A Typical Day in the Peace Corps

Is there even such a thing? The answer, of course, is a big, fat NO. However, since your tax payer dollars are allowing us to have this experience (thank you, by the way) I thought I would try my best to share with you what it is exactly that we do here on a daily basis.

Most mornings we wake up between 5:00am and 6:00am, which is quite late for Guyanese standards. People here get up EARLY! The other day I was talking to a nice lady at the market (blog post and pictures on the market experience coming soon!). When I asked her if she got to the market early to set up, she replied “No, I didn’t come until 4:00am today.” Well before Matt and I get out of bed in the morning we hear our neighbors loudly banging pots and pans as they get ready to open their Snackette for the day. We live along the main coastal highway and they get a lot of business from all the cars, busses and trucks that are already out and about before 5:00am. Mornings are when people in Guyana get things done!

During the week, I do a little light cleaning in the morning and make breakfast (usually oatmeal or banana pancakes) before heading to school at 8:00am. My school called #8 Primary is about a 10-minute mini-bus ride away from our house. To catch the bus I simply walk outside to the road and wait until a bus comes by. Proper bus stops are not common here, so you simply flag down a bus when you see it. At school I am involved in various aspects of literacy education. I work with small groups of students from ages five to eleven on improving their literacy skills, manage the school library, facilitate teacher workshops as well as create literacy teaching resources for students and teachers. Stay tuned to hear more about Matt's role as a health volunteer!

In the afternoon, I usually get home shortly after 3:00pm. At that time, I do laundry, exercise, play with the cats, relax, write to family and friends or take care of other odds and ends. I usually start cooking around 5:00-5:30pm before it gets dark. Dinner typically consists of a vegetable dish such as balange choka, katahar curry, bora, squash stew, bok choy, etc. paired with roti, rice or noodles. Preparing the meal almost always starts by me picking herbs from the back yard to add to whatever dish we are having. I try to make this a very quick trip as the mosquitoes, although present throughout the day, are then out in full force. Even inside we wildly swing around various limbs all evening in order to keep the blood-sucking monsters at bay. Of course the arm-flailing is rarely successful and therefore copious amounts of mosquitoe spray and anti-itch crème have become part of our every-day life.

Our weekend always starts with a trip to the market on Saturday mornings. Other than that, we enjoy our time by reading, relaxing and doing little things around the house. I also usually do laundry on one or both weekend days - laundry time happens several times a week since hand-washing is so time-consuming and our clothes get dirty fast here. Weekends are also great times for getting together with other volunteers or to work on secondary projects. This month Matt and I took part in two fantastic weekend events. One was an HIV/AIDS Awareness workshop that we co-facilitated and the other was a Children’s Christmas Party that was sponsored by a local NGO called GUY FUSE (Guyanese Families Unite in Service and Education). Below are some pictures of these events…



After engaging in various activities and discussions about HIV/AIDS transmission, prevention and de-stigmatization, the students worked on this banner.

 

Here are a few participants painting each other’s feet, so they can “Stomp Out Stigma.”


A participant is putting the finishing touches on her HIV/AIDS Awareness T-Shirt. Students wore these to school on the Monday following the workshop to share what they had learned.


At the Children’s Christmas Party Matt had the wonderful opportunity to make his first-ever appearance as Santa Claus. After two plus hours in the Santa suit in the hot Guyanese sun he was ready to head back to the North Pole.


This child looks a bit suspicious of Santa.


At the beginning of the party all children received tooth brushes. Subsequently, I did a short demonstration on what to remember when brushing your teeth. In this particular picture I am apparently trying to terrify the children into proper dental hygiene.


Peace Corps has asked us volunteers to take selfies in our favorite every-day spots in Guyana. My favorites were outside on my yoga mat and in the back yard by the mango trees. Matt doesn’t take selfies but he does enjoy catching the nice sea breeze we get in front of the house.