A Week In

Hello!

I arrived safe and sound in Georgetown after a long and extremely tiring journey. We got here around 1am local time last Friday. This is the first opportunity I have had to get on the internet so I'm sorry for taking this long.

After sleeping only until 6am (11am GMT) on the Friday we all had to get up and spent the entire day lazing around in the sun, trying (and failing) to get used to the heat. Indeed, sitting here now, at a computer, with a fan blowing on my back it's still far too warm. But the locals say it is "the hottest week of the year"  or something, as it always is when you'd quite like to be a wee bit cooler. But no matter, it's lovely to be able to wear shorts and t-shirt and not compain about the cold!

The rest of the week we have spent avoiding the sun by our flat. This is tiny. two bedrooms, a kitchen with a bathroom attached and a veranda. We have all strung hammocks up outside because it is just too hot to sleep inside. We do have mosquito nets as well, because the mozzies are an absoolute nightmare. I've already been bitten about 20 times, and I am by far not the worst. The hammocks are really comfortable, I find it difficult to stay awake whle lying in one. In fact, on Sunday, I lay down in a hammock at about 11am with the intention of joining the conversation going on around me, and just ended up falling asleep. It was lovely.

On Monday we went to a meeting with the Ministry of Education, which, of course, lasted far too long and was far too boring, but we did get to meet the Minister of Education (our employer), which was good. One of the first evenings we went out for a chinese, where our meal costed roughly four pounds, and was huge, last night we had dinner at a pizza place and met the World Teach volunteers who will also be based in Paramakatoi. They seemed very nice, though I must say Emily did most of the talking to them.

Tonight is the opening of Heritage Month, so there will be a celebration, which I am looking forward to. We are going out to a Brazilian buffet restaurant tonight after this, which should be good though it is fairly expensive by Guyana standards (G$3500 - roughly twelve pounds).

I am pleased to say everybody seems to be getting on very well, though one of the guys has been having trouble adapting to a lot of things, and culture shock hit him quite badly. Apart from that and the occaisional hint of cabin fever, we are all getting along famously, which is a relief to Kala, our representative, as she said last year's group were nowhere near as close. I now see what Doug means about her being a great person to have as a representative - she will help you with absolutely anything, and believe me, she has a lot of contacts.

I am leaving next Friday, but all but four volunteers are leaving tomorrow or the day after, so I should get another chance to use the internet before I go to Paramakatoi.

For now, I have to go, people are getting impatient. All the best and I hope everyone is well.

Antje