5th December
I thought I would write this brief note to you to announce a realisation: I now know why rainy season is called ‘rainy season’. The answer being: ‘Because it rains a hell of a lot.’
I guess in some ways it a fairly useful season as it is a good method of letting one see just how good your roof is. For us, when it rains outside, it also rains inside. It is not the slow thudding drip of a leak: it is literally a shower. I had a proper shower yesterday morning, turned it off & went to my room to get dressed & it was still showering water on me …AMAZING! I slept in Craig’s bed last night (&no he wasn’t in it …he’s in town) & awoke at 2am feeling very much as though I were sitting in a rain cloud. I was wet with a sheen of mist, I then realised that it was the result of sideways rain coming in through the mosquito net & kind of sieving through at high speed. I crept into bed with Ollie in our windowless room.
Rain also makes us cold! A nice change. Last night I went to bed & savannah was present (not in my bed obviously) & this afternoon it is pretty much entirely under water…..Wow!
Washing clothes is made even more tedious as now we have to hang clothes up to dry INSIDE …this process takes days & adds even more obstacles to our house. Now to get from the kitchen to the bed I have to: walk over our nice new red carpet, around hammock no. 1, step over the damp patch/puddle, under washing line no.1 & Ollie’s damp hoody while simultaneously stepping over hammock no. 2. You then have to duck under washing line no. 2 & Ollie’s damp shorts & you’re in to our room. THEN … you have to duck under 2 large electrical wires hanging down from our walls & across the door way – managing to avoid my damp towel, then lift up the mosquito net & climb in to bed.
Going to the loo in the middle of the night is not the easiest adventure!
School is also affected by the rain. The Guyanese do not go outside when it rains. This morning at 9.30am only about 40 dedicated students had arrived. The Headmaster still hasn’t made it here yet & it’s 2.30pm. For some students it is understandable – some have to walk 5 miles to school. Others have a 1 ½ hour paddle by dug-out. There’s a school rule that if by 12.15pm it hasn’t stopped raining then school’s cancelled for the whole day. Love it. & we thought we were pathetic about snow!
Currently, while it continues to rain, I am sitting waiting for my form 3 students to finish their biology exam. I have little faith that many will pass, because it involves them actually having to use their brains …something many find hard!
We’ve had the IT exam already & the results were …..poor. Class 1A & 1B actually had averages over the passmark (50%) of 51% & 52%. 1D & 1C had class averages of 37% and 35% while 2A’s was a little more respectable at 47%. So it’s all good
I would like you to know , also, that I BAKE AWESOME BREAD!
Love to all,
MERRY CHRISTMAS
Whoppee!
Love, love, love
Emily xxxxxx
Monday, 22 December 2008
Letter 4 from Guyana
24/11/08
I am officially ¼ of the way through! How time has flown.
So I returned from my trip to Georgetown safe & sound if not a little wet & absolutely exhausted . My first night involved eating a large banana split by myself, the second involved a large amount of Rum & Ian & Stewart (St Cuthbert’s boys) & Nicola & Meg (New Amsterdam girls) & Karaoke. The third night involved no sleep at all, a lime at the owner of a car sales place - & then an all nighter of chatting in hammocks. It was so refreshing to get away for a while – so good to get undeafened at the doctors - & brilliant to spend some time catching up with some other volunteers. I feel like I know Georgetown much better now, & have found a few amazing little places to go & chill out at & most involve food: e.g. the Roti Hut -> contains not only Roti & curry but all types of cake & pastries you can imagine.
Yet again I was wowed by the fantastic journey there. The boat left Kumaka landing at 5 am, Peanut came to pick me up from the house. I gathered my stuff, locked the door & shoved the key through the window before realising that I’d left my phone inside so I had to holla at Craig to wake up & let me back in …just to let you know that the Powellish ways don’t even escape Moruca!
The sky was red as we started the journey. Pyramids of cloud rose up from the silhouetted jungle & palms. Flourescent red/ pink outlined each pyramid. Obviously, if my camera had been working, I would have taken hundreds more photos of sunrise, palm trees & the sky adding to my already massive collection. It’s a sight I just can’t tire of, & every time it’s different & beautiful.
