and even some mixed-gender groups.  This is something I haven't seen in Anna Regina very often, so I think it can be chalked up to Bartica's laid-back mentality.

Lots of beer.

Straightforward enough, I think.

The WorldTeach teachers live about 3 miles up the only road leaving Bartica, at Three Mile Secondary School (a functional name if I ever heard one).  Cabs are pretty expensive, but there's a semi-regular bus service.  Since there's pretty much only one road, sometimes you can get other people to stop and give you a ride, or pay bus fare for a cab.  So in the morning Luke and I are waiting for the bus to go into town, but a guy with a lady passenger stops and gives us a ride.  The lady turns around and stares at me for like a minute or too, and makes an excited noise when I took my sunglasses off.  Then she turns around and proceeds to reach her arm beside the seat and grab my leg.  She didn't say anything.  I sad "hey now!" or something, and that was that.  Then she did it again.  Longer.  I said "Excuse me miss, I don't even know your name!" which she thought was funny.  She repeated it to the driver and then said some other stuff to him that I couldn't really understand (I'm still kind of hit and miss with the Creolese).  Nothing else happened, and the guy let us out along the road at the Australian guys neighborhood.  And that was that.  I don't think I've ever been sexually harassed before.  We watched some Premier League football.  It was nice.

Three Mile Secondary School is about 2 years old.  The teacher quarters where the guys are staying have ceiling fans, 110V electricity and outlets.  Marek has an air-conditioned computer lab basically to himself.  Both apartments have refridgerators.  Basically, I hate them.

Bartica sits at the confluence of three rivers: The Essequibo, Mazaruni and the Cayuni.  I'm not sure about that last one, but I think it starts with a C.  Anyway, Luke took me on this jungle walk just off the main road about halfway between the school and town.  There was a raised wooden path through some swampy areas, I saw some sort of prehistoric palm tree thing, observed some butterflies, typical jungle stuff.  The path lead to a small sand beach along one of the rivers (Mazaruni maybe?).  There were a few kids wandering around, but we pretty much had the place to ourselves.  Apparently the beach is a Sunday thing.  Bartica also has a bigger beach in the town proper.  Anyway, the water was nice, we played frisbee with the kids and had a great time.

Note the kid in the tree.  They were doing flips off the branch into about 4 feet of water.

Bartica has hills!  That might not be surprising or noteworthy to anyone else, but I don't think there's anywhere that's more than about 3 feet above sea level anywhere on the Essequibo Coast or in Georgetown, so I hadn't seen a hill in about 5 months.  So I was excited.  Around Bartica is also pretty jungle-y, which I also thought was pretty fantastic.  Tropical coastal plain is cool and all, but I liked seeing all the trees.

Transport was a bit of an adventure as usual.  To get to Bartica from Anna Regina, I have to go to Parika, across the Essequibo River.  All the boats leave from that side of the river.  So I was running late on Friday, as usual.  The last boat supposedly leaves at 5.  I got off the boat in Parika at 5:15.  I think I caught the last boat up the river.  Unfortunatley I couldn't really enjoy the ride because I was jammed in the front of the boat and it was dark.  However, it was uneventful.  Leaving Bartica was another story.  I got to the stelling (boat dock) around 3pm.  Last boat leaves Parika for the Essequibo Coast at 5.  The boat ride is an hour long, so I had plenty of time.  But I just missed a full boat at 3, and had to wait for the next one to fill.  That took an hour, but I still had some time, plus a little last-boat wiggle room on my side in Parika.  What I didn't account for was engine trouble.  We got about 3 minutes down the river and one of the engines isn't running, and wont' crank. They eventually get it working, but anytime they shut off the engine it takes about 5 mins to get both engines up and running and get up to full speed.  Still ok on time.  Then we randomly have to meet up with some other boat (it has police on the side, but was full of regular looking people) to trade captains or something.  More engine issues.  Then, I think because of the issues, we were burning through fuel at an abnormal rate.  So we had to stop twice to get more gas.  A one hour boat trip instead took about 2 1/2 hours.  I did not make the boat home.  Fortunately, I have some friends (other WorldTeach teachers) who live on the Parika side of the coast, so I was able to stay with them.  I had to get up at 5 or so to catch the bus and boat and cab back to school.  I made it to school around 8:45, late, but not late enough to miss any classes.  It was a bit of a stressful end to an otherwise relaxing and wonderful weekend.  I think I'll be returning to Bartica at least once in the new year, its a really nice place.

November Newsletter

 November Newsletter

 So naturally things have been pretty hectic here in Anna Regina, so I'm sorry I haven't written a more timely update. Here are some of the recent goings-on.

School Life

Things have settled into more or less of a routine teaching wise. While there are the usual assemblies, events and other disruptions, I feel like I've been in a pretty good groove teaching wise. Next week is the last week of teaching, followed by a week of exams and then a week of grading, paperwork and Christmas parties. The kids will be at school even for the last week, though they won't be doing any work other than preparing for parties. I'm hoping to squeeze a little teaching in during that week if I can get all of my grading done, especially for my 11^th grade students preparing to take their exams at the end of next term.

I'm slowly staring to learn some students names, though I still have a long way to go. Some of my classes are starting to get a little loud and rowdy, and I'm not sure if its because I've been to lenient on them or because we're close to the end of the term. Probably a little bit of both. We had a parent-teacher conference day the other day and most of the kids who came in said they were happy with the way I was teaching and could understand me in class, which is encouraging.

Essequibo Night

The Essequibo coast had what was essentially a state fair type event in October, called Essequibo Night. The event actually was on both Friday and Saturday night down at the community cricket ground. There were booths from all over the region, including businesses, restaurants and government agencies. For a small town, the place was packed both nights. There was also a huge main stage with a live band both nights. The event was part of Guyana's Agriculture month, to help celebrate all the rice production that goes on in Region 2. Some of the other WorldTeach teachers came to visit. It was great to see them again, since we hadn't hung out since before school started. We had a great weekend sharing our experiences so far, culturally and in the classroom.

Graduation

At the end of October, ARMS had graduation for last year's 11^th grade students. Because the Caribbean-wide exams are so important and results don't come back until August, graduation is pushed back into the fall term. I think it is so late in the term because it gives everyone a chance to plan the event, since nothing really happens during the summer break. Leading up to graduation, I was placed on the stage setup committee and the snacks committee. The week before graduation we had work during the afternoon periods, setting up the stage, lighting etc. The event was held on the school grounds, in an open air covered area. The tin (actually zinc, and everyone calls it zinc rather than tin) was very dirty and dusty, so the school had a firetruck come and spray out the area. I've seen a firetruck in action before, but it was still pretty cool. The best part was that the man operating the hose had no regard for anyone who was in his way. No one received a riot-control blasting, but a few people (myself included) got a little wet. One nice thing about living on the school compound is that it's easy to go change your clothes!

For the snacks committee I had to help prepare snacks for all the graduation guests. We planned on about 1,000 people showing up. So some teachers and the dorms kids helped make cheese spread sandwiches and stuff them into bags with cupcakes all morning the day of graduation. It was a lot of hard work, but it was nice to have a lot of willing hands helping out. I also helped to serve the snacks and drinks to everyone as they were leaving the school after graduation.

Graduation itself was very nice. The stage was all dressed up with curtains, a nice sign and some decorated tables. There were all kinds of trophies and book prizes (gift-wrapped books) given out. Academic awards were also given out to students of all grades for the previous year. The ceremony lasted about 4 hours, and I was told that it was a relatively short one compared to previous years! Unfortunately I was so busy that I didn't really get a chance to hear any of the speeches, but it was a very nice ceremony nonetheless. After the event, all the teachers and special guests had a nice dinner in the dorm dining hall, served by this year's 11^th grade students. It was nice to socialize with the teachers a little bit.

