Back in Action

So, it has been a very long time since my last blog update…I’m sorry! I guess maybe that is a good thing because that means I have been more involved in my community and less on the computer. But things have been going well. I have officially been in Guyana for 18 months and I have a little less than 8 months to go. Yes—it is completely mind blowing to know that I have been in Guyana for a year and a half, but quite frankly it seems like the time has gone so quickly. 

The 2011-2012 school year came to an end on July 8th. I know, school goes until much later in this country. I guess it is because it is ALWAYS hot here, so summer is less like summer in America and more like an “August break” (even though it includes part of July…haha). This August break has definitely been more of a break for me, which honestly was exactly what I needed. School came to a pretty successful end, but come on—everyone needs a little break once in a while, right? The good news is that all of the kids in my 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade phonics pull out groups improved. Hooray! It made me super proud, more than I can honestly express. The kids that some people thought were hopeless cases can indeed learn. Alicia and I have spent a lot of time in our community by going to various weddings and other functions. It has been really cool to see how much we have learned since last year. Now, some of the Hindu religious functions are becoming so familiar. We are even learning that we should almost always show up 2 hours late to things, because 85% of the time, they still don’t start until we get there. We are on the “just now” time. I am a little worried that this time ethic won’t translate once I get back to America…

 My sister and Holly and her boyfriend Jon were brave enough to venture down to South America for a one week trip. I cannot tell you how much this meant to me. It was so good to see them and to see their reactions to everything Guyanese :). At first they said that they were going to take a taxi from the airport to my house, but luckily one of my friends here volunteered last minute to wake up at 3am to fetch Holly and Jon at the airport. I mean if that doesn’t describe Guyanese hospitality, I don’t know what does. They were so AWESOME. It was a teacher at Alicia’s school, her husband, and their 4 year old son. I think it made Holly and Jon’s transition a lot smoother. We had the best time too. I asked them both what surprised them most about Guyana. They both agreed that the many animals EVERYWHERE was something that they were not expecting. Holly decided that this was a good opportunity to take hundreds and hundreds of pictures of goats, sheep, cows, donkeys, chickens, macaws, etc and kindly tagging me in most of them on facebook…thanks Holl! We spent a day in Georgetown (the capital of Guyana). They got to see the Peace Corps office, we went to some of the Amerindian shops, we got some fresh coconut water, got lunch at this amazing authentic Indian restaurant, and we also got plane tickets to see the beautiful Kaiteur Falls. Holly and Jon were super kind and bought me a ticket. Seriously, they were so incredibly nice to do this. SO! On Thursday, we went to regions 7 and 8. We went to the airport and we all forgot our passports or any form of ID for that matter. Shoot! Good thing Guyana is not very legit…because they didn’t ask for any ID AND all three of us got to ride co-pilot on the small jet! Guyana is a pretty trusting country, don’t you think?! It was super cool. It was amazing how the pilot didn’t have his hands on the controls at all times. He actually spent a good deal of time writing information about what was happening in the plane. Plus, the way he was steering around the clouds felt very similar to driving on the highway and going around the slower moving traffic. It was a pretty amazing to experience this. Anyways, once we got to Kaiteur Falls (the largest single drop water fall in the world…741ft) the pilot circled around it twice, which was an awesome opportunity to take pictures and/or videos. Then we landed on a very short runway. The national park provided us with a snack, and then we were on our way to see 7 different vantage points of the falls. It was one of the most amazing days for me. It is just beyond words when you are next to something so magnificent—something not man-made. It honestly takes your breathe away. We got some really great pictures (Holly and Jon; Chelsea; Chelsea and Holly; Chelsea and Jon; Holly; Jon; Chelsea, Holly and Jon together! This was how most of the pictures were…haha). The really cool thing about the falls was how trusting the national park was to the people who were visiting. You could honestly get inches away from the 741ft drop (there are no railings). We took advantage of this trust and got really spectacular photos from this! After Kaiteur, we flew to region 8 and stayed on the Essequibo river (the 3rd longest river in South America). We had a buffet lunch and then we had the opportunity to explore and relax on the beach. Unfortunately it rained. Hard. The whole time. But it was a good time to just chill with Holly and Jon and relax. The trip was so great. Holly and Jon also got to experience a Hindu function, a Hindu wedding (both of these events allowed them to try my favorite meal here…7 curry). They also got to see the big Afro-Guyanese celebration (Emancipation). Basically they stayed out until 1am and Alicia and I stayed out until the sun rose. It was so much fun, dancing and hanging out with friends. I was really sad for Friday to come because they left :(. I am so thankful that they came and I am trying my very hardest to get some more friends and family to visit me…any takers?? Holly and Jon both survived and had an amazing time…just ask them! 

