We need your help…

Let me first preface this post by saying that we are so grateful for all the support we have received from our family and friends and all the work we do in our community is really thanks to you. Now, less than 10 months before we close our service, we have identified what we feel is a very important project: the renovation of the Mabaruma Regional Conference Centre (or MRCC). The purpose of this renovation is to create a suitable venue for community activities. In development work, capacity building is the keystone to helping a community and this building would be a big step in that direction. 

Mabaruma is a small hinterland community in the northwest part of Guyana.  It is not accessible by land from the capital city of Georgetown, instead it is only accessible by air, which is very expensive or by water which is very dangerous and time consuming. Despite the challenges, many aid organizations are present in this region and do their best to supply the area with resources. Unfortunately because of lack of training, many of these valuable resources go unused, programs stagnate, and needy people are left without help. The most common reason that trainings do not occur is because there is not a suitable meeting space.  "We", Nate and I, believe that a "meeting of the minds" is an important function of any organization that's interested in finding consensus and making decisions for the future. That's why we feel the renovation of the MRCC is really needed for the development of our community. 

Presently the MRCC is in a state of disrepair in that it lacks shelter from the elements, electric current, adequate furniture, adequate ventilation, adequate sanitary facilities, and secure storage facilities. 

By helping us reach our goal of $9,582.20 you are directly helping the capacity building endeavors of the education and health departments, regional administration, religious organizations, as well as other public service organizations that require meeting space to conduct the advancement of their programs. 

Also, it’s a tax-deductible donation! Click Here to help us and our community. 

We thank you for your support and hope that you will pass on the message to your friends and family. 

Thank you,
Nate & Ilana 

Romance in the Peace Corps

I normally don’t post blog postings on the day to day occurrences of Nate’s and my life, and even less about intimate or romantic happenings, but this story I would like to share is mostly for me to remember the details of this night, as our blog is very much a journal of our Peace Corps experience, and also to share how romance doesn’t need to be an expensive gesture, just a thoughtful one.

Early last week, Nate had told me that the shop that we buy all of our dry goods was having a family dinner and that they had invited us down after 5:30pm to come and eat with them. I was excited to hear that we were invited out for dinner, because our weekends are often pretty mundane and we also didn’t have to cook or clean a meal. Awesome! Friday morning rolled around and as Nate was leaving for the river he reminded me that I needed to be ready by 6pm sharp to go down to dinner. I wondered why so punctual, nothing ever starts on time. 

Nate arrived at 5:20pm and quickly got changed and started packing a bag. He told me we needed to bring our own silverware and plates as this dinner had turned into quite the event and they wouldn’t have enough plates and silverware for all the guests. I was a little surprised that the shop that sells dry goods didn’t have enough plates, but I didn’t think anything of it. I got dressed and as we began walking outside a neighbour of ours called Nate and told us to stay put, he came and picked us up in a car and took us down to the market where the party was supposed to be. Once again, didn’t think anything of it, just thought we got lucky with a free drop. When we arrived at the shop, I saw our wonderful dry good ladies Auntie Joan and Auntie Kay still working at the shop. They told us to go ahead and head upstairs for the gathering. I was a bit confused why the two women who were hosting the party weren’t at the party, but I figured we were just early as usual. 

On top of the shop, there is a really nice space that used to be a little restaurant. It is no longer in use, but it still has all the amenities of a restaurant. Nice table, chairs, a full kitchen, fridge, sound system etc. As we walked upstairs I heard music, but I didn’t see anyone or anything set up. I turned around and told Nate, that we must be really early because there is no one here. He smiled and said, “Happy Six Years Baby.” I looked back at the space and then back at him with a very confused look on my face since our wedding anniversary is in December and it’s the end of May, and we have only been married for 3 years.  Before I could get any words out, he hugged me and said “Today six years ago we began dating. I wanted to take you on a date today to say that I hope we continue dating for at least another six years.” As we continue walking inside there was a table set with candles, slow jam music playing on the stereo and a few ice cold beers waiting for us to drink. He had set it all up.  Our neighbour who picked us up was catering our dinner; he had made chicken curry, roti, fried rice, channa and awesome rum cake.  Our dry shop lady’s had given us the space upstairs for the night and even gave us a sweet appetizer of fresh watermelon. 

