From Guyana-land to Paradise and Back

“The traveler’s past changes according to the route he has followed: not the immediate

past, that is, to which each day that goes by adds a day, but the more remote

past. Arriving at each new city, the traveler finds again a past of his that he

did not know he had: the foreignness of what you no longer are or no longer

possess lies in wait for you in foreign, unpossessed places.” –Italo Calvino

Soon after arriving in Guyana, I marked BARBADOS in big, bold letters on my calendar for December.  I barely knew much about Guyana, let alone Barbados, but that was where I was determined to go in December, even if I had to swim over myself and pitch a tent somewhere.  I only really knew there were white sand beaches and clear water, which was enough to spark some interest.  The flight promised to be reasonable and what other time in my life would I be so close to this country?  As time went on, rumors of other volunteers’ visits lapped in my ears.  Delicious foods like sushi, time to relax, no trash, places to go out further fueled my desire to go.  Still, quite characteristic of myself I barely made our flight out.  I am highly motivated by food it seems and I just had to stop at Bruester’s before Matt, another volunteer, and I headed out.  Nevertheless, we made it and an hour plane ride later, we stepped foot in Barbados.  I also got to meet up with my two good friends from home, which was amazing and comforting to see them.  Just being able to hang out with them like old times made the trip even more worthwhile. 

            Barbados was like having one foot in the Caribbean and one foot in America at the same time.  It was glorious.  We went into the supermarket and I think I did back flips and cartwheels in sheer joy.  Luckily, Matt was there to share my excitement because my two friends from home were sort of like “Really?  It’s just a supermarket!” I think I blacked out at some point of that shopping trip and woke up somewhere in the cheese aisle drooling with like 5 different types of cheese already in my basket. 

 I did sort of resist things at first.  Maybe it was a little reverse culture shock.  I went running and was annoyed by how touristy things were. Where were all the mango trees, the market to buy greens?  Is that a Soursop tree?  Where did all these other white people come from?  Is there any Bajan food?  Then I started to notice, no one was yelling or sipping at me while I was running.  The streets were very clean, no trash.  There were public buses that were big, and ran relatively on time.  I could walk around and not have to worry about people bothering me or being chased by angry dogs.  Suddenly all of the stressors I just factored into my everyday life were lifted and I was conveniently left with white sand beaches and the clearest blue water I had ever seen in my life.  I did however, not forget about Guyanese culture.  I asked for pepper sauce when I ordered my food, I had a few phrases and a slight accent I couldn’t shake, and I was making comparisons between the Guyanese and Bajans. 

“You like pepper?? Where are you from?”  “Your accent is interesting, where did you learn that phrase?”  “You live in Guyana?  Are you married to a Guyanese?” 

I probably was irritating with my inclination to compare Guyana with Barbados, but it was interesting to me.  Those comments made me feel a little less touristy because I felt like I actually knew something about Caribbean culture.  It was probably also driven by the heavily ingrained Peace Corps doctrine to integrate, integrate, integrate.  I noticed I did possess a confidence to navigate a new place.  I road on the public buses, not entirely sure where they went; I got pretty lost one day and just asked people until I found my way.  I wasn’t worried or scared, I had been navigating a new place for 10 months now and it was sort of old hat.  It was also funny to see some things that my friends were worried about, such as no A/C, bugs, lighting a gas stove, I just sort of shrugged.  I’m sure it was funny for them to see me freak out about having some of my clothes washed by a washing machine, being able to do my hair, and did I mention eating lots of good food?  I even smoothed talked our way to get into this sushi place when the guy originally said they were packed.  “But we are Peace Corps volunteers living in Guyana” I pleaded, “this is our one real shot at sushi for a long time, we can sit at separate tables, it’s not a big deal.”  As long as we got to eat sushi and we did.  

I was relaxed, comfortable really and I didn’t even realize that I had needed a vacation.  Luckily, those bold letters were marked on my calendar and I followed through.  I saw beautiful beaches, hung out with my friends, and maybe stayed up a little too late.  Did I mention it was glorious?  As the last day of the trip rolled around, I started to get this feeling of anxiousness that gurgled up from the bottom of my stomach.  I had found something I didn’t know I missed or had just buried it far enough down so I didn’t think I missed it.  If you look at my last blog post, I talked about being so invested in Guyana.  I do care, so why did the very thought of going back made me so horribly uneasy?  I still don’t think I can quite explain it, but the aforementioned quote might help a little. 

