This is goodnight but not goodbye...

Sorry for not blogging yesterday; we had a very busy, fun day!

In the morning Deborah and Amelia washed a mountain of clothes and consequently had to be very creative with peg use and line space when hanging it all out to dry. The rest of the team sat and chatted in the garden; it was really lovely because the sun was shining and the hummingbirds were out.

After a quick breakfast we called a taxi to take us to Girlguiding HQ to pick up our dresses. We were all super excited to get them. Unfortunately we had to wait for about an hour and a half for the seamstress to arrive. We were entertained whilst sat in HQ by a wedding being set up. There was some confusion as to whether we were guests or in the wrong place. We found it really interesting that the men were setting up and decorating the room. They were all fairly friendly, so we didn't really mind waiting so long.

Finally the seamstress arrived and gave us our dresses. They are all really beautiful and we look forward to wearing them at our GOLD debrief weekend in September. We then had to do a quick dash back to Foreshaw Street because we had been invited to a meal with Maria, our next door neighbour, Mrs P and Sherine and Oswin (who live in the apartments opposite).

We set the table outside in the garden and found all the plates, bowls, cups and cutlery we could in Mrs P's house. Maria had produced an amazing spread of  Guyanese food, including avocado, eddoe, turkey in tamarind sauce and chow mien, and it was lovely to sit down, chat and share a meal together. We learnt all sorts of interesting things about our neighbours and had a really good laugh. We provided juice and jelly.

After doing the washing up we only had to wait a short while until Berle came to evaluate with us. We were really pleased she could come and spend some time talking about the good and bad bits of the project this year and how it can be improved for next year. We spent more than an hour talking about project but finished just time to get ready to go out with some of the girls that we met in our time here.

We went to a Chinese restaurant and met Felicity, Keri and Erin there (although they were a little late). Berle came too. We ate a lot and shared memories from project this year. Most of them caused a lot of laughter! The food was really amazing too and we ate a lot. It was really sad to say goodbye to them all when we had to leave but we have promised to stay in touch by Facebook and email.

We got back to Foreshaw quite late and did our final trash and treasure session of the project- another emotional moment. We have really become a family whilst we have been in Guyana and there is a lot of GOLD love between us.

This morning we were all up super early- about 5 am to be precise. But nobody minded because it is Bec's birthday today!!!!!! We had cake with candles and presents and cards and it was awesome :D Miriam and Jess were very efficient candle lighters but unfortunately were stumped by the fan blowing them all out twice- sad times :(

Bec, Amelia, Clare and Deborah left for onwards travel and there was a big emotional goodbye. Miriam and Jess are leaving for the airport in a short while to start the three day journey home. We all can't believe how quickly project has gone. We have had massive highs and coped with some low moments, but we have all done this journey as a team and had an amazing time. We really feel that we have made an impact on the incredible guides and young leaders that we have trained an hope that we have encouraged them to stay with Guiding and jump at all the opportunities that are given to them.

Thank you for following our blog. We really hope you have enjoyed reading about our adventures.

For the last time...

Lots and lots of GOLD love

Team Guyana 2013
xxxxxx

Party at Mrs P's

This morning Bec, Jess, Clare and Miriam got a lot of washing done whilst Deborah and Amelia got the breakfast things ready. Before breakfast we sat outside in the garden and planned our evaluation session with Berle today. We came up with several discussion areas, with lots of questions and discussion points for each one, covering all areas of our GOLD Guyana 2013 project. It took quite a while to organise our thoughts but as we were chatting the rain came. It rained an awful lot, but we got surrounded by lots of water which gave us the opportunity to finish what we had started and do it really well. We felt that we had a really focused plan of action so we were very happy :D

We were back on the Frosties for breakfast which we were all fairly happy with. Then we quickly organised our bags and got ready to go shopping in the market. We left 253 Foreshaw Street in relative sunshine but pretty much as soon as we left the gate the rain came again. It poured and poured and poured and we all got completely soaked. We ran to the bus stop and quickly got on a bus, but there was not a lot of room and we were very wet. The result was large puddles on the floor and a lot of steam. We are very surprised that the bus driver could see where he was going because we certainly couldn't. However, he used his horn a lot and we did not hit any cars or pedestrians- phew!

