Challenge week. If you think it sounds really terrible and hard, you would be wrong. Our trainers teased the idea out there at the beginning of training as this magical time when we finally got to put our skills to the test and have a trial run of what volunteer service would actually be like, only small scale. The main differences between challenge week and service are:
- service is for 730 days instead of 5
- service involves more primary projects(like being in the school or health center)
- challenge week involves bunches more volunteers than most service
- challenge week was made of substantially more time sitting around waiting than I think service will be, but who knows on that one. Perhaps I will become the next guitar prodigy by playing in all of my free time.
- challenge week also involved writing essays and eating cake. I don't know how much of that I'll find in service
The cake,
which I'm sure you're curious about because everyone loves cake, was for
Norwell's birthday. (Norwell is our fantastic language and cultural
facilitator. He lives in Laluni with us most of the time and is pretty much our
go to guy for all number of things which aren't technically in his job
description but he helps us with anyhow because he's the bees knees.) I baked a
lemon cake for him the night before because I decided cake was a must and my
mom, Gaitree, fortunately had cake mix she let me steal for Norwell. I was not
the only one to make baked treats. There was a pine(pineapple) cobbler, black
cake, some variety of sweet coconut thing. It was amazing.
Most of this
week was spent deciding how we should spend all our time which suddenly
belonged to us, not to training sessions. We got to paint a majority of our
World Map Project and work on our Readiness to Serve essays.
We wanted to
have kiddos from the school come over and help us paint since the map is going
to go into the school we really wanted them to have an active part of it. We
had planned for them to paint one day but timing did not work out so well and the
schedule got shifted around substantially, but eventually it ended with
children putting paint on the map and that was all I could hope for. We had the
older grades((5,6,7 and 8) paint inside some of the larger continents, while
grades 1, 2, 3, and 4 got to make a boarder around the outside with their
handprints in red, yellow, and blue. I cannot get enough of it. I think the map
looks great and I'm really impressed that we were able to pull it together,
starting from a blank piece of ply board, some enthusiasm, paint and a fabulous
pattern to help us out.
On the day
we were waiting for children to paint but they couldn't, we had some glorious
free time. We went over to Michelle's family's house and learned to make pine
tarts and cheese rolls. I am now a culinary expert. Michelle's host sister said
I was a natural. That's right. I roll dough like nobody's business.
Another
amazing part of this week was having enough time that people who wanted to got
to go down to the creek next to Kelly's and my house. The creek has black
water. Black water, for those of you who might not know, is exceptionally
black. Pitch black. It's like swimming in tar, except it's really nothing like
that other than that you can't really see through black water or tar. It's
probably technically brown water, but it looks real dark and you can't see much
farther than a hands length away when the sun is shining directly on it. When
it's cloudy, you should probably just give up.
The creek is
deep, and almost flows up to the bridge which crosses it. The creek has
actually gone over the bridge when it rains a lot, but when we went it was not
that crazy. It cuts a path through trees and bushes, literally making a path
through something which looks freakishly like a rainforest for not officially
being a rainforest.
There's
something literally awesome about swimming in this wild black water, looking
out over the South American scene spread before me. Actually, there's a whole
lot of amazing things about that. It was hot, and then the creek was spectacularly
great. And there's a thrill about being
in black water and not knowing if there are horrifying creatures
swimming in the water with you. Although, a whole bunch of locals bathe in the
creek, so they manage to not get eaten, so it's not thaaaat dangerous, but it's
still fantastic.
Eben brought
his goggles and everyone got to take turns trying to look underwater with them.
Try was the operative word because I couldn't see anything. Like, anything. I
didn't expect to see much, but the shock of opening your eyes to darkness, when
you really know you should probably be able to see, is quite unnerving.
PM
interviews take place 3 times throughout training for our various trainers to
check in with us and let us know our progress, if we need to change our
attitude about anything, such like that. This week I had my second PM
interview, and, as always after the interviews, I felt really pumped up and
excited to be here. My trainers reminded me to think about what made me want to
come here, and to realize that my service is going to be my own. It's not going
to reflect anyone elses, or even be similar to theirs and that is one hundred
and ten percent okay. The interview also got me even more excited to go live in
a hinterland site, even though I was still really worried about communication
home. They explained how relationships usually build and grow in hinterland
sites since they are so much smaller and will be around me all the time. I
cannot wait to be making friends in my new community, connecting to the
wonderful people there and letting them find out who I am.
Friday June
13th--site placement!!
Anticipation
is funny, it builds for what feels like forever, becoming overwhelming as the
eventuality draws nearer. After all that build up, all that dread and
excitement and energy is often released in the span of a couple seconds.
Today's the day. Site placement day. The other trainees and I had gone on about
it for so long like it was a new holiday because for us, it is. It's our future
in a nutshell, the day we get a brief, tantalizing taste of our two years down
here.
I was
curious how today would turn out. I knew we had a session before we would find
out about our sites. However unrealistic, I imagined a wild fury of future
volunteers going mad before they found out where they were going. It was
significantly less intense, and for the most part was over faster than I
thought it would be.
