Merry Christmas

Well it's been a Guyanese Christmas with good friends, great food, lots of laughs, gag gifts, and randomness!
Hope everyone had a nice Christmas--we did! 

Our very cute Christmas tree

Thanks mom and Dan! 

The Christmas group

Chels got me an awesome blue hair net/cap that I love

and Tim got me a bracelet...2 great Guyana gifts!  

Homemade enchiladas. They were delicious!

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas!!

Love and miss you!

Water was turned off for a day and our tank was pretty empty. When the water finally came back on it wasn't flowing into the tank so man power had to be done....

At least 60 buckets were poured into the tank it get it pretty full

Just making sure Tony wasn't lying about the water level

Merry Christmas

From the Linden Crew!!

Ahhh

This month has been a month of disappointments for the Linden House.
Although we’ve each faced different disappointing events the feelings we've felt have been the same.

The things that get us through are communication with friends and family and up coming events to get excited about and when these things don’t work out it really sucks.
I’m so grateful for the support and friendship of my housemates. I don’t know how I would get through this journey without them. Thank you Tony, Tim and Chelsea!

I know things happen in life we have no control over and I’m learning how to deal with these events, its not easy, especially being so far away from home. But I have faith that this stressful event is making me a stronger, more patient person…it has to be, why else would it be happening?

Although right now I’m questioning what I’m doing in Guyana and with my life, I know I can’t give up (even if I really want to). I just have to bear with it and know it will all work out in the end.
After all no one promised life would be perfect.

Sorry for this post, it’s more for me personally, I have to stay up beat and optimistic...

So This Is Christmas

It’s hard being so far away from the ones I love and everything traditional this holiday season. I am trying to keep up beat but I’m really missing home and the Christmas season. I love Christmas, every thing about it, and it’s just so different here. I keep telling myself it’s good I’m experiencing a different Christmas in another country; it’s definitely making me appreciate the Christmas I know and Love that much more.

The big Christmas things people do here are buy new curtains, place mates, sheets, and other house hold must haves. They clean their houses and put up all new pretty furnishings. So I’ve been getting asked a lot if I bought and put up new curtains, when I respond no I pretty much get a lecture about how I need to get new curtains and start preparing for all the food I must make…pepper pot, baked chicken, macaroni salad, fried rice, black cake and the list goes on.

I am super excited we put lights up around the veranda and on our Christmas tree. I don’t really know what to expect Christmas day but I’m sure it will be interesting and good…I’m looking forward to the randomness that is going to take place. Regardless it’s going to be a great day with friends!

However, in the mean time I wanted to share the things I miss about this time of year back home:

Christmas shopping

Seeing festive decorations everywhere

Driving around to look at lights

Finding that perfect gift for someone

Wrapping presents

Drinking lots of hot chocolate

Apple cider 

Snow (I know shocking)

My Santa lobster jammies

Slippers

Christmas music (they play it here but it’s not the same)

Christmas cookies

Being with family

Zoo Lights

My cute jackets

Scarves

Beanies

Christmas parties 

I just think how awesome my first Christmas home will be!

I hope everyone is having a happy and festive holiday season!

Just some pictures from last year 

10 Months

Today I have been in Guyana for 10 months!

10 months is a long time but it really doesn’t feel like I left the states that long ago. I think the thing that is most shocking at this point in the game is how accustom I feel here.

It’s funny how your perception of things change, as they become apart of your every day life.

Just looking back on a few months ago I feel so much more confidant in myself and living as a Peace Corps Volunteer, and for that I am truly grateful. I know this experience is going to be apart of my life forever and I’m obtaining valuable information and life skills, which is pretty awesome!

I was thinking about it today, this whole experience has given me great insight into different career options as its allowed me to get a feel for life as a nurse, teacher, and baker. Given, the work ethic is a little different here, but I’ve had the opportunity to work in the health field, teach and help out in schools, and I’ve gotten to see what it’s like working in a kitchen. I’m still not 100% sure what I want to do (career wise) when I get home but I’m definitely thinking it’s going to be one of these 3.
Right now I feel like the opportunities are endless when I get home and that’s so exciting!!