Main stage at graduation.  The school's headmaster is speaking.

Halloween

Halloween isn't really celebrated in Guyana, but I ended up having an unexpected party anyway. I was heading back to the dorm after doing some schoolwork in the lab in the evening on the Sunday of Halloween, when the dorm mother stopped me in the stairwell and asked me come back down to her room after I got myself settled in. Normally Sunday nights are painfully boring because everything is closed and the students have mandatory study time. Well it turns out that the dorm mother's daughter was having her 17^th birthday and the dorm mothers decided to have a little party. It was a little strange because the daughter herself wasn't there until later in the evening (she was out at some sort of police horse show event at the community grounds for quite some time). So it was just myself, Keith, the dorm mothers and one of the security guards hanging out and having a few drinks in the dorm mother's room. Eventually some of the students came in, one brought a laptop so we had some music, and the rest of the kids crowded in the hallway by the door. Anyway, the party turned into a Halloween party when the kids started coming down the hallway (for the girls) or down from upstairs (for the boys) in costume. There were a lot of painted faces and hair whitened with baby powder, and a few more elaborate costumes (bedsheets, toilet-paper mummy, etc). Each time someone would make an appearance, all the kids in the hall would crowd around them screaming at the top of their lungs. It was quite a spectacle. This was one of my favorite times in Guyana so far, mostly because it was so unexpected and pleasant. It was really nice to interact with the dorm mothers and kids in a social setting as well.

Dorm mothers and residents on Halloween.

Thanksgiving

Naturally, Thanksgiving isn't really celebrated in Guyana either. Fortunately, Thursday is my lightest teaching day (I have classes for only 3 of the 7 periods), so I had the time to write this newsletter. Unfortunately, Keith and I are still living in the dorms with only a single electric burner to cook with, so I'm not preparing any sort of Thanksgiving feast (we've been told the place should be ready by next week though, so we'll see). My mother did send me some butternut squash from the family garden (arrived just yesterday!) so I think I'll cook some up and have a simple Thanksgiving anyway. I am so thankful for all the support my friends and family have given me so far this year, and also that I have the ability to keep in touch with them throughout the holiday season. With things being so hectic at the end of the year, I don't think I will have time to send a December newsletter, so I'll try to make up for it in the coming year. I hope this newsletter finds you well and that everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving and holiday season in general.

Alex

Guyanese Things: Money

In Guyana, the currency is in dollars.  Guyanese dollars, naturally.  The exchange rate is about $200 Guy = $1 US.  Things are generally cheaper here, but not dramatically so.  I'd say on average things are about half as expensive, though it is pretty variable.  I've gotten a decent feel for how much things cost in Guyanese dollars, so I don't have to convert everything back to USD, but I'm also getting pretty quick at doing that.

The most interesting/frustrating thing about the money here is the denomination of the bills.  There are $20, $100, $500 and $1,000 bills.  (There are also coins - $1, $2, $5, $10 but usually stores will properly round prices or wont even bother with change.  I've been given a $5 or $10 piece of candy instead of change on a few occasions.)  So the largest denomination is about $5 US.  This means when you're buying something expensive with cash, the physical stack of cash gets pretty large pretty quick.  A bicycle for example costs about $20,000 ($100 US), so if I do end up buying one, its going to be an interesting trip to the ATM.

So on top of the general weirdness of hearing that your dinner cost $2,000, teachers are paid in cash.  I'm receiving a stipend that is paid through the school of about $49,000 per month.  Due to paperwork delays (I'm told only missing one month is quite remarkable), this past month I received my stipend for both September and October, which totaled to about $98,000.  So I go into the office and one of the secretaries takes out massive stack of thousand dollar bills and counts out 98 of them.  I don't think I've ever seen that many bills in one place.  It was quite  a wad of cash, especially when you think that it is basically about $500 US.  So it would be like having $500 in $5 bills back home.

 Ballin so hard.

Things My Kids Say

I think I'm quite a curiosity to most of the students in my classes and around the school.  Naturally, I get asked a lot of questions.  Here are a few off the top of my head.  Some of these are paraphrased since it's been a while since the event in question occurred.

"Sir, there are going to be lots of nice teachers at school sports, you should chat them up."

"Sir, there are going to be lots of nice teachers at graduation, you should chat them up."

"Sir, we really want you to enjoy your time in Guyana.  So you should definitely find a wife.  We want to get invited to your wedding before the year is out." Noticing a trend here?  I have one class that's obsessed with my personal life, or lack thereof.

"Guyanese girls are nice.  The diet here gives them nice bodies."


"Sir, do you listen to metal?  [Prompted for examples:] Like Linkin Park or Breaking Benjamin."  I guess they're a little young for Megadeath or Metallica.

"Sir, what is a pap smear?" This must have been some sort of school assignment, since Keith said he was similarly asked.  I guess this is what to expect when you're a science teacher.

"Sir, are you having a bad hair day?"  Upon reflection, I think I was.

"Sir, what do you think of the [rum, beer, etc] in Guyana?"  I've been asked so many times that I've given up trying to dodge the question and tell them that I think its nice.

That's all I can think of off the top of my head, but I hope to revisit this topic in the future.

Guyana: Nerds Not Welcome

So, just because inter-house sports are over here at ARMS, that doesn't mean sports are over. Far from it. This week on Thursday and Friday, we have inter-school sports, where the top athletes from ARMS will compete against the best from other nearby schools. Following that at some point, the best of the inter-school competitions will advance to inter-branch (maybe the region level? not totally clear) and then on to national competitions. The take-home message is that students are missing class like crazy for what I think will be about the next month to practice, and the whole school gets out on Friday to watch.

Anyway, that's a long intro to give a short story about a brief speech the headmaster gave today to all the students. He basically said something like this (paraphrased)):

We have school sports on Thursday and Friday this week. On Friday, all the students will be able to attend. You can attend or otherwise you should stay home. I noticed the other day when we had school sports that some of you were just sitting around under the pavilion, not watching or participating. Some of the students at this school are nerds. All you care about is books. Here at this school we want well-rounded people, not nerds. So next time we have inter-house sports, I suggest that you just stay home.

Presented without further comment.

Fun With Food and Drink

So I've been here in Guyana for almost 2 months now, so naturally I've eaten and drank a few new and interesting things. On the balance, the food here is pretty normal. There's a lot of curry, beans and rice cooked with coconut milk (they call it cookup) and fried rice, but nothing I eat on a regular is all that out of the ordinary to me. I have had a few notable exceptions:

Food
Labba - This thing (sorry I couldn't find a better, bigger picture. I think its also called an agouti, if you want to do some independent research. It's a large rodent. I'd say it was sort of pork-like. Not bad, would eat again.

Iguana - Definitely tasted like chicken. Also had an egg, which tasted like, you know, an egg. Would eat again.

Goat parts - The people I was with wouldn't tell me what I was eating until after I tried it. Even after I tried it they were still vague. Anyway, I think it was various goat organ meats cooked in goat intestine. It was chewy and pretty heavily seasoned, so I don't have much opinion of it. Not bad, not great. Would probably try again.

Curried duck - I have had what is claimed to be the best curried duck in the southern Caribbean (an area that may or not actually exist, but I am using to refer to at least Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago). I'm not sure how popular duck is here or there, but it was pretty tasty. The curry was a little spicy, but in a good way for my wussy spice preferences. The duck was great. Would eat again.