After they left, Dian (my counterpart and fellow teacher), Tka (another Peace Corps Volunteer), and I started cleaning out a room that will soon become our school library! We still have a lot to do, but it was really great to see potential for this room. We even got to meet some new friends—rats! Even still, we are envisioning some amazing things!

 Last week, I was invited to help a fellow volunteer, in region 6, with her summer camp. I was in charge of Music and Dance. I was really excited that she asked me to be part of this. I choreographed “Splish Splash” to kids ages 4-13. It honestly turned out a lot better than I anticipated. The kids LOVED it. We also danced to other songs like: Limbo, YMCA, Electric Slide, Chicken Dance, Hokey Pokey, Celebration, “I like to move it move it,” A tutti ta, etc. There were A LOT of kids (about 80 each day) so that was definitely a challenge, but we got through! I was also in charge of the Environmental section of the camp. We talked about littering, conserving, and how long it takes different types of trash to decompose. This amazed some of the children, especially the fact that it takes Styrofoam up to a million years to decompose. But, it was really cool because one 6th grade girl came back the next day and said, “Miss! Miss! I was going to throw something out the car window this morning, but instead I carried it with me to throw it in the bin at school!” Success? I hope so! I told her to spread the word to everyone she knows. I guess this is how people can make a difference in small ways. Tell someone and they tell someone else, and the whole thing spreads. 

Alright, that is enough for now! Sorry about that fact that I am very undisciplined when it comes to blogging. My sister, Ali is MUCH better! Check out HeartofGoldandLuxury@blogspot.com . Thanks for listening!

Back in Guyana!

Hey all!
I had an amazing time in America with my friends and family. I am the luckiest girl to have the opportunity to see so many people that I love. I shared some of my Guyanese experiences with my friends and family during my "Guyanese Night." It didn't go quite as I planned, but even still--we had fun! I had to make a lot of alterations, such as...using canned pumpkin for the Pumpkin curry. The pumpkin curry also turned out really spicy because although I brought back Guyanese spices to America, I gave them as presents and I didn't want to use their presents for the night. So Ali (my sister) and I went to an Indian market and got another kind of curry that was REALLY spicy. So that didn't turn out as planned. Then we didn't have a gas stove at home, so I couldn't cook the boulanger (eggplant) on an open flame and it didn't have the same flavor OR consistancy. Ali helped me with that one and she put it in the blender. It turned out great...but it didn't taste like boulanger choka! Then I made chana (chickpeas) which actually turned out really nice! I also made bhaggie curry (spinich) and that turned out good too. I had oil roti (everyone thought tasted like pita bread) and rice to eat the curries with. Everyone liked the food and so I am glad that I could "kind of" share what Guyanese food was like!!
I am back at school and it has been pretty exciting so far. I finally got my shipment of donated books (20 lbs!) to my school. 58 books in total...which doubles what we have now! The kids looked through the books already. They absolutely had a field day with these! I am hoping that this is the beginning of something bigger and better!
A special thanks to Elaine, Nick, Ali, and Holly for making the trip to Ohio to see me while I was home. Thanks to my family who rearranged their plans for me and made me feel so comfortable. And more thanks to all the people already in Ohio who took the time to visit with me and listen to my experiences. It meant so much to me.
More later!