Driving along the coast was different this time because all the rice fields are under water so the landscape looks completely different. As usual, I’m always amazed to get out of taxis & buses alive – sides of the road don’t really exist. It’s therefore a common occurrence to turn a corner on the wrong side of the road & at 120km per hour to meet a car coming the other way & a cow just standing in the road. Adrenalin rush the whole way.
So weight continues to be gained as my/our cooking just keeps getting better & we discover more and more dishes. Having finally obtained an oven even more goodies can be created. I baked bread yesterday it actually tasted like white bread. Today I’m so proud of myself having just cooked chicken in a peanut satay sauce with noodles. We’ve discovered the local goodness of ‘Monkey ears’ – a bit like deepfried scotch pancakes, & I’ve developed a lemon curdish sauce to go with them. Our surrogate mum, Wanita, has finally showed us her secret recipe for how to make Mai-tai (something I’m sure I’ve mentioned before) – a delicious deep fried snack -> sticks of nutmeg & cinnamony coconut dough-covered in a sugary, cinnamony sauce. It’s my ultimate weakness. So food is still playing a highly important part in my jungle life.
So much has happened here in the last month, much of which I’ve already told you, however for blog purposes I ought to mention all.
Firstly, about a month ago we saw a sloth (I may’ve mentioned this last letter). It was sitting in Wanita’s plum tree – Not a clue about how it got there, do sloths walk? It was rather like watching Wilf in a tree. Big, fluffy and grey/brown, looking completely out of place & very ancient. Since then Craig has found the sloth’s hang-out (Craig has taken to monkey hunting in the nearby jungle – I attempted too but the mosquitoes, swamp & foot-eating animals quickly chased me out).
It’s now rainy season which has its pros and cons. Pros: we have water! This means showers. The river is rising, so good for swimming & rain is generally fun & refreshing.
Cons: MOSQUITOES, my feet are itchy 24/7. Humidity – it now feels as though you’re constantly in an enclosed room in summer with the heating on full strength. The humidity must have changed from a survivable 30% to a nasty 85/90%. Using solar power computers -> rain = clouds; clouds = no sun, no sun = not a single computer to teach IT on.
This month we’ve had a few strange experiences that I never expected to partake in – especially seeing as I’m in the jungle! The first of these involved walking in on a full scale exorcism of the dormitory children. 3 weeks ago 13 dormitory girls fell ill within the same week. They would start with a headache & then deteriorate until they were writhing with fever & moaning & just generally pretty ill! We walked in on 2 of the patients, they were each being held down by 6 others, holding limes & garlics & having methylated spirits poured over their faces. This was all being done to try & rid the girls of the Jumbie spirit – which is what they believed was possessing them. Craig decided that the girls needed to go to hospital to see the non-enlish speaking Cuban doctor. So the girls went & were sedated & the doctor ran some tests only to conclude that, yes indeed the girls are possessed by the Jumbie spirit. 5 years of medical training seemed to have gone down the drain.
So on the following Friday we went over to the dorms to help study & we walked in to discover a Church service. The Pentecostal church had discovered that the Catholic Church had managed to perform 2 exorcisms in the week (one for the building & one for the children) & had decided that they too wanted a go. So we were handed a free bible each & watched as children went forward to be prayed over by 13 adults all speaking in tongues & randomly bursting into shouts of ‘By the name of Jesus flee you spirit, flee!’. One girl collapsed – just as the evil dorm-mother was being surrounded by all 13 muttering adults - & the adults hurried over & started thrashing her & shouting & pleading & muttering. Freaky or what?! We politely refused to be exorcised, the children all believe that now the Jumbie is going to get us!
By the weekend all the dormitory girls who were ill had been sent home & all the ‘not yet possessed’ moved in to the Amerindian hostel in Kumaka. This was obviously a very sensible solution as now the girls are living 13 to a room & 2 to each single bed. No-one has actually thought about cleaning the dormitories yet …they smell bad.
The Guyanese newspaper has, as usual, heard completely the wrong story & published that the primary school children were being poisoned.