On Saturday I participated in an International Volunteer parade along with other PCVs and volunteer organizations. We walked around Georgetown; it was neat seeing buildings and parts of the city I hadn’t seen before.

I’m pretty content right now with everything in my life!

Chels did mine, I did hers and we both did a side on Princess

December

Happy December!

I can’t believe the holiday season is upon us…where has the time gone?...only 30 days until 2011!!! That’s just crazy!
It’s a little weird to be living somewhere where it’s 90+ degrees and I’m wearing skirts and short sleeves in December. I’m very much looking forward to celebrating Christmas in Guyana and to witness Christmas Guyanese style (more to come on that topic…).

In participation for World AIDS Day I organized a march and HIV/AIDS talk with the 6th grade class I’ve been teaching health to. I got the two 6th grade teachers on board, found a HIV volunteer at a local HIV center to come speak to the kids and Tim (who subbed for me) helped them create posters. Things were all set for our march around the community on December 1st. Mom brought me two spools of red ribbon, which I pined to kid’s uniforms and tied to their wrists. The kids lined up holding their posters and their teacher yelled chants while the kids repeated them as we walked down the road. I don’t think these kids have ever done anything like this before; they enjoyed it and I was so proud of them.
We chanted things like “HIV free—A,B,C” “Tolerance is love” “Be faithful” “Stigma is disgrace to the human race” and “Be wise. Condomize” (my fav).

The whole objective of the march was to get people’s attention, to bring awareness of the day, that HIV is among us and that discrimination is wrong. We got many stares, which I think was a good thing, at least people were interested enough to see what was happening out on the road.

A Grand Adventure & Thanksgiving

Words can’t really describe how it felt to have mom, Dan and papa here…it was a little surreal at first and I may have even experienced a little bit of reverse culture shock (weird) but I loved having them here!

I am so grateful for them coming to visit me and glad they got a taste of my life in Guyana. It was interesting for me to realize how settled I am and how this is my life, as I forgot to explain the currency to mom when we went to the market. And seeing their faces as they were crammed into a minibus surrounded by school kids in uniforms and them not understanding a word being spoken or having no idea where they were headed. But they managed just fine and did great walking around Linden. It was a lot of fun showing them around and introducing them to people.

It was definitely a jammed pack week; we did and saw a lot. We went all around Linden, traveled to Georgetown, took a small plane to Kaieteur, experienced a long bus ride to Iwokrama (note to fellow PCVs do not take a sleeping pill on the bus ride to Iwokrama/Lethem), enjoyed the beauty of the rain forest, cooked and ate a traditional Thanksgiving feast, and valued each other’s company. I loved that they really got a glimpse into the average life in Guyana; this was not just a touristy vacation for them. They met locals, saw the schools and health centers, experienced the crazy transportation, dealt with people harassing them, and of course there was no escaping the heat, although the weather was quite cooler while they were here.

I’m so glad I got to experience Kaieteur and Iwokrama with them. For me, it was great seeing more of Guyana and for them they got to experience the jungle/rain forest and the peace and quiet of being in remote areas.


I’m just so touched that they came to see me and it was so nice being with them. I miss them a lot already but I know we will see each other again soon and we’ll always cherish their trip to Guyana.

Thank you again for every thing mom, Dan & papa—love you!!

Enjoying snack before walking to the fall

So sweet

Macaws

Beautiful 

Our bus got stuck in the mud coming back

we had to wait 2 hours & got home at 3am

A caiman

Chelsea made a great turkey on our new grill

Simply Amazing!

I was so proud of us and so excited to have broccoli 

So grateful for these people

Love her

I am very grateful

Happy Thanksgiving!

Feeling Overwhelmed

Do you even have those moments where you just feel so overwhelmed? I definitely did this morning. But I think it’s more that I’m anxious for my family to get here.

Everything was getting to me…like, the water pump constantly going off (I don’t know why it irritates me so much), the dang roosters crowing, the hundreds of aunts coming out of my wall, the wood shavings all over my bathroom from the aunts or termites, the mold in my shower, all the dirt that collects by my front door, the yard with all its over grown weeds, the smelly trenches and piles of trash along the sides of the road.
Thank goodness for Chels and Tim, who had to remind me I’m living in a third world country and things could be a lot worse.