Once in the market square we were rather surprised at the immense floods but had to walk through them because they covered everything. Our first stop was the money changing shop. Unfortunately, just outside the building Bec stepped in a very large hole, that was disguised by the flood waters, and got flood waters up to her calves. The water caused her flip flop to fall off and float down the road. Bec got out of the hole and Clare chased the flip flop and all was good until Miriam also fell into the hole and got water up to her knees; it was  larger than we had initially thought! After all of this excitement we took shelter in the shop and waited for the rain to subside. This did not happen so we had to once again venture through the rain.

Next stop was the fabric shop. The patterned fabrics were beautiful and Miriam and Amelia bought some lovely yards of them. After this we went to the Guyana store and then the little souvenir huts close by. By the time we got here the rain had stopped and the sun came out. Our last port of call was the sandal shop in the indoor market. We spent ages choosing and trying on but the man at the store was very helpful and eventually we all made a decision. Then it was back to the bus rank and onto the nearest one we could see. On the way back to the house we saw just how bad the flooding was- it is hard to believe that a morning of rain could produce so much water. Jess made a friend called Mark on the bus and he was very interested in our Girlguiding project.

Back at Foreshaw Street, Bec, Clare and Jess went to pick up lunch supplies and juice from the fruit man. Lunch was lovely- we had some toast- and the juice was amazing. We had a really tasty local fruit called Marmi too; it tastes a little bit like peaches.

After lunch we were expecting Berle to come and evaluate project with us but when Erin arrived she received a phone call which said she wasn't coming because she had a headache. This was a little bit frustrating but lots of the young leaders came to Mrs P's and we evaluated all of the aspects of the project that they were part of with lots of tasty snacks-including sugar cane- thrown in for good measure. They gave us some great feedback and it was really lovely to spend some time with them. We really wish we had done this much earlier in the project because we really bonded today. This is something that next year's team might want to think about.

When the girls left, we went to Nigel's to get some bits for tea, although we are mainly using up left overs tonight. We have also just had a phone call from Berle to say that we can evaluate with her tomorrow. This has made everyone feel really happy because it is a fairly important part of the project!

LOGL

Team Guyana
xxxxxx

Campfire's burning...

So, we have just back from camp and we have a lot to fill you all in on. A lot has happened and so it is a little difficult to know where to start, but here goes...

On Monday evening we had a very busy time packing and preparing all of our resources for camp. It was a little challenging to cut out 30 pom pom rings when you only have one pair of scissors and a penknife, but we persevered and did quite well. 253 Foreshaw Street was a hive of activity and we worked until very late. We were however aided by sweets bought in the UK and some up beat music. Packing our kit bags also took some time because we decided to pack one bag between two. Eventually we squeezed everything in that we thought we might use on camp and so we could go to bed.

In the morning we had a quick breakfast and double checked we had everything again. Our preparations were slightly interrupted by some birds that decided that they preferred being in the house as opposed to outside of the house. After a little bit of chasing (involving Miriam falling of a chair), and a lot of coaxing, the birds finally flew out of the window and we were able to leave.

We had 3 taxis to take us to Girlguiding HQ because of the small mountain of bags that we had to take with us. When we arrived we were greeted by 17 Guides eager and waiting (a very good sign), but no bus and no Chief Commissioner. We waited around for about half an hour and used our time wisely by taking more team photos. Then the bus arrived and we were able to start packing it. This was a challenge to say the least because the bus was very very small!!! Amelia however did an amazing job and was very creative in where she put the various bags, mats, cooking pots, food and bottles of water that we needed to take with us. And to top it all of, she only used up four seats in doing so :D

After another 45 minutes, Berle, the Chief Commissioner arrived, and we could get going. The bus was immensely squishy and it was quite normal for two or three people to be sharing a seat. Everyone seemed happy though, even after the many stops that were made to pick up more food, water and ice. The journey took about an hour which gave some of the members of the team a great opportunity to catch up on some sleep.