The game
began late because our previous session had run long and the trainers needed
time to set up. When we went inside I was thrilled by the gigantic map of
Guyana, filled with tiny GUY 26 trainees covered by sticky notes. We were put
into teams to play Pictionary with different words we've encountered in
training. The anticipation was brutal. I didn't know where to look or what to
do. I played the game, trying to memorize all the green circles of soon to be
volunteers. All of GUY 26 is clustered at the top of Guyana. The first one
uncovered was Ben. He was sitting right next to me, and it was so loud so
neither of us could hear if the person said Ben or Beth. Turns out it was Ben
and I had a bit more waiting to do. We continued playing the game, with lots of
screaming and shouting involved. I was so nervous and wanted to know, but
playing the game was not as bad as I thought it would be. I forget who actually
uncovered my name, but I couldn't hear too much of what they said about my
placement. Later I went up and looked, discovering that I was placed in Wakapoa
Mission Primary School in Wakapoa, Region 2. Another volunteer, Doug Hall, had
talked about Wakapoa when he came to lecture us so I was really excited to be
placed there because I heard it was beautiful.
Although, it
was disappointing because even though I found out the mystery of where I was
going, it still wasn't enough because I wanted to know more about my site and
what sort of stuff would be there and all that stuff. Oh patience, I do not
have this virtue.
Laluni
Fundraiser
This Saturday
the 14th was our Challenge Week fundraiser. After we'd been in Laluni for a
while we had a meeting with teachers about wanting to do a project in
association with the school and asked what ideas they might have for it. The
Senior Mistress brought up that they had been planning to build a resource room
separate from the school which could be a library and a place for teachers to
take students to get out of the loud classrooms. They already requested some
money to build it, but they knew they would need more, so we decided on doing a
fundraiser as our activity to help support the building of this resource room.
At the meeting, the teachers mentioned that they typically have barbecues to
raise money and they've worked well in the past, so we could do a bbq, and
concert, this time as well.
The first
step was to have a meeting with the PTA to discuss logistics: when, where, what
type of events, who would supply what food, how much to charge for
tickets/food, and the like.
Next we
decided what part of the concert we, the trainees, would be a part of. We had a
couple songs and modeling which eventually got worked into the schedule the
head master put together.
On the day
of the concert I made both peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies. Baking is
a blast. As is the heat. However, excessive heat, while trying to make BILLIONS
OF COOKIES for a whole morning was quite the experience. Although, in the end,
I had tons of cookies and everyone was happy. So that was good. The start time
of the concert had changed a bit so I was at the school really early, but
changed into my traditional Indian wear right before the concert.
The
concert/bbq itself.
Several
families and teacher had set up the school before we went over. The classrooms
had been reorganized so they all faced the stage. We all hung around for a
while before the concert really began, eating food, talking, hanging out with
people. It was a good time. Then the concert began.
I was
wearing my sweet traditional Indian wear, same with Lauren and Kelly. We all
sat and watched as the head master introduced us to the concert, discussed how
much the school appreciated our support, and went into the performances. I
think most grade levels did at least one activity up on the stage, and many
people did skits. It was a really fun time. I sang a song and partook in a
fashion show with Lauren and Kelly. I saw the pictures later and realized I
always have my hands in the air. Like, always. They just don't really go down
ever.
The school
also got exceptionally hot with so many people sitting there and watching. At
one point my little sis, Serina, came over and sat on my lap. It was super
duper sweet, but also really sweaty.
In total,
the bbq was a success. We raised a lot of money and the foundation for the
building will be laid in July. I'm very excited to hear about how the
progression of the building goes.
Hilarious
side story:
You know how
most people grow out of being afraid of the dark?
Darkness
didn't need to creep, it had full control of the situation. I rushed to the
church to get some much needed water. The moon hung swollen in the sky but the
clouds refused to share the glow. I tried not to be scared. Nothing wrong with
an abandoned church in the darkness.
As I cracked
the door, flashes of horror movies played through my mind, mainly the parts where
someone leaps out from an unseen corner, or dark, abandoned church. Fear wasn't
cold, like they always say it is. It was burning hot of a speeding pulse.
Absurd as it was, my fear almost got the best of me. I rushed inside, trying to
reach the water cooler(which really does nothing for coolness) in the back
before my resolve ran out on me. Several hurried steps in, I froze. A rustling noise emerged from the back,
echoing off the concrete walls.
"Hello?"
My voice
hung in the air. I forgot to breathe.
"Who is
that?"
I could see
the future playing out; a dark shape slowly approaching, leaping at the last
moment with a burst of speed to nab me and do all manner of terrible things.
After far too
much adrenaline pushed through my veins, a voice from outside responded. More
than happy to leave the church, I went outside. It was a local man, who had a
flashlight, and saved the day. I borrowed it, retrieved my water, thanked him
and was on my way, fully aware of how much of a coward I was.
In case you
were concerned that this blog is actually an elaborate plot being posted by an
imposter, I hope this story has proved that the same person you knew is
continuing to do the same things, but here in Guyana. In retrospect, it's
really funny how scared I was, but at the time it was absolutely terrifying. So
now you have a great snapshot of what my life is like! Except I tend not to run
into circumstances like that very often, if ever.
Sunday we
left Laluni for future site visits. I thought I had everything totally prepared and packed up nicely, however, about halfway
on the road out to the center of town, my family asked if I had my life vest. I
did not. I have to take 2 boats to get to my site, and I'm required to wear my
Peace Corps approved life vest every time I cross water, so I had to go back
and get it. You'd think with the number of times I spend packing and unpacking
I'd become an expert, but I am still definitely not very good at it. Such is
life.
Before we
went to our sites we got to stay at a hotel in Georgetown. My favorite things
about the hotel include: air conditioning, a bed made of something not foam,
indoor plumbing, and the ability to exercise without getting sand on me.
Until next
time.
