Hi everyone,
So on Sunday we left for Mabaruma which is in Region 1 in Guyana (Guyana is split into 10 regions by no organizational method whatsoever other than some dude who drew a line with what appears to be a bendable ruler).
We flew out of G-Town at 7am but I am going to take you through this experience. First we had ordered a cab through work for 530am that never came. Than we ordered from one company and another company showed up to take us (little sketchy). Than we show up and I think I almost wet myself when I saw the 12 seater plane we were taking. Your alternative for coming here if not by plane is to take a 24-hour steamer in the Atlantic Ocean that basically guarantees sea-sickness, not going to happen. As we were waiting in the line up to weigh the luggage and ourselves (yes ourselves!) a woman finished signing in her kid then turned around and asked some white guy she didn’t know if he minded taking the kid on the plane to our first stop in Port Kaiteur to drop the kid off with his grandma. (unreal!) Furthermore, half way through the flight I look up at the pilot and he is READING THE PAPER while having his coffee.
As a little side note there was no bathroom on the plane, and yours truly with about 15 minutes left all of a sudden had the worst sensation ever of having to pee and nearly passed out from pain awaiting to get off the plane. Anyways…
Mabaruma is a beautiful forest town and you can actually see into Venezuela from the top. We are staying at Broome’s Guest House which actually has TV and 4 channels that are controlled by one of the guys so if you want to watch a certain station you ask him to change the channel to the station you want. There is only power from 6-11 at night except some places that have generators so that takes some getting used to. But lucky for us at 6am the two guys who own the place get up, blare the radio and start yelling each other. Hilarious guys but 6am is a little too early for me and Nadine.
As for work today I was going out to a little village on the top of a hill called Tobago that used to be a river community but got flooded out and moved. To get there we had to take a mini-bus which takes a bunch of people by “road” each day a certain amount of times throughout. The man piled in 14 people and luggage into what at most could really carry 9 people. On the hill up we couldn’t go more than 5 miles/hour.
Anyways, that’s all my stories for now.
Speak to you soon
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Some nicknames and a "wild" party
Nadine and I were walking yesterday in one of the outdoor markets here in Georgetown and were called the following nickmaes any of which I will accept starting today:
1) Rosemary and Chuck (for Nadine and I)
2) Mel Gibson; or my favourite
3) Dick Johnson (if anyone knows who the hell Dick Johnson is I'm all ears).
Saturday night we went to a birthday party for one of the British women. Now I need to explain to you the way the people here are divided. There are basically British, other European and Canadian volunteers and American peace corps. The age divide is even more severe as it's half people my age and half retired people. So last night's party was a party for an older British lady. The invitation for the party told us to bring food and entertainment. We brough cards as we figured we'd start some drinking games. That did not work. The entertainment involved teaching us some songs and some line dancing. Given my love for line dancing let's just say we didn't participate all that much. Still though, maybe the funniest party I've been to in a long time.
Anyways I've figured out a way to still watch football on Sunday to Nadine's dismay.
Speak to you people later.
1) Rosemary and Chuck (for Nadine and I)
2) Mel Gibson; or my favourite
3) Dick Johnson (if anyone knows who the hell Dick Johnson is I'm all ears).
Saturday night we went to a birthday party for one of the British women. Now I need to explain to you the way the people here are divided. There are basically British, other European and Canadian volunteers and American peace corps. The age divide is even more severe as it's half people my age and half retired people. So last night's party was a party for an older British lady. The invitation for the party told us to bring food and entertainment. We brough cards as we figured we'd start some drinking games. That did not work. The entertainment involved teaching us some songs and some line dancing. Given my love for line dancing let's just say we didn't participate all that much. Still though, maybe the funniest party I've been to in a long time.
Anyways I've figured out a way to still watch football on Sunday to Nadine's dismay.
Speak to you people later.
Friday, October 16, 2009
week in review
So as I'm heading to one of my interviews with the CEO of the Institue for Private Enterprise Development I'm taking this cab with this rastafarian who turns to me in mid-drive and asks me if I like black women. So I think to myself I'm not really sure how to answer this so I say "Man I like all types of women" and apparently that was satisfactory as he laughed for the rest of the trip.
That night Nadine and I went out to a place in Georgetown called Kitty where one of the VSO landlords gave us a cooking lesson in Roti Curry Chicken. On her fridge was a giant sign for Sobey's in Toronto (just thought that was a bit strange). Anyways we had a mix of experienced and completely non-experienced cooks so it was an interesting blend. We got to eat all the food after which as most of you know made me extremely happy.
Tonight was Diwali which is the Hindu festival of lights so there was a pretty big party downtown with a bunch of floats that were full of crazy lights and Hindu women sitting in the floats waving to the crowd without moving their bodies at all. Really interesting but also slightly terrifying.
Well that is all for now.
You take care people.
That night Nadine and I went out to a place in Georgetown called Kitty where one of the VSO landlords gave us a cooking lesson in Roti Curry Chicken. On her fridge was a giant sign for Sobey's in Toronto (just thought that was a bit strange). Anyways we had a mix of experienced and completely non-experienced cooks so it was an interesting blend. We got to eat all the food after which as most of you know made me extremely happy.