Luckily today I went to the hospital kitchen, I really like going there it’s more relaxing for me than doing “work”. The people are fun, we talk a lot about food, and I get to try new food the baker bakes (she makes really yummy stuff).
Then I was on the search for a pineapple and although some men were annoying it didn’t bother me because I was on my way home to clean and work out my frustrations. I know I’ll feel a lot better once everything is organized and clean.

On a more positive note: this morning Tim and I ran 6 miles and it felt amazing!

I seriously can't wait to see my mom!

This has been the longest I've gone without seeing my mom and it's been hard.

She is my best friend and my rock.

I love her so much and I'm so grateful she is coming to see me.

Mom, we are going to have a great adventure and I'm so excited! See you Friday!

Of course I'm so excited to see papa and Dan too!

Let's Talk Food

I love food!

I’ll be honest a lot of my down time is spent online looking at food blogs, reading recipes, and researching, as well as in my kitchen coming up with new concoctions (that’s literally what a lot of my food is).

I love to eat healthy and sometimes I can get a little nuts with it as I’ve been known to try an abundance of crazy diets (the lemonade diet, blood type diet, the low carb diet, and a month of eating solid raw food). I know these diets are not “healthy” (but I loved the month of raw food), I also know I don’t have a weight problem but I am a girl and definitely have insecurities. With that being said, I just want to make the most out of my body.
We all know diets don’t work, there is no magical diet or pill but still so many people struggle with this.
What it really boils down to is figuring out what is best for your body. Every body is different and it takes some time to figure out what your body needs to function at its best. I am a firm believer that in order to get optimal health it starts with eating right and making exercise apart of your daily routine.

To prove my point, Zach has gained over 20 pounds in muscle (which I can’t really believe or picture) but I love what he said, “eat for the body you want not the one you have”, which I think his workout buddy told him that but anyway, it’s so true! As long as I’ve known him he has talked about wanting to gain weight but wasn’t until he changed the way he ate that he started to gain weight.

As far as my body goes, I know it does not do well with gluten. I’ve toyed with this concept for some time now and when I cut gluten out of my diet I feel so good. However, being a Peace Corps Volunteer makes this difficult but I’m taking this time to experiment with foods and how they react to my body.
I’ll go a few days without eating flour, bread, rice, and I can see an improvement almost immediately, my stomach gets a little flatter, my feet aren’t as swollen, my clothes fit better and I feel like I have more energy. But the moment I eat something made with flour I feel bloated and my feet get puffy again.
Living in Guyana makes it really difficult to follow any sort of restricted meal plan and I’ll admit it has caused me stress. It is however, my goal to reduce flour from my diet as much as I can but I just can’t give up Pizza Fridays! And when I travel I really have little control over what I’m eating. So instead of stressing over it (because that really does no good) I just have to try my best and know that it’s not going to be like this forever.

I make sure to exercise at least 6 days a week, even if it’s just for 20 minutes (but usually it’s 40 to 60 minutes), not only is good for my body it’s really the only way I can de-stress here.

Today’s concoction:
Sweet potato, pumpkin, and carrot in a peanut butter, curry sauce topped with caramelized channa.

Today I'm grateful for:
~LIFE
     &
~LOVE

It's Raining

Happy Saturday!

Sometimes you just have run. That's how I was feeling this afternoon and so I went and it rained on me, which I didn't mind. I actually really enjoyed it because no one was out on the street to stare or say ridiculous comments. Maybe I should workout in the rain more often.
Sadly, Tim and I have not been doing our Saturday morning runs. It turns out we were up to running 8 miles! I've never ran more than 3 miles in my life so 8 miles was huge for me! It also turns out I can only run far distances with a buddy. I can't run more than 20 minutes, maybe 30 minutes tops by myself. So I'm hoping Tim and I will be able to start running together again soon, I've missed it!

I love (sarcastic) how everyone is like Captain Obvious.
"Baby, your walking in the hot sun"--Yes, I am. Thank you.
"Hey White Gurl"--Yes, I am white and a girl. Thank you.
"You're takin' in too much rain"--Yes, it's raining and I'm soaked. Thank you.

