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.