Monday was my first day at St. Stanislaus College - not far from where I am staying and has around 550 students. It is made up of old wooden colonial buildings but like many of these buildings in Georgetown they have degraded over time and the wood is hard to keep looking smart. There is a feel when walking around of what it once was, but sadly no longer is. The chipped paint, broken windows and messy classrooms I imagine cause the quality of teaching and student interest to be reduced, which is a shame.
However, this is a problem of adequate funding, and having said all that Saints, as it is known, is a lively and in parts well equipped place. The IT rooms, of which there are two, are air conditioned and have a good number of working computers with a shared 384kbps internet connection. It will be a while before I have the measure of the place but projects I may be involved with include setting up a central file server with individual accounts and teaching various computer skills to staff (Office, internet use etc). There is a serious problem with power - there is no power for a few hours at least every other day; on Monday the power was out all morning, and on Tuesday it went out in the afternoon during a lesson. It was an interesting experience as whilst a large group of students worked in pairs on the computers, the lights, screens and air conditioning to drop out at once. Fortunately it was nearly lunch time so the students enjoyed a longer break.
I haven't achieved much yet but I have only been there for two days, and it will take me a while to understand how everything works. There seems to be the usual misunderstandings and political issues that exist in any institution and I must tread carefully for now. I will also have to learn a fair amount of technology myself to get it all going with the help of another technician in the department but I hope to make a significant contribution during my stay.
After the blackout the power came on in the night so I could enjoy a bit of breeze from the fan. However the water supply seemed to have stopped as well - I enjoyed flushing the toilet with a bucket this morning!
The creepy crawlies also have a good time in the tropical heat. There's usually one or two little lizard things around the shower area but they are very shy and not offensive. Things like cereal need to be kept in sealed tupperware as things enjoy that a lot. I had a look at some cereal that had been open but in a cupboard for a few weeks and there were some little flying things in there. Cockroaches are also an occasional problem - I think better now that some of the little holes in the flat have been sealed up. I took this picture of a few chaps who strayed onto some roach paper that had been left for them behind the fridge:
This morning, my first day at St. Stanislaus, began with a power blackout and so for the first half of the day we couldn't use the computers. This evening I was just enjoying my dinner when another blackout hit. Some fresh mangoes had fallen off a tree overlooking the yard so the landlady gave them to us - in the picture you can see me chopping them up (rather badly) as me and the other two chaps in the apartment sit in the candlelight. The others have gone to bed now and I am sitting here at 9pm (it's pitch back outside) running off my laptop battery with one candle having burnt out and only the stub of another left. I'm feeding bits of wax to it to keep it going. Need to not drop my torch in when I go to the bathroom...
Earlier I took a walk down Regent Street which is the major shopping street in Georgetown. I popped into a little supermarket style shop and picked up a few Western delights - milk, cereal, squash and a pack of sweets. In particular I picked up this "Tropical Punch" which isn't quite squash but you wouldn't have it neat either. It's very red, and really sells itself with the slogan (which you can see if you click to enlarge) "Irresistible" followed by the slogan "Less than 1% Juice". Hmmm. Anyway I also picked up these cubic jelly sweets called Jubes which are quite tasty. It was perhaps not as authentic as venturing to the market but it was a little taste of home to walk around a shop with aisles and fridge compartments.
The food so far in general has been very good - the landlady is a caterer and provides us with plenty of food for a good price money. In fact food in Georgetown is very cheap compared to London - you can get a big meal in a cafe for around 650GYD which is just under £2. Travel around town is ok too - walking in daylight in crowded areas is fine (although muggings do occur) but everyone I've met takes cabs once it gets really dark (about 7pm). Cabs are everywhere and inexpensive - a short drop is 300GYD, just under £1.
The heat is a slightly different story; I'm still enjoying it but long walks are not really on and our apartment is very sheltered and thus doesn't have a breeze. Fans and cool drinks make it perfectly ok, although you need a fan right on you to sleep. I hope the power comes on at some point tonight as without fans it can be quite stifling and bed time will probably harken back again to the days of the lightweight dream. I'm not a bad sleeper however the landlady owns a couple of dogs which seem to be permanently chained up in the yard (they're not big on animal welfare here) and they like to bark aggressively at each other every couple of hours during the night. One is outside my window so it can be a bit of a shock sometimes but all of these things only add to the adventure - whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger.
Early on Saturday morning I headed off to the airport to leave Barbados and head for Guyana. The plane was a small 50-seater Dash-8 turboprop aircraft. It was my first time on such a small aircraft - it felt more like a bus than a plane. The engines were pretty noisy and at points it was a little like having your head inside a tractor engine. After an hour or so of flight I caught a glimpse of the South American coastline. The Caribbean blue sea abruptly stopped and was replaced by muddy brown, caused I think by the huge rivers that flow into the sea there. We flew past the Essequibo river which is very wide and has some huge islands in it.
The feature that struck me the most however was the jungle. Guyana has huge amounts of jungle, and as we flew in apart from a few roads and rivers there was green as far as the eye could see. Once the plane landed landed I collected my bag and was picked up by a British ex-pat who drove me into Georgetown. The feel was very different to Barbados - it was very exciting to have finally made it to Guyana.
