Lethem

So much to catch up on!
My host family's mare had a baby, so there is the cutest little filly running around the savanna right now. I don't know if you're aware how adorable baby horses are, but it's right up there with puppies, kittens, and baby bunnies. I do not have a picture, because they've wandered way out somewhere again, and only come by the house when I don't have my camera on me. I've been insisting that the horses need names, so although I suspect my host parents are rolling their eyes at me, my host dad has indulged me by naming her "First Lady" since she's the first female born there. Okay, not terribly imaginative, but definitely apt.
Finals week has come and gone at the Institute where I work. All the first year students passed both of the classes I'm assisting with, which is great. The second year students struggled a little, but still got through it. Easter break has started, and most of the students are headed home to fly some kites.
KITE FLYING IS A THING AT EASTER! America, jump on this bandwagon. Kite flying is awesome, and people do not do it often enough back home. Of course, the downside is there's no dyed eggs or chocolate bunnies or peeps, or (my personal favorite) chocolate Reeses eggs. But still, kites!
I've been summoned to Lethem to meet the new Peace Corps Country Director. The upside is that all the Region Nine kids get to hang out together for a day or so, and get a bit of Wi-Fi and AC. The downside is I'm caked in red dust and have to sit through a meeting. Lethem is made entirely of red dust. It covers every inch of you, outside and in. I'm pretty sure I have a hard-core case of Red Dust Lung which will kill me faster than any of the mosquito-born illnesses. After a day walking around, it looks like you've painted your feet, and you leave tracks everywhere. It gets in your hair so much that when the wind blows, the dust stiffens it, and you get this fantastic Einstein style going on (I look hot, I know). My shower looks like a murder scene.
I've got a lot of traveling for meetings this month. I'm here to meet the CD, then off to Georgetown as part of the Volunteer Advisory Committee, then shepherding students to an agriculture meeting/training/I'm not sure what, and then there's Rodeo!
The Rupununi has a rodeo every year, and it's huge, and apparently awesome. Peace Corps staff has been reminding me I'm not allowed to ride in it, but since falling off a bucking horse isn't really my thing anyways, that's not much of a damper. I am a bit ridiculously excited for this. I've been looking forward to it for months. It will be a bit nerve-wracking, just because there will be so many people around, and I stick out in any crowd here, but be prepared for a full update on that in a few weeks. If horses aren't your thing, maybe skip out on April's posts, because Rodeo will be the most exciting thing this whole month, and I will probably be gushing about it for ages.
My last visit to Lethem was a trip (pun fully intended, so feel free to groan). Getting to Lethem is a hassle at best. Usually I call one of four drivers from surrounding villages to see if any of them are planning to come down and able to pick up another passenger. If I'm lucky, the answer is yes and someone comes by to pick me up at some point between five AM and eight AM, depending on when they wake up, how well their vehicle is running, how easily distracted they are, and what the roads are like. This time, none of them were sure if they were going. I got a call from one at five AM THAT MORNING saying yes, they'd come get me. At seven-thirty, when they were still a no-show, I found out they'd decided not to go, but asked another driver to come get me. The other driver decided he wasn't going either. So I got a ride out to the road where the Georgetown buses go, to see if I could catch one of them. Both blew right past, all full. I caught another ride further down, and finally managed to squeeze in on a bus. (Big thanks to the two people who gave me rides to try to catch the buses.) This is what it's like to live in Region Nine. You have to kind of roll with the punches, and sometimes accept help from strangers with the hope you don't get murdered in the process. I suppose that's true most places.
Anyways, when I got to Lethem, Essie (the PC Response Volunteer, who did her Peace Corps service in Malawi) and Gabrielle had done a whole birthday thing for me (the oldest PCV in my cohort) and Thomas (the youngest) whose birthday was a few days before mine. They made guacamole that I could have eaten by the shovel-full if it was socially acceptable, and a bunch of other delicious food, and a GIGANTIC chocolate cake. I cannot even describe to you how amazing that cake was. I still dream about it.
Also excellent: I was given a fan! I'm living a life of luxury, you guys.