Not Your Typical Road

Robert Frost talked about the importance of taking the road less traveled.  In his eyes it has “made all the difference.”  What difference is he talking about?  How do we know what the differences are if we only get to travel down one path at a time?  We don’t really get to compare.  Or do we? 

I am now 13 months into my service, pretty much smack dab in the middle.  I have reached the peak and am looking downhill towards the other side.  The only issue with traveling downhill is things tend to pick up speed.  It boggles my mind that an experience I dreamed about doing 4 years ago has not only come to reality, but now it is almost half way over.  Where did the time go?  I remember when people told me to enjoy college because it is the only time you will ever live that way in your life and it will go by quick.   I definitely could say the same thing about being in Guyana.  Those words resonate even louder as we say goodbye to the group above us- GUY23.  It seems like we just met them, our big brothers and sisters, our guides and mentors who taught us how to navigate this once foreign place.  We have lamented their struggles and cheered their successes and no matter what, we have seen them leave here as changed individuals.  It reminds me that I am not here forever.  That a once far off dream will eventually give way to the next one.  That I need to hold on even tighter to the moments I have gingerly cupped in my hands because they too will slip through the cracks like tiny grains of sand.  

 

When you are this far into your service you tend to forget just how far you have come.  You start to regard everything as normal and matter-of-factly.  Fortunately, there have been some visitors to refresh my perspective.  I had the opportunity to work with Builders Beyond Borders (B3), a group that takes young high school aged students to different communities around the world to help build much needed edifices.  They do a lot of hard, manual labor for the week, but they definitely have some fun too.  I felt like it would be a bit daunting to interact with a bunch of teens from an affluent community in Connecticut, but it actually went really well.  It was enjoyable to talk about some familiar things from the U.S. and they had a ton of question about Guyana.  They did sacrifice part of their spring break and raised money to help build a community center just to work all day in the hot sun to get it built.  I think that is pretty generous.  It was fun to play tour guide and share different foods or explain why people sip or grown men carry around little birds in cages.  I took them around New Amsterdam, in which it was pretty funny to see the Guyanese react to 30 white people getting off of a bus in the middle of town.  It was also strange because I felt like I was caught up in between the American world and the Guyanese world.  At times I felt like I was going back and forth explaining what was going on with everyone and trying to figure out where exactly I fit in.  One of the girls from the B3 group said she liked the way I talked.  I was amused because I don’t think I really talk much different than before.

Working with the B3 group made me realize a thing or two about this so called “road less traveled.”  A few of the leaders expressed their affinity towards Peace Corps.  They all seemed pretty interested in the experience and a bit remorseful about not having been a volunteer in their past.  Even though it hasn’t always been easy, I am very grateful that I am living that “experience” instead of being somewhere else wishing I had done it.  As Mr. Frost laments, even if he had “marked the first [path] for another day”, “knowing how way leads on to way” he “doubted if [he] should ever come back.” We don’t really know what our lives will be like choosing one path over another but once you choose a path it can be hard to go back.   Ultimately, you will be a different person than before and the two paths you have to choose from might look very different as well.  I doubt I will ever live the exact same way I do now nor will I have the opportunity to for a while.

Being around a bunch of high school students also reminded me of how much I have grown.   I thought about my high school self and all of the different experiences I have had on the way to where I am now.  I can tell you I have changed a lot because of those experiences.   I hope I will always been open to new experiences and adventure, to eat foods that I am not familiar with, to go out and explore the trail that just might lead to a beautiful place, or to sit down and be endlessly intrigued by someone else’s life story.  I am not sure if those are things along the road less traveled, but I can tell you those things are not a priority on everybody’s road.  Has doing some of these things made all the difference?   You might have to ask my former high school self what she thinks of me now, but I have a hunch she is leaning towards yes.

Since I've been here for a year, we had Paghwah and Mashrimani Round 2.  Check out some pics below:

Mash in New Amsterdam

My co-workers and I celebrating Mash

One of the tutors and I eating Seven Curry

My little neighbor Alona covered in Phagwah Powder

Students eating Seven Curry

My little neighbors and I playing Phagwah

Friend and I celebrating the Easter holiday at a water resort called Splashmin's

The Whirlwind

A Baby Bush Cow- Tapir wandered into my yard!!  They are endangered!

 

Smallest plan I've ever been on!

Please forgive me but I am just coming to.  My room is strewn with clothes, thermometer strips, and milk soiled towels.  My arms and legs are speckled with red dots from the ravenous Cabora flies of the Irmatan river that separates Guyana and Brazil.  It wasn’t even Cabora season when we went down there.  Looking in the mirror I realize the sun has bleached my hair due to hiking for miles through different Amerindian villages in mountainous savannah and lush rain forests.  Within only a month’s time, a whirlwind of awe, wonder, fever, fatigue, inspiration, and sadness came barreling through my first floor flat in Guyana and carried me to places I could not have ever imagined going to.  Maybe it’s the malaria meds, but I’ve still got this slightly dizzy crazed feeling going on.  Oh and of course pictures, but they really only capture a minute amount of beauty that I was able to see with my own eyes.  Don’t you wish you could take pictures sometimes, simply by blinking your eyes?   