Drink
Piwari - Amerindian drink, made from fermented cassava. Opaque brown color. Tasted like a combination of bark and campfire. Would prefer not to try again, but did finish my drink.

Fly - Another Amerindian drink. Made from fermented red potatoes. I guess the actual potato is red not just the skin, because the drink is magenta colored. Tasted like really vinegar-ey wine. Not the best think I've ever had, but I found it a nice contrast to all the sweet drinks I've had since I was here. Would drink again.

Capadulla - Some non-alcoholic drink made from tree bark (what tree? who knows? not me) that I got a juice stand the other day. It was most reminiscent of chocolate milk, mixed with a little bit of that tree/campfire taste, much like the piwari. The campfire taste was subdued, and since there's not really any milk around, the chocolate milk taste was appreciated. The woman at the juice stand told me it would make me big and strong as well, so I'll be looking forward to becoming popeye.

Anyway, I think that's about it for now, off the top of my head. I'll revisit as the year goes on. I think I can outdo large rodent or iguana for weirdest thing eaten this year.

September Newsletter #2

Things have been a little busy around here lately, but here's the latest newsletter update I've just sent out.

School Life

So I'm now into week 4 of the Christmas Term here at ARMS. I think I'm starting to get into a routine. Here are some things I find interesting about school.

Every day, the bell rings and the students line up at 8:45 outside the main academic building. They are not allowed to enter the building before class starts. Just outside the building there's a covered pavilion area, with a podium and two speakers. A microphone is hooked up and any announcements are made. Announcements can range from encouraging the students not to litter, informing them of assemblies later in the day, club meeting time reminders etc. The national pledge and school prayer are recited by all students. The students, who are lined up by their base (homeroom) classes, then proceed into the building in what is supposed to be an orderly fashion. It's certainly more organized than the chaos I remember following the bell in high school. The teachers are expected to inspect the students during the walk in and base class time to make sure their uniforms are appropriate. Every student has to have a monogrammed badge with the school logo on it. The boys often get in trouble for having belt buckles that are too big or leaving the second button of their shirt undone (top button undone is ok). Common offenses for girls involve improper styling of hair (braids or ponytails are expected for the most part) or too much jewelery. Once in base class, attendance is taken. All this is supposed to take place in 15 minutes, though it rarely does. When this happens, first period is just shorter. Irregular scheduling will be a recurring theme of “School Life.”

As far as class itself goes, the students stay in their base classes while the teachers rotate around. This has its advantages and downsides. One positive is that there is no hustle and bustle during class changes, as only 45 or so teachers are moving about instead of 1,000+ students. It also means that the kids in their classes get to know each other very well. For the most part, they spend the first 3 years in the same base class, then get split up into tracks where they spend 2 more years together. So I think it helps greatly as far as student bonding goes. On the other hand, it's not very useful to spend a lot of time putting a lot of instructional material up in your classroom, since for the most part you won't be teaching in there. Class changes are governed by an electric school bell out in the covered pavilion. Someone has to throw a switch to ring it, so sometimes the bell is late, sometimes early and sometimes it doesn't ring at all. The bell is also outside the school building so sometimes it can be hard to hear, adding to the intrigue. Students get a 30 minute break in the morning, and an hour break at lunch. After lunch the lineup and march into the school is repeated, giving way to afternoon classes.

Almost all the administrative work that classroom teachers go through to make a school work anywhere in the world (department meetings, club meetings, paperwork etc) happens during the day. So that means for clubs and meetings, you can meet during break or lunch, or just whenever you want during the day. Inevitably, when these meetings run over, teachers have to stick around and wrap up. While this is going on, the students in whatever class you're supposed to be in are just left unsupervised. The same thing happens when teachers who are organizing things like sports and have things they have to attend to, their students are left unsupervised. There are no substitute teachers in Guyana, so if a teacher is sick or takes leave, the students are left unsupervised. Sometimes the bell will ring for staff meetings in the middle of class. When this happens, all the teachers leave their students, you guessed it, unsupervised. If this sounds like a recipe for disaster, you'll be pleased to hear that for the most part, things stay pretty orderly. I haven't heard about any school fights, and only occasionally have I had to stick my head in a next door classroom because the noise was disturbing my class. I have in general been very impressed with the students discipline and behavior.

As far as coursework goes, I'm just beginning to start asking for some graded assignments in my classes. The official school policy is to have at least 3 graded assignments per term, one of which should be a test. This excludes final exams, which happen during the second-to-last week of school, so most students are given 4 assessments per term. I plan to do a lot more because that's what I'm used to and it helps me ensure my students are learning, but I think it will also mean that I have a lot of grading to do. The school has a photocopier, but it is currently not working and I have been warned not to hold my breath for its repair, so all assignments must be written on a chalkboard and copied down by students. The school has a library with some books and I believe all students have received textbooks for maths and english classes, but for other courses, books are scarce. From what I have heard from teachers at other schools, I am very fortunate to have a library of any sort! Book scarcity means that teachers have a certain responsibility to provide content in note form, so the students have something to study for their exams. This results in a lot of writing notes on the board to be copied down, which is not the most stimulating practice for teachers or students, but that is the reality facing these students. On top of that they have been doing this for a long time, so they're pretty good at taking notes from a chalkboard. The chalkboards, by the way, are all plywood painted black. Some of them are nicely finished and are a pleasure to write on, but some are very rough and just devour chalk. Also, they're magnets for graffiti. Sometimes I'm impressed with the students ability to read what I'm writing through the accumulated chalk dust and the gouges in the board, but I guess they have a lot of experience in that regard. In general, I've found the students to be pretty delightful. They generally behave themselves, are a little quiet but are willing to answer questions after some prodding and have a surprising love for learning and attending school. I'm not sure if its just a fuzzy memory or the reality, but I have been pleasantly surprised with the students versus my expectations based on my own time in high school. So despite all the things that certainly seemed chaotic during my first few days of school, I have settled into as much of a routine as I can manage, am thoroughly enjoying teaching and am now working on improving my teaching techniques.

Dorm Life, Part 2

Keith and I are still being put up in the dorms. There are about 115 kids staying in the dorms. The building is 3 stories. The boys (and the two foreign teachers) are up on the third floor. The girls and two dorm mothers (normally they are one to a floor) are on the second floor. The first floor holds the cafeteria and kitchen. The kids have free time after school until 5pm, when dinner is served. They use this time to do laundry, play cricket, hang out outside, play table tennis and otherwise relax. After dinner, the kids have mandatory study time from 6-8pm in the cafeteria. At 8, the students go upstairs and have some more free time, until around 9pm. At 8pm, once all the kids are inside, the dorm mother locks the door. So Keith and I have been locked out a few times, but its not too hard to shout up or call someone with our cell phones to get let in. If we are on the ball, we can also ask the dorm mother to just leave the door closed but not locked for us, which also helps immensely. On the weekends the children have free time all day and then have game time from 6-8pm outside. There is a lot of cricket played. They also really love volleyball, but there is only one ball, which I have been placed in charge of. A few weekends ago I played some frisbee with the kids as well, which they enjoyed. Hopefully I'll have them playing proper ultimate frisbee by the end of the year. I did play a little cricket with them the other day as well. All those years of shunning softball and baseball have really come back to haunt me!! I whiffed on quite a few easy bowls (pitches). I think I just need a little bit more practice. While the swing is different, the bat is wider, so I think I might become soundly mediocre by the end of the year.