On the way in we stopped off, changed some money and I purchased a Guyanese sim card for my phone. There are about 330 dollars to the pound here, and they tend to circulate in 1000 dollar notes. Given that this is about £3, to carry any amount of money involves quite a big wad. Georgetown is very different to Barbados in a number of ways. Firstly, Barbados is a primarily black population, and someone of my complexion immediately stands out as a tourist. Guyana is far more mixed, and whilst most are Indian or African in descent, there are a number of Portuguese, Chinese and any number of combinations. As a result, I don't really stand out. Secondly, the atmosphere is very different - this is not a tourist place, and so there aren't many people out spying for tourists to get their attention. This all makes for a quite friendly feel. I dropped my stuff off at the place I am staying - with a retired teacher who has worked at my link school, St. Stanislaus. Almost immediately we went to a small cafe place where I was laughed at for having chicken curry and noodles but it was quite tasty. Another chap had what they call souse - this can be made with a number of things but one of the favourites is cow face. That's right, cow face. It's a slow cooked stewy broth kind of with bits of meat in - I'll have to try it.
We spent the afternoon going to bars, drinking vodka with water and lime which is not bad at all. We met up with a few more people including a chap who owned a club where we went later on and had some food. The atmostphere is quite unique here - some of the bars are houses on normal residential streets with most people sitting outside. We had a driver who took us from place to place which is a bit different to doing a bar crawl in Durham. Having said that, it gets dark early and you probably want a driver just to be safe.
The accent is strong here and will take a bit of getting used to. I don't stand out until I open my mouth - there have been a few jokes at my expense; I imagine I am a very stereotypical English boy. Since I have only been here a few hours so I haven't really got my bearings at all. I am quite central though as it's just two minutes down the road to St. Georges Cathedral, until recently the tallest wooden structure in the world. This afternoon we are driving off to a place along the coast for some duck curry. On Monday I hope to visit St. Stanislaus College where I will be based. The reaction of some people to my project has been interesting, apparently I'm in for a shock. Watch this space....
A short tour of the apartment, introduced by the landlady's dog...
I've been in Barbados for a few days now, and I have to say it's pretty nice.
Despite having to check in my hand lugguage as it was too heavy, the 8 hour flight from Gatwick was everything I had hoped for; I managed to watch Star Trek and Terminator: Salvation although I still don't know why Christian Bale thinks whispering a post-apocolyptic radio message is the best way to reach people. I also caught a bit of Bruno but I think that caters only to a select audience. Sadly I didn't reach my target of watching four films as lunch, post-lunch nap and the system having to be rebooted for an hour got in the way.
The heat here, having come from London where it's time to start wearing a coat, is perfect. You do get sweaty just from sitting down, but I've had worse (see right). I went for a swim in the sea not long after I arrived - the taxi driver told me it's a bit chilly when you first get in. He's obviously never gone for a dip on the British south coast. It's warm enough to sit in all day - in fact quite refreshing from the heat. The water is clear and the sand is smooth. I went for a walk at sunset along the boardwalk by the sea, there were plenty of joggers and power walkers, but as the sun went down there were a lot of people just watching.
I must have stuck out a bit as during my wandering I was offered drugs twice in 5 minutes - once by a young chap with gold teeth, but another by an older chap who was a spitting image of the priest from The Wire. He also said he sold shells and souvenirs. I was trying to fit in but it's off season and there are only a few tourists around. Somehow my shorts, red beater, aviators and France Rowing cap were a dead giveaway.
On Saturday morning I fly to Guyana and the real adventure begins.
A short video I took on the Boardwalk. Music from the Ivan Chin steel band.
Right then. It's been a year in the planning. Time to actually get on with it and go. In a short while a cab will pick me up to take me to Victoria station ready for the Gatwick express. I think I've got everything.
Flights: Virgin Atlantic to Barbados, stopping over for a few days then into Georgetown (capital of Guyana) for Saturday 24th of October. I flew Virgin once before and they had the original Mario to play on your own little screen which was excellent. Now apparently there's over 250 films to choose from. I also haven't had a plane meal for a while apart from BA sandwiches around Europe. PLUS I'll be on a 747 for the first time AND I've got a window seat. This is going to be great. Tickets - Check
Jabs: Yellow fever, rabies, hep A, hep B, tetanus, diptheria and typhoid. Surprisingly expensive (nearly £300!). Check
Malaria medication: Coastal areas (such as Georgetown) are not risk areas, but for any trips into the interior it is a must. Went for doxycycline as a mid point between price (Malarone) and making you mental (Lariam). Check
Assorted gadgets: Check
Clothes: Apparently I will need one jumper for the part of my journey in the UK. Otherwise the usual clothing with plenty of t-shirts. At my mother's request more than one change of underwear. Check.
Welcome to the blog covering my adventures in Guyana. Please note that if you scroll to the bottom you can click on a link to view older posts. You can read more about me here. Expect an update to this blog at least every week or two. The first post containing the background to my project can be seen here.
