So the barking dogs seem to have quietened down recently, I am wondering if maybe a few have moved on. To ensure, however that I don’t slip too far into a deep sleep on a night the neighbours have moved in a large pen of tiny chicks ( I should add the building of the pen was slightly grating on the ears first thing in the morning too)! The noise is not dissimilar to the traditional “holiday” sound of crickets…
so another week has past, a few more mosquito’s have come and gone leaving their attractive mark on all but one of my toes and around my ankles. I have visited some other departments and spent some more time at Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), meeting some of the patients who visit the Speech department. I have also been to Ptolemy Reid Rehabilitation Centre, which holds a clinic for some of the youngest children in the region who require rehabilitation services and the Palms outpatient clinic . Most of the children have a diagnosis (or not) of cerebral palsy and resulting physical and communication difficulties. I have also met some of the children who attend the school upstairs, which is primarily for children with physical disabilities, though there are also a few children who appear to have characteristics of ASD (autistic spectrum disorder), though this is a relatively ‘new’ and less familiar disorder over here and as such there is not a great level of knowledge about the disorder and the difficulties that children and young people may have as a result.
This week I have also learnt how to make 4 (yes 4!) different types of Roti; potato, oiled, deep fried and a “pitta” type as well as a potato curry and fried plantain. Camilla (another VSO volunteer) and I attempted to repeat the recipe a couple of days ago…lets just say that it is a good job I have 2 years to practice the art! The food here is generally great, the Guyanese do, however like their oil so I am hoping that I won’t have to book a “fat” seat on the plane on the way home! For breakfast I am tending to have cereal, quite expensive over here but as some of you may know breakfast and particularly cereal is not something that I am willing to give up….lunch I tend to have a vegetable rice, I have tried experimenting with other things as well, I have only had one disaster to date which was when I decided to try “cerolla” (probably not spelt correctly) they way I have since recalled it’s name is by thinking of Crueller Deville, needless to say you can guess what I though of that particular Guyanese delicacy! It has a very bitter and at times spicy taste…many people I have spoken to have told me that it is an acquired taste (you can say that again!) and that I just need to try it some more times to get accustomed to it….mmm I think I’ll pass, there are so many other nice foods that to me that just seems daft! Food can be picked up at the local supermarkets (small shops) and at the farmers market, I am trying to go to the markets a little more to keep the cost down….still learning the different names for things e.g. eggplant here is I think “berlanche” or something similar, chickpeas is “channa”. There is a nice vegetable called “ochro” which is nice in stir-fry or as an additional vegetable in a pasta dish or similar, luckily for me my landlady has some growing in the garden, which she often gives me; like today I arrived home to find some on my doorstep….nice!
Next week is officially when I start the schedule which will pretty much be routine. I am to go to the two special schools on a Monday and a Wednesday, spend some time at the rehabilitation and the Palms (an outpatient clinic for older patients) on Tuesdays and Thursday and Friday at the hospital or on out of town visits.
This week has also been a bit of a turning point as far as settling in, I have just about got to grips with my bike and getting about around town and to the various places I will be working. I have also managed to (almost!) join the local swimming pool which will be a great relief in the heat and also opened a bank account, yeah yeah I can hear you saying “wow!” but believe me things here are not always as straight forward as they are at home! I have also blown the weeks (or months!) budget on a new super duper fan for my house and a printer for home….which I figured would be much easier in the long run since many of the departments are without printers and it just makes life a little easier. Most of the resources we will be using are fairly low tech., e.g. worksheets etc. so if I can develop some of those from home that will be beneficial I hope to the development of the departments around Georgetown and across the regions.
Plans for New Year…I think most of you know that I won’t be coming home at Christmas so to get over the fact that I am going to miss you terribly Camilla and I have tentatively booked a flight to Trinidad! We were hoping to go over to St. Lucia but it proved a little too pricey and we couldn’t quite justify it considering what we receive as our allowance. I am still getting used to budgeting my money but I figured the first couple of months will be a little different as I am setting a few things up and need to buy a bit more to get settled, and obviously it would be very rude to turn down all the friendly invitations we get to go and party and socialise with various people…..last night we were invited to take a trip to one of the creeks, we have kinda chickened out as apparently it was a trip which usually takes about 45 minutes in speed boat which our friends were suggesting we did on jet ski! Another time maybe….anyway for now that’s me.

Big happy birthday to Vic, love you very much and am very sorry not to be celebrating with you. Also happy birthday to Hannah’s mum, Pat and Kevin.

Love to you all as always x Hannah