Tim and I went into this week feeling productive and refreshed from a really cool weekend. Did anything particularly spectacular happen? No. Did we
travel anywhere especially awesome? Nope. What we did though was hang out with some super people and had plenty of time to gaff with them. Peace Corps Volunteers are some of the raddest people in the world!
On Thursday and Friday I attended the Peer Support meeting in the PC Office in G/town. As always, this meeting left me feeling positive. The new Guy23 volunteer representatives of Peer Support joined us this time so we had a bigger group than usual (a whole 5 people!) and I think we have such great ideas as a group! Go team! We did some sessions practicing active listening and responding to crisis situations. We also did a ton of brainstorming for how we can continue to foster a network with in PC Guyana where our peers take an active role in providing positive, confidential support to each other. I think we had a great meeting!
Tim joined me in to office on Friday to get his toe checked out by Nurse Jean. He had stubbed it about a month back and we both thought it was broken back then. He decided not to go in and get it looked at then because, really we know there isn't much you can do for a broken toe. But recently he took a closer look and saw a black bruise looking spot on the toe and he got worried so he came in for medical attention. Guess what was in his toe!!?! A chigger! Ahhhh! I was so totally grossed out when Tim described to me how Dr. Benjamin had to use a needle to scoop the chigger eggs out of his skin. Nasty, right? Anyway, the x-ray showed no breaks but he has been advised to “take it light” for two weeks and keep his chigger wound clean. Tim would like to add that he is very proud to have survived his first chigger in Guyana. Okay, enough of chiggers.
While we were at PCHQ for our various reasons we were pleasantly surprised at how many PCVs were in the office for their own reasons. We got to catch up with a few people we hadn't seen for a few months. We also got to spend some time getting to know the Guy23 PCVs better. What cool peeps all around! The gaggle of us ordered food from the new sub place in G/town that I mentioned in this post (buffalo chicken sandwiches!). We also ordered pizza and ate bacon cheese burgers at a new burger grill. Nothing makes PCVs happier than spending are hard earned stipend on overly priced food that reminds us of home. Best thousand dollars (Guyana dollars) per meal ever spent!
On Saturday we headed over the Demerara river to visit Mark S. and his host family. Mark S is new friend of ours, a PCV from Guy23 who was assigned to Region 10 with us. He lives about 2.5 hours outside Linden, down a dirt road, and when he come through Linden he'll sometimes stay with us. He and Tim get to talk geeky guy stuff together and commiserate over the fact that they are both over 30 years old. Well, Saturday Mark's host family threw him a birthday party which was attended by a ton of Guy23 Volunteers. Tim and I rolled out and enjoyed the food and hospitality of his family.
We stayed at the host family's house over night and in the morning Mark's host dad introduced me to his cows (he is a cattle farmer) and even tried to teach me how to milk one. I am not cut out to be a farm girl. If I had to feed myself off of cow's milk, I would have a thimble full of milk and starve. We did get loaded up with fresh food from their gardens and kitchen; pumpkin, boulanger (egg plant), ginip (a sweet fruit sort of like a leechi), cake and roti.
All in all we had a productive and social weekend. We met new people and got to know old friends better. As I type we are simmering a pot of pumpkin curry and listening to new Guyanese music that another PCV gave us. Happy times!
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