We arrived to the most beautiful camp site. We were in a part of the rainforest that had been cleared to make an eco camping area. There were palm trees with parrots roosting in them  and the black water creek was absolutely stunning! After quickly unpacking the bus we started pitching tents. Unfortunately it decided to absolutely tip it down with rain half way through proceedings. It was the worst possible timing as the tents were half up and there were bags everywhere. We did a lot of relay running back and forth to the toilet block- the closest place of shelter- and we just had to wait for about 40 minutes until the rain stopped. We had to keep reminding ourselves that we were in the rainforest, hence the rain  :D

After the rain we finished tent pitching and setting up the kitchen area. The girls did really well because the conditions were definitely not ideal and many of the tents had the wrong poles and very few pegs. By the time this was all done it was 5 o'clock and time for our very late packed lunches. This was welcome break for the team because we were all rather hot, wet and hungry. An orientation walk, getting to know you activities and several games of punch catch rounded off the afternoon. We had roti and curry for tea- a definite team favourite and it was lovely to sit and chat with the young leaders and Guides. However, the bugs were super annoying and it was a very dark experience because very few of the girls had bough torches and the Guyana leadership team had forgotten lamps. The UK GOLD team were put to good use by lighting up the meal table with the many torches that they had bought with them.

After tea we played a really fun game of sardines in the dark. The girls seemed to be having a lot of fun by the noise they were making. However this is not always useful when you are trying to hide from other people!

The girls were pretty good at bed time considering it was the first night and we were just glad of a lie down. Unfortunately our tents are not incredibly waterproof and we had a bit of a damp night.

Wednesday morning brought a beautiful sunrise which Bec and Miriam enjoyed greatly- they got up early to help out in the kitchen. breakfast was a Guyanese egg dish; rather like scrambled egg but with celery, onion and spices in it. We all really enjoyed it. It got hot very quickly but we had to help the girls with their duties because they did not really know what they were doing. Amelia, Bec and Miriam did bog squad and had a real laugh doing it with the Guides, singing and dancing around with mops. Next came splitting the pack up into two patrols and coming up with a camp charter. Whilst they were all busying themselves with this, we decided to erect a flag pole. This was slightly easier said than done because all of the trees were quite tall or very spiky, but Bec and Clare did a super job and we were able to have flag break. The girls did some lovely reflections on camp so far which really put us all in a good frame of mind for the rest of the day.

Next, one of the eco site guides took us on a nature walk around the site. We saw parrots and monkeys, iguanas and tarantulas. It was fantastic and the guide was so interesting! After this we played a quick game of Chinese football before starting another wide game which Clare has called "paper pen bank". Basically the girls had to work in small teams to get lots of pieces of paper with a mark in the team colour into the "bank" (a pot). Unfortunately the leaders with the pens, paper and bank kept switching what they had so the girls had to work super hard to get points. It was really fun and hilarious to watch the confusion when we switched what item we had :D

Before lunch we made a start on plate bag making. The girls had to sit and concentrate quite hard on their sewing, but this was good because it was very hot and no one wanted to move too much. We continued plate bags after curry again for lunch. The heavens once again and we were stranded under the shelter. We broke into song and at some points had to sing very loud to compete with the thunder and lightening.

Next was the very exciting bit- swimming in the black waters of the creek (natural and not polluted). The girls did lots of jumping and screaming and generally got themselves, and everyone not in the water, very wet. After swimming we did a cook off challenge which one of the young leaders, Saudia, organised. She did a really great job organising the girls and encouraging them to make yummy things on open fires. It was encouraging to see how much effort she put into the activity- a future great leader :)

Before tea the girls did talent show practice and we had to organise something for our own talent. We settled on a X factor style skit in which Clare did some juggling, Miriam pretended to be a banana and the whole team sang a song about pirates. Sounds random? It was, but very fun and entertaining. We even made costumes and had stage names. (Our mascot, Carrie-Ann, had a costume too!)

