Happy 7 Months and Get GLOWING!

My GUY24s have survived 7 months in Guyana!  In June we had a Peace Corps conference called Re-Connect where our whole group was reunited after 3 months at site. It seems like everyone has been doing a pretty good job calling Guyana home.  We were all really excited to catch up, swap stories, and celebrate.  Not to mention we were staying at a really nice hotel with hot water, air conditioning, delicious food, a pool (these things are the ultimate luxury to a PC Volunteer).  We also had the chance to explore Georgetown (the capital city) a bit more.  I live about an hour and 45 mins away from it, so it’s not too far, but it can be expensive to travel there often.  It is worth a visit because Georgetown has some really good food, such as Bruster’s Ice Cream, a new Quiznos, New Thriving (a giant Chinese restaurant with delicious pastries and dim sum), and a women who makes the most unbelievably delicious Venezuelan subs.  Can you guess what I did while I was in Gtown?  We also got to go out a bit and “bruk it down.”   

I mentioned earlier that I’m on a Gender and Development taskforce for Peace Corps.  There are 6 of us and we are in charge of Camp GLOW, a girl’s leadership and empowerment camp.  We really didn’t know what to expect.  The camp site was located off of a highway that had had some security issues, so we were fretting about whether we would be able to have camp there or not.  In the end, it all worked out and I can barely begin to tell you how awesome camp was.  We packed up a truck and a bus filled with food and materials for the week and drove up to our camp site, which was a training center/college.  We stayed in dorms, where we all were in one big room with bunk beds, VERY camp-like. 

 We had seven Guyanese counselors and they were so great.  They were really excited for camp and to meet all of the girls.  In total, we had 43 girls ages 13-17 and some had to fly in from their villages to get to camp.  Camp was packed with so many different activities, from sessions on healthy body image, leadership skills, and reproductive health to arts and crafts, water balloon fights, swimming, campfires with marshmallows and sing-a-longs, to some very deep, heartfelt moments.  It was a rollercoaster ride of laughing, hugging, crying, singing, running around, and dancing.  I know this next comment is super cheesy ( hey I LOVE cheese!), but at times I felt like my heart was singing because we had created such a supportive, nurturing, and fun environment, where these girls felt like they could learn and grow.  Many of them had never had an opportunity like that before.  Now organizing and carrying out camp was no easy task.  There was lots of rushing around to organize transport, making sure food got out on time, and praying that no one would get too seriously hurt playing around (another PCV and I were in charge of first aid).  I can honestly tell you though that everything was absolutely worth it and I am so excited to do it all again next year.  We are even looking to do smaller versions of the camp in some of the villages that our GLOW girls are from.  

Getting back to my site felt a lot like putting on an old shoe. I said hi to familiar neighbors, bought greens from my usual stand, and had kids knocking on my door again.  Things seemed pretty much where I left them and it felt nice to get back to some sort of a routine.  Upon my return I attended a workshop on Domestic Violence and helped out at another PCV’s camp with much younger children.  Pretty much worn out, I proceeded to sleep the majority of the next weekend.  I couldn’t even be bothered to put up my mosquito net properly (that ended up being a bad idea).  

Now I am surrounded by a few wisps of left over excitement from camp nearly two weeks back.  I also have been hit with some post camp blues or culture shock round… (Should I even count the rounds anymore?).  I think I noticed it after I began incessantly cleaning my house and was in a bad mood.  Peace Corps is full of ups and downs and I think you have to know when to put up a fight and when you really should let things go.  In some ways I now feel really integrated, I know a lot more people and feel that my students are getting to know me better.  Then there are times when people will make fun of me or I’ll be in a place full of people and don’t really know what to say or do.  It can be tough when you can’t be 100% yourself because you still have to shape yourself to fit a cultural mold you are not quite accustomed to.  Then there is the need to be productive.  Camp was a high energy, go glow go, event.  There was always something to do and completing the tasks made sense.  Back at site there are still the questions of am I being an effective volunteer?  Am I making the impact I think I should be making?  There are a million directions to go in, which one do I choose?  

“Miss?  Are we gonna get to do health promotion in the community?  Maybe we could do a health fair?  Ohh and I would like to do some sort of exercise class…”

“Dear Krista, I was reading your Nursey Says column and I have a question…….”

