5 months in – 7 until I’m HOME! In some ways time seems to fly, some ways it crawls along sooo slooow. I’m 3 weeks into term 2, 1/3 of the term’s teaching done – because no teaching happens in the last 4 weeks - & I’m already looking forwards to Easter! In the last 3 weeks I’ve read 3 books …I’d forgotten how much time I have at school. I’ve spent today (after the usual Sunday clean) baking ….something I’m well known for here. Today I made biscuits and then hot cross buns, which were …’really scrumptious’ (Ollie) & ….’bloody wonderful’ (Craig) …they actually tasted like the real thing. Other cooking achievements: I cooked a Guinness, Beef & Onion pie that would have made Jen so so proud…Craig announced it to be ‘utterly delectable & Ollie ‘truly scrumptious’. I continue to make my herby bread which Ollie & I made Hummus (from scratch) to go with. Whanita taught me how to make bake – a deep fried bready thing. Mmmm I looove the food. My muscle has officially turned to fat. However I am currently trying to counteract this by taking up Morucan Whitey Yoga on Mondays, & by having bought A BIKE! Now I just need to get theself motivation to start riding it, while simultaneously controlling my foodage ….easy! Typical me ….start off my letter by talking about food.
We’ve had a few visitors over the last two weeks. Firstly Doug our Project Trust officer from Coll & Rishon our representative’s daughter from Georgetown came to check out our project. (I’ve just run out of writing paper). So they came out to check that we’re happy which we are very much so. They also came out to see our Head Mistress (who’s new this term as our old HM has been promoted) and check that the school still needs volunteers. Of course she said it was vital that they have volunteers & that we are very much needed – something that I’m not too sure about. They also had to watch a lesson. I, being me, got ridiculously nervous & ended up teaching the worst lesson I’ve ever taught – getting activities explanations mixed & missing out other stuff & generally making a fool out of myself. Typical me, & yes I went bright red too, just like back in the days of English GCSE presentations! It’s a shame because for the rest of the week I really enjoyed teaching for… the first time ever! We impressed Doug & Rishon with our cooking …the first volunteers to risk poisoning them.
We’ve also had Mel a volunteer from last year come stay with Whanita. She’s here for 3 weeks. Mel is pretty awesome, she seems to know everyone – apparently when she first got here she spent her free time walking fr4om house to house introducing herself & receiving free food! Sounds like a plan….She has also mastered talking Creol just like the locals – its really odd watching and listening to her have conversations with people – its surprisingly hard to speak bad English! & she’s achieved the feat of buying a dugout, something we meant to do but …never got around to doing. I spent yesterday attempting to paddle her boat …I sank it several times – it requires a surprising amount of balance …plus I think I’m too heavy.
We’ve found out that pretty much all rumours we’ve been told about the girls are completely false. I can’t wait to hear what’s been said about us next year …probably all to do with 2 girls living with a guy & how we both got pregnant …
We got paid for the first time last week: G$273000 each!!! We spent a good hour playing with all the cash …but then the next day we had to go spend it all ….paying off our debts – food, bikes etc.
The dormitory children are still getting sick – within 2 days of returning to school they started going home. This time it’s not the jumbie spirit but evil water spirits – so lets hope that the exorcisms work this time! Ollie & I took 20 of the surviving children swimming yesterday, along with a group from the church. All the children who attend Santa Rosa Catholic Church have been in tears all week (including some of the teachers from school) because Father Gustavo has been moved to Canada. On his last night, apparently he & all the children & some adults camped and spent the night jumping off all the bridges around Moruca!
Donnette, Craig’s admirer with a husband & 4 kids – continues to deliver a bag of fruitilicious goodies every week as well as a broom this week – she decided, having swept Craig’s room out for him, that we needed a new one. Whanita continues to rescue us by helping with emergency washing & cleaning & sending round goodies. & Sophie who is very poor has offered to do all of our clothes washing & we ‘donate’ money to her regularly for it …peace corps vols aren’t allowed to earn money!
These next 3 months are full of Birthdays. January saw Craig’s 21st, Amy’s (Whanita’s daughter) 12th, & Donnette’s 27th. These all occurred in the same week – resulting in a lot of cake eating – I made Craig a lemon & honey cake & then Whanita’s usual cakey monsters were at every event. We have Kelly’s (Whanita’s daughter) 23rd, my birthday (HINT) & Church’s (Whanita’s soon to be 6 year old) on the same day, Sir Rouel & Miss Lucy’s birthday all in February & then Whanita’s, Ollie’s, Derick & Alesia’s birthdays in March (Derick & Alesia are also spawn of Whanita – to be 15 & 9!). So cake is going to be EVERYWHERE. It seems that the Guyanese get very *ahem* busy in Mayish time – around Moruca day?!
This term we have no sports days but we have 4 Public Holidays. Mashamani is the big event of the term. We have, this Friday, inter-schools mashamani parade & talent competition. The winner then goes to an inter region competition in Mabaruma & then that winner goes to Georgetown to take part in the actual Mahamani parade on 23rd February – Ollie & I hope to go to town to see it. So there should be a few days of missing school
Ollie won an art competition! Peace Corps had an art competition for 12-17 year olds. They had to draw a picture about ‘abstinence’ & then write about it. Ollie got FIRST! Some of the red cross group entered & got 2nd & 3rd (out of 370 entries). All entrants had to have a guardian sign a form, so I, being a responsible adult of 18, signed Ollie’s. We both get a free trip to Georgetown & free hotel so that we can go to a presentation, art show & collect the calendar that Ollie’s work is now in.
The dry season is back! Meaning more sweat, dry clothes, less indoor puddles, monkeys, more fruit & veg, no showers & lads actually turning up to school!! We had a glorious week of perfect weather at the end of rainy season where it rained during nights, was cool in the mornings & evenings & then hot at Midday – perfect!
So that’s it for now, lesson planning has been put off for far too long….
Lots of Love to all
Love from
Emily
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