Anniversary

This blog is a bit late because it’s been a hectic week. I started a new project, there was August Games (mini-local-Olympics), and I was running a fundraiser. That doesn’t often happen. Normally, things move at quite a slow pace here in Aishalton, allowing plenty of time for all sorts of work and play. In the middle of this crazy week was our three year anniversary. Knowing that all sorts of things would prevent us from having a normal anniversary, I tried doing some internet searches last week for creative ideas. I didn't find much creativity, but I found many typical, re-hashed, and, of-course, implausible ideas. Why is it with so many I thought I’d share a few I found comical and why they just wouldn’t work for Peace Corps Volunteers in Aishalton.

Make Each Other Melt
You can’t get sexier than sharing strawberries (use chocolate-dipped ones -- they’re an aphrodisiac) and champagne in bed.

I can’t! I’ll be covered in ants by 3am - you can’t leave a trace of food around. Also, I have no strawberries, no chocolate, and no champagne.

Get Limber for Later
Get up early on a weekend morning and take a hot yoga (Vinyasa or Bikram) class. Sharing a new experience together will bring you closer. Bonus: Your bodies will be primed for a hot “private” session later.

I have no access to yoga classes. And more importantly, I spend far too much of my time being ridiculously hot without any effort. It’s not sexy at all.

Steam up the Kitchen
Cook dinner together using erotic ingredients that stimulate the libido, like oysters, figs, and avocados (to name a few). Light candles and open a bottle of your favorite wine. Chances are you won’t make it to dessert.

Oysters? Figs? Avocados? Wine? How about something I have access to? Rice and beans. I can check, but I don’t think beans are libido-stimulating. And candles? I have dinner every night by kerosene lamp, so it has lost its sexy appeal.

Sizzle at a Spa
Treat yourselves to a day of double relaxation. You can book almost any spa treatment together (hello, hot stone massage!). Want a recession-proof spa day? Here’s how to get a steamy massage going at home.

A nearby spa? The closest I can recreate is a mud bath. Already Chris and I spend each evening applying a variety of ‘oils’ and ointments. Hydrocortisone for the bug bites, aloe vera for the burns, baby powder to soak up the sweat, or coconut oil to keep away the bugs. It is a bit more pragmatic than relaxing.

Feel Warm and Fuzzy
Get your butts off the sofa and do some volunteer work together. It’s a great way to bond while doing something worthwhile. Carry that euphoric, feel-good vibe home and get charitable between the sheets.

Do some volunteer work together? I don’t know, maybe Peace Corps is a bit different than an hour at the soup kitchen, but we can get to feeling a bit worn-out rather than euphoric.

Create a VIP Club
Who needs a bar to dance? Load your iPod with sexy tunes, from Kanye to Katy Perry, and hook it up to the speakers in your pad. Bonus points for hanging a disco ball (find these cheap at Walmart, Target, or your local party store) to get a club-like vibe.

Wow. I think the neighbors would be a bit weirded out by the lights of a disco ball and Kanye blaring from our house. And I wonder how I could possibly power this party in a house with no electricity….

Share a Hot Shower
Who cares if you can only fit one person in there? Lather each other up with some vanilla bath gel and you won't mind being in such close quarters.

I’d be so happy to have a hot shower! Running water!? Now, we could potentially take a bucket bath together…. If you throw a cup of water over my head, I’ll throw one over yours.

Create a Cozy Retreat
We all made blanket forts when we were kids -- now re-create it with a sexy twist. Line the floor of your living room with mountains of pillows and watch a sexy flick together.

Mountains of pillows on the concrete floor of my living room? We only have 2 pillows. A sexy flick?! To watch on what TV?

Bundle Up (and Take It Off)
Challenge your mate to two-person strip poker. It’s guaranteed to be hotter than the group version since you’ll be in the buff in no time. Add a twist: Whoever keeps their clothes on the longest gets to call the shots during the postgame (wink, wink).

I don’t think I’ll be stripping now. There are enough mosquitoes, sandflies, and kaborahs now to keep me covered.

Suds It Up
Make a date in the driveway and get dirty washing down your cars. C'mon, you know the car could use a fresh coat of wax. Plus you + him + soap suds + water = sexy.

Oh, where do I start? Cars? Washing them in the driveway? Whenever you pull your water bucket by bucket from a well, the amount of water needed to hose down your car (or each other) seems absolutely ridiculous. Besides, who would spend an anniversary washing cars???

After a disappointing search for creative ideas, we decided we would do it true Peace Corps style and abandon all hopes and desires for material goods. Why try to meed that desire, then risk being disappointed at the end of the day? We swore off gifts, fine foods, and physical comforts. We said we would truly focus on each other and just enjoy the little time we had in the day together. We would be completely pragmatic.

The morning came and I couldn't help myself. When I got up to make breakfast, I cut the biscuits into heart shapes, put a beer glass with some parrot feathers (bouquet?) on the table, and served up special vanilla coffee for Chris. When I came back for lunch, Chris had hunted down a chicken and cooked it over the fire for me. After dinner, Chris gave me a small gift – a purse knitted by a local lady.

It was a busy day, as many will be for the rest of our lives. We thought we could do without the small things that make the ordinary extraordinary, but it turns out those are the things that help make our lives bearable. Thank goodness I have Chris here. I don't think I could do this alone. Not only does Chris open my stuck bottles and kill the roaches, but he understands my frustrations and joys, massages my feet, and makes the house a 'home-y' place to come to each evening. So, if you have a bottle of wine or champagne, open it and enjoy a toast to Chris. Chris, I love you!