The week after these illnesses & we had USA military doctors arrive for 10 days to offer free healthcare to the community. Local could get free teeth cleaning, extractions, glasses or surgery. I spent the week carrying students back & forth, to & from the hospital & standing in long hot queues. This did however give me the opportunity to hint to the Americans that a ride on the helicopter would be very much appreciated.
We found out that Wanita has a hernia & that she needed to have surgery on it. This meant for Wanita (& Liz as her escort) a trip to the military ship for 3 days. Very jealous we persisted in the *subtle* hinting & ….IT WORKED! Last Tuesday we got up at 6 am to walk to the irstrip, get in a helicopter & fly to the ship. Liz had been told to choose 10 people from the community to get a tour of the ship. The 5 whities, a couple of nurses, a couple of Guyanese soldiers & Kassandra the AKEO (an awesome young powerful lady who wouldn’t surprise me if she announced that she was to be the 1st Guyanese Amerindian & female president) all disembarked the helicopter on a ship that holds 1500 people and up to 30 helicopters. We met the captain & had apple juice, Danish pastries & cookies with some of the crew. The air-conditioning was incredible! We had a tour of areas of the ship including the hospital where cataracts & dental surgeries were in process, & also the Bridge – where we sat in the captain’s chair & saw all the cool machines & radar thingys.
On the flight back to the airstrip one of the US guys beckoned me towards the large gaping hole at the back of the helicopter. I cautiously stumbled forwards looking sexy in my hat, goggles & ear muffley things. The guy strapped me to a lead attached to the floor & I sat on the edge of the hole with my feet dangling out over Guyana. Incredible experience! Also gave me the chance to yet again make the observation that Guyana has many trees & a lot of water. While flying over the sea, there is a very clear line where the brown sea around Guyana suddenly turns into the blue of the Caribbean Sea. Most Guyanese don’t realise that mostly the sea is blue – they have only ever seen brown ocean (it’s brown due to the fertility of the land).
We had a Halloween party after a fundraiser bingo night! Generally disappointing turnout by the 5 Guyanese men who turned up – they all came as Guyanese men. Most of the children haven’t heard of Halloween. The Americans had Halloween sweets & everything. Rum ended up being drunk & various games played …Craig was Harry Potter, the PC girls were Santa Rosa schoolgirls & Ollie & I were the clockwork dolls from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
As for the Bingo it’s taken very seriously. Different to English version as every round people go outside to collect pebbles to cover their bingo card with ….recycling & all that
Guy Fawkes night was celebrated by us – I may have mentioned this too …We pulled down rotten trees & dry banana leaves & oiled them on top of our rubbish pit & lit it. We also managed to buy traffic light fireworks & a couple of rockets. The traffic light ones were awesome as you could hold them while they were shooting their coloured sparks. We shot the sparks at the clothes pegs aiming as though with a rifle. Good times . We also had sparklers, which all the children loved. We had Wanita’s children over (6) & the 2 ‘maids’ from neighbours – Rhonda & ‘Fat Girl’ (I don’t actually know her real name – all locals call her ‘Fat Girl’ or ‘Fatty’). We had Courtley round (the guy who works the village generator & seems to have a bit of a thing for me – he gave me diamonds he’d found in the mines). Courtley and Derek (Wanita’s giant of a 14 year old) & Larry (who always turns up where there’s the chance of finding rum) cut down bamboos from the bush. They created a traditional bamboo cannon. The bamboo has a hole in the bottom & kerosene is poured inside it. A lighted splint is then put into the hole & fire & a massive BANG shoot out of the other end. It lasts for hours & the boys never get over the fun of mixing fuel fire & bamboo to produce big fire and loud bangs. It was only at the end of the evening that we discovered that fireworks are illegal in Guyana. To be honest I don’t think that the police would ever try to stop us using fireworks as they (the policemen) are drunk 24/7, literally. Craig gets offers to go and join them for Ivanoff vodka on the way to work.
Later on that evening Murphy turned up with the Captain of Cobana (26 miles away), some friends & vodka. His family then also turned up & Murphy & Larry dueted on our guitars. The more Murphy drinks the higher and more irish his voice becomes. We always start off with Guyanese folksongs & then progress to Ronan Keating, Backstreet Boys & Enrique Iglesias. A really good night.
