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