http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2179462&l=d6c3c&id=5707103
here are the first pictures that i managed to post on facebook- posting them on the blog has not really worked. I hope you guys can see them!!
the first picture is of me, felicia and michelle (michelle is my lethem roommate). we are sitting at the little store down the road from the school in Bartica. thats the place I call you guys from.
The second is of Jenny, Ryan, me, Reve, Erin and Jill at the Pavillian place. We sit under there for a couple of hours a day haha.
The third is on the Speed boat going to Bartica- thats Felicia next to me and behind me is Dave and Amanda.
4. thats a pic of downtown gtown- that is the largest still standing wooden chruch (St. Georges)
5. Thats the whole group at our welcome ceremony- they put a pic of us in the newspaper and the ceremony was actually on tv in Guyana
6. thats me and jill showering in the rain after soccer- its actually the best shower i have had since home!
7. thats my room in bartica- i have the top bunk- really cute right?? outside the windows there are balconys that people sit on all the time and its amazingly breezy. my window faces the sun so i wake up every morning at sunrise!!
ok hopefully i put more up later xoxo
Friday, August 24, 2007
Sunday, August 19, 2007
bartica!
Hello! First and foremost I would like to apologize for my inability to spell, these computers don't really have spell check (or Emily Antkowiak handy- hint hint move to south America). This entry is being written on word so if I happen to spell something wrong it is no longer my fault.
So I have now been in Guyana for about 2 weeks, it has been amazing but it feels like it has been a lot longer. I am now staying at the Bartica secondary school dorms and they are an amazing improvement to our housing at Georgetown. Here we have rooms with bunk beds and the weather here has been great (a little hot and rainy but for the most part good). We don't have running water here which is kind of a negative but I am becoming quite proficient at bucket showers ( I also just learned that Lethem will not have running water- apparently they needed to build another water tower because the old one was filled with termites so they knocked it down and are planning on building another one- why they didn't wait until the new was finished to knock down the old one I have no idea- Dana (field director) told me that this is a prime example of this countries backward way of doing things haha). I have learned to really appreciate the rain as that now serves as an outdoor shower- the other day after playing soccer with some volunteers and school kids we waited out the rain and all showered in this massive rain storm- when it rains here it RAINS- im talking buckets- the rain also leaves the most insane rainbows that i have even seen- yesterday there was a full arch rainbow- i took a picture so hopefully i will be able to get it up. Hand done laundry also isn't really one of my favorite activities- although the ringing action will prob be great for my biceps haha- and don't worry mom I am washing my clothes. The food here has been great- think homemade bread every morning and all sorts of vegetables. I am really not looking forward to cooking on my own though. But get excited family because I have now decided bread making will be my new favorite pastime.
I still run in the mornings and I am thinking that if I was to live here I would be in some amazing shape- there are massive hills everywhere- just getting up the hill to the school is a hike- Bartica is the craziest place- think Cool Runnings meets Sound of Music.
Leaving Gtown to come to Bartica was an experience in itself- think 36 people with 36 suitcases plus piled in sweaty buses ( luckily we only brought one suitcase each and let the rest in gtown) I guess I understand how this group seems to close already- we are always in veryyy close proximity haha. We took a mini bus over to Parika which was like a market with a dock filled with speed boats. The only way to get to Bartica is by speed boat or ferry. My neon green suitcases are taking a little bit of a hit. Everyone loveesss them though- even if there are slowly turning to the color of puke. I think I was the heaviest packer though and im pretty sure the whole group snapped some unflattering pictures of me struggling like a crazy person to get my bags through the sand. The boat ride was amazing and the closest thing to air conditioning that we have had in a long time haha. The water is like glass (even though when get close/ go in it it is brownish red) and the river was surrounded by rainforest.
I really wouldn't mind living in Bartica- it is very pretty and has beaches even though they aren't any beaches we would be used to. We went down to one of the beaches the other day and some people went swimming- i did not im still a little unsure about this caiman infested water. We also have taken to getting ice cream every day from one of the stands in Bartica. Dana told me that once I get to Lethem I will have tons of Brazilian ice cream which is supposed to be amazing.