Guyanese chow mein for tea- lovely- and then it was talent show time. The girls were fantastic and put a lot of effort and time into their acts. These included dramas, songs, dances and a fantastic rendition of "I'm a little tea pot" from Erin and Felicity, two young leaders. The jaguars won the competition and went a little bit mental over it.

Thursday was our final full day on camp. There was much excitement because it was Clare's Birthday!!!!! We gave her presents and cards and made a big fuss of her. Unfortunately, Clare's birthday breakfast had to wait for three hours because the bakes we were having (rather like doughnuts, but not so sweet) took 5 hours to make. We snacked on cereal bars and did camp duties and flag break/ reflections while we were waiting. Very productive! However, breakfast was worth waiting for and we ate many many bakes. Some of us skipped the very strong smelling fish- a rather odd combination with the bakes- whilst others of us loved it!

The morning activity was another of Clare's super duper awesome market challenge games. The girls spit into patrols and had to complete challenges on the themes of creative, camp craft, physical, nature and Guiding to earn string money. Deborah and Jess manned the market stall and judged each task that the girls completed whilst the rest of us made a team and did the challenges to give the girls some ideas. Many of them made us look very silly but we danced, acted and sang our way through the morning. One of our favourite challenges was making animals out of our bodies. The giraffe and zebra were truly inspired.

After lunch it rained again, but we were prepared with a wet weather activity of making pom poms. They all looked super and very bright when they were finished. Then it was time for more swimming. All of us went in and played a giant game of piggy in the middle. We left the water slightly early because we needed to prepare things for Clare's birthday celebrations. We all enjoyed the showering experience; they were open roofed and so you could see parrots and palm trees whilst showering. Rather like a Herbal Essences advert!

Bec and Miriam put candles in the cake we had bought for Clare whilst Amelia, Jess and Deborah distracted her. It was then a really good surprise when we pounced and sang happy birthday really loudly :D After lots of tasty birthday treats it was pretty much time for tea- Guyanese fish and chips. This consisted of spicy fish with plantain chips, which were very salty but yummy.

Thursday's definite highlight was the camp fire. Our wood was very wet but Erin came to rescue with a huge bottle of kerosene. Do not try this method at home! We sang and sang until we were all hoarse and we got very hot by the fire. It wad too hot to toast marshmallow :( but we promised all of the girls that if they went to bed well we would do this in the morning.

This morning we were up early to strike camp. The rain clouds looked quite threatening so we did this quickly. After more fish and bakes for breakfast, we helped the girls finish off their plate bags. They look fantastic and they are really proud of them. We also had the promised marshmallows and we even managed to make smores. Camp duties and clearing up took up the rest of the morning but we played some games to break the boring bits up.

The bus arrived slightly later than expected but we packed it quickly and left the beautiful camp site behind us. This made us all feel quite sad because it means our GOLD project is almost over :(

Once back in Georgetown, Deborah discovered a large butterfly on her back and there was much excitement over this. Deborah and Amelia then went off to pick up our Guyanese leader shirts (they look fab) and more water. They also bought us juice. The rest of the team took all of the kit back to Foreshaw Street and we regrouped by eating fresh bread made by Eileen and juice.

Now we are gradually sorting our lives out a bit and tonight we are going to have Roti Hut meal.

Wow, that was long! I hope you all enjoyed hearing about camp. We all had a great time!

LOGL

Team Guyana
xxxxxx

The day of hotness

Last night we really enjoyed watching Little Miss Sunshine on Bec's laptop.  We also had popcorn and orange juice- a real treat! Unfortunately the bowl that we put the salty popcorn in had a hole in the bottom that we did not know about and at the end of the evening Jess had a lap full of salt.

