T-19 Days

Man-eating mosquitos that carry deadly parasites, poisonous dart frogs that are smaller than your finger-tip but can kill up to 10 men with their venom, and stifling heat that makes the devil feel like Hell is nothin but an ice box....BRING IT.

Well, folks, I'm leaving for Guyana in 19 days and only midly freaking out about it. I mean, I'm excited as all hell, but it's still a scary thought! For those of you who haven't had the opportunity to find out all the details of my trip yet, here you go:
I'll be leaving August 6th for Georgetown, Guyana for a three week training/orientation session. After that, school starts at the end of August, and I'll be relocating to New Amsterdam, Guyana, the second-largest city in the country located on the north-eastern boarder along the coast. I'll be teaching in a small school called Tutorial Academy, with about 250 students. I've been tasked to teach Phys. Ed., and I've recently found out that I will be teaching some English classes as well with students ranging from 11-14 yrs of age.
So there's some boring details that outline the extent of my professional career as a teacher in Guyana. Other than that, I don't know much else about what this experience will be like. I've been reading a lot about the country, etc. so that I can get an idea of what the culture is like. So far it seems as though the people are kind and friendly and comprised of many different ethnic, religious, and cultural backgrounds. This is gonna be awesome--especially for a person like me who digs the various spices of life.


...However, having an adventurous spirit does have its price; I've already begun saying goodbye to family and friends, and this is the part that hurts the worst. It won't really set-in until I'm a coupla thousand miles away from the people whom have shaped my life and mean so much to me. But my cousin, Carissa, said it best: "You'll be fine--and when you get back, you'll still be the same Jehika that you always were." Rock on, ya'll.