School Sports

Last week we had school sports. When someone first told me about school sports, I was assuming they were talking about a variety of teams that formed throughout the year and competed after school. You know, pretty much what I experienced in high school. Boy was I wrong. In the 7th grade, students entering the school are placed in a “house.” As far as I know, the only purpose of the house is to group the students into teams for sports. At ARMS there are 7 houses. For school sports, each house is assigned two teachers to serve as house master and mistress. Other teachers are also assigned to houses to support these teachers. I was assigned as house master of house 5. Each house is given a color and name, and the name is based on a lake somewhere in the Essequibo Coast region. House 5 was given Ikuraka and the color yellow. No one I talked to knew where Lake Ikuraka was.

So as house master, I had a variety of responsibilities that I knew nothing about. Fortunately I had an excellent, veteran house mistress so I was not completely fed to the wolves. Firstly, school sports only consists of track and field events. Nothing out of the ordinary (sprints, distance runs, jumping throwing etc). Each event was separated into age and gender categories (boys under 14 200M for example). Teacher duties for the house involved facilitating the election of students to house boy and girl positions, filling all the events, providing snacks for the first day of sports and lunch for the second day of sports, creating a banner and determining what the house uniform would be. Filling all the events proved tricky because when we would dismiss the students from their 6th and 7th periods at the end of the day for house meetings, the older students would scatter to the winds. So it took some effort to hunt them down and “encourage” them to sign up for events. Its a job I call House Truancy Officer. The banner and uniform were judged as part of a parade at the opening of the track events. Participants and winners for all the events score points for their houses. We fortunately had a student whose father paints signs for a living, and were able to arrange for him to paint our banner, so it looked very snazzy. We had yellow sashes and yellow posterboard hats for the march. I helped the house mistress cook some fried rice for lunch on the second day in the dorm kitchen (that's a tale for another day - I've never cooked in a wok the size of a Mini Cooper before!).

So after spending almost a full weeks worth of no 6th and 7th periods, we had two days of school sports. There was no class for anyone on either day. The field events came first. All the students theoretically watched their classmates compete in all sorts of events. Because all the teachers were either busy making sure things were going smoothly with their house or monitoring the events, there weren't any bodies available to keep an eye on students who decided to wander off. Also, the field events were held mostly between the dorms and main office building, so it was a bit cramped for all the students to fit in, so there was some allowable spillover. For the most part, I think this was tolerable and I didn't hear about any incidents. However, being in charge of a house means you're responsible for making sure the students that signed up for events actually participate in the event. While there were a few megaphones set up to make announcements, their range was pretty limited. So I had to embark on what I call House Truancy Officer 2: What Did That Kid Look Like? The events went pretty well and were quite enjoyable. I noticed that none of the students doing the high jump employed the Fosbury Flop. Then someone pointed out to me that the landing area consisted of a couple of old mattresses and some pads that looked older than I am. So it was hurdling all the way. ARMS has quite an impressive collection of jumpers and throwers. At the end of the day, the teachers all tried their hands at the throws. Having never thrown a javelin, discus or shot put before, I was pleased to say that I managed to throw them all properly and keep them in bounds. I did not set any school records however, and was surpassed by all the other teachers.

On the second day of school sports, we went out to the schools field, which was freshly mowed. Here we had all the banners presented and the parade. Each house marched around the track in their colors, carrying their banners and leading chants. It was pretty fun. They had two sheds set up to shelter us from the heat, which was nice. Finding athletes was again a challenge, but by now I had moved on to something I call House Truancy Officer 3: The Delegator. I'd just ask nearby students if they knew the child in question and when I found one that did, sent them off to find them. I found this method to be much more efficient. As far as the events went, the students were again impressive. Most students ran without shoes. There were a few teacher events, including the 100M dash (I finished 3rd out of 5 I think), and then at the end of the day, the lime and spoon (think egg and spoon race but without the danger of breaking your egg) and the balloon toss. My partner and I tied with another house for balloon toss champs. I think we were robbed though because the balloon developed a tiny hole which eventually led to our downfall while the other team went out by dropping their balloon.

On the balance, our house finished 3rd overall. Not bad for a first time house captain and makeshift rice cook, I think. The top athletes from the school will go on to compete in inter-school competition, which will take up 2 days next week (more missed class for everyone!). The best inter-school athletes will go on to inter-branch (I think within the entire region) and then the national championships. I think the school had quite a few (around 10 or so) national athletes last year, so I'm looking forward to cheering them on for the upcoming month or so. Getting out of school for a couple of days isn't the end of the world either.

There are a bunch of new photos up on Facebook. Here's the link again.

A Day in the Life: 9-20-2010

September 20th, 2010

6:00 – Wake up, brush teeth using water bottle (no water pressure on the 3rd floor this morning)
6:30 – Go running. Make it almost a full 30 mins. Usually when I run the sea breeze is in my face on my way home, but today it was on my way out, which is less than ideal but I survived.

7:00 – Take dinner plates down to kitchen. Return library keys to the canteen for the librarian to pick up (the internet connection is in the library, so the librarian lets us use it over the weekend). Fill water bucket outside in event water pressure does not return before breakfast. Kill time camped in front of fan, listening to music and writing in journal waiting for water to be pumped up to the tanks so we will have water pressure. The students are all dressed and ready at this point.

7:50 – Water pressure returns. Wait for Keith to shower, then quickly shower.

8:15 – Hurry to ground floor of dorms to the cafeteria for breakfast. Peanut butter and white bread with some sort of rice/tapioca warm drink. As far as breakfast goes its not my favorite thing here (mmm fried plantains and scrambled eggs), but its not bad.

8:45 – Sign in at the office and pick up chalk for the day. Students line up by classroom in the common area outside the academic building. The national pledge and school prayer are recited. Any announcements are made. The students then orderly enter the building. Attendance is taken in homeroom and any business that needs to be attended to is addressed (books, classroom cleanliness, school sponsored savings programs etc). This should theoretically end at 9, but never does.

9:00 – Periods 1 and 2 (theoretically) start. Everyone has the same teacher for two periods, they call it a double. I have grade a 9 science class. We are doing ecology so we go outside to observe the various habitats surrounding trees in the school compound. For 9am, it's still pretty hot.

10:00 – Break. Today we have a student led assembly before break truly begins. An 11th grade class gives some food for thought, leads a prayer, and the students are encouraged not to litter on the school grounds.

10:30 – Period 3 and 4 begin. Some classes are doubles, some are singles. I have both periods free on Mondays, so I spend my time in the staff room preparing physics lab exercises. I also pick up some textbooks I can let students use for in-class work.

11:45 – Lunch break. I finish planning and head back to the dorm cafeteria. We have greens, chicken and rice.

12:45 – Students again line up in the common area for any other announcements and proceed into the building. More time for homeroom activities, and attendance is taken.

1:00 – Periods 5, 6 and 7 begin. I have another 9th grade science class for periods 5 and 6, so its back outside. Its really hot now. I hide in the shade while pretending to oversee. I have 11th grade physics for period 7. In between 6 and 7 I have to run back to the dorm to pick up some fabric and paint I left in my room, related to school sports which are coming up later this week (that's a topic that deserves its own post if there ever was one). For period 7 we go over some lab procedures we'll be doing next week. I only get to meet with my physics kids once this week because of all the sports disruptions, which will take half a day Wednesday and all day Thursday and Friday.

2:45 – Class ends. Kids line up in the common area again and proceed off campus. Some stick around for lessons or to play ping pong or cricket. I play ping pong with some kids for a while. They are better than me, but I manage to have a few moments that surprise them. I'm actually not too bad, just really rusty and inconsistent.

