Finding a Little Bit of Home Away From Home

I am not sure how many of you like to travel or have lived in many different places, but I find that in new places I always try to connect things back to what I know. It is the same for when you learn a new language; you look for cognates or similar sounding words and pretty soon you can say a few phrases.

When I look at where I am, part of me thinks I am just in another part of the U.S. When I was in the capital city Georgetown, I was reminded of the vendors selling their goods in Chinatown NYC. As I ride in cars around West Demerara ( a little more rural/country) I can almost picture some of the same houses in New Orleans. Someone once told me that New Orleans is the closest city to a third world country you can find in the U.S. I absolutely LOVE New Orleans and mean no disrespect, but I have found a lot of truth to that statement.

As I mentioned above, I love NOLA and was really missing the Mardi Gras festivities this year (Yes, I do have Mardi Gras beads in my room). So I was very excited to hear that Mashramani (Mash), a holiday to celebrate Guyana as a Republic, is celebrated with dancing, bright colors, glitter, a parade, and floats! ( To learn more about Mash click here!) I went with my host mom and had a pretty good time. We even managed to walk in the middle of the parade trying to meet up with people. While I missed eating King Cake and dodging beads flying at my head, I did enjoy eating lots of Guyanese food, listening to some bumping music, and seriously contemplated how some of the performers moved their bodies the way they did.

Parade at Mash, people get all dressed up and dance to soca music

As for other home away from home events, our group managed to have a "Happy Hour." Imagine about 20 something foreigners descending on an unsuspecting fried chicken fast food restaurant. It was a great way to hang out after a long week of training and the fried chicken was pretty good.
Another night, some of us went out for some good old fashioned Karaoke. This also consisted of a disproportionate amount of foreigners invading a local place. The locals actually took their Karaoke very seriously and sang a lot of Celine Dion and some very heartfelt love songs. I personally enjoyed some of the videos that were played along with the songs. They featured Americans who seemed very emotional and who were sporting some very funky attire. If those videos were all you had to go on, I would be giving Americans some really weird looks too.
To round out the weekend, a bunch of us went to a fellow trainee's house and had a Thanksgiving like feast. We ate a TON and sat around sharing stories and laughing until we had to make our way home. It really reminded me of having potlucks at friend's houses or the "family dinners" I would have with roommates and of course my actual family.

It is amazing that even in such unfamiliar territory, I am still looking for the familiar "homes" I have lived in. It might be the easiest way to accept change, find all of the similarities you can hold on to and then take baby steps towards the big, scary differences. And believe me, the differences can be scary. Just look at was in my dinner the other night:

Cook-Up Rice  Recipe to Follow!

Yes, that honeycomb looking meat is cow intestine.


:-)

-KB

Here's to New Experiences

Naturally, when you move to a country you've never been to before, you are going to get some different experiences. It is part of the reason why I signed up for the Peace Corps, to experience different people, cultures, foods, and to gain work experience. I always say that I am willing to try most things once, for the experience. But what makes an experience different from just going about your day to day business? The dictionary states that "an experience is the fact or state of having been affected by or gained knowledge through direct observation or participation." That describes the process, but in more precise, meaningful terms, an experience is "the conscious events that make up an individual life." They are the stories you tell, the pictures you show, and the things you laugh at and learn from.
So now that I have been very philosophical about gaining new experiences, I will let you in on one that was very surprising and of course a little embarrassing. My life here would not be complete without a few awkward/embarrassing moments (some things don't change).