“The traveler finds again a past of his that he did not know he had: the foreignness of what you no longer are or no longer possess”

In the new land of Barbados, I dug up things I no longer possess in Guyana.  I am pretty certain we bury those things because it just makes life easier.  It doesn’t mean that you don’t want them back; they are just treasures waiting for another day.  Unfortunately, when you aren’t yet half way through your service, digging them up and burying them back again can be a bit painful.  It reminds me that doing Peace Corps and living in Guyana takes a lot of motivation.  I have lived here for long enough that I didn’t notice the absence of those things as much; I just took it in stride.  We always talk about not having the “real” Peace Corps experience living in Guyana, but it is safe to say that we do face our share of challenges. 

I would love to go home for the holidays but judging by my reluctance to leave Barbados, I am not sure how I would have handled leaving home again.  Fortunately, the other volunteers leaving Barbados felt the same way and we were able to commiserate.  We all made the choice to be here and we all know we want to be; sometimes it just takes some extra convincing, especially when you are leaving a place close to paradise.  Now Barbados is starting to seem like some sort of dream as my mind becomes clearer of my present circumstances.  It all did happen I am certain (and have photo evidence), but the further it escapes the view of the rearview mirror, the more reminding you have to do.  At some point you just get tired of it and set your eyes on enjoying the present. If all else fails, just turn up the music and dance.

                                

I now get to enjoy a 3 week break because my students have a Christmas concert and dinner this week and then 2 weeks off after that.  I will be attending several Christmas concerts, dinners, and holiday lightings.   We also are getting together as volunteers to celebrate Christmas and possibly New Years.  I am sure I will find more things to keep myself busy and get ready for the start of a new year.   My little neighbors are also mad at me for being away so much so I bet a lot of my time will be spent with them.  I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and an excellent New Years!!!  I will be thinking about you all as I celebrate in Guyanese fashion.  :-D

Lots of Love,

KB

P.S.  I was reminded that Guyana still has snorkeling and a wonderful beach! :-)

Cooking in Guyana....Pine Tarts!!

In Guyana we have the best pineapple!  Here everyone calls it "pine."  I never knew that pineapples actually on sort of a bushy plant in the ground.  I believe they also take about 9 months or so to grow.  Each plant has one big pine that comes out on top.  Since fresh pine is so easy to come by, a nice sweet treat is something called a pine tart.  It is kind of like a cherry turnover or a mini pine filled with pineapple. As volunteers we joke about finding who makes the best pine tart (and other baked goods) in our communities.  I haven't tried to make them yet myself, but here is the recipe:

550 × 381 - jehancancook.com

Guyanese Short Crust Pastry Dough (Makes 1lb pastry dough)
Ingredients:
4 cups flours
1 cup vegetable shortening (1 stick)
1/4 cup butter
about 8 Tbsp ice cold water
Directions:
Rub/cut/mix shortening and butter into flour until mixture forms a bread crumb like texture. Add ice water, 1 tbsp at a time, and pinch mixture together to form a soft dough. Do not knead. Separate mixture into two and chill in the refrigerator for as least 1 hour. When chilled, use dough to make any Guyanese pastry combination.
Pine (Pineapple) Tarts (makes about 1 dozen)
Ingredients:
Filling:
3 cups crushed pineapples
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp cinnamon powder
1 egg yolk (beaten)
(You will need a large circular object to use as a mould and a rolling pin)

Crust:
1 lb short crust pastry dough (see above for recipe)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Filling: combine all the ingredients into a small saucepan and cook on medium heat until pineapple juice cooks down and mixture forms a jam-like paste. Set aside and let cool.
Crust:(See above).
Shaping pine tarts: Separate pastry dough into 10 or 12 pieces. Roll each piece on a floured surface until dough is the thickness of a coin. Using a circular mould cut rolled dough into circles. Fill circle with a heaped tablespoon of pineapple filling and shape into a triangle. Seal ends with a fork. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper,  then coat with egg yolk and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 to 25 mins.
Tips and Rambling:
1. Now that you know how to make pastry dough you can make pine tarts, patties, cheese rolls, cheese pies and many other Guyanese short crust pastries.
2. You can make the pine tart filling as sweet as you like, or not so sweet if you prefer, but adding more or reducing the amount of sugar.
3. Some people also add ground cloves to their pine tart filling.
4. In the video I add the butter after I’ve mixed in the shortening to ensure that it is well blended. You can add the butter at the same time as the shortening if you prefer.

