It's too hot to tan

I’m going to be honest here I thought I would be a lot tanner by now.  I thought oh hey I’ll be in a Caribbean country, on weekends I can lay out and catch some rays…  It is literally too hot to tan here.  Being in direct sunlight is like lighting yourself on fire and just standing there not trying to put it out.  And because there is no AC anywhere you have a hard time cooling off when you come in from the inferno that is outdoors.

Before I came other PCV’s told me to always carry an umbrella, but I did not realize it was for the sun rather than the rain.  It is so hot here that if you venture out without an umbrella to protect you, random concerned citizens will yell at you. I was even told that my umbrella was too small once.  I didn’t know that was a possibility, but I guess if any part of your arms are exposed it’s too small…

There is a “beach” here with sand and all.  I’ve been, but it was weirdly windy, and the wind wasn’t coming off the water, it was coming from the side so the sand just constantly pelts your body.  It is the worst exfoliating treatment you could get.  And the water is not really clean looking.  Also to get to it takes a few hours in a minibus with 18 people and few windows. So tanning on the beach, yeah that’s out. 

So if you’re wondering why I look so pale after spending 27 months in a Caribbean country… The simple answer is that living like a vampire is really the way to go here.   (And yes I do realize this will save me from getting skin cancer in the future)

My not so secret, secret

I have a secret.  It is not a particularly shocking secret and most people probably already suspect it.  I am not integrated here.  I spend most of my free time in my house watching Netflix or YouTube ignoring the outside world.  There are a few reasons for doing this, one is that its hot all the time.  I very rarely want to leave my fan behind to go out into the sun.  Another is the attention I get for being white.  In smaller communities a PCV can integrate and get to know all or most of the villagers, this is almost impossible for me.  New Amsterdam is a large town, with people coming and going frequently so it is rare to see one person I know.  This prevents me from getting to know people as well thus leading to people seeing a white girl and calling out to her.  The catcalls are insane, I don’t actually think most of them are of a sexual nature, more just curiosity but still annoying none the less.  The most frequent is White Girl, or Whitey, once I got Snow White and I really liked that one.  Some Guyanese men also see me and other PCVs as a ticket to America.  If I marry them they can come live in the US and have a better life.  I used to get marriage proposals on average once a week, it has slowed to about once a month now that I have perfected my Resting Bitch Face.  Because of this behavior from the men the women tend to dismiss me like I am trying to take their men.  So for me leaving my house is like being stuck in a zoo.  I am also not the most social creature.  I am fine hanging out with Charlie (my cat). 

Because of all this I have few Guyanese friends.  I have Lucie but she works and goes to University full time.  So she has little time for me.  And some of the girls from work out invite me to come out but my house was far from town and it was hard to get a car after dark.  So about a month ago I heard about a house in New Amsterdam, across the street from a woman I knew from work out class. I decided to move there giving up my precious wifi to live closer to town and to hopefully integrate better. 

So now I live in a smaller but better furnished house, in the center of town.  The other day I hung out with my new neighbors for 7 hours at their son’s 5^th birthday.  It was great.   I am also starting to get to know my neighbors on the street and around the area here. I am still going to get cat called and that is ok, I have come to realize that will be a constant in my life here.  I can’t wait to see what the next 10 months has in store for me! 

My new address is;

18-20 Kent Street

New Amsterdam, Berbice

Guyana

The Barber and the kitchen scissors...

So I decided to get my hair cut a couple of weeks ago.  I originally wanted to see how long it would get while I was here but it started to get too heavy to stay in a ponytail.  So I set off to a salon to get it trimmed, they turned me away saying they didn’t trim hair.  Then went to another place and got the same response.  Desperate I turned to my friend and asked where she got her hair cut.  She said oh my barber he will charge $1000 GYD ($5 USD).  I was like is he good?  She said yeah he’s great, come on by we will go together.  At this point I was like sure why not.  We walk up to the shop and the barber is casually sipping a beer like yeah I’m open.  He assures me he can cut my hair no problem. 

He puts the cape on, takes my hair down and takes out kitchen scissors… Internally I am freaking out, but I realize it really doesn’t matter too much because I always have my hair up.  Also this is Peace Corps, part my journey and experience here and a fun story to tell.  He did a pretty good job, parted my hair, got it pretty even and thankfully my hair is naturally wavy and amazing so it worked.  I got maybe 4 to 6 inches cut off and loving it.  Best $1000 I have ever spent!  The weirdest part (aside from the kitchen scissors) was that he kept asking if I wanted to keep the hair.  I was like nah you can keep it, make it into a wig whatever!!!