Our training center for Peace Corps is made up of two rooms. For some sessions, our Health and Education Volunteers split up into separate rooms. The washroom (bathroom) also happens to be attached to the same room where the Education Volunteers have their sessions. Not a big deal. So today I went in and used the washroom (per usual) fixed my skirt, and walked out to wash my hands. I walked out of the room and back to the room where the other Health Volunteers were. As I was walking I noticed something kind of poking me in, well...the behind. I just thought it was a tag sticking out from somewhere and tried to ignore it. I tried to readjust my skirt, but then it started to get pretty painful. I felt the spot where I thought the problem was coming from. To my surprise/horror, I felt something and what ever it was got angry and started biting/stingy even more. Upon realizing that something alive and angry was in my unmentionables I proceeded to freak out. I shouted to the whole room that there was something in my pants and proceeded to sprint out yelling. I ran through the other room and straight into the bathroom. The Education Volunteers were very confused and amused as to why I sprinted full speed into the bathroom. I am sure my "Oh My God! Oh My God!" shouts from inside made it even better. I immediately looked at the troubled area and found a small black wasp literally attached to my derriere. I promptly smooshed the sucker and exited the washroom to explain what had happened. As I would have suspected, everyone laughed and sitting through training was a little more painful than usual. Luckily, I am not allergic to wasps/bees (I can't imagine how that would have played out) and it definitely will be a moment I won't soon forget. I was also reminded of how new experiences can humble us and how important it is to laugh at ourselves. I am, however, still quite perplexed as to how that wasp ended up where it did.

Until next time,

KB

Guyanese Work Out Plan

Cue alarm clock buzzing at 6:15am. I hop out of bed and almost step on a cockroach. I scream and promptly hop back into my bed, a good warm up. I kill the cockroach with a shoe and move on to arm strengthening with the back door. I manage to unlock and pry it open and head to the bathroom for Mosquito swatting. After I swing my flip flops wildly to kill about 5 or so Mosquitoes, I get dressed in my conservative running capris and t-shirt. I click my watch timer and head out of the gate. As I see my neighbors, I practice my "Good Morning" breathing techniques and hand waves. Suddenly, an angry, barking dog appears and I sprint faster down the street, good way to get the adrenaline going. Around the bend, I work on my agility by avoiding potholes, dead frogs, piles of animal poop, and other random obstacles (one day it was a whole cow skeleton). I get some curious stares from large cows and continue on my way. In the home stretch down the main road, truck drivers and other motorist try scare tactics by honking their horns to shake me off my route, but I keep going. I turn down the path towards my house and look at my watch. The numbers are rolling a little past 5.00. I look up at the familiar road ahead and repeat the loop until tired; sometimes saying Good Morning again to the same neighbors (Opps!).

Guyana Pepper Pot!  Recipe to follow!

Pretty much all of my community knows that I run in the mornings. I have walked around and met new neighbors and they always identify me as "that running girl". I don't always see them, but they definitely see me. If I run closer to 6am, there is barely anyone out and only a few cars on the road, which is nice. I also say "Good Morning" to almost everyone I see because it is polite and it avoids men from sipping or making comments when I run by. Unfortunately, I forget who I have said it to (it is early) and sometimes end up greeting people twice. My new biggest fan is a light tan dog that will wag his tail excitedly when he sees me and he will run about 2 feet behind me for a good stretch. I am sure this helps me blend in even more. I guess it is better than the first time I tried my loop in the afternoon. I had a whole group of young kids trying to run with me, in which I stopped running, found some bubbles I brought with me, and just played with them. Although my loop is only around a 5 min run, I am happy to report that every week I am doing more and more laps. This means that I feel more comfortable running in my community, everyone now expects to see me, and I need to do something to combat all the delicious curries, pepper pot, and bake I've been eating.

Hope all is well!

-KB

Cooking in Guyana....Pepper Pot!

Pepper Pot is a delicious mostly meat based dish cooked here in Guyana.  Most Guyanese make it during Christmas time.  Enjoy the recipe below:

2 pig trotters or 1 cow heel
2 lb stewing steak or brisket
8 oz pickled meat
2 lb ox tail
¼ pt cassareep
2 red peppers
1 inch piece dried orange or lemon peel
1 inch piece of cinnamon stick
3 cloves
2 oz sugar
salt to taste

 

Instructions:

Wipe and clean meat thoroughly.
Put heel or trotters in pan. Cover and bring to boil. Skim.
When half tender, add other mats, and hot water to cover. Cook for about 1 hour.
Add other ingredients and simmer until meat is tender. Adjust flavor for salt and sugar. Serve hot.

Serves 8

Note
This dish develops more flavor when left over a period of days. It must be reheated o boiling point each day. This is a typical Amerindian dish.

Recipe from http://www.guyanesepride.com/recipe/recipedetail.aspx?id=1419

Dogs, Birds, and Snakes...Oh My!