I'll Be Home for Christmas, You Can Count on Me :)

...Please have snow and mistletoe!

Hey Everyone!

This will be my last blog until I am back in Guyana after Christmas!! I am completely estatic, if you cannot tell!

Anyways, we are winding up the year here. This upcoming week is the last week of the Christmas term and so teachers are busy finishing up grading their tests and finalizing grades. Teachers in Guyana also have a ton of records to do before the school year is over. This upcoming week also includes a Christmas party for the kids on Wednesday and a luncheon for the teachers on Thursday. I have been begging teachers to give me some things to do these last couple of days, since I am not doing small group phonics until next term. Me and my counterpart, Diane have been working on the library. Before I left for region 3 (more on that later), we cleaned out the library with a lot of sweeping, mopping, and scrubbing! It was pretty disgusting because the rats are taking over this space! When I was gone in Region 3, Diane pack all the books back on the shelf and organized them into categories. When I got back, I cataloged the picture books into Diane's computer and then we put all the authors in alphabetical order. It might sound like a lot of work, but we only have 103 different picture books, so I am still waiting to get the package from BookAid (they donated 20lbs. of books to the school...thanks!) I also wrote a proposal for more books, so Diane and I are in the finalization steps.

Before we went off to Region 3, Jason, Seth, Alicia, and I did our second workshop with our 5 different schools. We got to check in with the teachers and ask them about their progress with the Diagnostic Tests/Running Records. Almost all of them said that it really helped them to identify where the students are struggling. They said that a lot of the time they can guess if the student is either a "high flyer" or "weak," but this diagnostic testing helped them get a more colorful view of where the students are. I am glad that they took the time to give the tests a chance and it looks llike it paid off for them in the end.

So, Region 3! Alicia and I were moved to Region 3 for a week and a half during Guyana's presidential election. We both stayed with different volunteers for those couple of days. We were asked to stay inside for the most part just to be cautions. So, I read 3 1/2 books and got to watch a lot of movies! Plus, me and Yesenia got to know eachother better! She made "mate" (pronounced mah-teh) which is a Mexican tea that was really good. Thanks Yesenia! The good thing about our relocation was the fact that a lot of volunteers that were relocated to Region 3 got to spend Thanksgiving together! We had such a great Thanksgiving. Yesenia knows a Guyanese who is now a Canadian citizen and he donated a huge Butterball Turkey to us. It was super kind of him. We also had brocolli and cheese, sweet potatoes, au gratin potatoes, garlic mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, tuna casserole, creamed spinach, bread, wight wine, banana bread, and pumpkin pie (Alicia and I made the banana bread a pumpkin pie!) It was such a great day, I was truly thankful. I was also thankful for all of the love that is back in the United States. I wouldn't be here without your love and support, THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

Everything on the homefront is good. Odie is getting really big. I still squeeze her just as much as when she was a puppy! Alicia, our neighbor Alana, and I went to the market yesterday and got a "Charlie Brown Christmas Tree" that is a little bit scrawny...but hey we can dress it up nicely! We were thinking about making a popcorn chain to hang around it, but then we realized the ants would be even more excited than us...so that wouldn't be a good idea! The only frustrating thing about Christmas time around here is that things go UP in price. We used to be able to get eggs 5 for 100 dollars and now they are 2 for 100! I guess I might be a vegan for the last couple of days that I am here! For Guyanese, Christmas marks the time for new curtains! Our neighbors were sweet enough to give us some of their old curtains for our bare house...now it looks more homey!

It will be exciting when I come back from the U.S. because we get a new batch of volunteers in January! We are all so excited to see the new group. A lot of us want to help out with training Guy24 and hopefully help them out with the things that we have learned as volunteers thus far. I can't believe December 15th with mark being in Guyana as a Peace Corps volunteer for 10 months. It is completely insane to me.