Traditional Amerindian house on the Amakaruru river

Swimming at the ladning

View of Venezuela from Guyana

  I started off with a trip to Region 1 to the village of Wauna.  I boarded the smallest plane I had ever flown in and prayed, practically willed the propellers to carry me safely to my destination.  Within an hour’s travel over bright green tree tops, we landed just over a flock of Scarlet Ibis.  I thought to myself, “Welcome to Jurassic Park.”    Wuana is located in the Northwest portion of Guyana, very close to Venezuela.  It is a small village, but it has a lot of character.  I was fortunate enough to help do some filming and training in bakery that was just opened by the local women’s group of the village.  My friend, another PC volunteer, helped to ensure the bakery would be completed.  It was a very charming building with bright colors and wafting aromas of fresh baked goods.  Although the bakery had just opened, the women had a hard time keeping their delicious items on the shelf.  It was very inspiring to meet the women who had worked so hard to make their dream of a bakery a reality.  The volunteer in Wauna was quite the host.  We took a day long trek into the rain forest, complete with a boat ride on a dugout canoe deep into the jungle to the Amakaruru river, the one that separates Guyana and Venezuela.  You would almost expect to see jaguars and monkeys hiding amongst the leaves.  We didn’t see any but I am certain they were there.  We also climbed to the top of this small mountain where we could see for miles and miles.  It was absolutely gorgeous.  The next day we went to the village of two other volunteers where we ate some delicious food and swam at the landing with many adorable children.  Our final stop on the last day of the visit was to the infamous jumping tree.  It is a large tree that has branches that hang at least 20 ft above the water.  As much as I wanted to be able to, I just couldn’t climb up and jump.  It looked like fun, just not my kind of fun.  I was sad to leave Wauna but I was so happy I had the opportunity to go and visit.  It really was what I had pictured Guyana to be in my mind; quaint villages nestled deep within lush rainforests.  

Bamboo Landing

 

I returned back to my site, but not for long.  My good friend Tara told me she had booked her ticket and would be here in a week’s time.  I didn’t know where exactly to take her.  There are many interesting places to travel to, but we could only really pick one.  Luckily I was able to get a hold of a really remote volunteer in a village called Kato, very far Southwest in Guyana near the Brazilian boarder.  After already having a great experience in a remote site, I knew it would be an adventure going out to Kato.

Making home made bricks out of clay mud

Football Field

Village of Kato

Our expectations were beyond blown out of the water.  Kato was absolutely beautiful and entirely different from any location I have ever been in Guyana.  The terrain was mountainous savannah and it was much cooler than my site on the coast.  The people made their houses out of mud bricks, wood, and thatched roofs.  We went on some very long hikes to areas with waterfalls and vast rivers.  We also went to sit and chat with several friends of the volunteer, in which it is traditional to drink a bowl of Casseri (sp?).  Casseri is made from cassava and it is boiled and chewed and fermented into a drink.  It kind of tastes a bit like yogurt.  I learned that people chewed the cassava in their mouths for the drink about half way through my second bowl.  I wished I had learned that much later on, but sometimes you have to just go with things. It was actually pretty good, especially if you didn’t think too hard about its creation process.  The only problem is that it is really filling and people tend to give you larger bowls if they want you to stick around for a while.  We had some pretty big bowls! 
Everyone was extremely friendly and welcoming. One night when we were traveling back from another village far away, we all busted out into song and sang for most of the way home under the stars.  It was just one of those moments where you couldn’t help but grin.

Pet Bird

 

Guyana Savannah out in Kato

Both Tara and I were so sad to leave in the end and sort of hoped the weather would be too bad for our plane to fly out to get us.  Unfortunately, it came and dropped us off in Mahdia a large mining town.  We had a 5 hour layover there and both Tara and I had become ill.  We must have been a sight lying on the airport (warehouse really) floor bundled up in jackets, long pants, and socks because of fever chills.  This was in a very humid, tropical area mind you.  I really just wanted to get home at that point but even as we landed back in Georgetown, we still had a two hour car ride to endure.  

Mash round 2!

Before we left for Kato, I found out my cat had kittens in my clean clothes closet.  I wasn’t too happy about their location so I moved them into a box and we left mama and babies snuggled together.  When we came back, mama cat was nowhere to be found and the week old kittens were mewing.  Thus began the saga of the dead mama cat and trying to care for her infant kittens.  My fever also shot up to 103 so I was trying to feed kittens, help tutor a student, and still try to be a good host.  I was feeling very downtrodden at this unfortunate welcome back to site.   Luckily, my fever broke and Tara and I were able to go celebrate Mashramani in Georgetown. Mash is kind of like Mardi Gras with floats and people in costumes.  We had a great time but Mash also meant that Tara was leaving.  We said goodbye and I went back to my site to care for the remaining kittens.  I tried very hard with them, but in the end none of them survived.  I was sad about them, Tara leaving, and the stone cold sober shock from adventure high.

