Blogs from Guyana, South America

Dear Readers, This is what I have learned this week: 1. You know what’s weird? This experience has taught me that I am a city person. Don’t get me wrong; I love it here and coming here was the best decision that I have made, but my time in Georgetown was absolutely incredible. I love the constant hustle and bustle of a city, and the idea that it is never really quiet. I think that I am going to love living in Montreal. I am so lucky that going to McGill is an option for me. 2. After making my lesson plans for remedial this week (grade 3), I realized that we are almost done all the consonants! I am very proud of my three boys for how much they have been able to pick up ... read more

March 5th, 2012 Dear Readers, This is what I have learned this week: 1. Red Rover is extremely fun and extremely dangerous. I forgot how much fun that game is. It is probably only fun because of how dangerous it is, like a lot of things. It was nice to play with them, though. I had been having a bit of trouble connecting with some of the more mischevious kids, but playing a rough game is apparently the best way to do so. 2. I find it crazy sometimes that if a child hit another in Canada, that they would be suspended, and that if a child was running on top of a desk while spitting on another child, that they would be assessed. I often wish that I could do more than I can for ... read more

Feb 27th, 2012 Dear Readers, This is what I have learned this week: 1. Absence makes the heart grow fonder also applies to TV and refrigeration. We spent the tail end of last week and the weekend in Georgetown, the capital of Guyana. The house in which we stayed seemed incredibly luxurious to us because it had both TV and a fridge! I had no idea how much I would love having both of those. Everything we watched on TV seemed genuinely entertaining and amazing. Everything that came out of our fridge was the perfect cold temperature and delicious. It was so nice to have a few days of vacation! 2. Absence makes the heart grow fonder does not apply to laugh tracks. I lied; not everything on the TV was amazing. Having not heard a ... read more

Dear Readers, This is what I have learned this week: 1. It is okay to feel overwhelmed. In fact it is part of the experience. I had kind of a rough week. I had a bunch of kids who just would not listen, and I started to feel very overwhelmed. I felt kind of ashamed at first, like if I was better at this, then I would never feel shitty about what I am or am not accomplishing. But it is okay to feel overwhelmed. Development, especially international development takes time and there will be bad days along with the good. I do not need to feel bad because I know that I am trying my best. 2. Doing impressions and making fun of the annoying kids makes you tolerate them better. This sounds absolutely awful, ... read more

Dear readers, This is what I have learned this week: 1. The way there always feels longer than the way back. Every time I go somewhere new while here, the way to that destination always seems way longer than the way back. I guess that when things are new, life slows down so that one can have time to take in all of his or her new surroundings. Maybe that is why childhood seems to last forever—everything is new. 2. I was right. Silly bands are stupid and kids only like them in the context of a fad. This past week, operation Christmas child visited our village with boxes full of goodies for each of the children. I was looking through boxes with a couple of the kids and many of them received silly bands. Even ... read more

Dear readers, This is what I have learned this week: 1. Sometimes, one will encounter beautiful moments that make it all seem like it’s worth it and entirely horrible days that make it seem that it’s not. I can have a whole day of stress in a classroom where the kids are not listening and are choosing not to learn. I feel like I am talking to the wall and that no one cares about what I have to say. I feel like I am accomplishing nothing, I get discouraged and I feel like I am making no difference. But then, one afternoon, after days upon days of practice, I can have one of my grade threes read his very first sentence. He is beaming, and for the first time in school, he does not feel ... read more

Dear readers, This is what I have learned this week: 1. Do not make fun of tourists who do not know that a Beavertail is pastry because in Guyana they serve fried dough called “chicken foot”. Also do not call chicken foot “chicken feet”, or you will be laughed at. 2. Disabilities are hidden everywhere. I do not understand why people are ashamed to be disabled, but the stigma of being different is unfortunately universal. I met my first person with a recognizable disability. When fellow volunteer and I went for a walk to get a snack, we decided to go to a shop to which we had not been before. In the shop, on a bench, was seated a man who had cerebral palsy. I was taken aback to meet this man, because I had ... read more

Dear Readers, This is what I have learned this week: 1. If you feed a skinny dog, it will be yours in loyalty for the rest of time It all started on Thursday when I fed him some chicken—he has followed me ever since. He is rather unloved. He is sickly and weak and he is mean to the other dogs. However, he is really great at what he enjoys, which is being a good pet and receiving attention. The kids here are all mean to him. They hit him with books and throw rocks at his head. I decided to name him Belushi. He is rough around the edges, but he is great at what he does. He is racist and sexist, but he is loyal. He also eats everything that is in front of ... read more

Dear readers, I am sorry that I have not been posting as much as I have wanted to. It is hard to find time to sum up my life, when so much is constantly changing around me. I am always amazed at how much learning a person can do in a day, or a week, or a month. The best learning always comes when one does not realize that he or she is in the midst of a life lesson. This thought lead me to a new one. I decided that nonce a week, I would post on my blog with a list of lessons—deep or shallow—that I had learnt in the past week. Here goes: 1. Drink water because heat exhaustion and heat rashes suck. I of course should have known this, but I had ... read more