Jason Pearce

The phone number to my host family (Gale and Anthony) is +592 225 9935, (592 is the country code). I’m usually home from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. AST. Atlantic Standard Time is the same as Eastern Daylight Time but one hour earlier than Easter Standard Time. Call anytime, I’d love to hear from anyone in the US.

The mosquitoes get really bad each night when it gets dark. So much so that I climb into bed shortly after dinner to seek the shelter of the bug net that surrounds my bed. In a matter of a few minutes, I will be able to find at least 15 to 20 bugs clinging to the outside of my net looking for a meal.

Staying in the net is not a problem. But keeping my arms and legs from touching the net as a sleep is a challenge. Each morning, I wake up with new bites from mosquitoes that were smart enough to reach me through the net.

Even worse, I sometimes find a bug that somehow made it into my net. I know, because by morning, I’ll find a big fat mosquito trapped inside my net; unable to fly for she is so heavy. Naturally, I make sure it was her last meal.

The worse part about sleeping in a bug net is falling asleep. Every little twitch wakes you, for you are certain that a mosquito has penetrated your defenses. You spend the next five minutes searching the inside of your net with your flashlight, only to find it was your imagination.

This weekend was fun. On Friday night, most of us went to a bar well outside of Georgetown. There, we had a chance to meet a few of the current volunteers and hang out with some of the Peace Corps staff. I visited with Sean quite a bit. Sean is the IT staff person for the Peace Corps office here in Guyana. He has many high hopes and expectations for our group and many aspirations for me. I’m glad to have his support, and hope that I can live up to his expectations.

On Saturday, I spent most of the morning learning how to do my laundry by hand. My host mom Gale was a big help, for she actually did most of the work. I just clipped my wet clothes up on the line to dry. Of course with all of the constant rain storms, some of my clothes are still hanging up today.

After lunch on Saturday, I started to walk to the Peace Corps office (10 minutes) but was picked up by Darren, a fellow Peace Corps guy. He and his host dad were driving around having a few afternoon drinks. I never made it to the Peace Corps office and instead spent the rest of the day having fun with them. It was a good time.

Sunday included church with my host family and ultimate Frisbee with other volunteers in the National Park. The park was very wet and muddy, so we were filthy. But is was fun. I’d like to add more, but it’s time for class.

Last night we had a big rain storm. It was wonderful. Nice to know that my house stands are 12 foot tall stilts.

The rain cooled things off. Mostly, it drowned out all of the other noises that occur throughout the night. You hear dogs fighting, your neighbors’ television, your neighbors’ neighbors’ television, farm animals across the way, and much more. The houses here are all open, so sound really travels.

Training is going well. The Information Technology part is the best for we spend the morning in an air-conditioned computer lab. Other days, however, we are in a large room with nothing but windows and a fan.

Some of the training has been helpful. The sessions about safety, security, and our health have be the most useful. But some of the history and culture lessons have not been as enjoyable.

I’ve received about six shots already and have another dozen or so to receive. Every Wednesday, I also have to take a pill to prevent catching Malaria. And I have lots of mosquito bites, so this drug is well needed.

During training, I won’t have much time to check in. But once I get my site (three months from now), I should be able to update my site more often. Until then, take care.

I found a small Internet cafe (without the cafe) just two blocks away from my host family. Since I will be staying with this host family for five weeks, I hope to be able to check in more often. Access, however, cost me $300 per hour Guyanese dollars. And since the Peace Corps pays me only $400 a week, it’s rather costly.

Our group of 23 arrived Tuesday night and were taken to a hotel in Georgetown. There, we met some of the staff and about a quarter of the current volunteers.

The next day, we had many introductions in a conference room and then were driven around the city to see some of the more popular attractions.

On Thursday, we learned a little about the local people and their customs. There is much more to learn, which is one of the reasons we were moved to a host family the next day.

Also on Thursday, we learned a lot about security. No Peace Corps volunteers are permitted to be outside of their home after the sun sets. If we do go anywhere, we have to first receive clearance from the Peace Corps office.

All of this may seem like a huge strain on your personal freedoms as Americans; and it is. Yet they did a wonderful job of presenting the need to protect us. On Thursday, the security director drove us to some of the more dangerous areas of Georgetown. Once we saw those areas, few of us further questioned his enforcement of our curfew. I’m sure I’ll write more about this later.

On Friday, the US Ambassador came by to welcome us. After that, we met our host families.

I have a family of three:

Father: Anthony
Mother: Gail
Child: Zowie, age 4

They are a first-time host family, so I told them that I’ll be sure to break them in. They laughed.

They have been very nice and hospitable. Today (Saturday), they took me to the market to find some new fruits and foods for me to try. So far, Guyanese seem to eat a lot of fish, chicken, rice, and fruit.

Zowie is a sweet girl, but she is a bundle of energy. She is curious to have, hold, and run away with anything that I happen to “introduce” to her world.

Gail has lived in this house since she was three years old. It’s about 1,000 square feet, made of wood, stands 12 foot tall stilts, has three small bedrooms, one bath, a kitchen, a living room, and one bath. They do have electricity and running water; but both are not dependable.

Their is no air conditioning or hot water, so sleeping and showering are the most difficult things to get adjusted to. I stay up at night sweating in bed and then freeze to death getting clean in the morning.

I have been taking some very low resolutions photographs with my digital camera on my Palm Pilot. I’m not sure how well they were turn out or when I’ll be able to post them, so we’ll see.

One thing I might like to receive would be receive a few of https://www.realgoods.com/‘s Solar Mosquito Guard. So if you want to send me something in the mail, try sending me one of those.

My hour is almost up, so it’s time for me to go.