Our holiday had essentially started when Catriona’s mum and Holly came to PK since we were able to take some time off to show them around after we’d completed all of our paper work. That meant I was very much in holiday mode already when we broke up for the term and the two weeks that followed did not disappoint. The Easter holidays were filled with good fun, good food and even better company.
The first night in Georgetown we had a 3-course-meal in a nice restaurant, something I have not had since I left home and it was absolutely heavenly. There were vegetables and ice cream included in the meal; how could you possibly want anything else. That night I also got to take an actual, hot shower because we stayed in a hotel for a night. I am not joking when I say that I had happy tears in my eyes; that’s how nice showering with hot water in an actual shower was. The next day it was time for Treena and I to split up, which was quite weird to say the least. We’ve spent the better part of every day together for months on end, so to suddenly not see her for a whole week took some getting used to. I met up with some of the other volunteers and headed up to Bartica, one of the coastland projects. My first impression of Bartica was that it is vastly different to Paramakatoi. There are worlds between the nature of their project and ours. Bartica is a mining town by the river, with streets and shops and a night club and beach cafe and most other things you can think of – whilst we are waiting for running water to get installed in our accommodation in future years, they are currently waiting for a pizza delivery place to open up. That said there are beautiful beaches and creeks right outside the town that allow you to see a very different and quiet side of Bartica. It was definitely a great experience to be there, and combined with getting to visit Goshen, another coastland project across the river from Bartica, it made for a fantastic first few days of my holiday.
On the 23rd of March Phagwah, the festival of colours, was celebrated in the Hindu communities of Guyana. One of those communities is Leguan, a little island up in Region 2 in which two of our volunteers are based and the place I spent Phagwah. We spent that morning going around people’s houses and playing Phagwah, which meant rubbing paint on people’s faces and throwing water over each other. We got some food and drink at every house which was an added bonus. The whole procedure was good fun and was only topped by the afternoon activities. We got to drive around the island on a canter of the Mandir. They sang Hindu songs and played the drums and other instruments whilst we all continued to spread paint and got splashed with water as we passed other people. It was a fantastic experience and something I will not forget easily.
The second week of the holidays was spent down in Region 9. We had to endure a 2-day bus ride to get to Lethem, where we attended the Rupununi Rodeo. There was bull and horse riding, lots of food and drink and dancing at night and all it all it was pretty fun. I have to admit that even though that rodeo was the big event with masses of people, I preferred the rodeo in Sandcreek, another place in Region 9, which we went to just after Lethem. There was traditional Amerindian food and the whole thing was generally more traditional than the tourist-orientated rodeo in Lethem; there were even bulls escaping through the fence which I found to be quite authentic. The bull riding was open entry, so two of our volunteers tried themselves as bull-riders, and whilst they didn’t win the competition and almost caused me to have a heart attack, they held their own and one of them, Tolly who’s placed in Bartica, even stayed on for a good 3 seconds – well done boys. After the rodeos, we toured Region 9 in a mini-bus. The region is very different to ours. It is mainly savannah and mostly flat, which is in contrast to our rainforest and mountainous area. Nonetheless I thoroughly enjoyed seeing all the projects down there. My favourite aspect of this part of the holiday was riding on top of the bus with music playing and just getting to enjoy the stunning scenery, and then watching the sun go down and the stars come out – pretty magical to say the least.
The holidays were very packed with travelling to different places, but there was definitely enough time to just relax and get some distance from every-day PK life. Whilst in Georgetown I went to the cinema twice, had pizza and burgers and tried to listen to as much new music as I could as well as buying a few bits and bobs and doing our big 3 month shop at the end of the holiday. It is so weird to buy 3 months worth of food all at once, and even weirder to think that this was the last big shop we had to do before we go home after next term.
When we got back to PK we got straight back into the way of things – teaching, seeing our friends, it’s all just normal life now and I am terrified to think that it’s only a matter of just over 10 weeks before it all ends and we go home. I plan on making the upmost of this term, squeeze in all the things we haven’t done yet and enjoy every moment of our time here. Before I know it I’ll be back home, and life in Paramakatoi will only be a memory. I really look forward to seeing everyone and to being home again, but I know how much I will miss being here.
And on that note: I will see you all soon.
Sending my love from across the world,
Lara
larainguyana 