May 3, part 2

Since our last post, we've been on a few adventures. If you didn't see your child/friend/relative in the last picture, here is a picture including all students, professors, and Roop, our extremely gracious host for these last two days. Leaving Roop's house, we started off by shopping a bit in Georgetown. Some people bought a few things while others looked around since we will do most of our buying after we return from the interior. We went to a few stores and saw many different things such as homemade baskets and clay pots, silverware, and other cooking ware. After shopping, we went to the seawall to see for ourselves what the characters in the book we read for class were talking about. The breeze off the ocean was very refreshing, and we got some great pictures! The sand was very rough to walk on, not a white sandy beach as most of us were originally thinking, but no sand got in our shoes this way. The water was surprisingly very warm but appeared to be brown due to its relationship with the amazon river. After watching the water for about a half hour, we went to the zoo in Georgetown. It was interesting to see all the different animals, and a few of us got to shake hands with a monkey (and then sanitized our hands). We did see tapirs and harpy eagles, scarlet macaws (red, colorful birds), and many other interesting creatures native to Guyana. It was disappointing to not see a sloth because it was hiding in the dense trees provided in its habitat, but the rest of the zoo was a great experience. For now, we are resting up for a big day tomorrow, as we will start our journey at 3:30 AM on a long truck ride through the rainforest. We are all very excited and ready to start off our real adventure.

- Mindy Claeys

May 1-3

We’re all alive! After a lengthy travel experience involving a nine hour layover at JFK, we arrived in Guyana! While we were flying over the country, it became apparent that we were no longer in the U.S.—trees covered every piece of land in sight. A rainbow was there to greet us when we landed in Georgetown, in addition to our host/protector/guide/superhero, Roop.  We made it through customs with no lost luggage and a blast of hot humid air hit our faces as soon as we stepped outside of the airport. The 17 of us piled into a small bus that took us to Roop’s house, which was about an hour drive away.  Driving on the left side of the road, passing bikes that were just a few inches away, and seeing houses of every color was a fascinating welcome to the country. After unloading our luggage and setting up our beds and mosquito nets, we had the afternoon to catch up on much-needed sleep and adjust to the climate change. Most of us slept away the afternoon, while others enjoyed getting to know our host family. Much to our dismay, we may be gaining weight while we’re here. Roop’s family cooks amazing food—Guyanese chow mein, curry chicken, roti (an Indian bread), and chocolate cake complete with 22 candles and singing for Austin’s birthday! It cooled off quite a bit in the night so sleeping was pretty comfortable, except for the mosquitoes that happened to make it through the net. As of this morning, the highest mosquito bite count on one person is 44. We started off today with a delicious breakfast of fresh fruit and are excited about our plans to visit the zoo, shop, and check out the seawall.

By Claire and Shea