4:00 – Sign out of school. Head back to dorms to change out of my teacher clothes. Collect laundry from outside.

4:30 – Spend some time in my room lesson planning lab experiments for physics a bit.

5:45 – While dinner is served at 5pm, the cooks leave our food out for us if we come down late. Today I went down just before 6. Chopped cooked okra with a few bits of chicken and rice. I've never really eaten okra that wasn't fried or in a soup before, but its pretty good.

6:30 – Spend about an hour working on grading spreadsheets. The teachers here make elaborate tables by hand, but I think that if I attempted this they would be so full of errors that it would take 4 or 5 attempts to get it right. So instead I'll print them out so I have a hard copy but keep the main records on my computer. I can still approximate the format relatively well, which will hopefully keep me out of trouble come grading time.

7:30 – Shower. Water is running, for now. The dorm kids have study time from 6-8, so after study time the water can go pretty quick. The shower head in my bathroom doesn't work, so I shower in Keith's bathroom. His light doesn't work, but the light in his hallway lets enough in to be manageable. I hand wash today's boxers as well, to cut down on my laundry accumulation.

8:00 – After brushing my teeth, its time to hunker down in the mosquito net for a little entertainment. I have been able to get a wifi signal in my top bunk on some nights, but not tonight. So instead I watch a couple episodes of Avatar: The Last Airbender. It's clearly a Nickelodeon show, but it's pretty good, and I was able to pick up the whole first season for about $5 in Georgetown. I've been rationing out my movies and books so that I don't burn through them all at once. I'll listen to music for a little while and then try to be asleep by 10, as 6am comes pretty early.

5 Sentence Movie Reviews

Because I have a lot of free time and DVDs are, umm, easily acquired here in Guyana, I've been watching a fair share of movies. So while you'll probably find this the least interesting part of my blog, I'm going to throw up some quick reviews.

Princess and the Frog ****
A great throwback. Reminded me of the Little Mermaid a bit, what with the magic voodoo-ey stuff and all, but in a good way. I find it strange that I find bad Southern accents totally acceptable and inoffensive, even as I'm noting that they are bad. I think I should listen to more big band jazz type stuff. Also I should visit New Orleans more often.

Dinner for Schmucks **
Looks great on paper, lacking in execution. The inclusion of Jeff Dunham and his comedy herpes might be the stealth culprit. Steve Carrell is neither unlikeable nor likable enough, mostly just meh. Paul Rudd does Paul Rudd things. The guy filming my version of the movie should invest in better audio capture equipment.

Coming to America ****
If anyone ever says to you, “I don't get why Eddie Murphy was so popular in the 80s*,” tell them to watch Raw, and then Trading Places or Coming to America. He was the clear top dog of his time. Funny to see Samuel L. Jackson basically playing himself, as usual. Haven't seen this movie in its entirety probably ever until now, which was my loss. Whatever happened to Arsenio Hall?
*No one has ever said this.

Greenberg ***
Pretty typical Noah Baumbach fare. Some good dialogue, but I think that sometimes his films lose some direction in their attempt to not beat you over the head with plot/character development. Ben Stiller is clearly more talented than other efforts might indicate, so good for him. Definitely took some of the romance out of “doing nothing,” for me, which is probably good. Who keeps only one Corona in their fridge?

Hot Tub Time Machine ***
Sometimes a movie does exactly what you're expecting, and you love it for that. This is one of those movies. It's weird to see John Cusack in a movie like this, but he's a pretty good lead character. I hope Clark Duke gets more work, I think he's pretty funny. I wonder if the styles of the 00s will look as dated as those of the 80s do less than 30 years later.

The Saga of Washing Clothes

So in Guyana, teachers are given a great deal of respect. With that respect naturally comes responsibility. One area of responsibility is in the way you dress. So, in most schools, male teachers are expected to wear khakis or slacks and some sort of button-down shirt. Due to a misinterpretation of the rules before I left, I only brought 3 button down shirts.* This means I don't have many options for school clothes, especially since one of the shirts tends to get pretty wrinkled when hand washed, and I hate ironing**. After school yesterday I realized that I was out of clean dress shirts, meaning it was time to do laundry. Laundry consists of filling a bucket with soapy water, hand-washing the clothes and then hanging your clothes on a line outside to dry. While I was horrible when I started, I'm now getting a little better and washing clothes is not an obscene chore, especially if I break it up so the loads are manageable.

I get my washing done after class, hang it up in the afternoon sun, under the dormitory building where I'm living. All is well, the clothes, especially my thin dress shirts, should be dry by morning. Then of course, the rain came. I'm talking biblical rainstorms. It started raining at about 9pm and rained off and on all night. Now Guyana has a rainy season, but we have been told that it has just recently passed, though we can expect short showers and the like. I've been in the country over 4 weeks now, and this is by far the most intense rain I've seen. So there I am, lying in bed, listening to my clothes get soaked. All I could think about was how everyone would be talking about how the US teacher is so sloppy and unprofessional in his jersey (t-shirt with a collar, or polo) at school.

Fortunately, when I got up this morning, one of my shirts was mostly dry. I put it next to a fan while I had breakfast and got ready for class, and by the time I was heading out, it was only slightly damp. So I wore it. I guess the overhang of the dorm protected it from the worst, and like I said, it is a pretty thin shirt. Disaster averted, but now I know I have to be a little more conscious of the perils of line drying all your school clothes at once...



*We discovered today that at my school, teachers can wear polo shirts, so my wardrobe has expanded a little. However, I haven't noticed any of the Guyanese teachers wearing polo shirts, so I'm going to tread cautiously. It would have saved me some strife today, though.

**Really this whole situation could be avoided if I'd just bothered to pick up some dress shirts down here as well as an iron, but naturally I haven't gotten around to it yet. Some things never change.

September Newsletter #1

Odds and Ends From Anna Regina
I wrote this on Monday, September 6th but am just getting around to posting it. Some new photos are up on facebook as well.

Getting to Anna Regina
So last weekend, we were met at CPCE by Gary. He's a gym teacher at the school and also is responsible for the lab. He was really good friends with last year's volunteer. Anyway, he guided us through the eventful process of getting to Anna Regina. From Georgetown, you can take a taxi or minibus across the Demerara River. The river is crossed by some sort of floating bridge that somehow comes apart to accommodate ship traffic. From looking at it, its clearly not a drawbridge, so my guess that it swings open, though it could somehow retract on top of itself. Once across, the bridge, the main road runs along the coast to Parkia, on the mouth of the Essequibo River. This is about an hour drive, depending on how often the minibus stops or how many tractors, horse-drawn carts and puttering mo-peds you get stuck behind. From Parika, a speedboat is used to cross the Essequibo River. The river is pretty wide; it takes about 45 minutes to cross. The scenery is beautiful though. Lots of primarily or completely undeveloped islands with dense foliage and protruding palm trees. The speedboat drops you off in Supenaam on the Essequibo Coast. From here another minibus or taxi is used for transport to Anna Regina, about 40km up the only road, which again, runs along the coast. The Essequibo Coast is one of the areas where rice is grown in Guyana. So along the road you're flanked on one side by the Atlantic Ocean and miles and miles of rice fields on the other.

