So much Swearing... In

On April 13, 2011, Nate and I were sworn in as the 23rd group of Peace Corps volunteers to serve in Guyana. Additionally, this year is the 50 anniversary of Peace Corps. We had a two-hour ceremony that occurred in Georgetown were our host families, community partners, health and education ministers, US ambassadors and all Peace Corps staff attended. Together with another PCV, Emily Berling, we represented our group by giving the volunteer remarks. Below is the speech Nate and I wrote and I presented.

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One of the first things we heard off the plane was that the Peace Corps service was analogous with riding a roller coaster. Submitting our application was like purchasing a ticket for the ride, waiting was like…well, waiting in line. Some had a fast pass while others waited years to snag a seat. The excitement and anticipation of arriving in our new home of Guyana was like buckling in and riding the coaster to the first peak. But with any rollercoaster there are multiple peaks and falls.

Kennedy’s promise mentions that we are here to serve even in conditions of hardship. As many of us have already learned, there is no hardship too small that does not require adjustment and further adjustment. Some of these adjustments can be as simple as learning to love the smell of Mozipel for the sake of saving your skin from mosquitoes, that digestive issues is just your body’s way of adjusting to fresh food, and that embracing “smalling up” is just another way to further integrate with your community. However some hardships require more of us than we can bear by ourselves, and those are the times that give us the opportunity to lean on one other in our new family. In the short time we’ve been here the relationships we have formed with each other, our training team, counterparts and especially our host families have given us the support and knowledge we will need to be successful in the years to come. In our effort to develop sustainable projects --- these relationships will be what sustain us.

Although it is useful to use the analogy of how the Peace Corps service is like a roller coaster to explain the ups and downs, perhaps the way our service is different from a roller coaster is more important to note. On a roller coaster everyone’s path is pre-determined, the same highs and lows are experienced at the same time, and the gratifying feeling of finishing the ride may only last a few minutes. In the Peace Corps, although community partners and volunteers are all working toward a common goal, each of us is challenged to determine our own path to address our community’s needs. Our mission as community development professionals transcends the categories of health and education and we are empowered by the bonds we make with our community partners to facilitate growth in all aspects of human well being.

In the last 50 years over 200,000 volunteers have served in 139 countries and no two experiences have been the same and not forever life changing and gratifying. Today the world is more interconnected than it was 50 year ago and therefore it’s never been more important to have relationships based on mutual understanding and respect. We are privileged with the rare opportunity to serve as representatives of peace and carry on our nation’s tradition of service. We are honored to be the 23rd group of volunteers to serve in Guyana and deepen the bonds we have just begun to form.

Once again we would like thank our host families, community partners, trainers, Peace Corps staff and fellow volunteers. This experience and celebration could not have happened without everyone’s support.
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With our first host mom Eslyn. She surprised us and brought us some beautiful hand-woven Baskets.

With our second host mom Debbie and her sister Nalini.

With Dr. Millie, who kept me alive and was instrumental in keeping me healthy for the last two months.

My JFK!

Ilana's speech at our Peace Corps swearing in ceremony.

Till next time

A little diddy

A few nights ago we had a family appreciate night where we celebrated our host families for taking us into their home even though we were complete strangers. Part of the night was a talent show where we volunteers got up to share our talents, which included things like juggling while singing a Guyanese song, self defense demonstration, the American national anthem, and of course a choreographed medley featuring Justin Bieber's "Baby." I wrote a song (which was originally intended for our swearing in ceremony but needed to be cut for time reasons) about training. Then a friend and fellow PCV, Seth McIntyre, helped me record it in studio room 202 of the Regency Hotel Georgetown.

Video from the talent show on Vimeo.

Here's the mp3:

Recording thanks to Seth.

Tomorrow we officially become part of the 50th class of Peace Corps volunteers!!!

Celebrating Rama Navami

Living in Guyana we get to experience many sub-cultures wrapped into one main Guyanese culture. One of the sub cultures that we’ve had the opportunity to get a good taste of is that of the Indo-Guyanese people. The reason for this is of course because our host mom is Indo-Guyanese, and she has made sure that we get to experience everything from her culture, which includes food, music, religion and of course Indian soap operas (which surprisingly there are a lot of). The majority of Indo-Guyanese are the descendants of the Indentured servants who were brought from (then) British India, to what was then called British Guiana to work in sugar cane plantations after the abolition of slavery in 1833. Indo-Guyanese are the largest ethnic group identified by the official census, making up 43.45% of the population and are primarily Hindus.


Even though our host mom is not Hindu most of her family and friends practice this religion and invited Nate and I to join them at their temple, which is called a Mandir, to partake in the religious holiday of Rama Navami. Rama Navami is a Hindu festival celebrating the birth of Lord Rama to King Dasharatha and Queen Kausalya of Ayodhya. They celebrate the holiday by having a service for nine nights which consists of chanting, offering of fruits and flowers, and an element of fasting, which for the Indo-Guyanese means not eating meat or any meat products like eggs and avoiding alcoholic beverages. At the end of each service a different family is the host of the Mandir and provides food and drink for the temple, usually consisting of some sort of curry and parsad, which looks and kinda tastes like cookie dough without the chocolate chips. However, before accepting the food you are supposed to drink milk that is poured in your hands. Funny story about this~ When we went to the Mandir the first night I was given milk in my hands to drink, but because I had no idea what I was supposed to do with this and the woman next to me said I was supposed to do this before eating the parsad, I for some reason assumed that “doing this” meant washing my hands. So…I starting washing my hands with the milk and Nate followed my lead. Oh boy! Quickly we realized that we were doing something wrong when the woman next to us starting laughing and our hands started to smell like sour milk. Needless to say, we made fools of ourselves! Oh well, certainly hasn’t been the first time and it will definitely not be the last time.



The temples are full of color and are absolutely beautiful. Adding to this beauty are the multiple colors of the women’s attire that I was so privileged to wear. I was able to have two outfits for each night of the Mandir. I was psyched to have multiple costume changes. Don’t judge me…you can still be a girly girl in the Peace Corps. The first night I wore a maroon colored Sari and on the second night I wore a mustard colored Salwar Kamee, which are loose fitting pants with a long dress shirt worn over the pants and a shawl. Married women are supposed to wear the shawl over their head. It was too hot, so I didn’t do this. The clothes are incredibly comfortable. In fact, they are so comfortable I wish I could buy a dozen of them and wear them all the time, even to sleep in. Nate, unfortunately, was not so lucky to have an outfit change and just wore khaki’s with a white shirt.

Thanks to Mahindra, Sunita, Patsy, Ram and Nalini for letting us tag along and participate in the nine days of Rama Navami.

Till next time.