Craig has a Student with 6 toes ….
What other news?
Ollie & I & Sophie have taken the Moruca Red Cross Youth Group on their first field trip to teach peers about STI’s & HIV. We took a 3 hour boat trip through jungle & savannah to Warapoka – a beautiful settlement with white sand, a massive creek & large rocks everywhere (on which everyone the boys of the group insisted on having a photo taken). We strung up our hammocks in the local primary school & Ollie & I ran the kitchen on an awesome kerosene stove. During the days the children ‘taught’ & in the evenings we went down to the creek & then went back to the school to sit chatting, playing the pink guitar etc. The kids in the group are super. All have drive – which is something most Morucans seem to lack. They all have a very good sense of humour & are generally lovely people who deserve to get somewhere in life.
This coming weekend we are going on our next field trip to Waini Mari, involving a 2 ½ hour hike!
I cannot wait until Christmas. Jen is coming out for the week before Christmas. I think we’ll come to Moruca for a few days, then either go camping or back to Georgetown. We’ll have Ian and Milly with us (2 other PT volunteers) & Craig too so its going to be a fairly random group but should be IMMENSE. I can’t wait to see Jen.
I then fly to Tobago on the 23rd Dec to meet all other volunteers (26) & then stay there for Christmas & maybe go to Trinidad for New Year. I’m kind of sad that I’m not going to be spending Christmas in Moruca, sounds like it’s a ig thing – lots of parties (including an Old Year’s party) & lots of food. But whatever I do it will be good. Woop!
I thought maybe as I have a lot of time on my hands (it’s exam leave for the whole school this week & next – teachers are the only people who have to be at school every day) I would describe to you a typical day & week.
Typical week day:
• Wake at 7am & have a breakfast of either porridge or pancakes.
• Shower using bucket or shower (in rainy season)
• Get to school for 8.45
• 9.00 assembly for whole school outside. This involves: The national pledge, a prayer & announcements – often very long ones by Sir Errol who sounds exactly like King Julian from ‘Madagascar’.
• Lessons until 12.00 – I often don’t have lessons & so sit in my form room (there’s no staff room).
• Lunch until 1.00 – often involves our most experimental cooking
• Lessons 1.00 to 3.00
• Then chill out, unless we have to go & help at dormitories.
• Cook, or whoever doesn’t cook washes up
• Bed at 10ish
• Current out at 10.30pm
Mondays: Milk shake Monday!
After school Ollie & I go & buy milkshake & walk to Palloma bridge – the most beautiful views & a lovely breeze. Sometimes we walk further from island to island, exploring. Last time we ended up at a lady’s house & she commanded her children to pick tangerines & oranges for us. We went back to Palloma bridge, met Craig & sat having pip-spitting contests while watching the most beautiful sunset.
We also met Crazy Clare who often hangs around Palloma. Crazy Clare is usually seen carrying a dagger or flowers, with a post-it note or sweet wrapper attached to her forehead & singing at a high pitched voice. She likes to leave things on peoples’ door steps & Wanita’s cousin (who lives next to Palloma bridge) is a favourite. We’ve also seen Clare walk in to the jungle & emerge 30 mins later carrying ½ a tree as though completely normal. She completes Moruca!
I’ve decided to tell you about a day a letter…….my hand is tired.
Basically I’m fine! Love to all,
Love, love, love Emily xxx
I am officially ¼ of the way through! How time has flown.
So I returned from my trip to Georgetown safe & sound if not a little wet & absolutely exhausted . My first night involved eating a large banana split by myself, the second involved a large amount of Rum & Ian & Stewart (St Cuthbert’s boys) & Nicola & Meg (New Amsterdam girls) & Karaoke. The third night involved no sleep at all, a lime at the owner of a car sales place - & then an all nighter of chatting in hammocks. It was so refreshing to get away for a while – so good to get undeafened at the doctors - & brilliant to spend some time catching up with some other volunteers. I feel like I know Georgetown much better now, & have found a few amazing little places to go & chill out at & most involve food: e.g. the Roti Hut -> contains not only Roti & curry but all types of cake & pastries you can imagine.