(Sorry if that's a little harsh)

I can't believe how fast this week flew by but that's good because only a few more days until family is here!
I only have to work 3 days this coming week, as Wednesday is another holiday!

Chelsea and I had a girls night on Thursday, which was nice. We made pizza (Tony was sick and Tim was gone). It was our first time making pizza ourselves and without the boys.  It turned out alright...I mean we ate it. I'm glad we gave it a shot. I definitely want to master pizza making before I leave Guyana. While we were biting into our gooey pizza the bed for papa was delivered, which made me very happy.
We also watched Americas Next Top Model and Glee and then went and got ice cream. It was a good night.

 I made a delicious breakfast this morning, sweet potato and pumpkin hash browns topped with creamy calaloo and pumpkin and I'm going to attempt to make caramelized chickpeas for snack tonight. It should be interesting. Both recipes will be on Hobbit Food shortly.

Things I am grateful for today:
~It being Saturday and me being lazy
~The rain, thunder & lightening
~New food experiments
~Today is one day closer till I see my mom!

I made a lot of pureed pumpkin today

 

And here's a picture to show how much I sweat after doing yoga (I'm not soaked from the rain but sweat)

When Your Jeans Fit Perfectly It's A Great Day!

I must admit…today was the first time in 9 months that my jeans fit me perfectly and I loved it! I felt like my odd self (minus my straightened hair). If you know me, you know I’m definitely a jeans girl but since I’ve been in Guyana I can count the number of the times I’ve worn jeans. I just think they are so uncomfortable here for 1) it’s way too hot and for 2) they have not fit well at all. Except today!

OK, now that I got that out of my system I can tell you about the rest of my day.

I spent the day in Georgetown taking care of some business and getting lunch with Becky. But before I can go on I have to describe the buses here and why I truly despise them, even more than hand washing my laundry.

I left my house at 7:20am and headed to the bus park. I dread walking to the bus park because it’s always the same…men pulling on you and yelling at other men to get you into their bus. They yell things like “just need one more” and than another guy will say, “his bus is not full mine is” usually I just ignore them and use my eyes to see what bus looks the fullest because that bus is most likely leaving the soonest.
But today that did not happen, instead there were no full buses, there were 3 buses lined up each one with 2 people sitting in them (usually the buses fill with 16-18 people) so I got in the first bus and prepared myself to patiently wait.
There was an older gentleman sitting behind me, very well dressed, like he was ready for town. He said I made the right choice and then asked if I was headed to town, I told him yes and asked if he was too. His response, “no, I’m just sitting here until the bus fills and then I get $100-$200”. (That’s .50-$1.00 US).
So the bus drivers hire stand ins to make their buses look more full. I was aware of this before today but for some reason him flat out telling me this bugged me and since another bus was filling up pretty quickly I said sorry and got out to go in that bus. I ended up waiting about 10 minutes before we were on the road.

The bus park in Georgetown is a lot worse as there are a lot more people, buses, and men yelling. This afternoon I found a pretty full bus and settled into my sit and waited and waited and waited, while my face was literally sweating off. The men kept saying they just needed one more person but that ended up turning into 5 more people as the stand ins made their way off the bus.

So the moral of the story…you can’t believe any of the bus drivers and you just have to play the guessing and waiting game. Oh, so fun.

Other than the bus situations my day was great! I arrived at PC office shortly after 9am talked with the nurse and safety and security coordinator.
On my taxi ride to the office I spotted the travel agency I needed to go to and it was actually not far from the office and I knew I could easily walk there, I just wasn’t sure if I wanted to walk alone but after talking to Simeon (safety and security man) he said I would be fine so I headed out and I was so proud of myself venturing out in Georgetown all on my own.
I made it to the agency and got everything booked for our tours when mom, Dan and papa are here, so exciting! Check out the websites…we are flying to Kaieteur Falls (it’s just a 4 hour tour) and then we head to Iwokrama by bus (about a 12 hour drive…we’ll see how it goes) and we are there for a night and then head back to Linden, just in time for turkey! No matter what it’s going to be a great adventure!!

