Arrival in Georgetown

Well, here is the first post. We will try to keep people updated about our adventures in Guyana while we are working at the Attorney General's Office.

Jeff and I arrived in Georgetown on the 25th after an incredibly fun, hour delay in New York while waiting on a plane full of French snobs headed to Nice to get out of our way. The plane ride was a rather uneventful 6-hour red-eye flight that provided me with about 2 hours of periodic napping to give me energy for my day ahead. The descent to Georgetown was very nice. Looking out, I could see nothing but lush, green forestry.

Now is where the adventure starts. The taxi ride. That was fun. After we made it through customs, we were greeted by Waja, our rather lead-footed taxi driver, as he was holding a placard with "UGA" on it. So, onto the taxi, this was the first time I had been in a car in which the the steering wheel was on the wrong side, so that was enjoyable in itself. The best part though, or maybe the worst, was the ride. I must say, driving in Guyana is very much an adventure. The roads barely fit two cars, so when you combine pedestrian traffic, bicycles, cars trying to pass each other, large trucks, people on mules with trailers, cows, construction work, and large potholes, you get a rather interesting ride. Oh wait, I forgot to mention a taxi that had a television in it with a taxi driver that was rather proud of that fact and liked to switch the channels to show off everything that Guyana offered.

On the way in, we really got to see an eye opener of how fortunate we are in the states. In between Georgetown and the airport are multiple villages of homes ranging from somewhat decent ones to makeshift shacks constructed from whatever scrap metals and wood. The closer to the city we got, the nicer they became, though still rather lower class compared to homes found in the States. On a more humorous note, we passed through a wonderful village entitled, "McDoom," on the way in. I must say, I love some of the names that they come up with here. So, after multiple barely successful passes of multiple cars at a time, and a wonderful tour of the beer and rum distilleries and sugar cane fields, we finally made it into Georgetown with all limbs attached.

Upon arrival to our apartment in the wonderfully named borough of Kitty, we were greeted with the utmost hospitality by our landlord. He showed us into our apartment, which is a 3 bed/1 bath flat behind his burger restaurant, which I will probably be frequenting quite often. The apartment unfortunately has no A/C, but it does have this incredible porch that is always shaded and has become my new favorite hangout. As for other differences from the average home in the States, the stove is powered by a propane canister (excuse me for not knowing the proper term) and you start it by turning on the gas, then lighting it by hand. Also, in order to heat the water in the shower, you must flip a switch, then wait a little while, while the water heats. I don't bother with this half the time as it really only makes about a five degree difference in water temperature, and compared to everything else around me, the cool shower is rather refreshing.

I now realize this is getting rather long and will continue telling about my first couple of days in Georgetown through subsequent posts covering different adventures.

-Michael