Something tells me we’re not in Kansas anymore, Toto…

I don’t even know where to start, so I think the safest bet is to start at the beginning. For those of you who don’t know this, I’ve never been out of Canada and I’ve only been on a plane once (well twice, if you count the return flight from home in Newfoundland). I’m actually quite a home body, but this idea started developing in my head last fall when I stumbled upon CIDA internships that this would be the perfect way for me to travel, see a country from the inside and use my various skills where they were really needed. I actually didn’t get a “real” CIDA internship, but here I am in Guyana, on a CIDA-sponsored Netcorps internship with the Canadian Society for International Health’s Public Health Strength in Guyana project.

The whirlwind of activity before my flight is a bit of blur, as are the goodbyes at the airport, airport security and actually boarding the plane. I do remember thinking that it was a good sign when the manager took me under his wing and assured my mother with pink priority stickers on my luggage, asking for no tears and promising that I would have a wonderful time “liming” in Guyana (hanging out/relaxing). Sleeping on the plane wasn’t as successful as I thought it was going to be. I felt my sleep was quite restless, but the guy beside me in his Trinidad accent claimed that he had never seen someone sleep so much in his life, as I ignored the movie (briefly awaking now and then to see images of Brad Pitt and George Clooney in Ocean’s 13) and didn’t eat my snack (which looked like a ham sandwich). I know the moment when I really woke up (in more ways than one) was when I looked out my window before we landed in Port of Spain to see lightning brewing in a cloud and looked across the aisle to the window on my left to see the sun rising bright orange-red, sending streaks across the sky. They are both sights that I’ll never forget and re-kindled excitement for my adventure that had been slightly dampened by trip preparations.


Transferring in Port of Spain went smoothly. A couple of motherly Guyanese women kept an eye on me, assuring me that I was going the right direction and explaining customs forms. I stand out in a crowd for some reason - a fact that I sometimes forget, but often get reminded of with double takes and strange looks. We landed at Cheddi Jaggan Airport and a truck pulled up with stairs to the door of the plane. I saw my first real palm trees walking across the runway, thankful that I had taken my sweater off . I just followed the crowd into the airport and everyone was quite helpful showing me which forms to fill out for immigration. I of course picked the slowest line to stand in, but it worked out well because my luggage waiting for me when I stepped out into the main area of the terminal. I went through customs successfully (apparently not a suspicious person) and was immediately attacked by taxi drivers wanting to drive me anywhere. I will never forget the sight of a project driver casually leaning against a railing holding a sign with ‘Elizabeth’ on it. Navin was surprised by the weight of my luggage (which by the way were actually under the weight requirement) and calmly asked me whether I really wanted to drive as I automatically went to the right hand side of the vehicle in a country where the vehicles are right hand drive on the left hand side of the road. He laughed at my shudder and quick no. He rolled down the window so that I could smell the molasses in the air outside of the famous El Dorado Rum factory and definitely knows the rules of the road, whatever they may be. Before dropping my stuff off at my temporary inn, we stopped at the office where I felt immediately welcomed by Dr. Wallis Plummer Best, the local project manager that I had been corresponding with and is definitely the motherly figure I thought she was, as well as the health information system (HIS) consultant, Dr. Paul Fisher and the rest of the staff. It was nice to see Emilia too, who is the project coordinator based in Ottawa and also visiting Guyana for the first time (just for a couple of weeks).

I think I’m going to break up my posts. It’s getting very long. Please write comments or email me to let me know you’re reading it and whether you’re enjoying it. It takes awhile to load everything so I'd recommend avoiding Facebook messages - just email me instead! This is something I’d love to keep up, but I have a fear that I am writing out into empty space so let me know what you think. I’ll reply to emails as I can, but just know that I love hearing from you.

Take care.

xoxo