Recipe adapted from: http://metemgee.com/tag/how-to-make-guyanese-pinetarts/

Invested

Diya lighting the path

We have finally hit double digits.  We are in the big leagues now.  Not exactly newcomers and not exactly old timers.  I had a dream last night about leaving Guyana and I awoke with a deep sense of sadness.  Maybe it was because I was feeling particularly Guyanese yesterday.  I was amongst the regulars at the Saturday market, waving to several people who actually called me by name instead of the usual “white gyal.”  I bought a coconut shredder and used it to make coconut milk for shrimp curry.  Of course when you have shredded coconut, you also have to make Guyanese sugar cake.  Maybe it was because I spent most of the day with my little neighbors who half the time drive me absolutely crazy and the other half make me absolutely adore them.   We pretty much wreaked havoc on my entire house making pancakes and having a dance competition where they dressed up in some of my clothes.  I’m glad that my every day clothes are great for dress up!  That dream made me realize how invested I am here.  I was before, but in a different sort of way.  I was invested in the idea of Peace Corps.  I re-arranged my life and was ready for 2 years of whatever it had to offer.  That was my original investment.  I can tell you, while preparing your life for this type of change is a big deal; it doesn’t have the strong binding sense that you would think.  I remember how overwhelmed I felt when I first moved to my site.  There were spiders and cockroaches and a whole neighborhood full of people to meet.  I knew nothing.  Every cell in my body was screaming at me to get out now and run as fast as I could away from this place.  Deep down I knew I wasn’t going anywhere.  I had already made my original investment hadn’t I?  But I still had those thoughts. 

Condom race at Mini GLOW

                I started writing this post at 5AM (Guyana has REALLY changed my sleeping habits) and at precisely 5:30AM, when I figured I could go back to sleep, my little neighbor knocked on my window asking if I was ready to go run.  I rolled out of bed and got ready to go.  A song by Mumford and Sons states, “Where you invest your love, you invest your life.”   My stomach always knew Guyana and I would be fast friends, but my heart was a little more apprehensive.  I did have a few early set-backs that put my guard up and often in Peace Corps you find your love tends to be unrequited.  The rule of thumb is to proceed with cautious optimism.  Nonetheless, Guyana has slowly crept its way into my heart.  I could tell from how devastated I felt when I knew my students had a tough time on my section of the national exam they recently took.  I could tell when one of the women in a group I work with asked me to write down some information for her because she wanted to be able to present on a health topic.  Certainly, rolling out of bed at 5:30AM on a Sunday morning is more than enough proof for me to see that my heart, my life, are indeed invested.   My investment is no longer a matter of what things I changed at home to come here, it is now that things here matter to me.

                I am seriously surprised that 10 months have already flown by.  There is a quote by C.S. Lewis that sums the whole thing up very nicely: “Isn’t it funny how day by day nothing changes, but when you look back, everything is different.”  To think back where I was this time last year is almost surreal.  It also scares me how fast time has been flying.  Two years seems like a long time, but in terms of making any sort of difference, it’s hardly enough.   Something I’ve also noticed is a change in my planning.  I used to think and even posted about all of the different scenarios for my life after Peace Corps.  I would sit in my hammock and day dream about them.  Now I am planning month to month.  The thought of life after Peace Corps ironically seems further off than before and a bit more daunting than I originally romanticized.  Instead, those plans are now neatly, nestled in the back of my mind.  

Diya Lighting

We had a lot of success with our mini camp GLOWS and also got to celebrate Diwali a Hindu festival of lights.  It was really amazing to see all of the houses lit up with small candles called Diya.   Also, many mandirs have competitions where they decorate floats with lights and scenes with a god called Latchmi.  Each village will pick their best Latchmi to represent them.  (For more information about Diwali click here!)

