First Day

One word to describe day one is awesome. Today we saw local monuments in Georgetown and saw amazing local wildlife. So far we have had feasts like kings to the worlds best pineapple. The pineapple today was so amazing it can only be described as winning the lottery. Even though we are in different hemispheres United States references have been mentioned such as Frozen. It turns out if you mention Frozen 20 times a day people who haven't seen this oscar magic will get upset. If the rest of the trip is like day one this will be a trip none of us will forget.   

love, Max

Hey everyone meet Rashleigh!!!

Today we met Rashleigh who is a friend of professor Kirby and Pops. Besides being absolutely hilarious, he is incredibly kind and hospitable. He's the kind of person who will have you feeling like you have met him before. Having him on the team is pretty cool: he knows his history, knows his way around, and being that he is close to our age, he makes going out in the sun and learning about dead people (politicians, governors, and presidents), fun. 

fun fact: he plays with his belly button very often.  

Rashleigh says, "you guys have great kids. they're very open minded and down to earth. thank you for sending them to Guyana. it's always great to meet students of other countries. I will do my outmost best to enlighten them about the culture of my country and I promise to keep them safe! even though I've never met you guys, love y'all. bye!"

thank you guys. it's been a very fun and HOTTTTTT day! 

peace love and Guyanese 

Angie 

Tour photos

I just realized I haven't listed who is here: (in current order of relaxin' in the common room)
Angie Agudo
John Harkins
Anthony Lopez
Max Arczynski
Casey Chisholm
Andrew Kenney
Kaly Spilhaus
Amanda Sanderson
Dylan Welch
Sam Davies
Jessica Campbell
Danika Gallup
Ibby Hearn
Alexis Babington
Carley Nolan

 

Breakfast at our "home away from home"

Breakfast!!!
Scram, toast, pineapple, plantains, coffee, juice and tang, peanut butter, and cereals!

A chance to unpack and unwind.  This afternoon is a Georgetown tour and class time.  Hoping they all read heir Levinas articles!!!

The Sun is Rising

The Sun is Rising

It means two things, according to one of the passengers:
1.  it is a beautiful sight
2.  we are closer to home

Well, we thought we were leaving 4 minutes early,  it that quickly turned into a 40 minute wait in line.  I can't believe the amount of plane traffic at midnight. 

Unlike people's usual flights, our group devoured the snack of hot turkey with cheese mini-sub with plantain chips.  This was after our pizza party at Fordham which also turned into a slight off-key rendition of Happy Birthday to Amanda!!!

Even though lots of people were sleeping on the plane, you could feel the anticipation that we are about to land "just now."

We can't wait to experience what that passenger called "home."

Blogfully yours,
Carley and Karen

5...4....3....2....1..... The countdown begins!

Packing Donations!

On Thursday this past week, Amanda, with her wonderful friend Steph (thank you so much!) and Casey, along with your two fabulous team leaders (you can tell I haven't given the blog over to our students quite yet) spent 7 hours sorting through some amazing donations from our friends, families, and community members, both local and far.  We were able to pack 10 donation bags, and with the donations that our students are bringing, we will have about 18 or 19 bags of donations!  When we finished, we had barely made a dent in packing up the goodies.

Items included baby clothes (the cutest outfits you ever did see, I think our favorite were the Carhart overalls and tiny crocs), games and toys and books galore, stuffed animals, all in great and like-new condition (many of these were from SMC faculty and Katie Kirby's sister's middle school students.  There was one of the middle school students that even donated his favorite toy).  We have purses and handbags (Coach!) with nail polish, brushes, and soaps for the residents in The Palms.  New t-shirts for just about everyone we meet donated from the Davitts and Shelburne Parks and Rec.  Truly, it was an awesome albeit slightly overwhelming experience.  I don't think we would have managed without our students.

This afternoon, Katie and I packed up two barrels that we will ship to Guyana.  The second photo is Turner sitting on top of the barrel to snap it shut... I still can't believe it closed!  We still have enough for a Fall shipment!  

More later on my trip to the store to buy bug juice.  Until then, double check the location of your passport! 

  

Best,

Karen

Countdown to Guyana 2014

We held our last pre-trip meeting yesterday!  The feeling around the room was excitement mixed with a good dose of exhaustion from final exams.  I think everyone will be leaving campus for at least a few days of rest and relaxation.  Prof. Kirby passed out these very organized red folders and they included reading some really wild reading on Levinas.  More about that later!  For now, as you start packing, make sure you have your passport and bug spray.

Stay tuned for more!

Karen