Yet again I was wowed by the fantastic journey there. The boat left Kumaka landing at 5 am, Peanut came to pick me up from the house. I gathered my stuff, locked the door & shoved the key through the window before realising that I’d left my phone inside so I had to holla at Craig to wake up & let me back in …just to let you know that the Powellish ways don’t even escape Moruca!
The sky was red as we started the journey. Pyramids of cloud rose up from the silhouetted jungle & palms. Flourescent red/ pink outlined each pyramid. Obviously, if my camera had been working, I would have taken hundreds more photos of sunrise, palm trees & the sky adding to my already massive collection. It’s a sight I just can’t tire of, & every time it’s different & beautiful.
Driving along the coast was different this time because all the rice fields are under water so the landscape looks completely different. As usual, I’m always amazed to get out of taxis & buses alive – sides of the road don’t really exist. It’s therefore a common occurrence to turn a corner on the wrong side of the road & at 120km per hour to meet a car coming the other way & a cow just standing in the road. Adrenalin rush the whole way.
So weight continues to be gained as my/our cooking just keeps getting better & we discover more and more dishes. Having finally obtained an oven even more goodies can be created. I baked bread yesterday it actually tasted like white bread. Today I’m so proud of myself having just cooked chicken in a peanut satay sauce with noodles. We’ve discovered the local goodness of ‘Monkey ears’ – a bit like deepfried scotch pancakes, & I’ve developed a lemon curdish sauce to go with them. Our surrogate mum, Wanita, has finally showed us her secret recipe for how to make Mai-tai (something I’m sure I’ve mentioned before) – a delicious deep fried snack -> sticks of nutmeg & cinnamony coconut dough-covered in a sugary, cinnamony sauce. It’s my ultimate weakness. So food is still playing a highly important part in my jungle life.
So much has happened here in the last month, much of which I’ve already told you, however for blog purposes I ought to mention all.
Firstly, about a month ago we saw a sloth (I may’ve mentioned this last letter). It was sitting in Wanita’s plum tree – Not a clue about how it got there, do sloths walk? It was rather like watching Wilf in a tree. Big, fluffy and grey/brown, looking completely out of place & very ancient. Since then Craig has found the sloth’s hang-out (Craig has taken to monkey hunting in the nearby jungle – I attempted too but the mosquitoes, swamp & foot-eating animals quickly chased me out).
It’s now rainy season which has its pros and cons. Pros: we have water! This means showers. The river is rising, so good for swimming & rain is generally fun & refreshing.
Cons: MOSQUITOES, my feet are itchy 24/7. Humidity – it now feels as though you’re constantly in an enclosed room in summer with the heating on full strength. The humidity must have changed from a survivable 30% to a nasty 85/90%. Using solar power computers -> rain = clouds; clouds = no sun, no sun = not a single computer to teach IT on.
This month we’ve had a few strange experiences that I never expected to partake in – especially seeing as I’m in the jungle! The first of these involved walking in on a full scale exorcism of the dormitory children. 3 weeks ago 13 dormitory girls fell ill within the same week. They would start with a headache & then deteriorate until they were writhing with fever & moaning & just generally pretty ill! We walked in on 2 of the patients, they were each being held down by 6 others, holding limes & garlics & having methylated spirits poured over their faces. This was all being done to try & rid the girls of the Jumbie spirit – which is what they believed was possessing them. Craig decided that the girls needed to go to hospital to see the non-enlish speaking Cuban doctor. So the girls went & were sedated & the doctor ran some tests only to conclude that, yes indeed the girls are possessed by the Jumbie spirit. 5 years of medical training seemed to have gone down the drain.
So on the following Friday we went over to the dorms to help study & we walked in to discover a Church service. The Pentecostal church had discovered that the Catholic Church had managed to perform 2 exorcisms in the week (one for the building & one for the children) & had decided that they too wanted a go. So we were handed a free bible each & watched as children went forward to be prayed over by 13 adults all speaking in tongues & randomly bursting into shouts of ‘By the name of Jesus flee you spirit, flee!’. One girl collapsed – just as the evil dorm-mother was being surrounded by all 13 muttering adults - & the adults hurried over & started thrashing her & shouting & pleading & muttering. Freaky or what?! We politely refused to be exorcised, the children all believe that now the Jumbie is going to get us!
