Sun rises and guitar practice Week 14-15

July 28- August 11

A whole lot has happened in the past two weeks(as always) and I'm going to try to summarize it as well as I can. I should really write blog posts more frequently, but I am super great at not doing that.

The president of Guyana, Donald Ramotar, came into Wakapoa for campaigning, but I got to meet him as he came in. I also got to meet the Regional chairman, the vice chairman, and the minister of agriculture. It was quite humbling to meet those people. A year ago I would have never imagined I would be meeting such figures. Incredible.

Silly side story: In preparing for the president coming I got to look around at the printers in Wakapoa to try to print out itinerary of speech events. Unfortunately all the printers had a variety of wasp nests growing in them and the usb chords were rusted over. One of them worked as a scanner, so we ended up making a handwritten copy of the itinerary(thanks Joe!) and copied it for all the members. #beingadaptable

I've been getting to go out and meet more people in the community.  It's getting to feel a lot more like a home here since now there are a number of houses I can stroll right up to and talk to the people there. Walking up to people's houses and striking up conversations was never a skill I thought I would acquire through Peace Corps, but it's definitely getting added to the list.

I've also been preparing for my second Literacy Summer camp which will be from August 18th to the 22nd. I think this one is going to go a lot more smoothly since it's on the island where I'm living so I know many of the children and their parents. The last day of camp, the 22nd, I've invited parents to come and hang out to see what their children have been doing, and some of the parents are going to help make cookup(delicious rice and beans) for lunch for everyone. I can't wait to see how this turns out. Here's a sweet sweet picture of me at the last literacy summer camp. We sang songs after lunch every day, and I think it was pretty fantastic.

I got a care package from home which included chocolate! I've been trying to share it with my community since everyone is always so giving to me, it feels right to be generous back. I really hope I can adopt their generous, amazing attitude. I'm constantly astounded by how  much the people here share, regardless of how much they have. It is probably one of the most amazing things I've seen. They look out for each other, and I'm lucky enough to be start to be included in that. It will only get better as I spend more time in Wakapoa and more people get to know me. Two years still seems like a really long time when I think about it, but I know it's going to go by awfully fast. I've already been at site for a month and it doesn't feel that long at all.

I'm excited for school to get started in September. I'm organizing the library and am planning to create a database on the computer(I've already started on in excel) and am hoping to download BiblioteQ to have a check out system for the books, but we'll see how it goes. The elementary school does have one functional computer, powered by solar energy, so the teachers will be able to access the library record I type up. I also want to get pen pals started from my school, maybe to a school on the coast, and then to schools in America. I think 4th and 5th grade will be really great for that because 6th grade here has to take the Caribbean placement exams so they are often focused on that for much of the year.

No matter how long I live in Guyana, I don't think I'll get used to the heat. I sweat buckets. And turn bright red in the face when I get hot. That's fun. Yesterday I helped some people carry bags of sand down to a boat so they could take it to help build a foundation/ extend their house. Now, I know sand is heavy. But, I always seem to overestimate how strong I am. I didn't hurt myself or anything, but carrying bags of sand for half an hour was definitely a sweet sweet workout. I carried two together in one of the many walks down to the boat, but only because someone else helped lift up the bag of sand while I already had one on my shoulder. Exceptionally heavy does not seem like an exaggeration.

Speaking of exercising, I'm trying to start running in the morning. I've done it 3 times now and am going to have more people in the community come out and run with me. My sprained ankle is continuing to heal, and I hope running on it doesn't mess it up.

I've also been getting up real early. The sun starts coming up at 5:30, so I usually get up around 5:15 or 5:30. I started getting up so early so I could exercise in my room while it was cool. Then I realized I was missing the most gorgeous part of the day by hiding inside my room exercising. But now I've got something even better. As the sun rises I sit on my balcony, playing guitar and watching the light transcend the clouds. It's amazing. If that's not what happiness is all about, I don't know what is. That experience, as short as it may be, has really been coloring my days. It's hard to have a bad day when I start it that way.

The past two weeks have been good. I struggled a while ago, but lately I've been feeling really, really lucky. I know so many amazing people already, and this experience is allowing me to meet and love so many more people. Even if I have a day which doesn't turn out as well as I hope, I can still look at the people I've met, and I feel good about being here. Part of Peace Corps comes from the day to day interactions, the people to people component, which I love so, so much about this.

Some bonus pictures for you!

Getting lunch in Georgetown after Peer Support Network training. From left to right: Tim, me, Holleigh, Patty, Naomi, Erika.

Myself, Naomi and Tim as we traveled to Georgetown! We are the Peer Support Network!

Chase, Chi and I at Guyana Festival!