“It is the first day of school for your little girl on Monday and she’ll be all dressed up in her new uniform?  Want me to take a picture for you?”

“Really?  You would do that for me? That would be great!”

“Krystal..Can we go check out the library on Thursday?  I think it’s open from 2-4.”

I was so frustrated and full of self-doubt this week that I almost glossed over these wonderful little victories.  Maybe the next steps are to reconsider my expectations, gain the confidence to let things roll off my back, and realize that it’s okay if things don’t pan out.  Those are a lot of things to figure out and I know it will be a process.   I already have to constantly convince myself to let things go.  In the meantime, I guess my house will be very clean, which is never a bad thing.  I am also planning a vacation to Barbados in December so I am pretty excited about that (let me know if you wanna meet me there!)

I will leave you with some other highlights of the week:

Guy: “I’ve always wanted to visit the States…”

Me: “Oh cool, well you could apply for a visa”

Guy: “Well it would be faster if we just got married…”

Neighbor: “Don’t tek his hand!”

Woman: “Hey clear skinned gyal do you want dis?”

Me: “Huh?”

I know that I am a bit pasty white, but I didn’t know Guyana was making me become transparent!  

 We also did a back to school camp fire at my house!  I introduced my little neighbors to S'Mores!

Back to school camp fire

Floyd was not the biggest fan of them!

 

I hope everyone has a wonderful Labor Day weekend in the States!  Miss you all!

-KB

Cooking in Guyana...Butterflap!!

Butterflaps are a wonderful Guyanese baked good.  They are a great snack and some people have variations of them such as adding cheese or chicken.  My little neighbors and I tried to make them with chocolate.

Butter flaps

Ian Fung submitted his mother's recipes for our pleasure. Thanks Ian!

Method 1

Ingredients

3 x 8 gram packets of yeast
2 cups milk
5 cups flour
3 tbs sugar
4 oz margarine
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
4 oz margarine (for basting)

Preparation

Mix dry ingredients, ie yeast, sugar, flour and salt in a large bowl. Melt margarine in milk in microwave oven on low, then add to dry ingredients. Stir well then add eggs. Mix with mixer until smooth and mixture leaves side of bowl. Heat microwave oven, place bowl in and leave for 1 hour or until mixture doubles in size. Turn out on floured board. Divide into 18 pieces, knead into balls, cover and leave for 20 minutes. Roll out very thinly, and brush with melted margarine. Fold in half then half again into a triangular shape. Seal edges and prick with a fork. Place on greased cookie trays. Bake in the oven at 325°F for 25 minutes, then change shelves & increase heat to 375°F. Bake for another 20 minutes. Brush with melted margarine when done (golden colour). 


Recipe from: http://guyanaoutpost.com/recipes/recipes-b.shtml#Butter%20flaps

Free to Move About the Country

          We have made it more than 3 months at our respective sites (almost 6 months total), which means for a PCV we are now free to move about the country!  We could go and visit people before, but you are technically not supposed to spend the night away from your home.  That makes it hard to visit people a bit further away.  So the day after the 3 months were up, I decided to test out my new freedom.  A bunch of volunteers were getting together for a birthday party where two volunteers live across the river.  It was the first time I had been to their houses.  They were really nice!  They had a ton of fruit trees, a garden, flowers, and a patio space to hang hammocks and chill out.  We spent the evening catching up, trying to climb palm trees, chopping coconuts, and in traditional Peace Corps style, we all brought a ton of food to eat.  

Failed attempt at climbing a palm

It was also a long weekend here in Guyana so on Monday, two of my little neighbors and I spent a good portion of the day cooking cheese and chocolate flaps.  In Guyana, they make a bread/pastry called butter flaps, but I most recently found out they will do variations of it with chicken and cheese and other things, so of course I had to try to make them myself.  They turned out pretty well.  My little neighbors like to do everything real big, so we ended up sharing them out to most of the kids on my street in the form of a dance party at my place.  They even made someone go and get some drink, because in Guyanese culture, if you are serving a snack, there must be a drink to wash it down.

