[ MY OVERALL STATUS ]
LOCATION | New Amsterdam, Guyana.
DURATION | 162 days.
MOSQUITO BITES | 2,061.
COLD BUCKET BATHS | 921.
STOMACH FLU | 0.
SOME GUYANESE WORDS.
I'll post few words every post because even English is Guyana's official language, people speak and write Creolese. Hell yuh.
- Skunt - cunt... yep. (The first Guyanese word I learned from my host sister, haha).
- Crappo - frog.
- Bai - boy.
- Gyal - girl.
- Aloo - potato.
- Balanjay - eggplant. (Oh, shit, I just realized I have two I need to cook right now).
- Pear - avocado (they look like pears here too).
- Vexed - gettin' mad/pissed off/angry.
- Pickni - child or children.
- Bazodee - totally confused.
SOME GUYANESE PROVERB.
"Yuh never miss water 'til da well runs dry."
"Yuh never miss water 'til da well runs dry."
[ THE BEGINNING OF TWO YEARS. ]
It's been 60 days since I posted. Posting a blog has been on the top of my to-do list... it's going to be a short one with lots of pictures for now.
Welcome to New Amsterdam!
New Amsterdam, Region 6.
Yea, you saw that right, that's the Pepsi sign with NEW AMSTERDAM on it. Pepsi "sponsors" many towns by erecting up Pepsi signs with town names along the main road from Georgetown to New Amsterdam. (Capitalism colonialism at its finest). Anyway, New Amsterdam is a tiny town with the population of 30,000, making it the third largest town in Guyana. It has three main roads, a mayor, and a thriving market.
Skip over the timeline of New Amsterdam if history bores you.
- 1740: Built by the Dutch. First named as Fort Sint Andries.
- Pioneer in by-laws:
- Established sanitation regulations to make sure the creek ain't a shit creek.
- Set up fixed prices for goods like price tags in town.
- Deemed alcohol as a necessity rather than illegal because people believed it would help them ward off malaria and diseases. Yay for alcohol!
- 1763: The slave uprising tore the town in half with slaves fighting for their freedom.
- 1764: The town burned to the ground during the slave uprising. Only the brick Lutheran church survived.
- 1785: People decided to relocate the town near the mouth of the Canje river to be rebuilt as New Amsterdam.
- 1803: Taken over by the bloody British.
- 1831: Lost the status of the Berbice capital city when the British combined all three regions of Berbice, Demerara, and Essequibo, into the British Guiana.
- 1966: Guyana achieved independence from United Kingdom and changed British Guiana into Guyana to honor its new founded independence.
Just passin' over the bridge over the Canje river. The bridge is one of highest points in New Amsterdam.
Canje + New Amsterdam, Region 6.
Overlookin' Canje from the bridge and New Amsterdam.
Canje + New Amsterdam, Region 6.
MONEY TRAIN!!! The most trippiest mini-bus I've ever been on.
New Amsterdam, Region 6.
A lot of folks asked me how do I flag down the bus... because you know I'm Deaf and all that? This question never gets old at all. If I had a dollar for every time people asked me, I'd be 67 dollars richer (enough to afford 13 peanut butter jars in Guyana). It is similar to the question Deaf people get asked over and over again in U.S... "how do you drive?" Oh, want me to tell you how? Sure! I just open the door, get in the driver's seat, put my key in ignition, and rev it all up - just like that. What the hell do you think, that we drive the different way than you do? No. Just like everybody, I wave my hand to flag down the bus, hop on it, and have the ride of my life... until I see the sign of the town where I want to go. Buses usually play loud music and I can feel it vibrating through the chairs, either rasta music or gospel or even Justin Bieber, fortunately, I can't hear him at all. Passengers would shout their stops at the tops of their lungs or tap on the conductor's shoulder and point at where they want to stop. I do the same thing. Sometimes, I'd flag down a taxi because they are faster than buses, write down where I want to go and negotiate the price with the driver, before I get in the car and just roll on with my life. It's a guaranteed tip to not get ripped off easily.