          



I also thought that I would have January to reflect and re-organize myself a bit in terms of projects and plans.  It seems, however, that things keep popping up, so we shall see if that actually happens.  For now, I am ready to leave for my first vacation of the year to Barbados.  To say that I am excited is a drastic understatement, but it will do.  I am also looking forward to celebrating Christmas in Guyana.  Apparently, it is kind of a big deal. People are really starting to decorate-I’ve been told I should have Christmas curtains- and the blasting Soca music, which normally tells people to wine up and down has changed to the more wholesome melodies of Santa Cluase is Comin’ to Town. 

Beautiful Latchmi

                I hope everyone had a great Turkey Day.  Admittedly, it was a little sad here but we all got together as volunteers and had quite a delicious feast (turkey included).  We plan on doing the same for Christmas.

Lit up Diwali float

Sending much love from Guyana!

-KB

Cooking in Guyana....Egg Balls!

I feel like every month I get addicted to a new Guyanese food.  There are so many that are so delicious.  We really can't complain too much about food here at all.  My new favorite thing is called an egg ball.  It is a hard boiled egg covered in cassava or potato and then lightly fried.  Some people will eat it with sour (a tangy sauce made of either mango, tamarind, or cucumber).  Enjoy!




1 1/2 lb cassava a.k.a yuca
2 tbsp butter
6 eggs
salt and black pepper to taste
flour to roll balls in

Boil cassava and 5 eggs in salted water for about 25 to 30 mins until cassava is fork tender, drain.  Mash cassava until smooth, take out the lumpy bits that cannot be mashed.  Peel the eggs and set aside.  Add 1 raw egg, butter, salt and pepper to the cassava, mix well.  For egg balls, cover the eggs with the cassava to form a ball.  The egg should be completely covered by the cassava mixture.  Roll in flour and fry until golden brown.  Serve these with mango chutney or mango achaar.

Recipe adapted from: http://www.jehancancook.com/?p=207

Across Four Rivers

A Piranha bit your finger??!!  What?! 

A Piri captured from the river..many people are missing toes who live near the water

Okay, let me back this story up for a second.  I know I said last month I didn’t have that many new things to report, but silly me.  This is Guyana and I am a PCV, just when you think you’ve seen mostly everything, something else comes up and bites you, or perhaps someone sitting in the same speed boat. 

I was charged with the task of carting some supplies for our mini Camp GLOW all the way from town to Moruca, an Amerindian village about four or so hours away.  Transporting already can be stressful, but add some hula hoops, a canvass, and a large box filled with arts and crafts and you triple your trans p fun.  Luckily, I had some volunteers to help me along the way, which made everything a bit easier.  It was my first time on the other side of the country, the largest region/area of Guyana called Essiquibo.   

View of the Essiquibo River from the speed boat

Catching a speed boat

The Essiquibo River is so large that you need to take a speed boat for 45 minutes to get across it.  It is a beautiful ride, but not calm and tranquil at all. In fact, I would say the Essiquibo boat ride, or at least the first one I rode on was the antithesis of tranquil.  I got all of my stuff loaded on to this speed boat and waited for us to leave.  Gradually we pulled out of the stelling and on to the main waterway.  The boat picked up speed jerking everything inside towards the back as the stern lifted high out of the water.  Each wave pummeled the boat back down towards the water, creating quite a bumpy ride.  This would have been a lot more fun if I wasn’t terrified that my bag, which was leaning slightly out of the boat at the very front, would go flying into the rough waters.  As furiously as I was willing my bag to stay in the boat, the Guyanese were also on a mission not to get soaked by the spray of waves raining down on us.  Each row was issued a tarp that everyone strategically hoisted at the right, or not so right moment, to avoid being drenched.  Unfortunately, the tarp blocked any sort of vision I had of my bag, especially when we hit the worst bumps.  This of course was not helpful to me, the mad woman sitting poised for action, ready to leap into the water if my bag decided to jumped ship.  Everything ended up making it across the river safely and I waited for a car to take me on the next part of my journey.  I did almost forget my hula hoops, but luckily someone noticed and I caught the speed boat before it left. 