 

 

  There is probably good reason for that 3 month rule because this past weekend I also was out of my site visiting another volunteer in Black Bush.  It is really great to visit other volunteers.  I almost feel like I am on a mini vacation when I visit.   It can also make you a bit jealous of the different houses or communities they live in, but you come to realize that each situation has benefits and their share of challenges.  Black Bush is only about an hour and a half away from where I live, but it can be difficult getting transport out there.  It is about 20 minutes off of the main road and the road to Black Bush is a little bumpy (not to mention VERY muddy if it rains). 

Wearing Saris and Shalwars, more traditional Indo attire

 

Where the Yagh was held and the Pandit sat

We came to visit to experience a Yagh (probably not the right spelling, sounds like Jag), which is a week-long Hindu celebration.  On a special occasion, a Pandit comes out every night to lead chants and prayers and then there is a big meal following each service. This Yagh was celebrating a woman’s 60^th birthday so we got to attend the last night and morning of the celebration. Black Bush is a very small, rural community, with some of the best hospitality I have experienced in Guyana.  Everyone was VERY friendly and came to say hello to us. One of the volunteer’s neighbors even lent us Saris and Sarwahs for the Yagh that she herself had yet to wear.  We were also very well fed.  We had the traditional 7 curry made with some curries I had not yet tried before. 

Blackbush is more of a rural farming community

  On the first night, there was a crazy thunderstorm and we had to walk a good 15 minutes home in darkness and pouring rain.  One thing about Black Bush, is that there is a LOT of mud!  I took my shoes off, tried to hold up my Sarwah with one hand, carried an umbrella with the other, and prayed I wouldn’t wipe out.  I also put my faith in a local resident who instructed me on where I should walk.  I think walking in the mud and rain is the closest thing you can get to ice in Guyana.  My friend’s house was also pretty cool, with a lot of space to sit outside.  It reminded me of a rustic farm or country house.  I was a little alarmed when I went downstairs in the morning and was greeted by 4 or so bats flying around.  They happened to be flying right in my path to the washroom so I grabbed a broom, ran, and flailed frantically.   My friend said she used to do that, but has kind of gotten used to them.  They haven’t flown into her yet (must be that echo location?).

Find the flying bat

Going to the Yagh reminded me of how much I love learning about different people and their customs.  That sounds kind of cheesy but I can’t think of a better way to describe it.  I can’t imagine sitting at home and never being curious about our world and the different ways people live.  There are so many places to see and people to meet, it is almost mind boggling.  I do know I want to be out there.  Some days I might be frustrated, I know I am not being the best teacher or might not be making the impact I think I should be, but just talking, listening, and learning from everyone here has been an invaluable experience.  It is easy to measure outcomes by tests or objectives met, but what accounts for the friendships formed or those little day to day interactions?  I have thought about a billion scenarios for when I will return to the States, have been homesick, have missed family and friends, and cannot say being here has always been the easiest thing.  However, the more I think about it, the more I am realizing that I don’t think I will be content just staying in the States. Sure, I will be happy to go back and live for a while, but sooner or later that travel bug will come out and bite me and I’ll get that urge to be off somewhere else again.  So the key now is to figure out how to make that work with, ya know, things like life, careers, and oh yah, taking everyone I love and care about with me.  Fortunately, I’m not even a quarter way through this adventure, so I think I have some time to work on it. 

In the meantime, I hope everyone is trying to stay cool.  I can’t believe I live so close to the equator and it is significantly warmer back home.

-KB

Just Living

This post isn’t about a particular story or cross cultural comparison, to me, it is just about life.  Don’t get me wrong, life is the most valuable thing we possess, but once the adjustments have been made and the cultural shock starts to wear off, that is what you get, life.  It is the day to day, the things you laugh at to yourself, the small yet amazing things.  My co-workers love quotes (I do too) and one was saying that the only constant thing in life is change.  I see it.  I see it with friends I haven’t talked to in a while.  They are traveling the world, forming new relationships, moving to new cities, getting new jobs, getting engaged.  I see it with myself.  Yesterday I entered the bathroom (think small area) in my house to duke it out with a giant flying cockroach.  If that were me a few months ago, I would have shut the doors, plugged up the cracks and waited for the thing to die.  A cockroach is nothing compared to the giant deadly centipede that crawled into my house and even that wasn’t terrible (Okay, I might have screamed)

Bugs are bigger in Guyana!

