Peace Corps by Numbers

My Peace Corps journey so far can be summed up in numbers.  It seems like everything I do has to do with numbers in one way or another. 

The number of…

Days I have left

Days I have been here

Vacation days I have left

Days until the half way point

Ounces of water I drank

Pills I have to take

Pills I have left

Mosquito bites I have today

PCV’s in the area

PCV’s dropping by my house

Books I have read

Movies I have watched

Forks, plates, and cups I really need

Times I have been catcalled today

Times I have been asked if I’m from New York

Times I have been proposed to

Times I peed without using toilet paper

Times I had a mosquito borne illness

Days I really work in the week

People can they fit in this minibus

Days it rained in a row

Times I crave McDonalds

Times I poop in a day, week, month

Students I see outside of work

Students who know my name and I don’t know there’s

Teachers that came to work today

Holes in my clothes

Hours this blackout will last

Times I have been asked if I’m married

Times I have been asked if I have kids

Whatsapp message I received while not on wifi or data

Bags I think I can carry from the store to my house

Random numbers that have called or whatsapped me

Inches of water in my house

Volunteers are in the Peace Corps lounge

Times I have been mistaken for other volunteers

Friends I have in the community

When it Rains it Floods

It’s rainy season here in Guyana, this means it rains all day and hard for several days in a row.  Umbrellas are mandatory to carry around and long boos (rain boots) are a plus.  Flooding is expected in the streets, canals, and yards.  My own yard was getting pretty flooded but it would stop raining for long enough for the water to recede then it would flood again.  Saturday night we started to notice water was coming in through the windows from the heavy down pour outside and didn’t really think anything of it.  We moved the electronics to the table and went to bed.  Sunday morning around 7 I noticed that the fan was no longer pointed on me in bed, and just though oh the cat had knocked it away.  Then I saw my laundry bins floating around my room and knew something was really wrong.  Not to mention Charlie was freaking out and meowing at me very loudly.  So I stepped out of bed and right into about 3 inches of water.  Oh Crap.

At some point during the night the water level rose exponentially and started to waterfall into my house via the back door.  At last check the water was at 3+ inches and still coming in.  We were removed from the house and taken to Georgetown, then back to New Amsterdam to live in a hotel until we can figure out how to get the water out of the house.  The positive side to all this is we get to see how many friends we have made from the offers we have had to come help us clean.  The since of community that has surrounded us has been a comfort and has helped us not to be too stressed out. 

We are still working on solutions as to how to fix my flooding.  Hopefully I will be back in my house within a week!

Front porch to the front lawn

Safety first

Flooded room

Kitchen water

Couches

Charlie floating around the house

Charlie surveying the flood

Fish on the wall

Yard

Side yard

Back yard