Another volunteer and I made it to the next stelling in a bustling town called Charity.  We had been waiting for our next speed boat to Moruca at the dock and had been chatting away.  We failed to notice the cause of commotion that was happening right near our boat.  A little while later, we stumbled upon an interesting scene as we boarded.  There was a young, teenage girl sitting on the boat gingerly holding her hand that was wrapped in a bandage.  A woman sitting next to her was feverishly cleaning a beautifully decorated white wedding cake with a toothbrush and vodka.   Perplexed?  So were we.  It turned out that the teenaged girl was resting her hand on the side of the boat,  NOT in the water.  Apparently, a super hungry Piranha hurtled itself out of the water towards this unsuspecting girl’s hand.  It did some damaged and chomped on this girl’s finger, which sprayed blood across the boat.  To make this very anomalistic situation worse, the wedding cake that this woman carefully carried on mini bus and speed boat (no easy feat), received the brunt of the onslaught of blood.  For some reason the lid on the container the cake was in was off at the time of the attack.  Thus we found the frantic woman trying to scrub droplets of blood off of a wedding cake.  It was a very bizarre situation, most likely exacerbated by the determination of the woman to serve the wedding cake, blood and all, to guests at the wedding the next day. 

Organizing sessions

Mini Camp GLOW at Moruca Secondary

"What we learned from camp"

Doing some stress relief

My friend and I eventually made it to Moruca for mini camp GLOW and it was pretty awesome.  It felt very different from our week long camp GLOW, but the girls in Moruca enjoyed it.  It was also amazing to see our GLOW girls take on leadership roles and run some of the camp sessions.  Mini camp was much more relaxed than our week long camp, which was welcomed.  It meant our GAD taskforce group got a chance to bond and enjoy Moruca.  Moruca is one of the largest Amerindian communities in Guyana.  It is a really beautiful village and we were even able to see some monkeys and go for a swim.  Apparently they also have toucans, but they must have been hiding while I was there.  Some of the other GAD members took the boat back towards town a day earlier than I did with some of the camp supplies.  The boat ride is very early (5AM) so everyone was half asleep.  When I finally met them in town, they told me that once the boat got going, the lid to the arts and craft box blew off before they were awake enough to realize the glitter and notebooks scattering everywhere.  They had to turn the boat back to collect the lid.  

 

A villager paddling a corial or dug out canoe

A 5am boat ride is the only ride out of Moruca, but it is beautiful

Perfect view of what they call the rivering savannah in Guyana

I spent the rest of the week in town for a GAD taskforce meeting.  I must say, we are pretty good eaters as a group.  We ate lots of fall themed ice cream flavors at Brusters and did some serious damage on an Indian food lunch buffet.  There was a big Halloween/Birthday party on the weekend, so we all used our PC resourcefulness and created some very unique costumes. 

Mario and Luigi

Dori the fish and a flamingo

I made some Halloween crafts with the kids so they got to partake in some festivities as well

 It was a lot of fun, but I was also yearning to get back to my site.  If I had known what awaited me, I might have considered staying away a few extra days.  My neighbor greeted me when I came home and said she missed me and that my house had some foul odor emanating from it.  Uh-oh!  I cautiously entered my house and prepared for the worst.  I did indeed find the remnants of the worst.  Somehow a large rat found its way into my bedroom and decided to produce copious amounts of poop and die underneath my bed.  Then something (probably my cat) ate it and the whole thing was just a dried out, shriveled up, stinking mess.  When you get home exhausted at 8pm from traveling, the only thing you can do is get rid of the dead body and pour bleach all over the floor.  Luckily, I have two bedrooms, so I decided to sleep in the rat-free one.

Once again, I am back at my site, but not for long.  This weekend I have the next mini camp GLOW in Black Bush.  I am also attending a woman’s networking event at the end of November and of course we are all getting together for a big potluck style Thanksgiving dinner.  I am so happy that I have had the opportunity to travel, but I feel very out of the loop when I return back to site.  You kind of lose the groove of fitting in and just being a part of things.  I am looking forward to January to stay put for a while.

I hope everyone enjoys their Turkey Day with their friends and family.  Please know that I am forever thinking about you!  I am beyond thankful to have you in my life and for all of your support and encouragement while I am here in Guyana.  It really does mean everything to me-in case I haven’t had the chance to tell you yet.  :-)  Gobble Gobble!

-KB