I am almost used to the roaming animals and have even befriended a kitten (there are dogs everywhereeee here too but they're kinda scary- a bunch of them chased Jenny this morning so i have decided to keep my distance) I named the kitten nooggie and I am a little sad to be unable to take him to Lethem. Im still a little freaked out by all these cows. The locals tell me that they are harmless but that is not always the case- the other day jill (girl for Arizona that I love haha) and ryan (boy from cali who I also love haha) almost died when a stampede of like 30 cows came trampling out of nowhere- jill almost pushed me into a moat (these giant nasty water runoff things which would clearly have meant death by contact) im pretty sure we made hugeee fools of ourselves as we were screaming and running (ryan included) while several shop owners just stared and told us “they don’t bite”- im sureee.We started teaching this week with groups of three, i am teamed up with the other two biology people- we have had 4 days of school but my group split it up into 2 days for each person so I haven’t gone yet. Today is the first day that I will be teaching- we will see how that goes- im optimistic but im also bringing candy incase of disaster. My lesson is on nutrition so at this point I'm feeling pretty capable- we'll see if i still feel this way later today.
Our afternoons are pretty free here so we have lots of time to hang out (or "lime" as the call it here) and I starting to almost dread leaving for Lethem because everyone cant come with me haha... I really feel like this is college orientation again ( I even meet a girl just like Kirsten Gerke- Reve- and if you know Kirsten you should be just as excited as me haha). Reve's going to this site called Orella- which has the smallest amount of electricity/ internet but apparently she missed the memo and came completely unprepared- im talking not even bringing a flashlight- Its been pretty hilarious watching her scramble to get the supplies she can- the other day she picked up a back pack with wheels middle school style- how she is going to wheel that thing through the rainforesty terrain i would pay money to see. My mabaruma friends (thats one of the sites) are also great too- two of them (Erin and Garrett) did peace corps and pretty much have me convinced to apply- sorry fam you may not be seeing me for a while JUST LIDDING JULIA!! Jill is the other girl there- shes an ex teach for America and has traveled everywhere and then Jenny (girl who is 6 feet tall) is my roommate for orientation- Yes Emily I finally feel normal sized thanks to her but I do miss my itty bitty friends at home haha. Felicia is probably the reason that I actually go running every morning as she is the one who wakes me up and kicks my butt (she runs like 35 miles a week at home). Ryan is one of the guys from cali... but unfortunately he has no idea who tarina tarantino is so i cant share my excitement about hello kitty/ barbie jewelry with anyone- even though i did tell everyone about it. That kinda completes the crew that I see the most and hopefully I will be able to get some pics up so you can see what i am talking about.
This coming weekend should be great... during some of our afternoons spent at this pavilion dock thing we meet a speed boat driver that is going to take some of us on a tour to this waterfall and to a guest house where can bbq and stuff... and tomorrow we are going hiking to some amazing beach- i am wondering what amazing means because so far the beaches here have been a little different haha, but i am very excited to go walk around the rain forest.
thats all for now... but i will let you know how my first teaching experience goes (yikes!) and thankssss so much everyone for the replys it so nice to hear from you!! xoxo emily
So I have now been in Guyana for about 2 weeks, it has been amazing but it feels like it has been a lot longer. I am now staying at the Bartica secondary school dorms and they are an amazing improvement to our housing at Georgetown. Here we have rooms with bunk beds and the weather here has been great (a little hot and rainy but for the most part good). We don't have running water here which is kind of a negative but I am becoming quite proficient at bucket showers ( I also just learned that Lethem will not have running water- apparently they needed to build another water tower because the old one was filled with termites so they knocked it down and are planning on building another one- why they didn't wait until the new was finished to knock down the old one I have no idea- Dana (field director) told me that this is a prime example of this countries backward way of doing things haha). I have learned to really appreciate the rain as that now serves as an outdoor shower- the other day after playing soccer with some volunteers and school kids we waited out the rain and all showered in this massive rain storm- when it rains here it RAINS- im talking buckets- the rain also leaves the most insane rainbows that i have even seen- yesterday there was a full arch rainbow- i took a picture so hopefully i will be able to get it up. Hand done laundry also isn't really one of my favorite activities- although the ringing action will prob be great for my biceps haha- and don't worry mom I am washing my clothes. The food here has been great- think homemade bread every morning and all sorts of vegetables. I am really not looking forward to cooking on my own though. But get excited family because I have now decided bread making will be my new favorite pastime.
I still run in the mornings and I am thinking that if I was to live here I would be in some amazing shape- there are massive hills everywhere- just getting up the hill to the school is a hike- Bartica is the craziest place- think Cool Runnings meets Sound of Music.
