Hi friends and family!

We hope that everyone had a wonderful and delicious Thanksgiving. We certainly did celebrating with our friends here in Guyana. Our meal was complete with turkey, stuffing, sweet potato pie, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, rolls, deviled eggs, apple pie, and wine! A phrase we have come to know well here is, "It isn't wrong, just different." So, although there were some very important parts missing in our celebration (old friends and family) we had a wonderful time.

We also wanted to include some more photos in this posting to show you a little of what life is like here. Sunday has come to be one of our favorite days here. We try to start it off with some instant coffee and french toast. A wonderful routine! Then it's on to washing clothes and cleaning the house. After we have finished with the chores for the day, we relax, watch the news and head out to Oasis where we complete E-mailing and talking with our families on Skype. If any of you are interested in chatting with us some Sunday, Skype is a free download found at www.skype.com. You simply download the free software and as long as you have a microphone and speakers on your computer you are in business. It's free talking from computer to computer and has been a great way for us to keep in touch with what is happening at home. After Oasis it's back home, perhaps for a haircut which takes place on our front porch, one of the coolest places in the house. Then perhaps a movie and then bed, by 8:30 PM of course. :)

This Friday we were excused from work to go away for a VSO volunteer forum. This meeting takes place every 3 months and is a time when the volunteers can touch base with each other and the office staff about any concerns or issues. One of the major conversation topics this time was if the volunteer allowance we are currently getting paid, (45,000 Guyanese dollars/ 225 USD per month) is enough for us to live on. Blake and I are getting by just fine because there are two of us and we are able to split some bigger costs, but the single volunteers are certainly struggling. So, cross your fingers for us! :)

I am giving my first Guyanese educational workshop on Thursday. Yet another reason to cross your fingers. We are going to essentially be teaching the first grade head teachers in Georgetown what phonics is and perhaps touch on how to teach it to their kids. The education system here is an interesting one in that as you graduate what we would know as high school, except at 16, you are given a series of tests. If you do well on those tests then you have the opportunity to go to either Guyana University or the Teacher Training college. If you don't do well on the tests then you go directly into the classroom and begin teaching. The official title of these teachers is "unqualified teachers" and the schools are filled with them. There is a severe teacher shortage in the country, so it is very hard to find a solution to the problem. Consequently, you end up with schools full of teachers not much older than their students who may not know the material they are teaching, much less how to teach it to kids. So, Ann and I are going to pick our battle and try to make sure the teachers at least know what phonics is and then move on from there.

Things are going well here. It is still hard to think about the holidays coming up considering the weather. We talked about how we would be able to get in touch with our families on Christmas Day because Oasis will be closed that day. We were thinking that maybe the wireless signal would still be working and we could "huddle up outside the building and use the signal." Then we had to remind ourselves that there would be no need to huddle as it will still be 90 degrees outside. YIKES!

Blake is knocking everybody off their feet at the VSO office with his great ideas and attention to detail. We are starting to think about the other opportunities that might be here after this short term placement ends. Habitat for Humanity is here and with all of the severe flooding of the past years, there should always be work to do.

We love the updates (even the football updates) so keep them coming! We have gotten several requests, so again, here is the address that we can receive letters,etc. at:

VSO c/o Jessa and Blake
PO Box 12199
Georgetown, Guyana South America

We also now have a telephone if anyone gets the urge: the country code is 592 and our number is 227-7241. There is no city or area code.

I think you have to get a calling card or something in the US but i'm not sure. You may even be able to just dial from your home phone but I would check the cost first.

We will keep checking in!

Jessa and Blake