This morning Miriam made everyone toast using some slightly old bread and Mrs Ps roti late on the gas hob. Everyone agreed it was a success and toast might be on the menu when we get back from camp. When the washing up was done we walked to Guiding HQ so that we could have a chat to Berle about the final details of camp and get measured by her seamstress for our Guyanese dresses. We had to wait for a little while for Berle and the seamstress to arrive, but in the meantime we chatted to Oshelle- one of the girls that works in the office. The seamstress arrived first- we were all very excited that she was called Miriam too. She was very lovely and chatted to us about what kind of style we wanted. After a few quick sketches we finally agreed on the design and then she got busy measuring us. We are all really excited about the prospect of our dresses being ready on Saturday- we think they are going to look really good!

Berle arrived but was not around for very long because a new Guide group was having its first meeting today somewhere in Georgetown. This is a very positive sign for the Guyana Girl Guides Association :D We quickly asked all of our important questions; these were mainly about timings, resources and how many girls might turn up. The answers were fairly vague but we are very flexible and (hopefully) ready for most situations!

After all of this we split into two groups. Bec, Jess and Miriam went to Nigel's to pick up extra food for camp so that we won't get hungry if the meals end up being very far apart. On their way to meet the other group they picked up juice from the fruit man because it is extremely hot in Georgetown today- the hottest it has been so far. The juice was very tasty and cooled them down a little on their long walk.

Deborah, Clare and Amelia waited back at HQ for Erin to arrive and take them resources shopping at the market. Erin was a little bit late and so they had fun reading some of the very old books in HQ and sleeping. When Erin arrived, they got on a bus to the town centre, namely the fabric shops. The bus coincidently passed Miriam, Bec and Jess on the way and so they jumped in to and enjoyed the crazy loud bus music.

We went into several fabric shops and looked at lots of beautiful African prints before we decided on two different patterns. Half of the team will have the red coloured fabric and the other half will have the blue and orange. We are all very happy with our purchases :).

Next, we split again so that Jess, Amelia and Miriam went off to the bank to sort out the finances and get some money out to pay for rent and camp etc, and Deborah, Clare and Bec went with Erin to change personal money and buy all of the resources that we need for the next week of camp. Both experiences were fairly stressful. The bank group went into the first bank and joined a very long queue. We waited and waited and waited- in the end we were there for slightly more than an hour and when we got to the end of the queue we were told that we could not take any money out. It was incredibly frustrating but at least the bank had air conditioning. We then walked to another bank and were nearly denied access because we arrived after closing time (2 o'clock). Thankfully, our pleading worked and we were able to join another long queue. Finally we reached the end and the cashier was very helpful and let us have our money- phew!

Meanwhile, the other team were braving the heat on a resources shopping mission. They went to Mr Phagoo's shop which was a very bizarre experience- a bit like going back in time. You have to ask for each item one at a time and then Mr Phagoo goes and finds it for you. This sounds like good service but is in fact an incredibly slow way of shopping. They then went on a bit of a wild goose chase around the city centre in an attempt to find white pillow cases so that we can make plate bags on camp. This was a very difficult task and any that they found were very expensive. But this is GOLD and we quickly changed our plans and bought white fabric instead. We just have more sewing to do!

After two hours of intense shopping and standing in queues we all met up at the Guyana store; a massive shop full of random items to buy. We did a bit of souvenir shopping and then moved on to some other local shops where they sell locally made craft items. There were so many lovely things and we had lots of fun choosing things to buy; jewellery, hammocks, bags, sandals and purple hard wood bowls and boxes. However, very quickly we became too hot and decided that we had had enough of shopping so we got taxis home via HQ so that we could pay for camp and drop the fabric off.

Once back we had a very late lunch- at about 5 o'clock- and went and got more juice from the fruit man. We are all feeling a lot cooler now and we enjoyed eating watermelon and mango whilst sitting in the garden.

Tonight we have to pack (could be quite stressful) and generally prepare for camp. It may be an early start tomorrow morning...

LOGL

Team Guyana
xxxxxx


Ps. As you have probably already realised we will not be able to blog in the next 3 days because we are camping in a field somewhere (we don't quite know yet but all will become clear soon). We will be back on Friday.

No pie!

Today we had a day off from all things project; it is generally difficult to do things on Sunday's in Guyana because a lot of people go to church. This morning Miriam and Clare got up super early- about 5.30- so that they could go to church with Maria, our next door neighbour. They ate a quick breakfast of Frosties and left the house whilst everyone else was still sleeping.

