Christmas

Programming note:  Sorry for the lack of posting in the new year. I was buried in a book and the internet has been kind of lousy lately. I have quite a few posts queued up for the coming days and have a new batch of photos up on Facebook.

I spent Christmas in Tobago with my family. It was great to see them and to be in such a beautiful country. I'd forgotten how much I missed hot showers, air conditioned bedrooms. Tobago has its litter problem under control, which was also refreshing. We stayed in a quiet fishing village on the Caribbean side of the island and it was really peaceful.

As great as it was to see my family, it was also a little strange because we were coming to Tobago from two very different places. For me, it was almost development overload, with all the conveniences I'd been living without for 4 months. For them, Tobago was a bit undeveloped and a challenge. Driving was scary, there were farm animals everywhere, and the grocery stores didn't have much to offer. So that was a little frustrating at times. Its hard to hear complaints about a place that only make you think “man, they have no idea how different things are just a few hours by plane from here.” Anyway, just an observation on expectations and vacationing, I suppose. I think I'd probably be pretty happy if I ended up living on an island like Tobago.

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.