Anna Regina
Anna Regina is the capital of Region 2. I was told recently that it is the newest village in Guyana to reach town status (the 7th town overall), so it is still pretty small. However, the basic amenities are provided, as they are in most places on the coast. Supermarkets, hardware stores and an internet cafe are all within walking distance of the school. So far (knock on wood) we have not had any electrical blackouts, and the school dorms have excellent water pressure. The water pressure has dropped a little now that the students have moved in to the dorms, but no one can complain about running water on the 3rd floor of a building in Guyana. The town has a handful of restaurants, bars and there is a lake resort nearby (the beach is very flat and muddy), so Keith and myself have the means to entertain ourselves. Everyone I have met in the town has been very friendly and talkative. I think it is going to be a great place to live.

Anna Regina Multilateral School
The school is about 4 blocks off the main road. There is a main academic building, a computer lab and bike park building, administrative offices and shop area, auditorium/gym and dormitory. The main academic building is 3 stories tall. Only one classroom wide, to maximize breeze effects. The rooms are simple but nice. Students either sit in chairs at clustered desks or at 2 person benches in front of rectangular desks. Chalkboards are painted plywood. Classes are separated by walls, in contrast to some schools, where a mobile chalkboard is the only separator. The school has a fully stocked chemistry lab, though some of the chemicals look much older than me. There is also a physics lab, though it is not so fully stocked.

The Class Schedule
At Anna Regina, there are about 25 classes worth of students. The students do not move around, instead teachers come to them. The day is broken up into 7 45 minute periods. To make the schedule, the deputy head teacher (assistant principal) makes the schedule out by hand. So he's working with what amounts to a 35x25 grid (period-day vs class), on paper. So he sorts out who's teaching what, where for the term. There is no daily schedule, each day is different. For the most part, a teacher will teach a given course 3-4 times over the week. So those are the constraints. It's like a bad brain teaser, and I can only imagine the massive headache it would be to solve this logic puzzle even with the help of a computer, which the DHT did not use. The end result is a massive chalkboard in the staff room with the class schedule written in (photo here). Naturally, there are a lot of conflicts (everyone here calls them “clashes”) when teachers find they are scheduled to be in 2 (or even 3) places at once. So naturally the schedule is still in flux, but here are the classes I'm currently scheduled to teach:

Year 8 Integrated Science (1 class)
Year 9 Integrated Science (5 classes, the entire 9th grade)
Year 10 Physics (1 class)
Year 11 Physics (1 class)

Beginning in year 10, students are split into streams, based on their professional/personal interests. Among the choices are Agriculture, Science, Arts and Technical. Only the science stream students take subject-specific science courses instead of the general integrated science (physics, chemistry and biology).

Dorm Life
Due to some mix-ups, Keith and I are living in the dorm. We have been told this is a temporary situation, as we are waiting for the region officials to find a suitable house/apartment for us. While its a little frustrating to be able to completely settle in, life in the dorms has been nice. Last week was quiet before the students arrived (and the aforementioned water pressure!), but now there is a lot going on. Some of the dorm children are beginning year 7, so this is likely the first time they've been away from home. There haven't been any incidents yet, though.

The First Day
Today was the first day of school. Because you can never be sure who all will exactly show up and especially for year 10 when the students are redistributed into streams, there is a lot of paperwork and administrative work that has to be done on the first day. I'm sharing a base (homeroom) class with Reshii, a maths teacher who's taught at the school for about 5 years. I'm glad to have someone to show me the ropes. We have the year 10 Tech stream class. So today Reshii went off with the other year 10 base class teachers, and I hung with the 10 Tech kids. We did a few math games, chatted a little, and the students caught up after their summer break. Unfortunately I won't be teaching any courses to these students beyond the 15 minutes of base class every morning. It was a pretty casual first day. Tomorrow I think we will be able to begin school in earnest. I'm eager to start meeting my students now that I'm beginning to learn my way around the school.

Mail and Holidays

Hello from the Essequibo Coast! Today I met with the Head Teacher at my school and got some information. If you want to send me mail, please address it like this:

William Alex Berry
c/o Anna Regina Multilateral School
Essequibo Coast, Region 2
Guyana SOUTH AMERICA

Please be sure to include the SOUTH AMERICA because apparently the post office sometimes gets Guyana mixed up with Ghana, and it understandably takes a long time to get a package back from Africa.

Here are the national holidays in Guyana. I anticipate having 2 weeks off around Christmas (though my family will be visiting during the first week, and 2 weeks around Easter. I'm not sure of those exact dates, but if you want to come visit me while I'm teaching in Anna Regina, here are some holidays where I'll have a long weekend, etc.

November Divali
December 25 Christmas Day
December 26 Boxing Day
January 1 New Year
Early January Youman Nabi
February 23 Republic Day
March or April Good Friday and Easter Sunday
May 1 Labor Day
July 1 Caricom Day
First Monday in August Emancipation Day

If you want to come visit, please let me know and I'll be happy to provide you with more information.

A Day in the Life: 8-26-2010

I'm going to try and do a few of these hour by hour logs of my days just to amuse myself. I also think it might help me note some things I might not otherwise think are remarkable enough to mention in the blog, but you might find interesting. Or it could be really boring.

26 August 2010

7:30 - Wake up sweaty. Brush teeth. Wash face. Shave. Retrieve dress shirt from clothesline outside. Get dressed in nice clothes (khakis and a button down). Sweat*.

8:00 - Go down to the multipurpose auditorium for breakfast. Scrambled eggs, bread, bacon, pineapple and papaya. Mmm. Sweat.

8:30 - Walk about 15 minutes to the nearby secondary school where we're doing our teaching practicum all week. Sweat.

9:00 - Class begins. Teaching the 4th form (10th grade) students about quadratic functions. They said they needed help with it, but in reality, they haven't even learned about it in the first place and also haven't really had linear equations. We find this out after the 3rd day of teaching about quadratics. No wonder they were struggling. Lesson goes ok. Sweat.

10:30 - Second class. Teaching the 5th form (11th grade), same lesson about quadratics. Observed by Ministry of Education Official. Students still struggling. Do activity where we drop a ball and use the time and equation of motion to estimate height (yay physics!). Observer says we need to work on our lesson planning and classroom presence. No surprises there. Nervous sweat.

12:00 - Walk back to teachers college for lunch. Sweat.

1:00 - Ministry observer presents to our class about Guyanese schools. Dress code, appropriate behavior, required paperwork, etc. Hot, tired and trying to stay awake. She goes on forever. Sweat.

4:00 - Discussion with WorldTeach security adviser, Kitty. He tells me that there is basically nothing to worry about in Anna Regina crime-wise. Least dangerous of any of the sites volunteers are going to. Also tells a story about how like 3 days ago he was near the market in Georgetown and some touristy white guy gets hit by a dude on a bicycle. The dude on the bicycle tries to grab the white guys stuff, pulls a gun, and somehow Kitty ends up between the white guy and the gun. He said he just stared at the guy and he backed down. Kitty is a badass. Less sweaty.

6:00 - Dinner in the auditorium. Fried dough and salt fish. Small portions for dinner in Guyana. Sweat.

7:30 - Take cab to Georgetown for trivia night at an expat bar. My group wins because we are mistakenly gifted 2 rounds where our score is doubled, rather than the usual 1 double round. No one says anything. The other WorldTeach team wins the "rum round," where the winner of the round gets a bottle of rum. Delicious rum (we won it the week before). Bar is air conditioned, but we sat outside. More sweat.

11:30 - Arrive home from bar. Shower in the dark (bathroom has lights, but they haven't worked since I've been there). Water is cold, but refreshing. Wash underwear in shower to keep laundry pile under control. Begin sweating immediately after stopping the water.

12:00 - Set mosquito net down over bed. Read a little using headlamp. Sweating profusely. Sleep.

*Old Spice Sweat Defense is awesome, btw.