Church was a bit of a bizarre experience. It was very loud and hot because there were about 400 people crammed into a very small hall. We enjoyed some energetic singing, interesting interpretive dance by people dressed up as the Holy Spirit, a marching band and steel pan playing. There was also a lot of praying and a very very long sermon. In all the service lasted 3 and a half hours but everyone was really friendly and welcoming.  During the service it rained a lot and we were a bit concerned about the water pouring through the roof. But, the Pastor took it all in his stride and told anyone that was getting wet to move immediately. Clare and Miriam were more concerned about the potential of another flood back at Mrs Ps.

It turned out that there was enough rain to cause a flood back at Foreshaw Street and the church party arrived back to find Bec and Jess stranded on the patio because they were surrounded by about 3 inches of water. The downstairs has flooded a little but it is not as bad as it has been. Bec, Jess, Deborah and Amelia had a very lazy morning doing washing and reading after a long lie in. We all then sat down to have a late brunch of eggy bread made by Amelia and Miriam. Miriam has convinced everyone that the best thing to have on eggy bread is sugar- sounds weird, but is very tasty!

After brunch we all got our things ready to go swimming at a little hotel just 10 minutes down the road. Although it has been raining it is still fairly hot so when we arrived we all jumped in with great enthusiasm. It was lovely to swim, relax and chat. Some of us had a little sleep when we got out, and others read their books or played cards.

After a lovely afternoon we were all feeling very hungry because we only really had brunch today. Because it was a day off we had an allocated meal out, which we all chose to be takeaway pizza. We ate in the garden and it was a really nice. However, we were a little bit sad because the ladies at the pizza shop said that they had no pie for sale- sad times :(.

We are going to watch a film now and then get an early night. We have an incredibly busy day tomorrow because we have to do a lot of shopping and prep for camp. We are all looking forward to it!

LOGL

Team Guyana
xxxxxx

I think I am turning Guyanese

This morning we had some interesting and tasty Guyanese food for breakfast. Mrs Ps cousin had made us black pudding and a whitish coloured pudding which Mrs P insisted we ate all of. It is nothing like British black/white pudding. This was made with rice, peppers and spices and you ate it with a very spicy mango sauce. We gave it a go and it actually tasted quite good :D We did however have Frosties too to keep us going!

We then walked to the end of Foreshaw Street to catch a bus to the market so that we could get the boat to the West Bank- the district the other side of the Demerara River. Erin invited us to her home so that we could do some more camp planning together. She also offered her Mum to cook us a traditional Guyanese meal. We could not refuse this offer. The bus was so busy that at one point 5 people were sharing 1 bench seat. Miriam had to sit in the front squished in next to the driver and another passenger. 

After asking a friendly police man to direct us to the port we finally found it the other side of a very large shed with some interesting market stalls inside. We were helped down the very wobbly steps onto the little boat. After struggling a little to get our life jackets on we were ready to go.

The little boat went fairly fast and it was lovely to be on the water because of the breeze. It was also really interesting to see the port from the water. There were lots of really big fishing and cargo boats. The journey did not take long and soon we were on the West Bank. 

We had to walk through another shed market to find Erin. She was not there when we arrived so we had a little look around and reapplied our sun cream. There were all sorts of things being sold, including lovely smelling street food, brightly coloured clothes and pesticides in rather dubious looking containers.

Soon Erin arrived and she took Miriam, Jess and Clare in her car back to her house. Deborah, Amelia and Bec got what they thought was a taxi but turned out to be a share car- they only realised this when other people started piling into the car on their journey. Erin's house is really lovely and bright yellow! We all found this quite exciting, much to Erin's confusion. She introduced us to her family, who are all so friendly and so much like Erin. We ate plantain chips, cassava chips and mango sour and polari whilst we sat and planned some of the camp activities a little bit more. Erin is really good at crafty things and so had some really good ideas. We also drank iced tea, which was very refreshing.

