Rememberables.....

I am writing this the night before we depart Guyana for good (for now at least). By the time this posts we’ll be away from GT and in Trinidad. But I wanted a smooth transition from it being a Peace Corps Blog to something else. But worry not we will keep writing. We find it highly therapeutic and simply put: pretty awesome. But before we move from this chapter of our lives, I think it prudent to reflect back upon some of the more rememberable (yeah I think I just made that word up) moments and life lessons we’ve picked up in our PC lives.  

• The 15 hour bus ride to Lethem. And after the agony of the unpaved road, I was blown away as the savannah unrolled before us. My fellow trainees and I just stared at the spectacle with our jaws dropped.  It was such an amazing experience.
• Another HVV memory: Horseback riding from the plains to the mountains and hills until we approached Skull Mountain, an ancient Amerindian burial site. Bleached bones stared at us from old, cracked clay jars.
• Mobilizing my office to clean out two classrooms full of books. And then ship off those books to schools that desperately need them, especially in the interior.
• Facilitating a workshop with 100+ secondary students about to take their Caribbean exams. This proved how capable I was, and how much I enjoy teaching. 
• Practicing what I preach. I wrote a manuscript after scrupulously studying education texts, and then attempted to lead my own sessions by example. It was a good feeling modeling what I expected from my participants. 
•  We will remember so many morning exercises, breakfasts, cups of coffee and gaffs with my loving wife. We really took time for ourselves when we needed to and grew closer to one another.
•   We will remember so many nights cooking fresh food, with fresh ingredients. We felt healthier than we have in many years. We knew where I food came from and loved it!
• Self-confidence. I’ve learned not to doubt myself. And I should just embrace that I am an expert in my chosen field.
• You reap what you sow. The amount of effort you choose to input into a project will directly affect the outcome.
• Being able to give ourselves freedom when we need it. Know when we need a break and then take one. We can be our own boss, we can be self-disciplined or not, it’s really up to us.

There are so many more memories I want to talk about: scaling the aluminum factory, the author’s fairs, traveling to Shell Beach, Linden Town Week. The different people who have affected our lives, who we’ve met and they’ve made such lasting impressions on us.   It was a good two years. I am excited to see what the next chapter reads.