Beef. It's what's for dinner.

Aishalton sits in the middle of hundreds of miles of Savannah - dry grasslands perfect for raising cattle. We are about 15 miles (2 hours) from a huge cattle ranch, Dadanawa Ranch, once the largest in the world (currently 8,000+ heads of cattle). Here in the village, we also have plenty cows. The rainy season brings them into the village, supposedly to escape the bugs in the Savannah. So, cows roam, unfenced, where they please. We have a number of issues with the cows - they like to eat the food in our garden, breaking down fences. They bring plenty of flies when they come around. They poop EVERYwhere. And in the rainy season, it doesn't dry up and turn to manure, it just.... stays. Big, wet piles of.... poop.

But, they're here for a reason. Most people here eat beef almost everyday. Today's pictures aren't for the squimish. But, I'm squimish and I managed to take them and look at them. So, Aishalton's slaughter....

Carrying a quarter to be hung from a tree limb.
The dogs wait for whatever little they get.
No one is squimish at all - intestines are getting ready to be emptied here.

It's not often I catch a slaughter, so I thought I'd document.

10 for Tuesday

10 things i find ridiculously romantic:

outdoor eating

wildflowers

love letters

old lovers

anything handmade/homegrown

proper beds (see below)

woods/forests

long hair

twigs and flowers

white dresses

10 desires of my heart:

an off the grid home

unfailing faith

live music

a really, really good book

a comfortable bed (see below)

to live without career ambitions

an outdoor dining table

world peace

a simple life

a big, happy family

10 elements to the perfect bed:

bamboo sheets

fluffy pillows

has my husband inside

doesn't require a mosquito net

queen-size

a variety of blankets

doesn't squeak

has a view

hangs from the ceiling

comes complete with breakfast

My Grant!

Our grant is live!

I need your help! Now is the time when I call for your support. Here in Aishalton, my Peace Corps assignment is with a Learning Resource Centre. The Centre is currently under-equipped - not enough books, not enough resources. We are a very isolated community, cut off my a flooded river and muddy, unpaved roads. We are very expensive to reach and bring supplies to, so often only the very basics reach. I'm working with teachers, parents, and students to develop the Centre. We are buying books for all ages, teaching aids, and decoration/organization tools. Aishalton really needs a good place for resources - reading material to develop literacy and fluency, informational material to educate students and adults, teaching aids to assist teachers.

Please take a look at the grant, ask me questions, and donate if you can. I would really appreciate your support, on behalf of teachers, parents, and students of Aishalton Village, Guyana.

https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=resources.donors.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=504-012

Thank you!

Kristin Adkins

PS: You could also be a great help by passing along information to anyone who might be interested in donating.

My job!

My primary job is at Aishalton’s Learning Resource Centre. It is run by the Department of Education, attempting to be a resource place for students, teachers, and community members. Currently, however, it is underfunded and undersupplied. Few people are able to use the Centre because it hosts so few resources. So, I am doing the best I can – utilizing the books and resources we have, and trying to come up with new activities which require no or few resources.

So, Peace Corps provided me with a book on games. Not just any games, specifically games which require few props, little or no competition, and lots of cooperation. We’ve had a lot of fun with books, playing games in addition to reading each afternoon. Who doesn’t love a reason to play outside (in the shade)?

Animal Charades

Earth Day activities

Playing animal charades

Animal Charades

LOVE having their picture taken

Train game

For the record, I’m finishing up a grant to supply the Centre with lots of resources. Reading books, informational books, literacy teaching aids, and of course, floor rugs for read alouds! (Not only are there hardly any read-alouds here, there are hardly any rugs!)

Good weekends

A few pictures of my favorite children. These are while our cookies were baking. Their momma has an honest-to-goodness oven, which I like to take occasional advantage of.

Finally, I was able to view Aishalton from a new point of view. I hiked/biked to Macawau, a local hill which you can climb for a nice view of the village. I climbed with my good friend, Desiree and a few of her boys, their cousins, and friends.

The view from the mountain - Savannah with patches of trees

Savannah Cacti

The hill was steeper than it looks in this photo

The boys

The Savannah

This is someone's farm. Along the way on our hike. Bless the poor soul who carries their cassava, plaintain, and yams up and down this hill!

Giant plants!

Bicycling is so much easier than walking.

Failure

Failure refers to the state or condition of not meeting a desirable or intended objective, and may be viewed as the opposite of success. (Wikipedia).

I figured a blog on failure might be appropriate. We all experience it occasionally. And, if I had to guess, a Peace Corps Volunteer might experience it a bit more than the average Joe.

What did I fail at? Well, some days I could give you a whole list. Other days, I couldn't think of a thing. Today? A whole list kind of day. I don't think I'll give you the list, though.

Just struggling to understand what it is going to mean if I 'fail' at Peace Corps. If you read about failure, you're likely to see ridiculous quotes and inspirational writing geared to the recently failed. But, I have looked at my (potential) failure from many viewpoints, and I just don't see the up side. Where will I go from here?

There are so many things I currently desire for Aishalton, and intend to do, but just don't seem to have happened. It's year 2. All I can hope is that magic happens. A miracle. A major blessing: a little for me, alot for Aishalton.

And, just to make myself feel a bit better, another tidbit from Wikipedia:

The term "miserable failure" has also been popularized as a result of a widely known "Google bombing," which caused Google searches for the term to turn up the White House biography of George W. Bush.^[6]

^{(At least my name didn't come up when I googled it).}