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

Forming New Habits

Whew! So I have been in Guyana nearly three months and it has been about a month since I wrote my last post (sorry!). Time seems to be flying as it tends to do. Now I could go through the details of everything that has happened in the past month or so, but I think that would be incredibly boring for you to read. In a nutshell, I endured my last week of training, swore in as a volunteer (yay!), and headed off to my site in New Amsterdam.

Me in traditional African clothing and my counterpart for swear in ceremony.

Since the milestone of becoming an official volunteer, I’ve been acclimating to my new environment; finding out what is where, who people are, and where I might fit in. I should add that the grace period for the “figuring stuff out” part was pretty short lived. It’s more like I am spotting things as I go. Within the first week, I was teaching classes and playing soccer with the neighborhood kids. The community I live in is already used to having a Peace Corps volunteer, so they have an idea as to what to expect. Of course I on the other hand, through polite smiles and good mornings, am asking myself “Was that the right thing to say/do? What was her name again? Where doRunner’s World (thanks Tulane package!) and they said that it takes three weeks to establish habits/routines. I have been at my site for a little over three weeks now, so that would make sense and believe me, there are a lot of new habits/routines/things in general I have (almost) gotten used to.

I find that place? Did I just look like a big idiot?” The latter question I tend to ask myself quite a lot. Nevertheless, I think time is flying because I have established a sort of routine. I was just reading

Water:
Water runs from the main pipe at certain times of the day, which means you have to pump water (when it is running) to fill your tank for use when the water isn’t on. Pumping water inevitably means that I get drenched in a shooting stream of water as I try to attach the pipes up to the pump. I also found that the pipe to my shower sometimes breaks open and depletes my whole water tank (hopefully I solved that problem with my med kit tape). The water also likes to spurt out leafy looking brown goo from time to time, which can be a surprise when you are showering or trying to clean dishes. The best thing about the water is that if you shower at the right time of day, the water is hot because it is warmed by the sun. Everyone likes a hot shower every once and a while.

Critters:
The last volunteer had a cat and dog that are now owned by the neighbors’ upstairs, but the pets still think of the downstairs as their true home. I am an animal person so it is nice to have some extra company; unfortunately, those aren’t the only critters in my house. If I go into my kitchen at night, I have to be armed with shoes and a broom. My house even eerily hums because of the hundreds of mosquitoes flying around. There is no telling what I might find when I turn on the light. I have toads, salamanders, cockroaches, giant spiders, and who knows what else. It was once horrifying and now it is becoming kind of a sport (except for the giant spiders). It was also half amusing, half terrifying when a fellow volunteer came over and he tried to kill a cockroach with a broom. It was the night we both figured out not only do cockroaches move fast, these ones can actually fly! He took one swipe at the cockroach with the broom and the thing flew towards us. We both freaked out and I might have pushed him into the path of the oncoming flying danger (hopefully I will be forgiven for that one). Needless to say I am very thankful for my mosquito net, which I diligently tuck into my mattress every night.

Neighbors/Children
At any given time, there are about 10 kids in or around my yard. My house is always bustling as I live below six of the aforementioned kids. It is both great and requires some patience. Since I live on my own, it is really nice to have the kids around. They are always game to play sports, do some crafts, or just hang out. Sometimes when I think I am done for the day, I will be enticed into a game of yard soccer and end up playing for a few hours. The older girls have also gotten me into watching these soap operas about African Lady Gaga and Beyonce. They will invite me upstairs (I don’t have a TV or internet in my house) and we will make fun of what is going on. Remind me to bring some back to the U.S.! I am, however, happy that my bathroom does not have windows. The kids are always checking to see what I am up to and I have been woken up at 6am by them calling me through my bedroom window. I was worried about living on the bottom level as I have this inherent fear of looking out my window and seeing someone staring back at me. Someone must have tipped the kids off to this, as their new favorite game is to try to scare me by staring at me through the window. All in good fun.

