Cara Lodge Hotel Georgetown

... 12th - First thing today was to go to the embassy to get our visa's. On arrival we were told that it was only open for visas on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, but since they were closed yesterday we could fill in the forms and leave them and then collect them tomorrow. In the end once we had filled in the forms they said if we came back at 12 they should be ready today and in deed they were. After lunch we ...

... Guatemala, Peru, and Nepal. On a regional hostel circuit you might even see the same travelers 2-3 times on a trip. It's not like that here. Even a place as famous as Trinidad is practically vacant except on cruise ship day. Sure there's a reputation for violence and crime, but circumstances like that can usually be mitigated with a modicum of effort. I really liked Trinidad until I read an ex-pat's lambasting indictment of the people ...

... worried about what people would think is another story altogether. So anyway, I'm slaving away, moving tons of books to fit them into a usable form. The day before one senior teacher had "fixed" the library by sticking her entire class in the library and telling them to simply push books on the shelf so that it would appear that there are books on the shelf. In no particular order. I found How to Quit Smoking next to an American Mathematics textbook and ...

... I checked. I then asked them what they were looking at. I received this response, "Miss, my Uncle got 2 pants like that." Well, I wanted to say to her that if her Uncle was wearing women's Old Navy stretch pants that rest on the waist and had flares, then she had other issues to consider than my pants. But of course I couldn't say that. Earlier that day, a boy said to me, "Miss, why you dress like a man? You not supposed to dress like that." Well, to him I ...

... built. However, when the school was supposed to be finished "just now", it still isn't completed, so the girls were shifted down to Grove (imagine my surprise). I was quite content to go to Friendship, but it turned out that WorldTeach was having great difficulty finding housing for the 2 Grove volunteers. In addition, the security person who talked to us spoke at length about how dangerous it was at Grove, and about how he would have to come personally and ...

... in a muddy pothole and the bus was tilting precariously towards the bank and the thick jungle beyond. We were eventually towed out by a passing minibus before driving on to the edge of the mighty and fast-flowing Essequibo river. The word 'Guyana' is apparently an Amerindian term meaning 'land of many waters', and it is easy to see why as any map shows an abundance of waterways in the otherwise barely discovered jungle interior. Naturally, being ...

... isolated fresh water lake in the middle of the rainforest. You can usually only get there by plane, so it's very natural and pristine. We spent the day swimming, exploring the area, and just hanging out. He flew us back around sunset, which was absolutely amazing. Definitely the best free day trip I've ever had! ** For St. Patrick ...

... WILL get hit. I haven't been killed by any cars yet, and now that I have the Right then Left down, I think I will be ok. There are very few streets with sidewalks. Some of the larger streets have a very large median with a walkway in the middle. These are the easy streets. The not so easy streets are paved....sort of. I suggest you walk facing traffic because you are liable to be grazed by the ...

... and it's just chillin there on the side of the road with two other horses. not dead. So I guess that was no good for the driver, because then we turned around again and just went on our way. In terms of school, so far my classes are going really well. Right now I'm teaching my 8th graders about matter, elements, atoms, compounds, etc., and my 9th graders about Energy, fuels, and alternative sources of energy. I'm also currently trying to organize ...

... province. alot of fun though, the boat ride was about 4 minutes long. Tonight we are off to a fish shop to hang out then probably going to the movies. I don't know what it is about fish shops here, they just love them! I am taking most of next week off to do sight seeing and shopping, and just soaking up as much of Guyana as I possibly can, I sure am going to miss this place!