When I arrived back at the office Becky came and we ended up driving with nurse Jean and Simeon around town a little (see pictures) and they dropped us off at Oasis Café. I love this place as it reminds me of cafes back home. We each got milk shakes and little quiches. It was very yummy. They only bad thing, it’s pretty expensive but it’s definitely nice when I get the chance to go. Then we went to a grocery store and I bought some great things like dates, real sponges, and crunchy peanut butter (it was so cheap!). Then I headed home and Chels and I had an evening work out session, which was awesome.

Overall, great day!

I decided to take picture of Georgetown to share with everyone

This was on my walk back to the office

Thought of you Berna

Isn't it pretty?!? Yes, that's a big trench

Becky & I in the back of Simeon's Land-rover

A little street vending for ya

The roads are so congested

City Hall

Oasis Cafe

Becky got a chocolate shake & I got butterscotch!

Things I'm grateful for today:

~Jeans

~Safe travels

~Venturing out alone

~Booking tours

~Text messaging 

~Having lunch with Becky & her friendship
~Energy to workout

~Dates & dark chocolate

~Talking to dad & Berna

9 Months

First things first, a very BIG Happy Birthday to Berna!!!! I wish I was there to celebrate with you but I know you are going to have a wonderful day full of love! You have been blessed with so much in life and just think of everything you have to look forward to! I love and miss you so much!!

Today I have been in Guyana for 9 month. Wow! I think the more shocking part is there are only 3 more months until I’ve been here one year. That’s crazy.
Also, we know the date the new group of Peace Corps Volunteers (guy 23) is due to arrive. That’s exciting.
It’s weird to be the one giving advice and sharing my experience, I remember not long ago I was the one researching and asking people all about life as a volunteer. Time really is flying by. They are due to arrive in February 2011 and that definitely gives us something to look forward to…meeting new people and helping out with their training and not being the new kids on the block anymore!

I’m also very excited the holiday season is upon us! It’s definitely going to be an interesting experience spending the holidays in Guyana but I’m so grateful I’ll have visitors to bring a little piece of home. I’ve been planning so much and truly can’t wait to have everyone here!

Today is day light saving meaning if you are in Utah you are now 3 hours behind my time and if you are in California there is now a 4 hour time difference :( 

I have a new found love…

Pumpkin Spice Oatmeal with Bananas & Candied Peanuts

I can't believe my 3 day weekend is coming to an end...it was a nice, relaxing weekend.

Things I'm thankful for today:

~Having Berna as my step-mom and all her love

~Skype! It's so nice being able to see the ones I love back home

~Sleep

Crazy For Coconuts

I woke up at 9 again this morning...man I'm loving that! Ate a bowl of pumpkin spice oatmeal with left over roti and went to the market. I heard 2 different Christmas songs on my walk from the market, it put a big smile on my face (I LOVE Christmas) but before I get too carried away with Christmas I'm so excited for our Thanksgiving feast coming up!

Saturdays at the market are always interesting...it's usually Saturdays when odd things happen. As I was turning the corner to drop my laundry off (yes, I take my sheets and towels to the laundromat) this older woman with an umbrella walked passed me and as I said, "Good-day" she just yelled "White gal".  And then as I went to buy my typical pound of pumpkin this lady asked why I didn't want more but before I could respond another lady said, "they don't eat like we do".  Oh, got to love it here.

Anyways, as I was leaving the market I saw coconut man with all his coconuts and I got 2!

Look at how I walked home with them

 I was very impressed with coconut man!

Look at all that coconut water and for 1 US dollar!!

2 young coconuts

2 "meaty" coconuts 

It has definitely been a crazy coconut day! The only bad thing about coconuts, they are so hard to crack open and it takes a lot of effort to get the meat out but it's well worth it.

I made frozen and spicy beans for lunch today. Check out Hobbit Food for recipes!
I also made some fresh ginger and lemon 'tea' it was very comforting.

It has been a quiet Saturday and I haven't done anything too productive, but there's always tomorrow. Tony is back and I think we are going to get ice cream tonight! I love ice cream!

I got a call from Zach last night and he said, "how bout I come see you in 6 weeks?" [this has been planned for awhile now] it's just so exciting that it's so close!