Biking
I am glad that I biked to work in D.C. because I bike everywhere at my site. It is the best method of transportation (except during downpours) and it saves me time and money, not to mention the added exercise. Biking is also usually the time where I ask myself the “do I look like a big idiot” question. I always have my large backpack to cart groceries or the day’s supplies. Also, wearing a helmet is uncommon here:
Man at Post Office: Are you American?
Me: Yes….
Man at Post Office: Oh I can tell because you are wearing a helmet. Americans always wear helmets. Are you all just accident prone?
Me: No… we are not accident prone.
Man at Post Office: Okay so just you are then?
Me: No, it is Peace Corps policy and I’d rather crack my helmet than split my head open.
Man at Post Office: Oh okay got it.
Me: [Thinking while biking away] Don’t crash into anything or fall over while this guy is watching you!
 


I do get a little nervous with traffic here, as the drivers are a bit fast and crazy and there is an unlimited amount of obstacles that come into play. I almost ran into another biker the first day biking around because he suddenly stopped to say hi to someone.

Even with all of these new habits, I’ve still managed to keep some of the old. I am running in the mornings and am actually training to run a marathon in Barbados in December (come join me!). I also have been cooking a lot and using a cookbook with recipes from past PC Guyana volunteers. I have become sort of a "Freetarian", which means I only eat meat if someone gives it to me; otherwise it is too expensive and not super sanitary. I do however still look around when my students address me as Miss. Brooks or sister, but there is still time to get used to that.

Pumpkin Curry!  Recipe to Follow!

I will try to be more diligent with my blog posts but until next time! Also thanks for the birthday wishes! I had a great birthday week filled with a beach visit, mac n cheese (of course!), and lots of other good food and fellow volunteers.


-KB

Today Was a Good Day

As the title of this post says, today was a good day and I kind of needed it. I've been in a funk the past few days and I'm not quite sure why. I had a wonderful site visit last week. I have a cute apartment, complete with furnishings, acquired pets, and a constant supply of cockroaches. I was walking around my house with a broom before I went to bed at night and killed a significant amount of them. Luckily, I have a mosquito net which keeps most critters out. I live below a large family with 6 kids. They seem pretty nice and there is always someone around to play with.

I will be working at the New Amsterdam School of Nursing and possibly teaching Community Health and Anatomy & Physiology. My introduction to all 178 students went something like this:

Tutor over the microphone: Students, I'd like you to all meet our new Peace Corps volunteer Mrs. Brooks
Me: (quietly whispering ) Excuse me, I'm not married
Tutor over the microphone: You're not married?!!
Me: Umm..no not yet
Tutor over the microphone: Ohhhh, okay. Well students this is Miss. Brooks...

Besides the marital status mix up, I am really excited to be working at the school. It is going to be a big challenge teaching so many students that are around my age, but I think I can pull it off. I am also very grateful for the current volunteers at my site because they were awesome and showed me around and even cooked dinner. :-)

This is where I will be working for the next 2 years!

This was the original maternal and child health bed in the clinic

So despite the encouraging visit, some how I landed flat at the beginning of this week. Maybe I've been a bit homesick or just a bit nostalgic/jealous of the Cherry Blossom pictures people are posting (having access to FB can be a blessing and a curse). Fortunately, today was just what I needed. A group of us on the Health side has been working with a local health center. This was our week of project implementation. We really weren't given much time to organize everything and gather supplies, so I was a little worried about how much we would be able to get done. Our goals were to fix the examining bed for pregnant moms, cut down all the weeds surrounding the center, and general clean up. In short, a health center beautification project. On Tuesday, we did a general clean up, put up health posters, and secured a cushion for the maternal health bed. Today we were set on painting and still in desperate need of someone to cut the grass. Soon after arriving for the day, we had a whole group of Community Health Worker students, the clinic staff, and ourselves listening to music, painting, and chatting.

Working with the health centre staff to beautify the clinic!

Even better, we had a potluck style lunch to keep us all going. However, we still had money in our budget for someone (anyone at this point) to cut the grass. A neighbor stopped by the clinic for a check-up and we told him about our tall grass situation. He said he'd go check, hopped on his bike, and came back a bit later to say a guy would be coming, just now. I'm not sure if I mentioned this, but just now is a Guyanese phrase that means now, a few hours from now, a few days, weeks, or months from now, and any time in between. To our surprise, just now meant about 10 mins and we had someone chopping away at the tall grass. We finished our mural and took a step back to realize all of the positive changes we were able to make with a small budget, a short time frame, and some really great relationships with our clinic staff.

Only 1 week left until I am a full fledged volunteer!! Until then!

-KB