Tara and I

So here I find myself sitting in the aftermath of a tremendous whirlwind wondering what exactly just happened.  I still have all of my limbs, my head is still on as straight as it was before, and I’m trying to process all that I have seen and done.  These past few weeks have been amazing, some ups and downs, but amazing nonetheless.  Now who wants to come and visit next? ;-)

-KB




Watch this jungle boat ride!

 

Cooking in Guyana...Seven Curry!!!

Traditional Seven Curry!  Served in a Lily Pad Leaf, usually for weddings or other special occasions.  Curries include: potato, pumpkin, dahl, catahar, echar, calaloo, and eggplant.

It is eaten with rice and your hands!

mmmm all done!

The Year of No Expectations

I have been thinking a lot about how I wanted to write my first year reflection.   I also figured I’d better just start and get it over with because I know how time goes here.  

“Expectation is the root of all heartache”-William Shakespeare

The Demerara river the separates Wizmer and Mckenzie

Upon submitting my application to Peace Corps, I was told to have no expectations.  Do not expect anything about where you will end up, how you will be living, or the job you will be doing.  Expectations lead to disappointment and only muddle your experience.  Well that sounded easy enough.  I am pretty open-minded, would go most places, and as long as I was working in health I was good to go.  Unfortunately, being open-minded and having no expectations are two different things.  I expected to serve in Guatemala and that turned out to be my first lesson in the no expectations rule.  Having no expectations even meant that you were not guaranteed to go anywhere, even if they said you would.  I wasn’t about to touch the hot pot twice, so I really tried to let everything go.  I put my faith in the process and hoped for the best.  Of course, no matter how hard you try not to have them, expectations are always there.  I certainly had to wrangle with a few when I came here and probably still am.  The thing about having certain expectations in the Peace Corps is that every individual’s experience is completely different.  I know that is one of those cliché Peace Corps statements, but everyone is in such a unique situation.  We all miss different things or people from home, some cultural things might bother some more than others, we all live in different houses with all sorts of neighbors, and of course we all work in different places.  How we react to everything, how we cope, is all up to each individual volunteer.  The place you might have expected to be might have been the worst place for you.  You never really know.  The beauty with not expecting much is that you become an open vessel.  As you go along, you become filled with the things around you and you begin to accept life in a new form, for better or for worse.  If you are full to begin with, how would you have room for anything more?

Walking around Linden

For the past year, I have tried to live in Guyana with as few expectations as possible, just trying to soak it all in.  Believe me; I have become saturated with so many things. Now as I enter year two, I get to have some expectations again.  I know to arrive to meetings about 15 minutes late so I get there “on-time.”  I know I will see some assortment of livestock running around on my way to work.  More importantly, I have more realistic expectations as to what I could accomplish here.  I use ‘could’ because I also recognize that I am still in Peace Corps, I am still living in a foreign country and I know the unexpected can happen anywhere, but for some reason, it seems to be much more prevalent here.  Nonetheless, it is nice to have some sort of an idea as to how things should go.  

In Guyana we have sand to sled on!

A very PCV Christmas

I enjoyed my Christmas and New Year’s here and am surprised I am already into February.   For Christmas, a bunch of volunteers got together in a town called Linden.  We had a big BBQ, we swam in a black water creek, went on a hike, and even attempted to sled down a big sand hill.  Yes!  Linden has hills!  I returned briefly back to site where I wrapped and shared out some Christmas gifts with my neighbors.  It was pretty fun because I don’t think they really wrap gifts here so all the kids took their time to neatly unwrap the paper.  I remember when I was little I just tore into my presents and could care less about the paper.  

My neighbors and I celebrating Christmas

The next weekend I went into town and rang in the New Year with more volunteers.  It was really nice to get together and we danced most of the way through Old Year’s night to New Year’s Day.  New Year’s is not as big of a deal here as in the U.S. so we had the place we went to pretty much all to ourselves.  They did however, have a ball drop!  Although they announced “30 seconds until the New Year!” and then a bit later, “Sorry we are having technical difficulties with the ball drop, but its 2013!!”  So we missed the final countdown but that is just kind of how it is here.  

Work has started back, although my classes are finishing, which presents a new challenge.  Our GAD group has also started to plan for Camp GLOW August 2013. I took an AMAZING trip to see some fellow volunteers in a small village up near the Venezuelan border.  I think I was in the most remote area I have ever been in (I will explain this trip in more detail just now).   My friend Tara is also coming to visit in one week so I certainly will have more stories to come.

 

So much has happened this past year and I’m sure 2013 will have its own share of memorable events.  I am now armed with a few expectations for this year so I’m looking forward to see how it all pans out.  

I hope everyone is doing well and are surviving the winter!  Spring will be here before you know it.  :-)

Lots of Love,

KB