Alright, I have to go get ready for church. I am hoping the POURING rain will stop before I walk there! Merry Christmas to all and have a Happy New Year! Come see me in OHIO!

Hello Strangers!

Hello Strangers!

I am sorry that it has been so long since I have written! But I have a legit reason why! My roommate, Alicia, went home for a month and she took her computer with her (which means internet and all the things that go with the luxury of a computer). So it was just me, myself, and I (oh and Odie and Coconut!) I have gotten so used to having a roommate that I thought I would be terribly lonely, but I had been so busy, that it went so fast. It was really nice to have her back though. Coconut went crazy…he missed his mama.
A lot has been going on since I have last written. I just finished my 9th week of school. Time seems to be FLYING by. I got a new Headmistress at my school. It was really sad to see the old HM leave, but we are also anxious to see what the new HM can offer the school. My phonics pull-out groups are working much better than last term. I am really feeling confident with my second grade students. They are really becoming more focused and engaged each day. I made these alphabet books that have the letter located on the top left hand corner (Aa) and then I have a picture of an apple, and lastly, I have dotted lines so that the children can practice writing capital and lowercase (they call them common letters here). We also write and draw other words that start with the letters on the page. These books took me a really, really long time to make, but seeing how excited the children were to get these books, I realized how worth it they were to make.
I also started a football league for boys and girls from grades 1-6. I have had some interesting practices so far, such as witnessing the bloodiest nose coming from a first grade boy who collided with a second grade boy. The only problem about football is the fact that we have to use the field across from the school. It holds a lot of water and mud. Unfortunately, it has been raining a lot and so I have had to cancel a lot of the football practices . Lastly, some of the other volunteers in region 5 and I put on a teacher workshop that focused on Reading Diagnostic tests and Running Records. We created a booklet and everything with student art work and reading diagnostic tests from grade 1 to grade 5. I think the teachers got a lot out of this workshop. I have been working with the teachers at my school to test at least 10-12 pupils with reading. One teacher that I was working with yesterday said, “This is a lot easier than I thought it would be.” That is what we LOVE to hear!  We are doing another teacher workshop in a couple of weeks and we hope to have the same positive success.
I have traveled a lot since I have last reported. I have been to Region 10 (Linden) to visit some volunteers. I have also traveled to region 3 to do a HASH run with some other volunteers (this was a lot of fun! I was never aware of this international running group!) I also went to Region 6 and swam at the beach.
I got to celebrate Diwali, a Hindu holiday, with my neighbors. It was really interesting. It is known as the festival of lights. I went over and helped cook some sweet meats (which is not meat…they are sweet treats!) We also just limed around and gaffed (hung around and talked). When the sun started to go down, we poured oil into the diyas (which are like small, clay bowls) and prepared to light the diyas and put them all over the yard. I got invited to my other neighbors house, too. So I stopped by and they gave me some of the sweet meats that they made (vermicelli cake (sweet noodles with fruit in it), and they made persaud (flour, butter, fruit, mixture)). They also lit something they call squibs…which are basically firecrackers. They also had sparklers and poppers. I did miss Fourth of July, but at least I got my firecracker fix! When I went back to my other neighbors, we lit diyas and put them on their stairs, by their gate, and other places in their yard. It was beautiful. Peaceful and beautiful (minus the squibs going off around us!) Then we lit some small firecrackers and sparklers and STEEL WOOL. You might be asking…why would you light steel wool? Well it was basically the coolest thing ever, but probably the scariest too. See, the Guyanese put steel wool on a wire, light it, and then swing it around really fast. It looked awesome, until a piece of steel wool comes and burns your skin…not that cool anymore. Haha But, Diwali was great fun!
I know a lot more has happened, but right now I am drawing a blank! One thing that is burning on my brain is my upcoming trip home for Christmas!! I am super siked. I think I am going to make a countdown chain (ya know like the one that little kids make for the month of December to count down for Christmas? Yeah, something like that). I can’t wait to see my friends and family!!
Other than that, I am really happy here. School is going well and I am still enjoying the beautiful sunshine and the pouring rain. Stay happy friends!

