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