Bus fares are usually 100 to 1000 GYD = .50 cents to 5 USD.
Bus fares are usually 100 to 1000 GYD = .50 cents to 5 USD.
Just kickin' some ball around.
All Saints Field, New Amsterdam, Region 6.
New Amsterdam Summer Soccer Camp running by locals. More than 50+ players showed up so one fellow PCV and I helped out for few days with the youth, teaching them footwork with drills and developing various games to increase their stamina and physical fitness.
LET'S KICK SOME GRASS!!
All Saints Field, New Amsterdam, Region 6.
Oh, fuck, I'm in deep shit...
Bohemia, Region 6.
Thanks to Shearer for this picture!
A fellow PCV, Shearer, and I decided to go for a hike around in her town one Saturday to see if we could trek through the jungle and wrestle with anacondas just to get to the ocean on the other side... EPIC FAIL! We trudged down the lonely dirty road that seemed to stretch on and on beyond the flat land of rice fields... until we passed the large ponds with water for rice fields. Between the rice fields and the dry land was full of the mud with spots of grass patches where I hopscotched as agile as I could without sinking into the mud just to reach the dry land... SQUELCH! One of those grass patches turned out to be a decoy. We never made it to the other side without losing my Tevas (don't worry, they were recovered). At least, we got to meet a local farmer named Vishnu who invited us over to visit his family and talked about life in Guyana - worth it and a couple of mangoes too.
Leaf's hang around!
Canje, Region 6.
Thanks to Aly for this picture!
If you wanted some free fruits, you got to climb for it... fortunately, tree climbing was on my resume. I have yet to master at climbing a coconut tree and it is the hardest tree I ever have climbed... only made it off few feet when my feet bled a little bit. By the end of the service, I'll make it to the top and reap the coconut as the victory. You just probably think I'm (coco)nuts but you just wait and see. 
Na'an, Dhal, nom, nom, nom.
New Amsterdam, Region 6.
Thanks to Mike for making this delicious dishes with na'an, rice, dhal, etc.
Guyana is ethnically diverse with many ethnic groups including Indians, Africans, Asians, Amerindians, and others... The fact Guyana is ethnically diverse means there is diversity in food. Food is a huge part of cultures everywhere the world so it will deserve its own post in the future. I have yet to master Guyanese cooking and share recipes with you all.
Guyana is ethnically diverse with many ethnic groups including Indians, Africans, Asians, Amerindians, and others... The fact Guyana is ethnically diverse means there is diversity in food. Food is a huge part of cultures everywhere the world so it will deserve its own post in the future. I have yet to master Guyanese cooking and share recipes with you all.
Sir Winston Furchill!
New Amsterdam, Region 6.
I love puns and I love punny names. It took me two weeks to decide on the name for this little furfella. As many of you know, English is Guyana's official language and most Guyanese words are food (bora, balanjay, curry, roti, you'll learn more later!). I didn't want to name him after Guyanese food because I'm a foodie and whenever I think of food, I get hungry and I'd raid my fridge. So... what else? Puns! Meow Damon, Feline D. Roosevelt, and Stephen Pawking... yet I chose Sir Winston Furchill after Sir Winston Churchill, the Prime Minister of Britain during World War II, because many of his quotes resonate with me still to this day... It was a perfect fit when Sir Winston Furchill became the symbol of the Allied in my house as he is waging a war against the Axis of Pest full of cockroaches, beetles, slugs, and other critters that terrorize our land every day. Every morning when I wake up, I'd find their dead bodies lying across the battlefield with their torn legs scattered, all by the paw of Sir Winston Furchill. Thank god it's not in my bed. Indeed, he is sure livin' up to his name. Oh, he also likes to destroy my tea bags. That little bloody bastard. 
Stop playing with flour fur real.
New Amsterdam, Region 6.
