Giant River Otters!

The largest otters in the world reside right on the Rupununi River. They are incredibly playful. But, as most large animals these days, they are in danger. A wonderful lady, Diane McTurk, runs Karanambu Trust, and organization which assists the otters. Seeing her with the two orphan otters she was caring for was like seeing an eight year old boy with his puppy. She talks to them, plays with them, and feeds them piranha. Meet Bill:

Fish and Crane

I learned how to play a new children’s game. It is called ‘Fish and Crane’ here in Aishalton, and ‘Cat and Mouse’ in other villages. You hold hands in a circle. Two players are chosen – one Fish/Mouse and one Cat/Crane. The Cat/Crane chases the Fish/Mouse until tagged, then the roles switch. The players in the circle must assist the Fish/Mouse in ducking in and out of the circle, but NOT assist the Cat/Crane and even try to block them by raising/lowering hands. Highly recommended!

We visited another village in our region. It is a really lovely village sitting right on the Rupununi River. It is the home of the Rupununi Learners Foundation, an NGO running a beautiful library and providing surrounding villages with books. I wanted to visit so that I could get ideas for my own Learning Resource Centre (LRC). So, we went for a particularly fabulous New Years Eve party and then stayed for a few days, I did a little work in the library and schools. The schools are amazing! Check out this nursery school:

Look at the lovely playground that has been built for the children:
Beautiful nursery girls swinging:

It was such an inspiring visit! I can only wish I went earlier. Now, I only have three months left in Aishalton. I’ll be working on setting up the Learning Resource Centre and giving you updates on it’s remodel! Thanks again to all my donors. J All supplies have been purchased and are ready to be organized! Renovation pictures to come.

Design on a Dime: LRC

We are quite busy painting, moving furniture, tagging books, marking books, organizing shelves, it's all very exciting! Thank you, donors!

More to come!

Traditional Fishing

What better way to feed your family than free, FRESH fish?? All you need is:

1. Dugout canoe
2. Line
3. Hook
4. Bug (bait)

NO:

1. Pole
2. Motor
3. Fancy Tackle

You can see they’ve strung a rope across the river to keep from floating away! (It’s hard to paddle back upstream!)

COS Conference

Our final Peace Corps Conference is finished! We just got back from Georgetown for our final conference. We covered how to find jobs, cope with the transition back home, and make togas. It was two days of work and one day of fun.

Here's a photo of most all the volunteers from my group who have made it this far:

(For more photos, including Toga photos, see Chris' facebook album.)

Now I am writing my resume, applying for federal jobs, and planning my entry into the states after two years!

Now begins the awkward tug back and forth:

Remodel Learning Resource Centre

(Hot showers!)

Must make dinner tonight

(Ice cream!)

Finish final report for grant

(Write resume!)

Dance and exercise group at 5pm

(Gym memberships and yoga mats!)

Haul water from well

(Mexican food!)

Bicycle to work

(Paved roads!)

Fan yourself to sleep

(Fall! Winter!! Spring!!!)

Light the kerosene lamp

(Family and Friends!)

You can see how we’re a bit torn. Life must continue here, and with even more enthusiasm than before since it is the end. There is a rush to do everything on the “Bucket List”, to take pictures of everyone, to have long, meaningful conversations, and to do every possible activity. But then, visions of cheesecake and July 4^th and home décor keep popping into your head! What’s a girl to do???

The New Year

Where to start? A blog welcoming the new and appreciating the old doesn’t seem to fit. We spent 51 weeks of the past 52 in Guyana. (One, glorious week in Tobago). We still have four months to go. The weather isn’t changing, we aren’t moving, nothing is altered. Forgive me if January first doesn’t seem like a new start.

But I still hold a hope for this year. In four months, we will finish our time in Guyana. And the next eight months of 2011…

Unknown.

Vague.

Elusive.

I can only hope I can find ‘it’… whatever ‘it’ is, before April is here.

And 2010? What comes to mind first, of course, are the most vivid memories, be they colorful or unsettling. There were a few of both. Entirely too many moments of feeling inadequate, a few precious interactions with triumph, and many wonderful times with brand new friends.

2010’s vivid memories:

• Not wanting to eat dried beans for the umpteenth day in a row, but not having much else to make

• Marching and dancing dressed in yellow, red, and green for Aishalton’s Mashramani Parade – with Kanaimu, who we had dressed up as well

  
• Being so incredibly hot and sweaty the only remedy is to bathe in the refreshing cool waters of the Savannah creeks

• Reading lovely books to children who may never read one themselves
• Learning how to roll, oil, and cook a proper roti, an Indian-Guyanese flatbread, with the most amazing cook – Auntie Marina

• Being completely appreciative for each and every watt of energy - lights, power for computer to watch... Prison Break!
• Receiving word that my grant was approved, then online, and finally… funded! Hallelujah!

• Reveling in the glory of lights in our house in March, only to have the generator die a week later, and not replaced until December , and reveling in the glory of florescent lighting again

• Taking my mom for a long, hot walk through the Savannah with about 20 women and children, and swimming together in Cabanawau Creek

• Watching a mad bull attack and threaten the feeble gate around the annual Rupununi Rodeo, dancing well into the night with cowboy hats, and the surreal sight of a giant Ferris wheel in the middle of the Rupununi Savannas

• Drinking, swimming, driving (a real vehicle, that I had control over!), and talking with some amazing Berea girls in the serene, gorgeous country of Tobago

• Marvelling at the beautiful city of Boa Vista in Brazil, and it’s vivacious holiday – Carnaval

• Starting a dance and exercise group with Wapishana women, few of whom have ever danced or exercised, gaining a wonderful set of friends

• Sat down and looked out over millions of acres of unspoiled rainforest as the monkeys and macaws called around me

• Watching Chris and my brother, Stephen, cross our pickup truck on the flooded Rupununi by pushing it across on a homemade, oil drum pontoon

• Realizing that I will never be a classroom teacher, that I am not able to handle a classroom full of students…
• …But that I really love small groups of children, sparking their imagination, and playing with them

• Laughing with my dance and exercise ladies as we attempted a “Hip Hop Dance” Exercise DVD together

• Eating fresh greens – tomatoes and green peppers were a particular favorite – straight from my husband’s garden

I can look back on 2010 and see a number of irreplaceable and unrepeatable experiences. I hope my life is full of them, but I'm ready to move forward. So, here's to 2011 and whatever you hold in store for us. May you be more peaceful, more healthy, more energy-efficient, less consumptive, and less stressful than the year before. Cheers!