The site visit
Beginning this week we all stayed in a hotel in Georgetown for some training before visiting our sites. We are spread between the 2nd and 4th floors, and it felt like a college dorm with people wandering in and out of rooms. Personally, I love training in Georgetown because there is easy access to: ice cream, other trainees, and consistent refrigeration for said ice cream. We Guy 26ers may or may not have a slight obsession with ice cream from Brusters. We go pretty much every chance we get, which sometimes is a little much when we're actually staying in Georgetown and it's only a small walk away. In no other circumstance would I hear about someone complaining of spending all of their given allowance on ice cream. I don't think anyone has gone that way yet, but it's bound to happen eventually.
The training we received this week was special. It was
called the counterpart conference due to the fact we got to meet our
counterpart or supervisor. Yeah. Super exciting, I know. We were all so ready
to meet our counterparts and they couldn't wait to meet us too! I met my
supervisor, Sir John Boyan, the headmaster at Wakapoa primary school. I'm sure
it was comedic to see the tallest girl standing next to the shortest man, but
so it goes. Sir John has been head master at Wakapoa Mission Primary for a very
long time and will be retiring half way through my two years here, and my host
mom, Teacher Pam, will take the job of acting head master.
To get to our sites, we'd planned to leave with our counterparts
Thursday morning. I expected to leave
around 8am, but forgot that due to not being able to drive myself around, I'm
at the mercy of public transportation, as was my counterpart. He wasn't able to
catch a bus from his hotel to my hotel, so he had to walk which took till about
9, but we left shortly thereafter. We took a hired car to the back of a market
in Georgetown where the mini buses congregate and fill up with passengers.
Minibuses comfortably hold about 10 or 11 people. I have heard horror stories
of 20 or so people being pushed into minibuses. Our minibus was exceptionally
full with 5 volunteers, and their counterparts, and a bundle of stuff to leave
at our new sites so we don't have to move all of it at one time. The best part
of the bus ride from Georgetown to Parika was getting out. We then proceeded to
hire a speedboat from Parika to Supenaam over the Essiquibo river. That was
fun. I like boats. I got to wear my Peace Corps approved, grade 3, life vest
and it was lovely. At Supenaam I got some lovely comments from people who were
trying to get my attention and wanted me to ride in their cars. We took a car
from Supenaam to Anna Regina where we stopped by the bank to open our accounts.
We had to go get passport sized photos taken to open the account. After getting
nice and hot and sweaty from travelling, my photograph was most spectacular.
From there we went to the city closest to our site, Charity. My counterpart
arranged the boats for us since he knows pretty much everyone there is to know
in Wakapoa and is related to many of them.
The first part of the ride was amazing. I can describe it
all I like, but I'm not going to be able to let you see what I saw, unless you
come and visit me. But there will be pictures in the future to help you see it
better. The boat ride began wonderfully, a splendid river surrounded by
mangroves dripping into the river. Did you know mangroves will have one yellow
leaf per branch which will absorb the salt for the whole tree so that leaf can
eventually fall off and leave the tree healthy and happy? I know, it's
fantastic. Although, my viewing of the gorgeous trees was cut off by the fact
that it began to pour rain on me, so I got to hide underneath a tarp, clutching
my laptop bag desperately, hoping to keep it away from the rain because I did
not have it in any sort of protective cover. Awesome, right? It was
exhilarating and seemed a fitting way to travel to my island in Guyana, the
land of many waters.
Wakapoa/ Wakapou/Wakapau
I'm still not entirely sure how you spell Wakapoa. It is
pronounced wok-a-pow. I've seen three spellings, and I think there may be a few
more that I don't know about yet. The reason, you ask? Wakapoa is comprised of
many different Amerindian groups and their cultures, languages and customs have
meshed together. The group I have heard most about when it comes to language is
Arawak because many people are trying to preserve the language as it is not
commonly spoken or written anymore. Due to the fact that it is not often used,
and that it is a more verbal than written language, the written translations of
spoken words can vary depending on who you as, giving you the different
spellings.
Wakapoa itself is comprised of 42(I think) separate islands
which fall under the umbrella of Wakapoa. There are people living on about 30
of the islands from what I understand. Wakapoa is located in Region 2, off of
the Pomeroon river. My island is called Massarie and is on the Wakapoa creek
side, as compared to the Koria creek side. These two sides form the whole of
Wakapoa, but due to it being hard, and expensive, to travel between them, many
people tend to stay on one side or the other. There is an island in the middle
which is where people from both sides tend to gather, called Mission. Remember
how the school I'm teaching at has the word mission in it? Yeah, that's right,
I'm teaching on the island Mission while living on the island Massarie! Here is a map you may or may not be able to see.
What I will be doing in Wakapoa is still up for grabs. For
now it appears I'll be working at the elementary school, teaching 3rd grade for
a while, but I am hoping to start literacy clubs, encourage parent involvement
through community outreaches and give youths something to do after school and
in free time. I'm sure I'll develop more goals as I spend more time in the
community and get to understand their goals and motivation for having me there.
I am quite excited about my placement, though. I will have cell phone service,
I just got a new phone number, so that's fun. I will be able to access internet
on my phone, but it may end up being expensive so I might not do it all the
time. We'll see. The land is untamed and gorgeous, I think I'm going to
absolutely love it. I cannot wait to get to site and let you know how things
are going from there.
All my love. <3
