1/31/14
Hi all, pretty busy week so I figured I'd give y'all a rundown of what happened.
Monday started with PDM but I actually came in Saturday to attend the party of our great and fearless leader, Linda, the current Country Director. One thing they don't tell you about Peace Corps staff is that they are on a two year cycle just like we are. No one stays at their post for longer than two years which seems really unhelpful when you think about it.
Anyways, we went to the party, myself, Mark and Lauren who I met up with in Parika. We all hung out together, played some ping pong and had a good time in general. Afterwards we stayed at a hotel in town and the following day we headed out for Grand Coastal for the Project Design Management conference/training.
Normally, you're supposed to bring a counterpart to the conference and the idea is that you work on a project together with your counterpart that you can bring back to the community and implement. I was unsuccessful in finding a counterpart and, as it turns out, so were Mark and Lauren. So the three of us spent some quality time together at the conference, counterpartless.
Looking back at it now, I can't remember a single thing about the conference. The information that was presented was how to design a project using different strength and weakness tools. Now, these tools might work in an American environment where everyone is fairly well educated but out here where easily half of all adults, adults mind you, can't read it makes everything a lot harder. Not to say the techniques that were presented weren't useful, I'm sure they are but they aren't appropriate for their audience in their current form. And this was never, ever addressed by the staff presenting the material. I don't know if it was a given or they legitimately thought these tools would be helpful.
So that went on for three days. Then, I accompanied my good friend Andrew up to his site in Mabaruma. The only way to get there is by plane. It was quite a small plane, a Cessna 208B Caravan, it held about 12 people. So we flew out about 8am and arrived in Mabaruma about 9. It was a great flight, plenty to look at.
Mabaruma is a hilltop community. When we landed I noted that the altimeter said we were at 1000 feet which is probably the highest I've been in Guyana so that was pretty cool. Anyways, Mabaruma is sort of an extended community that flows down the road into a little valley where Kamaka is. Past Kamaka was Andrew's site, Wauna. We got a ride into town then walked down to Kumaka where we found a bus going to Wauna. Andrew picked the bus and as soon as we got in, I knew we'd made a mistake. Upon entry, we were met by a racket of chirps made by chicks sitting in a cardboard box. There were about 50 of them and throughout the whole ride every time they quieted down we'd hit a bump in the road and they'd start all over again. it was terrible.
After 45 minutes of our own personal hell we arrived in Wauna, which was beautiful Everywhere you looked, fruit trees, coconut trees, anything and everything that grows in Guyana grows in Mabaruma. We hiked up to Andrew's house packed up his stuff then we walked around Wauna. Literally, around, the whole village exits on a loop in the road that takes about 15 minutes to walk. It's a small dirt road that you take your car's life in it's own hands if you try to drive on it there's so many ditches and holes. We walked down to Andrew's health center where I saw the sign he had hung and the skeleton he'd painted. We went and met the Project Trust volunteers, the British equivalent of Peace Corps but way worse, and a few people that had been particularly kind to Andrew.
We left in the afternoon, back to Kumaka and stayed at a guest house there and the flew out in the morning. If you hadn't guessed, Andrew is leaving. He's a good guy and a good friend that I'll miss a lot. For those of you that are counting, that's five that have left now. Kristen, Rob, Emily, Kelly H, and now Andrew.
On the flight back, I got to sit in the copilot's seat. When you're a kid and you get to go in the cockpit and it's pretty cool. That still holds true as an adult. And if the flight was great on the way to Mabaruma the way back was even better. The whole time, All you could see was the lush, green jungle stretching out to the horizon. It was truly amazing and one of those moments that you realize that you're just a very small piece of something bigger than yourself. It felt good. And our pilot was actually an American from San Diego, California. Obviously, I told him my brother was a flight instructor in Oregon so if the pilot needed someone to take over the controls I was willing and able. and I might just do it for fun. He didn't laugh at the last part.
That brings us to today. Joe and I saw Andrew off at the airport. He's not leaving quite yet. He had a vacation planned in Barbados with his mom so he's doing that, coming back to finish the required paperwork then he'll be gone for good.
Thanks for listening everyone. If you want to Facetime or something I'll be in town week after next from the 9th to the 13th. My number is 592 674 8145 there's probably a country code or something, you'll have to figure that out on your own. That number is also good for whatsapp if you want to do some texting. I really do love hearing from people at home so don't be shy. They say one of the hardest things for volunteers coming back is realizing that life went on without them so please let me know what you're doing.
Okay, I've taken up enough of your time, take it easy everyone.
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