July 4 party at the US Ambassador’s house

The last week or so has been great. Starting with Saturday, July 6, most of us went to a fourth of July party at the US Ambassador’s house outside of Georgetown. The party was great, for we were fed hot dogs, hamburgers, baked beans, and many of the trimmings. We also had a great visit with the Ambassador, who once served as a Peace Corps volunteer himself.

On Sunday, about half of our group (10 people or so) attended a party at one of the host parent’s homes. We played card games, dominoes, and sampled some of the country’s finest rum.

On Monday, Tim (another GUY10 volunteer in training) and I traveled to Essequibo to spend the week with Dean, a GUY9 volunteer. Essequibo is located about halfway between the Essequibo river and Anna Regina, on the coast. To get there, Tim and had to ride a bus for 45 minutes, a speed boat for 45 minutes, and then a taxi ride for another 45 minutes.

It was a fun week with Dean. We attended some of his neighbor’s wedding festivities, spent time napping in hammocks, and went to a lake to go swimming. All in all, it was a great week of ‘training.’

The toenail on my right big toe, however, is getting worse and has become a bit more painful. While playing some casual volleyball at the lake on Thursday, I managed to tear more of the nail up, causing my nail to bleed around two of its edges. I’m not to pleased with this injury and hope that my nail will eventually fall of completely (or, perhaps, I’ll cut it off) and grow back in good condition. We’ll see.