Shelley in Guyana: Flying cockroach 0

Well I have passed the two week mark which was a good mile stone to make! Again another rollercoaster of a week!

Went to the children’s mash- a carnival parade made up of schools and organisations – the theme was celebrating culture and often promoting messages such as no bulling don’t take drugs, abstain. The day was so lovely – they looked fab in their costumes and were such confident dancers! I got a bit too much sun and even on such a cloudy day got quite burnt! Lesson to myself!

Continued with our in country orientation – we visited the malaria doctor who told us all the lovely illnesses you can get! Also advise on hospitals and ambulances (or lack of them) – main advice – don’t get ill! Makes you realise what a great health care system we have! Then we went to the British High Consular (same as an Embassy but it gets called a different name if the country is in the commonwealth). Again another interesting chat this time on security! I also got told off for taking a photo of the sign outside – opps!

We went to see a volunteer in our field of work – I went to the teacher training college and watched special needs being taught. SEN is quite a new thing in Guyana – the attitudes and provisions for people with disabilities are quite shocking at times. But they have signed up to the agreement for inclusion for all and SEN now features as part of the teacher training course. There is just one teacher training college in Guyana. It was great to see what was being lectured and made me feel a bit more inspired about what I am here to do and that I would like to get started! All the students were uber smart in their uniform (blazers, skirts and a special tie - don’t quite remember Exeter being like that!)

We had another session Roy’s gear – where you get given your mossie net, torch, water filter, filter candles, fire alarm, personal alarm – and get shown how to use them. Need to get into a better routine for the water. You have to boil it (on a stove – no kettle!) then wait for it to cool down (which takes a while!) then put it through the filter. I have bought some bottled water (which is quite expensive) so need to get a bit more organised!

Then it was Mash! This is a national holiday to celebrate when Guyana became a republic (Independence Day is in May). They have a big carnival in Georgetown which I ended being part of! So the days previous to it and over the weekend we had been helping at “mash camp”. Our float was based around the theme of national volunteering (a programme area of the office) the slogan was “celebrating volunteers, recognising volunteers” it was made up of a lot of younger national volunteers – some people with disability groups and international volunteers (us, peace corp etc). Mash camp involved making costumes and a lot of glitter – we were covered in it just making the costumes. We made 100 costumes of orange and gold! So decided to brave it and wear a costume! We then paraded down the streets dancing to the music blaring from the floats sound system. We tried to dance but just do not have the rhythm of the Guyanese people – I think they must have an extra joint! We were also introduced to ‘whining’ which (in case of younger readers) I’ll describe as very exotic dancing between the men and women! Did not know where to look – but it is normal in Guyana! I managed 2/3 of the parade and then sat inside the bus due to the extreme heat! It was an amazing experience to be part of something like that – we were one of the first floats and finished about 2pm – there will still float finishing at 7pm! Saw some of them – costumes were amazing! There was then a big party on the streets – but we had a little party at a friends house (not hard core enough yet – was quite full-on, on the streets!)

Thank you for all the birthday messages – it was a bit of a strange day as I was moving to New Amsterdam – my new home. We had to visit the Ministry of Foreign trade and international something in the morning! Lots of formalities had to be smartly dressed – glad I bought all those smart clothes). Then tried and failed to open a bank account then went home to pack. My lovely new group of “also newbie volunteers” friends made a birthday sandwich – with a candle on and I got some presents too! Then a current volunteer in NA bought me to my new house.

So the house … I am feeling a bit better about living here than when I first arrived. It is the downstairs part of the house. Basically most houses in Guyana were built on stilts but a lot have now built in the lower part. My part is still a little raised up so it shouldn’t flood (a problem which I have already witnessed lots in Georgetown – they were going to cancel Mash because of the flooding- it was cancelled and put back on!) I was concerned about the security which is an issue in Guyana. And had my first cry this morning after a night of little sleep. My landlady was very understanding and they are going to put a grill on the back door – also she seems very alert such as I went out last night to get some food and she came out to see who was opening the gate. The house itself is ok and I am sure in a few weeks it will feel like home. I cleaned all of my bedroom today and sprayed lots of “fish” which apparently kills all bugs. I put my own bedding on the bed and have sorted out the mossie net.

I was lining all the drawers today when I opened a drawer and out came a very large flying cockroach. I will admit to being a little scared! I went to get a glass to catch it (you cannot squash them because if you do their eggs may scatter!) and it flew somewhere else and finally landed near to the window so I pushed it out with the glass whilst saying “get out” – obviously cockroaches understand you! So was very pleased that it had left the building! I am told it is common to find them in drawers that haven’t been used for a while so I hoping not to see one again! The house generally is run down but it is one of the nicer houses in the street (and made of stone not wood) and there are lots of pluses – I have running water and electricity – minus the power cuts (so far they have only been for a few minutes)! I have a fridge which has a freezer in the top – good for ice. And I have a TV! There are 3 or 4 channels which I have witnessed for the first time tonight – including one which is a memorial channel to people who have died – it just scrolls their names!

So it is the weekend tomorrow and I’ll find an internet café to post this and then I start work on Monday – I am excited about starting – it is the reason why I came here and feels like it has been pushed to the back as you concentrate on adjusting to your new way of life – also a little bit scary – what do I have to offer? – at the moment I am definitely the one learning!

Thank you again for all your lovely emails it does mean a huge amount – miss you all lots.

Shelley x

Note i wrote this last night on my laptop at home and i have had to deal with another cockroach this morning and a power-cut for three hours! I think i jinxed it!

Was going to try and add the photos in with the text but here are the rest! Sorry they are in a random order!

How you get over the flooded path!