It was truly one of the most thoughtful gestures. It is not often that we get to go on a “real date” here in the Peace Corps, but Nate used our community of friends and neighbours to make a really memorable night. I know I am gushing mushing love stuff, but Friday night will be one of my most cherished memories of Peace Corps with my incredible partner. Thank you for bringing romance into my life, even in the jungles of South America. I love you.  

P.S. There are no pictures since Nate carrying a camera would have tipped off the surprise. If you know me, you know I love to ask questions. 

Till next time.

UPDATE: Not an anaconda. Guyanese Oxymoron: "Little Anaconda"

UPDATE: I wrote this post thinking the snake I'd seen was a juvenile anaconda. Turns out it was an adult rainbow boa, which while beautiful is not an anaconda. Thanks to my old friend Ben Atkinson for the help identifying this little guy.

Scratch another item off my Guyana bucket list... last weekend I finally got to see an
anaconda rainbow boa. Though only 5ft and small by anaconda standards (adults have been caught in our area of lengths of up to 30 feet!!), it still counts.

In Guyana they call anacondas "camoodie"... which is a nice fact, but this snake is a rainbow boa.

 Everyone in Mabaruma knows I've been itching to see one since I've been here. A buddy of mine, Terry, has insane stories about anacondas he's seen and helped catch. Once while on his way home he saw a log that someone had laid across the road. When he finally got close enough to inspect the log he discovered to his surprise that it was in fact a 20 ft anaconda that was crossing from trench to trench.

Another story he tells is when he and some other guys caught a huge one (30 ft) up at the river head. A snake that long would easily be about as thick as a medium size tree trunk. Hoping to get it back to market where they'd have a chance to sell it for a significant profit if alive, they were able to tie it up and get it in the boat. Unfortunately, once inside the boat the snake decided it had had enough and began to thrash around, eventually shaking the boat to pieces. Worse, now the men were stranded at the river head, which is 2 hours from the nearest village, clinging to the banks of a river where the know they've just loosed a huge angry snake into black murky water. J Lo and Ice Cube eat your hearts out. Hours later, a man paddling by on his canoe was able to send for help. 

My story isn't that badass, but I did have to wade through thigh deep water to get to the snake. I had no idea these snakes had iridescent skin. 

Iridescent skin glimmers in the sunlight... hence the name, Rainboa Boa.

Terry and the

anacondita

 rainbow boa.

Thanks to my buddy Terry for remembering that I wanted to see one and for catching it when it was found in a chicken coup during his sister's wedding. Cool guy. For those of you coming to visit us, he's offered to take us on a little trip to his uncle's house who makes traditional bows and arrows... then goes hunting with them.

This man took it, thought about selling it, but then released it by the bridge pictured here because it was too small.

.

Rodeo...Rodeo..RO-DE-OOO!!!!

When we first arrived in Guyana, we heard about this pretty awesome three-day event on the border of Brazil called Rodeo. The trip consisted of a 15-hr bus ride to the south-west part of Guyana to see Brazilian and Amerindian barefoot cowboys ride bareback bulls and horses, while feasting on meat on a stick and drinking Brazils famous Caipirinhas. You can imagine how quickly we decided that this adventure would definitely make it onto our bucket list while in Guyana. And here we are a year later and can report back that the hype was spot on, because Rodeo was unlike anything I have ever experienced before.

We started our trip two-days before the first kick-off event which was to occur on Friday night. Together with 11 other Peace Corps volunteers and about 20 other Guyanese, we jumped onto two buses at 8:00pm Thursday night to head out on our 15-hr bus ride. Unfortunately what was supposed to be 15-hrs turned into 20-hrs because we got stuck in the mud twice and had to be pulled out by a truck and our bus couldn’t go up a steep hill due to the weight, which meant we had to get out of the bus in the wee hours of the morning to walk alongside the bus in the middle of the jungle. Mind you there is no road; it’s just a dirt path. About two hours before our arrival in Lethem we stopped in the village of Annai and got our first taste of Brazilian meat and some Suriname beer. We ate our first of many servings of Calabrese sausage cooked in a typical Brazilian churrasco barbecue.