Tonight was Diwali which is the Hindu festival of lights so there was a pretty big party downtown with a bunch of floats that were full of crazy lights and Hindu women sitting in the floats waving to the crowd without moving their bodies at all. Really interesting but also slightly terrifying.
Well that is all for now.
You take care people.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
The Beginning of Work
Well I guess my first entry for this blog was so brilliantly written that we were able to get 4 new followers :)
Our first weekend in Guyana was certainly an interesting experience. We went out both evenings to "bars". I put the quotations there because they are not exactly what we imagine them to be back home. Let's just say there was not much fighting for seats. That being said it was still nice to get to know the other VSO volunteers and they were both patios which made it even better (kinda hard to be inside when the temperature is 45 degrees outside).
Saturday we walked around the outdoor markets at Stabroeck and Bourda which are an absolutely crazy experience on a Saturday morning when everyone is walking around shopping for groceries. We also passed by the only escalator in all of Guyana in one of the only malls.
Sunday we attempted to go to the botanical gardens and the zoo but it is COMPLETELY dead on Sundays and we got a little nervous walking around and ended up missing the really good stuff at these places and will thus have to go back.
On Thanksgiving we celebrated the festivities here by ordering Pizza Hut!! Delicious.
Nadine and I both started work on Monday and my desk is right beside the air conditioning which might be the greatest things that's ever happened to me. Today was the first time I've been cold in the 8 days we've been here.
I think my job is going to be a great learning experience and the interviews and report are going to be a real challenge.
Tomorrow we have a Guyanese cooking lesson so with that I will leave all of you.
Speak to y'all later.
Our first weekend in Guyana was certainly an interesting experience. We went out both evenings to "bars". I put the quotations there because they are not exactly what we imagine them to be back home. Let's just say there was not much fighting for seats. That being said it was still nice to get to know the other VSO volunteers and they were both patios which made it even better (kinda hard to be inside when the temperature is 45 degrees outside).
Saturday we walked around the outdoor markets at Stabroeck and Bourda which are an absolutely crazy experience on a Saturday morning when everyone is walking around shopping for groceries. We also passed by the only escalator in all of Guyana in one of the only malls.
Sunday we attempted to go to the botanical gardens and the zoo but it is COMPLETELY dead on Sundays and we got a little nervous walking around and ended up missing the really good stuff at these places and will thus have to go back.
On Thanksgiving we celebrated the festivities here by ordering Pizza Hut!! Delicious.
Nadine and I both started work on Monday and my desk is right beside the air conditioning which might be the greatest things that's ever happened to me. Today was the first time I've been cold in the 8 days we've been here.
I think my job is going to be a great learning experience and the interviews and report are going to be a real challenge.
Tomorrow we have a Guyanese cooking lesson so with that I will leave all of you.
Speak to y'all later.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Arrival to Guyana
Alright followers (my mom and jess clark!) here is the initial blog of the long awaited world travels of Nadine and Jeremy.
It started with a unique flying experience courtesy of the world renowned Caribbean Airlines. Upon our arrival into Trininad and Tobago we expected to be taken off the plane to catch our connector to Georgetown, Guyana. To our surprise we were told it was the same plane taking us on to Georgetown and thus we did not have to disembark. So while the crew cleaned the plane, Nadine and I switched seats (yes we had different seats for the second flight) and slept for an hour and a half.
We then got off the plane to a stifling 32 degrees celcius at 8AM. We took an hour trip into the city and got our at our guesthouse. How do you know you're in a developing country? Here's how: the slogan for this guesthouse is "cleanest guesthouse in Guyana." It is a nice place all things considered however the lack of air conditioning is definitely gonna take some getting used to.
Nadine and I got a gym and pool membership at the 5 star resort in town which we utilized this morning as we needed a break from the violent sweating.
We've only had bits of training on the jobs we will be doing but it does sound exciting and we should be learning more soon.
Anyways, that's all for now.
You followers stay classy (Jess that is more for you! Mom you are already classy)
Jeremy and Nadine
It started with a unique flying experience courtesy of the world renowned Caribbean Airlines. Upon our arrival into Trininad and Tobago we expected to be taken off the plane to catch our connector to Georgetown, Guyana. To our surprise we were told it was the same plane taking us on to Georgetown and thus we did not have to disembark. So while the crew cleaned the plane, Nadine and I switched seats (yes we had different seats for the second flight) and slept for an hour and a half.
We then got off the plane to a stifling 32 degrees celcius at 8AM. We took an hour trip into the city and got our at our guesthouse. How do you know you're in a developing country? Here's how: the slogan for this guesthouse is "cleanest guesthouse in Guyana." It is a nice place all things considered however the lack of air conditioning is definitely gonna take some getting used to.
Nadine and I got a gym and pool membership at the 5 star resort in town which we utilized this morning as we needed a break from the violent sweating.
We've only had bits of training on the jobs we will be doing but it does sound exciting and we should be learning more soon.
Anyways, that's all for now.
You followers stay classy (Jess that is more for you! Mom you are already classy)
Jeremy and Nadine
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)