Leaving Gtown to come to Bartica was an experience in itself- think 36 people with 36 suitcases plus piled in sweaty buses ( luckily we only brought one suitcase each and let the rest in gtown) I guess I understand how this group seems to close already- we are always in veryyy close proximity haha. We took a mini bus over to Parika which was like a market with a dock filled with speed boats. The only way to get to Bartica is by speed boat or ferry. My neon green suitcases are taking a little bit of a hit. Everyone loveesss them though- even if there are slowly turning to the color of puke. I think I was the heaviest packer though and im pretty sure the whole group snapped some unflattering pictures of me struggling like a crazy person to get my bags through the sand. The boat ride was amazing and the closest thing to air conditioning that we have had in a long time haha. The water is like glass (even though when get close/ go in it it is brownish red) and the river was surrounded by rainforest.
I really wouldn't mind living in Bartica- it is very pretty and has beaches even though they aren't any beaches we would be used to. We went down to one of the beaches the other day and some people went swimming- i did not im still a little unsure about this caiman infested water. We also have taken to getting ice cream every day from one of the stands in Bartica. Dana told me that once I get to Lethem I will have tons of Brazilian ice cream which is supposed to be amazing.
I am almost used to the roaming animals and have even befriended a kitten (there are dogs everywhereeee here too but they're kinda scary- a bunch of them chased Jenny this morning so i have decided to keep my distance) I named the kitten nooggie and I am a little sad to be unable to take him to Lethem. Im still a little freaked out by all these cows. The locals tell me that they are harmless but that is not always the case- the other day jill (girl for Arizona that I love haha) and ryan (boy from cali who I also love haha) almost died when a stampede of like 30 cows came trampling out of nowhere- jill almost pushed me into a moat (these giant nasty water runoff things which would clearly have meant death by contact) im pretty sure we made hugeee fools of ourselves as we were screaming and running (ryan included) while several shop owners just stared and told us “they don’t bite”- im sureee.We started teaching this week with groups of three, i am teamed up with the other two biology people- we have had 4 days of school but my group split it up into 2 days for each person so I haven’t gone yet. Today is the first day that I will be teaching- we will see how that goes- im optimistic but im also bringing candy incase of disaster. My lesson is on nutrition so at this point I'm feeling pretty capable- we'll see if i still feel this way later today.
Our afternoons are pretty free here so we have lots of time to hang out (or "lime" as the call it here) and I starting to almost dread leaving for Lethem because everyone cant come with me haha... I really feel like this is college orientation again ( I even meet a girl just like Kirsten Gerke- Reve- and if you know Kirsten you should be just as excited as me haha). Reve's going to this site called Orella- which has the smallest amount of electricity/ internet but apparently she missed the memo and came completely unprepared- im talking not even bringing a flashlight- Its been pretty hilarious watching her scramble to get the supplies she can- the other day she picked up a back pack with wheels middle school style- how she is going to wheel that thing through the rainforesty terrain i would pay money to see. My mabaruma friends (thats one of the sites) are also great too- two of them (Erin and Garrett) did peace corps and pretty much have me convinced to apply- sorry fam you may not be seeing me for a while JUST LIDDING JULIA!! Jill is the other girl there- shes an ex teach for America and has traveled everywhere and then Jenny (girl who is 6 feet tall) is my roommate for orientation- Yes Emily I finally feel normal sized thanks to her but I do miss my itty bitty friends at home haha. Felicia is probably the reason that I actually go running every morning as she is the one who wakes me up and kicks my butt (she runs like 35 miles a week at home). Ryan is one of the guys from cali... but unfortunately he has no idea who tarina tarantino is so i cant share my excitement about hello kitty/ barbie jewelry with anyone- even though i did tell everyone about it. That kinda completes the crew that I see the most and hopefully I will be able to get some pics up so you can see what i am talking about.
This coming weekend should be great... during some of our afternoons spent at this pavilion dock thing we meet a speed boat driver that is going to take some of us on a tour to this waterfall and to a guest house where can bbq and stuff... and tomorrow we are going hiking to some amazing beach- i am wondering what amazing means because so far the beaches here have been a little different haha, but i am very excited to go walk around the rain forest.
thats all for now... but i will let you know how my first teaching experience goes (yikes!) and thankssss so much everyone for the replys it so nice to hear from you!! xoxo emily
Thursday, August 16, 2007
internet finallllyyyy!!