Week One--Done

The first week of school was a success :). I came to school on Monday morning and I had the opportunity to meet 34 new faces (grade one students) and a couple of new teachers as well. The first graders were very eager to meet me. I think I heard "Miss Chelsea! Miss Chelsea" about 387 times the first day. It is super sweet, the children will be in their room and I will be at my "desk" and I will just hear them saying my name to their peers. It is so funny...sometime I feel famous haha.

I already got a couple of things accomplished during week one. I tested all of grade two students and picked 5 special children to work with for the Christmas term. I also tested a majority of the third grade children and picked my group, with the third grade teacher's help. I already had my first phonics pull out session of the year and it was pretty successful. I started by using the markerboard and crayons from my dear grandma (thanks Bopchie!)to do a morning message in cooperation with the children's participation. I think the kids really enjoyed being able to write on the super cool board. I also got to use the markers and marker board from the NC Dulaney's (Uncle Randy, Aunt Nora, Madison, and Taylor)for the phonics lessons...thanks guys! I also taught a couple of whole group lessons in both the grade 1 and 2 classrooms. Yay for small successes!

I am also super excited because I finally launched my football after school club!! I announced it on Friday morning (open to all boys and girls in grades 1-6) and I had more than 25 kids sign up! I have decided to start the week after next.It will be Tuesday for girls and Thursday for boys. Wish me luck!! I am also taking over an exercise class for another volunteer who works in my school's village. Unfortunately, she is not going to be in the region for a couple of weeks, so I volunteered to take over for her. I am really anxious to bring health and fitness to the village. I am planning on bringing fresh pine (pineapple) to share too! So I will be doing the exercise class on Monday's and Wednesday's for about an hour. So, yes--it will be a busy week. I am finding that if I wake up a 4am everyday, I have time to think and pray and feel energized each day. Quiet is nice sometimes...

This coming week, all the volunteers are coming together again for our next conference (PDM--Project Development and Management) so I will be away from school for the latter part of the week.

In hopes to connect the Guyanese culture with the American culture, I contacted the Kent State Newspaper a couple of weeks ago and wrote up an article about my experience in the Peace Corps so far. If you want to check it, the link is: http://kentwired.com/guest-column-greetings-from-a-peace-corps-volunteer/

So it is now mid September and the weather is not turning cold....it is super strange! I have to keep reminding myself that I won't be experiencing the pleasure of autumn (my favorite season). Just more and more sun and rain...I guess I will at least benefit from the unlimited supply of vitamin D (which makes you happy! So I can't complain). Because of this glorious weather, I took a bike ride with Seth (another volunteer in my region) to the Saturday market...I think it is like a 20mile bike ride...so it felt good!!

Also, I want to wish a happy 20th birthday to ZACHARY SAMUEL DULANEY (September 13th)!! I hope you have an awesome day...love you!

As for everyone else, take care! Soak in the fall weather for me! :)

Soak in the SUMMER

Summer is almost over already! School is coming around the bend and I have to admit that I am eager to get back into a schedule again. Some of the other region 5ers and I are getting together work plans for the new term. We have a lot of good things planned for the upcoming year. Some of these things include teacher workshops and a phonics book that will help assist the teacher in their classrooms. I also have some plans for the coming year to start a football league (soccer) and a girls empowerment club for the girls in grade 6. The first grade teacher and I also plan to start a school garden. I am really anxious to do this because it will give the children responsibility (like watering, weeding, and keeping the area clean). The garden can also be used for teaching (“What does a plant need to survive?”) or for fun (“Predict which plant will grow the tallest, the fastest, etc). I am also excited because I will get to work with someone from the school, so that the project will be more sustainable in the long run.