"These are ant hills!"

We finally arrived at our hostel, the Savannah Inn, at around 6pm on Friday, quickly showered and began our nightly festivities. But before we headed to the pageant, which was the kick-off event, we first had some dinner and ate some of the most incredible Brazilian pizza. Who knew Brazil was not only known for its meat, but its pizza too. Unfortunately, the pageant got rained out, but nevertheless we got to socialize with other volunteers and Guyanese friends in a cool outdoor bar.

"Brazilian Big-Boy Beers"

Saturday morning, we woke up and started our day with Bloody Marys that we packed with us all the way from Georgetown- can’t start a weekend in the sun without some Bloody Marys first. Before heading to the grounds we walked around Lethem and did some window shopping, which felt almost surreal, because I can’t remember the last time I went shopping in an actual store (we even tried on clothes!) Lethem looks and feels very different than our site. I am sure it has a lot to do with the proximity of Brazil, which is only a 30 minute drive. Lethem is mostly savannah with some of the oldest mountains in the backdrop. It feels like the Wild West, everyone drives a truck or rides a horse, and wears a cowboy hat and most people speak Portuguese. As you walk around you can almost hear the theme song of the “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” playing in your head. A little after lunch we headed to the grounds for our first taste of rodeo.

"The backdrop of Lethem. Doesn't it look like the Wild West"

"People traveling in Lethem"

"This was the Brazo hunk of the Rodeo."

"Barefoot Vaquero"

We arrived to what looked like a state fair ground with a large rodeo arena where all the riding occurred. The events that took place throughout the two days consisted of bareback bronco riding, saddle bronco riding, bareback bull riding, saddle bull riding, bull roping, greased pig catching, (which we missed) and a watermelon eating competition. All the cowboys or “vaqueros” which is Spanish for livestock herder, as they were called were mostly barefoot when doing all their riding, which I am told is way harder to do. Even though we are in Guyana and close to Brazil all the music they played throughout the day was American country, which I found pretty funny. And not only was it American country, but they played the same 6 songs on loop. Normally this would have gotten on my nerves, but because we were having so much fun it was actually nice to able to sing along to all of the songs.

"Getting ready to ride."

"She was our absolute favorite. Aren't her boots so cute?"

Rodeo finished each day at around 6pm and then the night time fair-atmosphere would erupt. There were all sorts of fair games and bounce houses, cotton candy, and a huge dance party, which Nate and I partook on each night.

But wait I haven’t spoken about the food…oh the food! How I miss thee. Nate and I ate our body weight in meat on a stick in a matter of two days. We had T-bone on a stick, ribs on a stick, chicken on a stick, sausage on a stick and the list goes on. With every portion of meat we also ate farihna, which is powdered cassava that is made into flour that is normally used as a seasoning like salt and pepper. But at the grounds they would add other seasonings to it and put in a cup for you to eat as is. Surprisingly, it was delicious. If you got lucky, some stalls would have farihna that would be sautéed and pieces of dried meat, like beef jerky, would be mixed in. Needless, to say I ate so many cups of this that I made myself sick. To wash down all these delectable meals, which we had probably 6 a day of, we drank Brazilian beer and like I mentioned before Caipirinhas, which is Brazil's national cocktail, made with cachaça, which is sugar cane rum, sugar and lime. I even got to practice my Portuguese, which well…wasn’t great. But I was able to order food and communicate most of what I needed and wanted and was even able to throw in a few jokes. To make an awesome weekend even awesomer, we got to meet the president of Guyana and take a picture with Mr. Ramotar. Nate was psyched about this, as this was one other thing on his bucket list. Big weekend for our bucket list…huh?

"T-bone on a stick!"

"Nate made friends with the Portuguese women selling meat on a stick. Classic Nate."

"Nate bringing me Caipirinhas. What a beautiful man!"

"President Ramotar"

So now a few days later, after recuperating I can say that the 20-hr bus ride was absolutely worth it, though on the way back the 18-hr bus ride back seemed a little less worth it. Funny how that always happens.

Till next time.