helllooo!! it has been forever since i have found internet and i dont even know where to start im so excited!! haha... well anyways guyana has been the craziest country so far.. its like the caribbean mixed with some kind of crazy 3rd world country. the weather is great hot but not sooo humid and it is beautiful- there are moats infront of most of the houses and the moats are filled with water, lilly pads and flowers. we are staying (the 36 of us) at the teaching college in guyana. calling it a college is the most insane overstatement that i have ever heard. the dorms are like closets, everything is outside, hot, buggy and dirty. Wild animals roam all over the place and we have to keep the doors closed so goats wont invade our rooms. every morning i wake up at 6 and go running (meaning i run to the seawall about a mile away and back and dont worry mom/ aunt melissa i drag my roommate along too ;) ). though that may sound normal i assure that it is not. running has never taken so much concentration. for one thing the buses ( i swear) want to kill me and they come equiped with horns like no other. they claim to drive on the left side of the street but thats a lie... they drive down the middle/ down the sides/ almost over my toes. and guyanese have this insane facination with saying good morning/ with people who exercise. Everyone i pass wants to greet me but i apprecaite this a great deal more than the cat calls that come from the construstion workers i pass (cliche i know). its not that i mind being sipped at (kissing sounds) as it inspires me to run faster to get away but i am not really such a fan of the complients that they thrown our way (hey girl your ass jiggles better then my girl friends , hey white meat or hey girllll you lookin sweet sweet sweet) sooo i hope you can now imigine me running down the road screaming, and hopping out of the way of collesions, smiling nicely to greet every freaking person so i wont be that rude amercian andddd talking off into a sprint before my new friends get the courage to come after me. interesting start AND its only 7 in the morning!!
so ya thats my moring start which has to happen or else i am afraid i will come home weighing 800 pounds as everything we eat here is fried or made out of more carbs than i have ever seen in my life (but delicious!!).
so next i get home and shower ( thank god we have running water- i really feel for those who are going to the rainforest and have to take bucket showers). the plumbing is okay but the toliets dont flush all that well (making for a lovely scent) and i even get shower company- there are tiny frogs everywhere and they love the showers. one of the girls named some of them and i think that they makes them feel that they are welcome to stay (untrue).
breakfest has been an experince. we get our food from the cooks at the school and they are great buttt i have a feeling there is some kind of joke/ experiment going on- like hey what will hot dog rolls filled with hot dogs, mustard, cheese, and grated carrots taste like?? dont know ok then just give it to the americans and see if they like it. i was not really a fan. over all the food has been good though lots of chick peas!! and papaya and stuff like that.
after breakfest we normally have sessions in the class room which for the most part have been good (except for the fact that the chairs are hard as rocks and thanks to paige elizabeth goldstein for permantly bruising my butt bone... not so comfy) a bunch of the ministry of education people have come and spoken to us about culture and we also had a speaker break down some of the finer points in creolese (told us some lovely cuss words that i wont share with you in case i decide to begin using them back in the states). we went into the minstry of education one of the first days for a welcoming ceremony- which was kinda strange but nice- there was a marching band and dancers and apprently it was on tv. the ministry people are nice and so far mrs. bovel has been a favorite- i have a feeling mom would love her as they both share the love of insanely bright colored clothing- just kidding mom her suit was NEON.
hmmm what else?? ohhh ya the people... our group is certainly a sight (and not only because every where we go children gawk as we pass as they have never seen so many white people- one man actually counted, one white, two white, three white... and so on as we paraded into the market). there are mostly girls, three of them are half guyanese who now live in the states, and there are like 8 boys. two of the boys are from california and seem more attached to their long hair than me and then there is the german kid benny. i cant even begin to describe benny as he is such a character. maybe this will help... every sunday guyanese gather on the sea wall to "lime" (term for hanging out) and drink beer/ listen to music. its a fun environment as theres food and the weather is perfect at night. so last sunday we all went down to the seawall to hang out and try to somewhat fit in/ hangout with some locals. benny on the other hand was later discovered walking down on the seawall, strumming his eukalayle or as he insists SMALL GUITAR, singing spice girls at the top of his lungs. since it was dark i decided to hid my face adapt the local accent and proclaim who issss that crazy white boy?? but seriously this kid is a trip.
my roommate at the moment is great, jenny shes 6 feet tall and i also really like my lethem rommie (she actually knows what shes doing which is a great help). some of the other girls are great too- two from arizona and a girl from buffalo!!
besides that it has been mostly like summer camp. we play games at night since we cant really get into town or we take over the green house (bar across the street) and drink carib!! and listen to african queen!! we have begun to play four square (thanks stonegate swimclub for reminding me of that) we play this game celebrity, cards OR catch frogs- something i did last night and it was huge!! i almost had to kiss it but benny who i made the bet with chickened out wouldnt do it and therefor i didnt have to either. ive taught some yoga/ pilates.