I am excited because I have started a casual “football club” with some of the kids in the village. It is so fun to play with them and to see how excited they get when I bring the football. Seriously, I feel like I am bringing Christmas. It is cool because it is bringing something “organized” and active for them to do. I am trying to get more girls to play, but it is a little bit of a struggle. Alicia and I brought a jump rope to the village field and some of the girls played with that. We also got to play “Red Rover” which is a lot less scary than I remember. I was always scared to play Red Rover because being ploughed over by a 12 year old boy at recess did not strike me as fun. Hah.

Alicia and I have also had some good times with the locals. On Saturday, we got to go to a friend’s house where we learned to make shrimp, potato curry and dhall. After, we got to go swimming :). Later that night we got everyone we knew together, got a minibus, and headed over the bridge to go to “Dem Ah Watch Meh” concert (our first Guyanese concert!!) It was really fun; we danced all night! The next day, Sunday, we went to another horse race. It was a big one with a 2,000,000 dollar prize (which is 10,000 USD). Alicia and I made pine tarts to share with everyone…it tasted NICE. Today, we just got back from helping with a sewing class that is being started with some of the people in our village. It is really cool because a man and a woman who lived in Canada for a while came here to do a free sewing class so that the people in the area can be more independent and save more money in the long run. Laura, Alicia, and I made signs and tried to help assist in any way we could. I learned something new today: If you want to get toxic paint off your skin, you rub your hands in kerosene. If you want to get the smell of Kerosene out of your hands, you rub them in salt. So just in case you are painting anytime soon…this will help!

A sad thing that happened this week was the loss of two neighborhood pups :(. I think that has been one of the worse things so far…the death of all the animals. A pup from across the street got knocked down by a car, and then another car, and then a truck. All the other puppies wanted to see if it was okay so they kept trying to go on the road too. So two days after the first puppy got hit, another one got hit. So I ran out to the road because I was hoping to save it. It was seriously one of the saddest things ever. I thought it was dead, even though it wasn’t flattened or anything, but then I saw it moving its paws ever so slightly. So I picked it up, and it went limp. I moved it to the side of the road and cried my eyes out. I wish I could have saved the pup, but I am hoping that I at least prevented the other puppies from going into the road. I hugged Odie so hard that night…It makes me so sad. Please pray for all the dogs and cats here!

On a happy note, Odie and Coconut are doing great. They are getting so SO big. Odie learned to “drop” the squeaky toy today, which makes me really proud. She is also listening a little better than she used to (a little). I am taking her to play football with me later. She loves to come and the boys love to play with her. Many of the kids around are not used to “nice” dogs. A lot of the dogs are bred to fight and protect the family. Therefore, the kids think it is so cool to have a dog that runs with you and lets you pet it!

I hope everyone is doing well at home. Miss you, love you, praying for you!

If life gives you a flat tire, get the tire fixed.