By the weekend all the dormitory girls who were ill had been sent home & all the ‘not yet possessed’ moved in to the Amerindian hostel in Kumaka. This was obviously a very sensible solution as now the girls are living 13 to a room & 2 to each single bed. No-one has actually thought about cleaning the dormitories yet …they smell bad.
The Guyanese newspaper has, as usual, heard completely the wrong story & published that the primary school children were being poisoned.
The week after these illnesses & we had USA military doctors arrive for 10 days to offer free healthcare to the community. Local could get free teeth cleaning, extractions, glasses or surgery. I spent the week carrying students back & forth, to & from the hospital & standing in long hot queues. This did however give me the opportunity to hint to the Americans that a ride on the helicopter would be very much appreciated.
We found out that Wanita has a hernia & that she needed to have surgery on it. This meant for Wanita (& Liz as her escort) a trip to the military ship for 3 days. Very jealous we persisted in the *subtle* hinting & ….IT WORKED! Last Tuesday we got up at 6 am to walk to the irstrip, get in a helicopter & fly to the ship. Liz had been told to choose 10 people from the community to get a tour of the ship. The 5 whities, a couple of nurses, a couple of Guyanese soldiers & Kassandra the AKEO (an awesome young powerful lady who wouldn’t surprise me if she announced that she was to be the 1st Guyanese Amerindian & female president) all disembarked the helicopter on a ship that holds 1500 people and up to 30 helicopters. We met the captain & had apple juice, Danish pastries & cookies with some of the crew. The air-conditioning was incredible! We had a tour of areas of the ship including the hospital where cataracts & dental surgeries were in process, & also the Bridge – where we sat in the captain’s chair & saw all the cool machines & radar thingys.
On the flight back to the airstrip one of the US guys beckoned me towards the large gaping hole at the back of the helicopter. I cautiously stumbled forwards looking sexy in my hat, goggles & ear muffley things. The guy strapped me to a lead attached to the floor & I sat on the edge of the hole with my feet dangling out over Guyana. Incredible experience! Also gave me the chance to yet again make the observation that Guyana has many trees & a lot of water. While flying over the sea, there is a very clear line where the brown sea around Guyana suddenly turns into the blue of the Caribbean Sea. Most Guyanese don’t realise that mostly the sea is blue – they have only ever seen brown ocean (it’s brown due to the fertility of the land).
We had a Halloween party after a fundraiser bingo night! Generally disappointing turnout by the 5 Guyanese men who turned up – they all came as Guyanese men. Most of the children haven’t heard of Halloween. The Americans had Halloween sweets & everything. Rum ended up being drunk & various games played …Craig was Harry Potter, the PC girls were Santa Rosa schoolgirls & Ollie & I were the clockwork dolls from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
As for the Bingo it’s taken very seriously. Different to English version as every round people go outside to collect pebbles to cover their bingo card with ….recycling & all that
Guy Fawkes night was celebrated by us – I may have mentioned this too …We pulled down rotten trees & dry banana leaves & oiled them on top of our rubbish pit & lit it. We also managed to buy traffic light fireworks & a couple of rockets. The traffic light ones were awesome as you could hold them while they were shooting their coloured sparks. We shot the sparks at the clothes pegs aiming as though with a rifle. Good times . We also had sparklers, which all the children loved. We had Wanita’s children over (6) & the 2 ‘maids’ from neighbours – Rhonda & ‘Fat Girl’ (I don’t actually know her real name – all locals call her ‘Fat Girl’ or ‘Fatty’). We had Courtley round (the guy who works the village generator & seems to have a bit of a thing for me – he gave me diamonds he’d found in the mines). Courtley and Derek (Wanita’s giant of a 14 year old) & Larry (who always turns up where there’s the chance of finding rum) cut down bamboos from the bush. They created a traditional bamboo cannon. The bamboo has a hole in the bottom & kerosene is poured inside it. A lighted splint is then put into the hole & fire & a massive BANG shoot out of the other end. It lasts for hours & the boys never get over the fun of mixing fuel fire & bamboo to produce big fire and loud bangs. It was only at the end of the evening that we discovered that fireworks are illegal in Guyana. To be honest I don’t think that the police would ever try to stop us using fireworks as they (the policemen) are drunk 24/7, literally. Craig gets offers to go and join them for Ivanoff vodka on the way to work.
