Home Stay

Photos of Terri and Jim and the view of the Atlantic, somewhat cafe au lait coloured, from the Seawall.

Last weekend we spent with two of our group and were hosted by two volunteers close to fiishing thier placement. We went with Terri and Jim, the Canadian couple who collected us at the airport. They took us all around town to the markets which are seething with life like a bazaar and where you can buy anything that your heart desires. They took us to the vegetable market and the ex-pat type stores where we saw just about everything that we can get in Canada including Classico Pesto, Colgate toothpaste, Sunlight liquid etc etc etc. What is more difficult is dairy produce although butter and margarine are readily available. Yoghurt is occasionally available but expensive and only comes in those little containers. I shall have to increase my calcium intake by popping more pills it seems as I certainly am not able to exercise much in this heat.
They took us to The House of Flavours,a great vegetarian restaurant where each day there is a different menu but only one dish so you order 4 or 6 or 2 (however many of you there are). No choice. You get a hollowed out and cleaned squash half shell with a plastic bag full of natural fruit juice in it and a straw to make the hole and drink, then another shell filled with the menu of the day - ours was a wonderful rice dish with beans and vegetables - certainly more than enough for me.
We went back to their place for a lazy afternoon swinging in the hammock and chatting and finding out all the tips to life in Guyana from their experience.
Then when it was cool they took us in a minibus - a hair raising adventure where you crowd into a minibus and travel at breakneck speed along prescribed routes. We were ?fortunate to have a crazy but skilled driver who stopped in the nick of time when a silly cyclist crossed an intersection without even looking. We all screamed and hung on tight. I think we missed him by about 8".........but fortunately lived to tell the tale.
We cooled down by calling into the air conditioned and relaxing Pegasus hotel (Meridian)where Terri and Jim have a gym membership. There is a pool and it is a place opposite the Canadian High Commission where you can take your book and spend a relaxing afternoon cooling off.
A walk along the seawall (spoiled only by the garbage everywhere) and a nice Chinese meal at Celinas a restaurant which overlooks the Atlantic with its welcome sea breezes completed the day.