After the serious business of planning Erin suggested that we watched a film. We all though this was a great idea and so we sat on her big comfy sofas and watched Monsters University. It was very funny! Soon our lunch was ready. Erin's Mum and sisters had made us fried chicken with plantain and cook up (a rice dish with black eyed beans, spices and coconut milk). It was lovely meal and we felt thoroughly stuffed after it. 

Erin then showed us around her "small" chicken farm, which we all think is actually quite large. Deborah also made friends with a very cute 10 week old puppy. The West bank is very different from Georgetown because it is more rural. It was lovely to see sugar cane fields and rice fields stretching out into the distance and coconut trees everywhere.

Soon it was time for us to go and we caught a bus back to the Georgetown market. This took us over the Harbour Bridge which was very cool because it is actually just a series of pontoons lashed together. 

Now we are back at 253 Foreshaw and we are sat in the garden reading and enjoying some matai- an Indian delicacy that tastes like doughnuts but has the texture of a breadstick. We have had a very cultural day!

We are having omelettes for tea because we have all eaten so much today that something light and quick is needed by all.

LOGL

Team Guyana

xxxxxx

We went to the animal fair, the birds and the beasts were there...

Today began at half past two with a random phone call to Mrs Ps home phone. It woke pretty much every one up, apart from Deborah and Bec who were having an epic 4 hour marathon of playing Monopoly Deal. This confused Miriam because she got out of bed to deal with the ringing phone only to find that Bec was awake and had beaten her to it.

The random phone call theme continued as Amelia got one on the group phone at about 7.00 am this morning- not too early but we were all having a bit of lie in as we did not have to meet Berle and the Guyanese GOLD team until 10.30 am. Initially she thought it was her alarm and ignored it, but after the seventh time it rang she realised that it was a phone call and had to frantically search in her bag to find it. The person on the end of the line was quite difficult to understand and would not say who they were. They wanted to speak to Jess urgently so Amelia had to dash up the stairs and wake Jess up. It turned out that it was Oshelle ringing to tell us not to meet at Berle's church but at Girlguiding CHQ as originally planned. We were all very pleased it was not anything more serious!

As we all slowly got up, Miriam and Bec did some washing and laid the table for breakfast. Amelia and Bec also went out to pick up more water because we were getting very low. Whilst at the shop they bought lots of lovely exotic juices for us to have with our breakfast. They were sooooo yummy!

We walked to CHQ to find that the building was open but nobody was there. However, we only had to wait about 5 minutes for Nea and Oshelle to arrive. We started our planning for camp together and discussed the activities and crafts that we were going to do whilst we are away. We also drew up a detailed resources list of everything we need to buy before Tuesday morning. It is quite long but we think we can get it all. Berle arrived a little bit later and we did some more planning for camp together.

It was very productive and we are fairly confident that camp is going to go well and the Guides are going to have lots of fun :D.

After our planning session had finished we jumped into a taxi to go and order some Guyanese leader polo shirts. We spent a long time choosing colours but everyone was finally happy with their choices. We are really looking forward to them being ready after camp next Friday. We have also been promised by Berle a visit to her seamstress so we can get traditional Guyanese/African dresses made- very exciting.

Clare and Miriam then went to Nigel's to pick up food for the next 4 days, whilst Deborah and Amelia went to the pharmacy and Bec and Jess took Saudia, Erin and Felicity back to Foreshaw Street, via the Fruit man. We all had lunch together in the garden and it was lovely.

After lunch we chatted for a while before deciding to go to the zoo. Saudia and Erin came with us and we had a really good time. We saw all sorts of exotic birds, including parrots, toucans, egrets and a Harpy eagle. We also all loved the baby cougars and the ocelot. It was a fantastic afternoon out. 

Now we are all sat out in the garden and we are very pleased that it has decided to cool down a little bit. We are enjoying more juice and breadfruit chips kindly made for us by Eileen. Tomorrow we are going to visit Erin and have lunch with her and some of the other Guides. 

LOGL

Team Guyana

xxxxxx