Einstein was on to something

That Einstein guy was right. Time (along with lots of other things) is completely relative. I have no idea where the first two months of this year have gone. January flew by, and February has been a blur. This is a stark contrast to the first few months at my site. In the beginning, the remaining months seemed like this unfathomable distance. 20 more months!?

“Who thought this was I good idea??!”

This was how I often admonished myself in the first months while I was still adjusting. Honestly, it was like listening to a Coldplay album. The entire album only lasts 62 minutes, but feels like you’ve just finished watching the entire Lord of The Rings trilogy: the director’s cut. Now THAT is an epic time commitment. Perhaps I’m just getting used to everything here, or it could be the little things I have going on each month that help the time seem to pass so quickly. For example: last week, a brand new group of Americans arrived from all over the States. Yes, GUY 23 is officially in Guyana! I was asked to be part of the group of volunteers to greet the newbies at the airport. The invitation was both flattering and exciting, so of course I accepted. I even obtained a Peace Corps Guyana polo shirt, so I looked somewhat official.

The serious face is actually an homage to the Guyanese people. Every time you take their picture, they make a serious face, usually accompanied with a hand gesture. Jillian and I chose to go to throw hard looks with a black panther fist. Kellen opted for the more appropriate Japanese school girl touristy peace sign. Unfortunately, I don’t have many more pictures due to them being on the cameras of other volunteers. I will try to obtain more for the next posting. We had fun anyway!

There were about 12 volunteers total, only about 4 (myself included) were on the “official welcome committee.” The others lived close enough that they were able to come and meet the new group. So we had a good showing, and the new arrivals had the opportunity to meet a good mix people that have already been here for a while. We had a large banner that said “Peace Corps Guyana” right outside the arrival gate, in case they had any doubts where they were going. The common axiom being spewed forth was “follow the white people!” Which is probably the only time in history that statement could be issued without a trace of foreboding and irony.

As part of the welcome committee, I stayed in the hotel with the new group for their first week. It’s a large group, with 37 members total. 7 guys and 30 girls means it’s a little one-sided, but apparently that’s not uncommon for Peace Corps. My group, GUY 22, was atypical. We were almost exactly equal numbers of men and women. They all seem to be really cool people. I very diverse mix of backgrounds, both in terms of where they’re from, and what their specialties are.

Training is being done differently this year for the new group. Instead of having all the trainees live in the same general urban area, they’ve separated them into two training sites. One more urban, and one remote, depending on which type of site the trainees are more interested in. Next week, I’ll be with the remote group from Monday through Thursday, then I spend Friday with the urban group. It will be fun to work with them again, and see how the adjustment process is coming along.

Watching them arrive was both thrilling and a little surreal. It was odd to think about not being the baby faced freshmen group anymore, and strange because I remember being in their shoes. And it doesn’t seem like that long ago! They seem more excited than I ever remember being, but the staff assured me that I was just like them. The weather has been mercifully cool compared to last year. When my group arrived, they had a thermometer reading on the screens of the plane, and it was 65 degrees at 3,000 feet. When we landed, it must have been close to 80 on the ground…at 7am. In general, the weather has been much more pleasant this year. I’ve even been able to get away with bathing only once a day a few times as opposed to the two or three times I had gotten used to. Locals told me that last year was unusually hot. Right now, the rain is falling harder than theocracies in the Arab world. (Too soon?) But I enjoy it because the temperature is actually quite pleasant. Maybe Guy 23 won’t have such a rough adjustment as my group.

The new trainees swear in as volunteers in mid April. Right after their ceremony, Peace Corps is having a huge 50^th anniversary party. It’s supposed to be an expo showcasing the various projects that volunteers have been working on here in Guyana. Peace Corps has asked me to spearhead the effort of coordinating the activities for the health sector! So the next few months are going to be pretty busy. Just over 4 months until I’m home for a visit, so plan your summer accordingly!

All the best,

Tony