 
.  I think I’ve been watching a little too much How I Met Your Mother but there is a line in there that says eventually, we become our own doppelgängers.  A dopplegänger is basically a twin or look a-like.  Change is inevitable, but we always walk with (that is the Guyanese expression for carry) some semblance of ourselves.  

Of course there are times when I miss my friends and family, but then I realize that everyone is changing, living, and growing themself, so if you think things will be the same, you will be left behind.  Sometimes I do want to be there changing alongside everyone else, but my past self decided more than a year ago, that the best way for me to change and grow (besides helping people and learning a new culture) was to join the Peace Corps, not stay at home.  The thing is, I know who I was at home, and I know the path I probably would have taken.   At times I desperately crave that path.  I see a lot of other people taking it, running down it at full speed and I am the turtle taking my sweet time.  Slow and steady wins the race right?   It is both exhilarating and frightening, because here in Guyana, everything is up in the air.  But I have to remind myself that life is not a race.  When it comes down to it, you have to pave your own path and of course keep your connections with the people you love and care about.  

I think I am starting to pave my own path here.  I don’t own any steamrollers or asphalt, but I am an established white girl with a bucket full of gravel that I’ve been tossing around.  I have become very busy these past two weeks and expect to stay that way, at least until September.  I have three different public health related classes that I teach, which all involve lesson planning.  Lesson planning is a lot of work and I really admire all of my teachers and am truly sorry if I ever fell asleep or acted out in class.  I also never realized that I enjoy teaching. 

 

Teaching reproductive health to my students

  I used to have really bad fears of public speaking, but I’m getting over that and finding my own voice.  You get to be creative and it is really amazing to see when a student understands something or shows interest in what you are talking about.  Outside of the classroom, I hold computer classes at lunch for students to research a health topic while acquiring basic computer skills.  So they are secretly learning more about health while practicing computer skills (muwahahaha!).  I also was able to get a health column gig for a newspaper here that an old volunteer used to write. 


  Each week I write about a health topic with local appeal.  I am very thankful to have had some practice with this at an internship I had before Peace Corps.  I also became a member of the Gender and Development Task Force for Peace Corps.  The taskforce is meant to promote gender equality through awareness and skill building activities.  One of those activities is Camp GLOW!  It is a week-long camp to empower and give life skills to girls coming up in August.  If you would like to know more about it (and donate!) please click here.  

I try to get something related to those things mentioned above done during the work day.  Most of the time when I come home, I just want to cook food and relax. Very rarely that actually happens.  The neighborhood kids are always out and about to greet me right as I walk through my gate.  Sometimes they have homework assignments and others they just want to play and hang out.  I try to make Sundays our day.  We will do crafts, have movie nights, or even a dance party or two.

Making Easter Eggs with the kids, something they don't normally do

Making Masks

Making sugar cookies

  
   One Sunday there was a high-speed (well as fast as you can travel on a largely pot holed road) chase between the police and some flatbed truck.   It was very strange to see and luckily the kids weren’t out playing on the road.  I heard that they caught the truck about 30 minutes outside of my town, but still don’t know what the culprits did. 

My Nursey Says Column

I have been here almost five months and have already changed in quite a few ways.  For example, now I see myself as a teacher, a newspaper columnist, a camp counselor, and some sort of a big sister.  Did I expect those things when I signed up to be a health volunteer? No, not really.  Am I happy to play those roles? Absolutely!  I am hoping to add community member to that list, but it takes time.  For now, “whitey” “snowflake” “snow white” “white gyal”  or “snow angel” are used to describe me when I am out and about; I’ve always been pale and so I don’t see that one changing.

Until next time!

-KB

Cooking in Guyana....Bakes!!

Since it has been raining so much I've been able to test out some Guyanese cooking.  My favorite new food is called Bake.  It is kind of like fried dough, but it tastes amazing!  People eat it here with something called Salt Fish and it is delicious!  I also found a local street vendor that makes potato or chicken filled bake which is definitely my favorite.  I have to be careful not to eat too many or else I might start looking like one. :-)

Making bakes!