Well, you know you're a crazy cat lady when your cat is in more than half of pictures on your phone. It is truly fur-astic to have him because he is my world in Guyana. I always look forward to come home to him every time after a long day. Even we have the sun for 12 hours in Guyana from 6 AM to 6 PM, days always seemed to be forever. He is an intelligent kitten, no, seriously, I know you're probably rolling your eyes and think yeah, right. I know someone is at the door when he runs up to the door and sit there before they could flash the doorlight. This is how he usually greets me when I come home as he hears my key jingling in the keyhole and as soon as I open the door, he runs up to me and wait for me to pet him. He also knows how to sit and hold his hand out for a handshake. Believe it or not, cats are intelligent and they can be trained just like dogs with lots of treats. Train 'em at a young age and they'll turn out to be purrfect. Such a fine gentlecat he is.
Just one of streets in New Amsterdam.
New Amsterdam, Region 6.
Hikin' out there in the rice fields, exploring for a way into the jungle. Need to get me some machete.
Sandvoort, Region 6.
The canal near rice fields.
Sandvoort, Region 6.
The new greenhouse on the school grounds.
New Amsterdam, Region 6.
Older students learn about the process of germination from planting the seeds to cultivating them to harvesting them as food. Some portions of food are used in cooking lessons as life skills for students and other portions are sold at the market for school revenue.
Older students learn about the process of germination from planting the seeds to cultivating them to harvesting them as food. Some portions of food are used in cooking lessons as life skills for students and other portions are sold at the market for school revenue.
Students + their green thumbs with spinach.
New Amsterdam, Region 6.
One of the roads en route back home from school.It usually takes me ten minutes to walk both ways.
New Amsterdam, Region 6.
This is why I can't get any work done, haha.
New Amsterdam, Region 6.
Ms. Okolo teaches ABC to younger students.
New Amsterdam, Region 6.
Deaf education is... I have no words. Not just Deaf education, but education in Guyana. There is much work to be done and start the progress for the betterment of education. Truthfully, another time is better for me to write about it. I know I keep saying I will write it in my previous blogs... I will. Do not ever take your education for granted. Education is more than a tool: it is a journey.
Deaf education is... I have no words. Not just Deaf education, but education in Guyana. There is much work to be done and start the progress for the betterment of education. Truthfully, another time is better for me to write about it. I know I keep saying I will write it in my previous blogs... I will. Do not ever take your education for granted. Education is more than a tool: it is a journey.
Ms. Yvonne teaching one of younger students how to fingerspell the alphabet.
New Amsterdam, Region 6.
It's like my birthday came early!
Thank you to all who contributed to these packages!
Missing: Swedish fish since I ate them all.
New Amsterdam, Region 6.
THANK YOU SOOO MUCH to Mom, Aunt Denise + Kayla + Madison, Judy, Rachel, and Bill + Laura! It's like my birthday came early - those are lifesavers especially nuts because I'm so nuts about them! Also, thanks to you all who wrote letters! You know who you are - the letters comin' your way jus' now!
THANK YOU SOOO MUCH to Mom, Aunt Denise + Kayla + Madison, Judy, Rachel, and Bill + Laura! It's like my birthday came early - those are lifesavers especially nuts because I'm so nuts about them! Also, thanks to you all who wrote letters! You know who you are - the letters comin' your way jus' now!
Department of Education: Regional Office for Region 6.
New Amsterdam, Region 6.
I not only work as a community literacy promoter at school but I also work as a special consultant for Deaf Education at Department of Education Regional 6 Office. It's sure hard to miss the yellow building there.
I not only work as a community literacy promoter at school but I also work as a special consultant for Deaf Education at Department of Education Regional 6 Office. It's sure hard to miss the yellow building there.
Yeaaaa, peace out, kiddos.
New Amsterdam, Region 6.
Well, it is time for me to hit the sack. I gotta get up at the crack. Stay classy, y'all.
Well, it is time for me to hit the sack. I gotta get up at the crack. Stay classy, y'all.
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