Photos

I'm going to be posting photos on Facebook.
Here's a link to the album.

Guyanese Things: A Brief Dispatch on Karaoke

Karaoke seems to be pretty popular in Guyana. You can be hanging out at a seemingly normal bar, minding your own business on the patio, and then within 30 seconds a screen has been erected and a projector has been fired up.

Now I've never actually been to karaoke in the US (shameful, I know), but I think I have a pretty good feel for the point of it. Get really drunk, sing some embarassing stuff that is either enjoyed ironically or for mild amusement. That doesn't seem to be the way things work in Guyana. Cheesy 80's ballads are extremely popular in this country, and large, grown-ass men have no qualms about belting out all sorts of stuff with complete seriousness. It also helps that most of the performers are pretty talented, but even those that don't just really get after it. You won't find any embarassed mumbling into the mic in Guyana. Instead that guy is going 110% on "Flying without wings," or "Rocketman." Once you get over the weirdness of it, its pretty impressive. We've also been told that Guyanese culture in general is not very accepting towards homosexuality, yet no one raises an eye when you bust a lung to some Celine Dion. Everyone is usually pretty supportive as well, no heckling, booing or laughing. There's even some applause for the really talented folks. Altogether a positive experience.

Having entered a karaoke establishment for the first time just this month* (see, cultural growth already!), I've gained a newfound appreciation for the music videos that accompany some of these songs. It's not like the "Total Eclipse of the Heart" wasn't weird enough on its own, but when its been replaced by some woman in lacy stockings wandering around an empty house through a hazy filter, the bar has really been raised. I also love the lame shots of slow-motion pigeons, crashing waves and mountains. Maybe that's what I should look into if this teaching thing doesn't really work out. Karaoke videographer.

*sang some super lame Backstreet Boys song. "I'll Never Break Your Heart" maybe? Would have much preferred some N*Sync or even a BB song I knew better, but you take what you can get I guess.

August Newsletter

Hello friends and family. I have had an eventful first week in Guyana. I left from JFK on Sunday night for a 6 hour flight to Georegetown, Guyana. While Guyana is normally an hour ahead of east coast time, daylight savings time is not observed so there was no time zone change. After a restless flight, the WorldTeach staff picked us up at the airport, took us to the Cyril Potter College of Education, where we are staying for orientation. CPCE is where all teachers in Guyana go for training. I think their experience is a bit different from those of their American counterparts. While CPCE is on the Georgetown power grid, there is no Georgetown city water. Rain water is collected and pumped up to holding tanks where it can be used for showers , washing clothes etc. We have been advised that in all of Guyana the water is unsafe to drink. Across the street from CPCE is a hardware store that also is certified to sell purified water, so we fill up 10 gallon (roughly) jugs every day. The 14 of us go through about 2 jugs a day! In addition to the water situation, there are no washing machines. All washing is done by hand. We got a brief lesson on one of the first days, but today was the first day I actually did my laundry. It took me about an hour and a half to wash about half a load of laundry.

The CPCE dorms are very simple. There are two single beds with shelves above them, a single grade school desk and two cabinets, in a room that's about 8'x12'. We currently have 1 person per room and I've taken over all the available space and can't imagine having to share. The wall facing the hallway consists of sliding or swinging doors. In order to allow crucial air flow, the doors completely consist of what I'd call wooden blinds, angled slats of wood that allow air flow but also privacy. They don't really do much to dampen noise though, so you can hear anyone talking pretty much anywhere on the entire floor. That's taken some getting used to. I'm mentioning all these tidbits about the conditions here at the school not because they're causing me much strife, but instead to help give a picture of how the teachers I'll be working with at my school likely experienced post-secondary education here in Guyana. The contrast to the US is pretty staggering.

We've been pretty busy getting prepared for our year of teaching. We've talked about cultural differences, the role of the volunteer in the community, extra-curricular activities, different learning types, evaluating learning etc. We've been to Georgetown proper a few times to get the lay of the land. I think we'll have to go to Georgetown for any hard-to-find items. There are some areas we've been advised not to go, or at least not to bring valuables into, but I've felt pretty safe on the balance.

I'm getting anxious to get to my teaching site, Anna Regina. Its about 3 hours from Georgetown, and I'll have to take a cab/bus, a boat across a wide river delta, and then another cab/bus. I think I'll take a taxi the first time, just to help me manage all my luggage. Anna Regina is on the Essequibo Coast, named after the Essequibo River. It is supposed to be a pretty quiet town, which I'm looking forward to experiencing. I'll be teaching math, physics or chemistry. The school, Anna Regina Multilateral School is supposed to be one of the best in the country. I'll report back with more details once I arrive in Anna Regina in a few weeks.

We have a wonderful group of 14 volunteers, 4 guys and 10 girls. Of the guys, 1 is from England and one is from Canada. I'll be living with the Canadian (Nova Scotia to be more exact), who is a pretty affable guy. The girls are all from the US, pretty much from all over. There's one girl from North Carolina, so I have someone to appreciate my southern hospitality. Most of the volunteers are going to be placed either very close to Georgetown, up one river or on the coast like I will be. There is one pair who's going to be a little bit in the interior, but I think most of us were expecting to be in more demanding conditions. While I was prepared to be in a very remote area, I think I'll appreciate regular internet access and electricity as the year goes on.

I think that's about it for now, I'm hoping to send these emails monthly. I think there will be more content as I get to my site and become more immersed in the culture.

Thanks again for all your support and I look forward to writing you again.

Alex

On Like Donkey Kong

Arrived in Georgetown yesterday.  The flight was alright, not too shabby.  My bags are stupidly heavy, I am not an expert packer.  Hopefully I'll learn from lugging these bags around.

There are 15 total volunteers here 4 dudes and 11 girls.  They're all pretty nice, math and science people.We're doing a lot of self-evaluating right now, thinking about our expectations, how we think teaching should work, etc.  I think its designed to help us put the techniques we'll be learning in the coming
weeks in perspective, but I'm a little anxious to start working on my teaching skills.

Slept fine (a little sweaty) last night, but woke up with a bunch of  mosquitoes inside my bed net today.  I figured if the net was up against the bed that would be enough, but I have moved it so its touching the floor all around.  Somehow I didn't seem to get bit all that much though, not sure how that happened.  The weather is not too bad, its not insanely hot, but it is insanely humid.  I'm pretty much sweaty all the time.  We have cold water showers, which are pretty refreshing, unless Georgetown is blacked out, where were missing power for about 3 hrs today.  I went running along the seawall with this girl before lunch today.  She ran cross country and track and field, so while I was dying, I think she was a little bored.  The Atlantic here isn't much to look at, really flat, muddy beachfront and the water is really brown, I'm assuming from all the river runoff nearby.  I got sunburned, even though I was only outside for like 45 min.  After the run, my new British mate, Luke, who was waiting for us by the seawall, found some East Indian dudes playing cricket and net fishing.  He played with them a little, then they offered us some sprite and vodka.  Guyanese vodka is not very good.

I think that's about it for now, hopefully I'll have semi-regular posts as the weeks go on.  I'll be in Georgetown training for 3 weeks or so.

Countdown: 2

I'm leaving for Guyana August 8th.  Each weekday, I'll post some information about the country.

Guyanese National Anthem

Dear land of Guyana, of rivers and plains,
Made rich by the sunshine, and lush by the rains.
Set gem-like and fair, between mountains and sea,
Your children salute you, dear land of the free.

Green land of Guyana, our heroes of yore,
Both bondsmen and free, laid their bones on your shore.
This soil so they hallowed, and from them are we,
All sons of one mother, Guyana the free.