tomorrow we leave for bartica!! to pratice teaching which i am so excited for- bartica is smaller so easier to get around and we wont feel so out of place. i am loving it here so far except for the fact that alone time is kinda hard to come by- last night i was finally able to get by myself- so i ate an entire box of granola bars and read a whole book- julia wish you were here so i could make you eat 7 donuts haha
well thats all for now i have to go pick up my brazillian visa and then were having pizza hut pizza at the field directors house!! i will post pics as soon as i can but its hard cause these computers are weird at the cafes.
ok byeeee xoxoxo!!!
so ya thats my moring start which has to happen or else i am afraid i will come home weighing 800 pounds as everything we eat here is fried or made out of more carbs than i have ever seen in my life (but delicious!!).
so next i get home and shower ( thank god we have running water- i really feel for those who are going to the rainforest and have to take bucket showers). the plumbing is okay but the toliets dont flush all that well (making for a lovely scent) and i even get shower company- there are tiny frogs everywhere and they love the showers. one of the girls named some of them and i think that they makes them feel that they are welcome to stay (untrue).
breakfest has been an experince. we get our food from the cooks at the school and they are great buttt i have a feeling there is some kind of joke/ experiment going on- like hey what will hot dog rolls filled with hot dogs, mustard, cheese, and grated carrots taste like?? dont know ok then just give it to the americans and see if they like it. i was not really a fan. over all the food has been good though lots of chick peas!! and papaya and stuff like that.
after breakfest we normally have sessions in the class room which for the most part have been good (except for the fact that the chairs are hard as rocks and thanks to paige elizabeth goldstein for permantly bruising my butt bone... not so comfy) a bunch of the ministry of education people have come and spoken to us about culture and we also had a speaker break down some of the finer points in creolese (told us some lovely cuss words that i wont share with you in case i decide to begin using them back in the states). we went into the minstry of education one of the first days for a welcoming ceremony- which was kinda strange but nice- there was a marching band and dancers and apprently it was on tv. the ministry people are nice and so far mrs. bovel has been a favorite- i have a feeling mom would love her as they both share the love of insanely bright colored clothing- just kidding mom her suit was NEON.
hmmm what else?? ohhh ya the people... our group is certainly a sight (and not only because every where we go children gawk as we pass as they have never seen so many white people- one man actually counted, one white, two white, three white... and so on as we paraded into the market). there are mostly girls, three of them are half guyanese who now live in the states, and there are like 8 boys. two of the boys are from california and seem more attached to their long hair than me and then there is the german kid benny. i cant even begin to describe benny as he is such a character. maybe this will help... every sunday guyanese gather on the sea wall to "lime" (term for hanging out) and drink beer/ listen to music. its a fun environment as theres food and the weather is perfect at night. so last sunday we all went down to the seawall to hang out and try to somewhat fit in/ hangout with some locals. benny on the other hand was later discovered walking down on the seawall, strumming his eukalayle or as he insists SMALL GUITAR, singing spice girls at the top of his lungs. since it was dark i decided to hid my face adapt the local accent and proclaim who issss that crazy white boy?? but seriously this kid is a trip.
my roommate at the moment is great, jenny shes 6 feet tall and i also really like my lethem rommie (she actually knows what shes doing which is a great help). some of the other girls are great too- two from arizona and a girl from buffalo!!
besides that it has been mostly like summer camp. we play games at night since we cant really get into town or we take over the green house (bar across the street) and drink carib!! and listen to african queen!! we have begun to play four square (thanks stonegate swimclub for reminding me of that) we play this game celebrity, cards OR catch frogs- something i did last night and it was huge!! i almost had to kiss it but benny who i made the bet with chickened out wouldnt do it and therefor i didnt have to either. ive taught some yoga/ pilates.
tomorrow we leave for bartica!! to pratice teaching which i am so excited for- bartica is smaller so easier to get around and we wont feel so out of place. i am loving it here so far except for the fact that alone time is kinda hard to come by- last night i was finally able to get by myself- so i ate an entire box of granola bars and read a whole book- julia wish you were here so i could make you eat 7 donuts haha
well thats all for now i have to go pick up my brazillian visa and then were having pizza hut pizza at the field directors house!! i will post pics as soon as i can but its hard cause these computers are weird at the cafes.
ok byeeee xoxoxo!!!
Friday, August 3, 2007
contact me!!
hello!! here is my address in Guyana
WorldTeach Programme
St. Ignatius Secondary School
Lethem, Region 9
Guyana, South America
ed office. 772-2012
WorldTeach Programme
St. Ignatius Secondary School
Lethem, Region 9
Guyana, South America
ed office. 772-2012
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