Good Afta-noon
Alicia and I got bikes last week! It is an interesting story actually...and I am sure it is the beginning of many interesting stories…that just the way life goes. Life is funny. So laugh. Anyways, we hopped on a minibus and took about a 30 minute ride to a village that we heard had some bikes for sale. Luckily, they had two bikes with “good” tires and they looked pretty sturdy. So a couple of days later, when we got an “OK” from Peace Corps, we bought the bike and then planned to ride it back to our village. Sounds nice right? Especially since I am a huge fan of biking…ya know to Cleveland and stuff! So I was pumped. Anyways, we got our bikes (me: green…which I named Kermit; Alicia: blue) and we started to make our way back to our village. About three minutes down the road, Alicia’s chain falls off. I repeat: falls OFF. So we took the bikes back to the place and they “fixed” the chain and the metal piece next to the chain (which was loose…and now bent). Then, we ended up riding back…a little nervous that our “new” bikes would fall apart and a little nervous that we would get hit by a car. But we made it back about 13 miles…it felt good!
Alicia’s mom and grandma are here visiting Guyana for a week. It is really nice to have them stay with us! They bought a mattress for our extra bedframe…which means that now people who come to visit me can sleep comfortably in their very own bed. Sounds tempting, huh? It is really interesting hearing about their reactions to Guyana. It seems like so long ago since I have come. I have grown much more accustomed to the Guyanese culture…so it is cool to see what new eyes see when they come here. They mentioned how it was hard to understand people. So I guess the cool thing is that I have learned a lot…and the language doesn’t seem all that different to me. We got to take Alicia’s mom and grandma to the Saturday market day and they definitely got a kick out of that! They took a lot of pictures by the meat stands (gag) that had cows heads lying around, ducks hanging, and fish flopping! Sounds yummy (if you are not a vegetarian!) Today they went back to Region 3 to visit Alicia’s host family so I spent part of my afternoon biking. Want to hear another interesting biking story? Like I said, there will probably be many…So I was riding to my school to see how long it would take if I decided to skip the minibus ride and decide to be extra sweaty during the school day riding my bike. It only took about 30 minutes (if I ride fast)….which isn’t bad. Anyways, on the way back from my school, wouldn’t you know that I got a flat tire. Hooray! So I just started walking my bike because I was pretty sure if I rode it any further, the rims would bend for sure. So as I am walking, a man comes riding up on his bike and says, “flat tire?” I said, “yeah I think so…” He asks, “Are you living far away from here? I said, “No, I am not too much farther, but thanks for asking.” He said, “See the mango tree down so? That shop can repair your bike.” I said, “Ya know, I appreciate you trying to help me…but I am really not much further and I have a pump at home that I can fix this tire with, if it needs more work, I now know that I can go to that bike shop, thanks!” He continues to ride next to me and goes through the typical questions, “Where are you from? What brings you to Guyana? Do you like it here?...etc” Then he said, “Come on let’s go to the shop, I’ll pay for the repair. Your back tire is more than a flat.” I obviously declined the offer for him to pay, although it was very kind. Anyways, I go to the shop with the mango tree and sure enough, there were a bunch of bikes that were being repaired. Mr. Nelson, the owner, fixed up my bike very nicely and even aligned my bike seat and handle bars (Mr. Nelson: “Who ever put together the handle bars and bike seat on this bike was a fool” he even brought out a saw at one point to saw off an “unneeded metal part” on the seat). It was cool to watch him fix the bike because it is something that I could totally do on my own next time (if I have the patch and sandpaper!) So all in all, this situation is one of the reasons why I love Guyana. A stranger on the street saw me walking my bike, he was concerned, dropped everything he could have been doing, and took me to a place to get it fixed. If that isn’t hospitable, then I don’t know what is.
Alicia and I have been having daily contests now to see who can kill the most mosquitos. She usually wins. One night she killed 16, but then she woke up the next morning with 16 mosquito bites…I think nature is trying to tell us something. But, I have honestly, HONESTLY, tried to stop putting on bug spray and have started trying to “be Buddha about it” as another volunteer says. I was okay during the morning and even when I got a bite, it took about 20 minutes for it to stop urging me to scratch it. I was getting better and I had high hopes. But by afternoon time, I could not stand it. The mosquitoes are so incredibly bad. I can’t go without Mozipel, the trusted mosquito spray of Guyana. If I don’t use it, I am unarmed and the mosquitos can small fear! Mozipel has become my new perfume…it smells like safety! I sure hope there is nothing bad about putting mosquito on 24/7…I feel like that definitely isn’t natural.
Tomorrow will mark 6 months of living in Guyana! I am honestly super excited about it and really proud of myself. So if you are scared to do something, don’t let fear hold you back. A small part of me was petrified to live in another country, and now it almost feels like home. So do something today that scares you, even if it is small. An awesome quote that I heard from another volunteer is:

“If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito”
--Dalai Lama