Writing blog posts every so often when you first arrive to a new country can be challenging. There are so many little moments and stories that you just want to share with everyone, either because those experiences are so different or they are just completely incredulous. I am trying to find a good balance of stories and observations/sentiments, so tonight I will share some animal

Food at the mini market by my host family's house

Chickens...about to be dinner

stories. I am living in West Demerara the "country" part of Guyana. It is pretty urban in my mind, except for the herds of goats, cows, and packs of dogs roaming around everywhere. We are frequently interrupted at our training site by mooing cows or some unbelievably curious goats who keep trying to enter our classroom.



Dogs

In all honesty, the state of most dogs here is pretty bad. It almost breaks my heart when I see them, especially knowing how smart and loving dogs can be. Nonetheless, they also can be little devils. When I first moved into my host family's house, I cleaned some of my shoes outside and left them out to dry. I started unpacking my things and happened to glance out of the window. Low and behold, I see the neighbor's dog happily chomping away at one of my running shoes! I ran out of the house and got it back, but talk about a welcoming. My host mom has a saying that in Guyana if you slip, you slide. I am thankful this wasn't one of those moments.

Birds

'Rico' the parrot

The birds in Guyana are beautiful! They fly around flaunting their vibrant colors of blues, yellows, and oranges. I feel like I've got my own nature sounds alarm clock because they are all singing bright and early in the morning. I would, however, like to disable loud, confused rooster sounds at 3am (still working on finding that button). My host family owns two birds; a parrot and a corunga (sp?)- a cousin of an Oriole. The parrot, Chico, is cool because he says a few words, but other times he makes really loud squawking noises, which I'm not too fond of. The other bird, Bing, lives in the house and is actually quite handsome, dressed in black and yellow. The family lets Bing out to fly around the house in the morning. I am used to animals and don't really mind dodging birds flying around my head, although it is a little odd doing this inside a house. One day Bing lands right next to me on the couch and my host family tells me to reach my hand out and see if he will hop on me. They said "Ohhh Bingy's gettin used to ya! Go ahead! Go ahead!" I was very uncertain about this situation and reluctantly reached my hand out to see if Bing was in fact my friend. As soon as I did he pecked hard at my finger and I jumped back. Then my host family responded "Ohhhhh!! No no no he is definitely not used to ya yet" and proceeded to put him back in his cage. Ohhh well, maybe he will be a bit more friendly next time.

Snakes!!

Big Comudi pulled from the trench

I knew before heading out to Guyana that they had some massive snakes. I saw pictures from some other volunteers and know that some people even eat snake meat. I never dreamed that I would encounter one on my first week here. I went out for a walk with my host mom and was about to head back home, when some of the boys were shouting about something. I saw them with this giant, rope-like object and realized it was a snake. They called it a Comudi, which they say is a baby Anaconda. If this one was a baby, I don't ever want to come across its mama. It had to have been about 7 feet long and it came out of the trench water that flows on either side of the road. Remind me NEVER to fall in one of those! Some of the villagers were posing with it in pictures and asked me if I wanted to do the same. While tempting, I told them maybe next time. I sprinted down the street to get my camera and fellow neighbor volunteer Wendy. I actually think many of the villagers were more surprised by us running than seeing the snake! A large group of neighbors were crowded around the snake to see if one of them could get it into a bag to take to the "zoo" (like I said before some people eat snake here). Someone did manage to bag the snake and put it in their car. Even amidst all of the excitement, I realized that this was the first time I was among the majority of the community and was reacting to a situation with them, instead of just looking from the outside in.

Giant Frog called a 'Crappo'

Hope you got a laugh or two out of some of these stories. I am sure there will be more to come. Miss you lots!