Later on that evening Murphy turned up with the Captain of Cobana (26 miles away), some friends & vodka. His family then also turned up & Murphy & Larry dueted on our guitars. The more Murphy drinks the higher and more irish his voice becomes. We always start off with Guyanese folksongs & then progress to Ronan Keating, Backstreet Boys & Enrique Iglesias. A really good night.
Craig has a Student with 6 toes ….
What other news?
Ollie & I & Sophie have taken the Moruca Red Cross Youth Group on their first field trip to teach peers about STI’s & HIV. We took a 3 hour boat trip through jungle & savannah to Warapoka – a beautiful settlement with white sand, a massive creek & large rocks everywhere (on which everyone the boys of the group insisted on having a photo taken). We strung up our hammocks in the local primary school & Ollie & I ran the kitchen on an awesome kerosene stove. During the days the children ‘taught’ & in the evenings we went down to the creek & then went back to the school to sit chatting, playing the pink guitar etc. The kids in the group are super. All have drive – which is something most Morucans seem to lack. They all have a very good sense of humour & are generally lovely people who deserve to get somewhere in life.
This coming weekend we are going on our next field trip to Waini Mari, involving a 2 ½ hour hike!
I cannot wait until Christmas. Jen is coming out for the week before Christmas. I think we’ll come to Moruca for a few days, then either go camping or back to Georgetown. We’ll have Ian and Milly with us (2 other PT volunteers) & Craig too so its going to be a fairly random group but should be IMMENSE. I can’t wait to see Jen.
I then fly to Tobago on the 23rd Dec to meet all other volunteers (26) & then stay there for Christmas & maybe go to Trinidad for New Year. I’m kind of sad that I’m not going to be spending Christmas in Moruca, sounds like it’s a ig thing – lots of parties (including an Old Year’s party) & lots of food. But whatever I do it will be good. Woop!
I thought maybe as I have a lot of time on my hands (it’s exam leave for the whole school this week & next – teachers are the only people who have to be at school every day) I would describe to you a typical day & week.
Typical week day:
• Wake at 7am & have a breakfast of either porridge or pancakes.
• Shower using bucket or shower (in rainy season)
• Get to school for 8.45
• 9.00 assembly for whole school outside. This involves: The national pledge, a prayer & announcements – often very long ones by Sir Errol who sounds exactly like King Julian from ‘Madagascar’.
• Lessons until 12.00 – I often don’t have lessons & so sit in my form room (there’s no staff room).
• Lunch until 1.00 – often involves our most experimental cooking
• Lessons 1.00 to 3.00
• Then chill out, unless we have to go & help at dormitories.
• Cook, or whoever doesn’t cook washes up
• Bed at 10ish
• Current out at 10.30pm
Mondays: Milk shake Monday!
After school Ollie & I go & buy milkshake & walk to Palloma bridge – the most beautiful views & a lovely breeze. Sometimes we walk further from island to island, exploring. Last time we ended up at a lady’s house & she commanded her children to pick tangerines & oranges for us. We went back to Palloma bridge, met Craig & sat having pip-spitting contests while watching the most beautiful sunset.
We also met Crazy Clare who often hangs around Palloma. Crazy Clare is usually seen carrying a dagger or flowers, with a post-it note or sweet wrapper attached to her forehead & singing at a high pitched voice. She likes to leave things on peoples’ door steps & Wanita’s cousin (who lives next to Palloma bridge) is a favourite. We’ve also seen Clare walk in to the jungle & emerge 30 mins later carrying ½ a tree as though completely normal. She completes Moruca!
I’ve decided to tell you about a day a letter…….my hand is tired.
Basically I’m fine! Love to all,
Love, love, love Emily xxx
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