Great land of Guyana, diverse though our strains,
We are born of their sacrifice, heirs of their pains.
And ours is the glory their eyes did not see,
One land of six peoples, united and free.

Dear land of Guyana, to you will we give,
Our homage, our service, each day that we live.
God guard you, Great Mother, and make us to be
More worthy our heritage, land of the free.

source

Countdown: 3

I'm leaving for Guyana August 8th.  Each weekday, I'll post some information about the country.

Jonestown

Clearly not a period photograph (source).

 So Jonestown.  It's probably the best-known thing related to Guyana, even if most people have forgotten that Jim Jones decided to park his flock there.  

4 Sentence Recap:  Under a growing national spotlight of negative attention in the US, Jim Jones, leader of the People's Temple cult decided to move his band of followers to Guyana, where the socialist-leaning government was agreeable to the cults various conspiracy (growing US fascism, multinational corporate influence on the US government, US government racism, etc.).   The People's Temple Agricultural Project (nicknamed Jonestown, naturally) was established on 3,800 acres of land in the Northwest Guyana and inhabited by nearly 1000 cultists at its peak in 1978.  Responding to concerns of defected cult members, US congressman Leo Ryan to visit the Jonestown compound with a media entourage, collected many more defectors, and was sent off in a hail of bullets that ended his life.  With Ryan's death ensuring a US crackdown on the People's Temple, an already unhinged Jones enacted a well-rehearsed plan for mass suicide where cult members drank cyanide laced Kool-Aid, those unwilling to participate were murdered and Jones himself died of self-inflicted gunshot wounds.

Other Fun Facts

Excluding natural distasters, the Jonestown massacre constituted the greatest single losses of American civilian life until the incidents of September 11, 2001.

Congressman Ryan was the first and only congressman murdered in the line of duty.

Before leaving Jonestown for the airstrip, Congressman Ryan had told a Temple attorney that he would issue a report that would describe Jonestown "in basically good terms."  So there was essentially no reason for him to be murdered.

Surprisingly, Jones was said to be abusing injectable Valium, Quaaludes, stimulants, and barbiturates.

source

"Are you excited?"

So naturally, I as I tell people what I'm going to be doing for the next year, I get asked a few questions over and over again.  After "why?" (with accompanying look of bewilderment) and "so is that in Africa?" I get asked if I'm excited.  And usually I say yes.  But the reality of the situation is that I wasn't really all that excited up until a few days ago.  I have trouble getting excited for big trips when I don't really know what I'm getting myself into.  It probably has something to do with the human brain not being very good at predicting the future.  It just didn't really seem real that I was going to be in Guyana in less than a month's time.  Well today I found out where I'll be placed, and got to read a letter from the WorldTeach volunteer who's currently at my future school.

Countdown: 4

I'm leaving for Guyana August 8th.  Each weekday, I'll post some information about the country.

Mashramani

A Mashramani parade (source)

If for some reason you hear someone talking about Mashramani, just substitute "Carnival" in its place.  Mashramani, or "Mash," is an Amerindian word meaning "the celebration of a job well done."  Mashramani is usually celebrated on February 23rd, Guyanese Republic Day.  According to Wikipedia, a decision was made to rename prior Republic Day carnival celebrations with an Amerindian name.  Some upstanding Amerindian gentleman's grandfather suggested that the Amerindian Festival celebrating a special event was like "Muster Many," or Mashirimehi in Amerindian, and sounded in Arawak like Mashramani. And so the magic was born.  The first official Mashramani was celebrated on February 23rd, 1970 in Linden. 

Beyond this information, Wikipedia is unhelpful, so the reader is left to draw their own conclusions.  My take is that it's probably pretty similar to Brazilian Carnival, New Orleans Mardi Gras, etc.  I'll do my best to report back in the aftermath.

Countdown: 5

I'm leaving for Guyana August 8th.  Each weekday, I'll post some information about the country.

Lethem Rodeo 

There are cows at the Lethem Rodeo. Shocking. (source)

Every Easter, the town of Lethem, near the border of Brazil,  sheds its sleepy small town cocoon and blossoms as a resplendent rodeo town.  Or something like that.  People from all of Guyana and northern Brazil come to Lethem for the Rupununi Rodeo, the brainchild of an American expat, Ben Hart.  After working on the railroad in Guyana, Mr. Hart settled down in Lethem and began having rodeo competitions on the weekends, which evolved into the international spectacle.  The Rupununi is the savanna region in the south of Guyana, a stark contrast to the dense jungles that cover most of the northern part of the country. 

The spectacle that is the Rupununi Rodeo sounds fitting for what is effectively a frontier town:

The festivities unofficially begin on Good Friday night when there is aprty at Macedo's Texaco petrol station.  Everybody in town gathers around the gas pump to smoke cigarettes, drink Guyanese rum and Brazilan beer and eat meat on a stick.  It's a surreal scene complete with Georgetown, scantily clad Brazilian women, drunken foreign volunteers and plenty of locas.  It's a fitting start to a rodeo weekend.

Sounds like a typical Friday night at the Wal-Mart in my hometown (substitute trashy girls from the next town in place of Brazilian chicks), so I think I'll fit right in if I get to attend the rodeo.  On Saturday and Sunday the best savanna cowboys (vaqueros) strut their stuff at the rodeo grounds, competing in bull-riding, horse-riding, steer roping, wild cow milking, etc.  Most of the cowboys are barefoot Amerindians and events are open to all.

Some of the placements, which I'm still waiting on, are near Lethem, so hopefully I can make it to the rodeo.

 Quote and other info adapted/taken from Guyana, a Bradt guidebook by Kirk Smock.

Countdown: 6

I'm leaving for Guyana August 8th.  Each weekday, I'll post some information about the country.

Kaieteur Falls

The world's tallest waterfall (source, click to enlarge).

Naturally, everyone wants a piece of "world's biggest."  Waterfalls are no different, and Kaieteur Falls in Guyana is no exception.  With a single drop of 741 feet and additional cascades adding to a total drop of 822 feet, Kaieteur has been called the "largest single drop" waterfall.   Apparently, this is different from "tallest single drop."  Reading between the Wikipedia lines, I think the former suggests some combination of volume of water and drop height, whereas the latter is pure unadulterated height.  According to the World Waterfall Database, Angel Falls in Venezuela has a single drop of 2,648 feet, so I'm not sure what all the debate is about.

Now that I've popped the bubble of Guyana's biggest natural tourist attraction, let's build it back up.  The numbers are quite impressive.  The waterfall is about 5 times taller than Niagra Falls.  The WWD rates Kaieteur the 26th most scenic waterfall worldwide*.   The falls have a WWD attributed 19th largest in volume at 23,400 cubic feet per second.  At that rate, enough water is tumbling off a cliff somewhere in the Guyanese wilderness to fill an Olympic-size pool every 3 seconds.  Some unscientific sampling of other high flow waterfalls on the WWD website reveals that Kaieteur is probably the tallest single-drop waterfall pumping out that much water.  It's too bad there's not a less awkward way to say "probably the tallest single-drop waterfall pumping out that much water."  Maybe if anyone has a brainstorm they could shoot the Guyanese tourism industry some rebranding help.

Anyway, I hope I'm lucky enough to be able to visit this waterfall during my time in Guyana.  Although if I ever get to stand on this ledge, the fear-of-heights part of my brain might self-destruct.

*Number 1? Langfoss, or Langfossen, in Norway.  Yosemite falls is #2 and Angel Falls checks in at #5.