-KB

Whirlwind of a Week

Guy 24!!!  Right off the plane

It has been a full week since I embarked on this unknown Peace Corps experience. The thoughts I had in my head on Day 1 have drastically changed from the ones I have now. Our group of 31 arrived at Splashmin's Water Resort where we were greeted by trainers and other Guy 23 volunteers. We received some basic training about the Guyanese world we had really yet to explore. I couldn't help think that we were on some sort of a Survivor/Real World reality mix when we were asked to complete swimming, kayaking, and bike riding tests (challenges in my mind). They turned out to be fun over all and a chance for our group to bond. We also had a pretty awesome game of volleyball on the beach so we have become fast friends. On Saturday we braved the rain and packed in (smalled up) to a soggy, humid bus to meet our host families. I had butterflies in my stomach the whole way over. I didn't know what to expect! Each host parent stood up and said a Creolese saying and then the matching volunteer was announced. When my named was announced I gave my "new mom" a big hug. I was so excited to get to know her and her husband. It also turned out that another volunteer lived in my village so we packed into a car and went to our new home for the next 2 months.
HosFast forward a little bit and I can tell you that my host family is amazing! They are really kind people, always looking out for me, giving me advice, and making sure I feel right at home. They are very knowledgeable about a variety of things, so its always nice to chat and get their perspective. I am learning some Guyanese cooking methods and eating a ton of delicious food. On Saturday night I was watching the Barcelona game and chatting with my host dad about the team. I was convinced I was having one of those vivid dreams that the Malaria meds give you because it felt so similar to how I spend time with my own dad.

My host family

Gradually, I am getting accustomed to life here, such as how to greet people, how to catch a car, etc. For me, I am lucky and my host house still has many of the same comforts I enjoyed in the U.S. I know it won't always be like this, but I think my life will be a lot more urban than I initially expected. I thought I didn't have too many expectations, but living with similar U.S. comforts was not really among them. I guess everyone always has a picture of a rugged, sort of isolated Peace Corps experience, but that is only the experience of some. (Although living without A/C here is definitely going to be a challenge!) I think my expectations are things that I am coming to terms with and trying to focus on the big picture and the reasons I wanted to do Peace Corps in the first place.

Soursop

Thinking about the next two years of life can be very overwhelming so small steps will be key. For now, I am going to go enjoy some sour sap on the front porch with my host mom and see who is out and about. I hope all is well!!

Lots of Love,

Krista

My host mama and I :-)

P.S. The power just went out when I was about to post this...apparently blackouts are pretty frequent here so that should make for some interesting times

Cooking in Guyana.....Cook-Up Rice

Cook up rice is one of my favorite dishes in Guyana. It is rice cooked in coconut milk with veggies and some sort of meat.  It kind of reminds me of the Caribbean version of Jambalaya.  Cook-up is a main dish here and many Guyanese would agree that a meal is not complete without rice!

 
Black Eyed Peas Cook-up Rice with chicken and beef brisket
1 cup black eyed peas
3  lbs chicken, cut up
1 lb corned beef brisket, cut into bite sized pieces(you can use regular beef also)
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 scallion, finely chopped
about 10 sprigs thyme
1 13 oz can coconut milk
1 tbsp vegetable oil
2 cups rice
3 cups water
*I included the recipe for green seasoning at the bottom of the post.
Place peas in a a bowl with enough water to cover and soak overnight.  Strain the peas and set aside.  Season chicken with green seasoning* and let sit for at least an hour.
Place  beef brisket in pressure cooker with 3 cups water and pressure for 15 minutes.   If you do not have a pressure cooker cook for about 30 mins.   In a separate pot over a medium fire, add 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil.  Add chicken, black eyed peas, onion, garlic and thyme.  If you chose to use any type of pepper, now is the time to add it.  Cook chicken for 10 minutes.  Add coconut milk to chicken and cook for an additional 5 mins.   Add beef and 2 cups of the liquid that the beef was cooked in to the pot with the chicken.  Bring to a boil, add 2 cups rice and scallion.  Stir pot thoroughly, cover pot.   On a low fire, cook for 25 to 30 mins.  The rice should be tender and all of the liquid should be absorbed.  If rice is not tender and all of the liquid is gone, add water, a little at a time and continue to cook until rice is tender.
*Green seasoning is usually a mixture of onion, scallion, garlic, scotch bonnet pepper and salt that is finely chopped in the food processor or blender.  This is used to season meat and add flavor to food.  There are no exact measurements, you can use as little or as much of each ingredient according to your taste.

Recipe adapted from  http://www.jehancancook.com/?p=1203