What they should look like when done

Bake (Float)
3 cups all purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/3 cup sugar
4 tbsp butter
pinch of salt
about 1 cup water*
Mix flour, baking powder, salt and sugar together in a bowl.  With  a fork, or using your hand(quick method) rub butter into flour mixture.  Add water to make a firm dough, but not stiff.  Dough should be easy to roll.   Let dough sit, covered for at least half an hour.  Roll dough to about 1/2 inch in thickness and cut with a biscuit cutter.   Heat about 3 inches of oil on a medium fire.  Fry dough until golden brown, flipping once.   Best when served hot.


Recipe adapted from http://www.jehancancook.com/?p=873

Keep Your Head Above Water and March On

Storm clouds rolling in for rainy season

During rainy season many places flood, which can be a big health issue

The announcer on the radio said that May and June are the rainiest months in Guyana. I haven’t been here for too many months, but long enough to notice the change in weather. Once May hit, there has been rain all during the night and periodically throughout the day. There have even been a few good thundersto

Marching for Midwifery Day- Maternal health is HUGE in Guyana

rms, which always evoke a sense of exhilaration. Guyana, the land of many waters, now has water rising everywhere. You see people out in their tall boots trying to navigate their flooded yards or cars careening through water logged streets. Everyone is just trying to stay dry and above the murky, creature filled waters (see previous posts if you want to know what may be lurking in that water). Meanwhile, I too am trying to keep afloat. I have learned a lot in the past few months; I have been turned upside down, spun around, and some days contemplate if the hypothetical “up” even exists. I ride each wave of ups and downs, preferably swinging in my hammock listening to music. It is funny because each day it is something different. Some days I have no water or current, I find a favorite American food, my co-workers will bring something special for me, or I’ll be told essentially that I look like a hot mess. Others evoke feelings comprised of a deeper substance, I’m really getting to know the other volunteers in my region, I feel I’m not being productive, my co-workers have taken me under their wings and are getting me involved in different events, or that I’m always in the spotlight, constantly gauging my actions and emotions. Nevertheless, the longer I am here the more I am learning. For instance, Americans (and the British, so I’ve been told) can say no in such a nice way it almost sounds like yes. In Guyana, people are much more deliberate and will straight up tell you no (or that you really should brush your hair).

Marching in the rain

I am also learning that I need to change some of my thinking. I don’t know if this is a common occurrence among other volunteers, but I have thought and dreamed of plans and scenarios for where I will be after my service. The main problem is I am trying to fast forward two very important years of my life. Why would anyone want to automatically be two years older and simultaneously deprived of the memory of here and now? Little by little this mode of thinking is changing. I am paying more attention to the plans I have next week instead of next week two years from now. Roots are creeping their way out of my mind and I can feel them yearning for a place to grow. I think I am beginning to find those places. I was fortunate to attend two marches with the School of Nursing. One was at my site for International Midwifery day and the other was for Nurse’s Week up in a place called Skeldon (you can see Suriname across the river from there). Although I am neither a nurse nor midwife, the feeling of solidarity was riveting and I was happy to lend my support to the students, nurses, and midwives of Guyana (we even made it in the local paper! ) Nurses and midwives are very important worldwide and essential to health care (if you haven’t recently you really should thank them for all of the good work they do!).

View from Sandhill

I have also been going on walks/ mini parades with the neighborhood kids to a place they call Sand Hill. It is basically a place where a bunch of sand is dumped into giant mounds, but it elicits joy and adventure from my neighbors. It is hard not to get wrapped up in their excitement and it reminds me of when I would spend hours playing in a creek near my house. One of my favorite parts of Sand Hill is this one particular view. When the sun is setting, it illuminates the clouds with magnificent colors behind a set of palm trees. It makes me think of how wild this part of Guyana must have been and also stirs some of the adventure and excitement I felt when I first started out on my journey. I know I will ride the waves and continue marching along, exploring the unknown, even if it turns out to be just a big, exciting, pile of sand.

Hope everyone is enjoying the warm weather! It is still winter in my mind in the States!

-KB

My neighbors also had a baby parrot I got to hold!

My little neighbors playing at Sandhill

In case the link above doesn't work. http://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2012/05/05/gphc-honours-midwife-on-international-day-of-midwives/