And it was Morning and Evening of the First Day

 Always a sad goodbye

I could have had a smoother start…

Flight was uneventful except for the Chinese [I guess this is no longer acceptable; can someone offer a new adjective, maybe Trumpian?] Fire Drill in Trinidad ..... We had to get off the plane, walk a while, go right by the new departure gate, down the stairs and go through immigration, re-ticketing, all the screening security -- though we never left the secure area!  I guess it provides jobs and it did shorten the sitting and waiting time.

No trouble with Immigration or Customs in Guyana ... Got through at 7:25 having landed at 7:10am. [Their new spiffy terminal was there, but the first arrival test was later that day.  My friend, Bhiro was in Canada as his dad is not well, so he arranged for the Public Hospital van to pick me up.  No problem except there was no hospital van there... and at 8:05 still no van ..... As you emerge from inside you are greeted by the licensed drivers.   Now there are way more drivers than people needing one and there is no system of ..... who is next.   They just rush to greet you and then shadow you like a puppy until your ride comes or you give up waiting.  I took my shadow’s taxi.  All was good.  I even got to meet his family on the way in to Georgetown ..… and wait while he picked up some money from a relative to buy tickets for the professional cricket match on this weekend.

I can’t complain as I had him stop to pick up the Guyana Lutheran Church phone at Davy Ram’s Republic Bank. There is only one problem: it is a small smart phone.  I have never had a phone smarter than I am!  It rings – many different sounds.  I don't know what to do as it came with no instructions.  This will be a good test for me as I have resisted going cellular.  So far, I have managed just to have it turn off every night at 9 and not turn on till 6 ..… satisfying!  I did buy a protective cover, so when I drop it or throw it, it might still work.  

It is tiny, though you can't see that.

I would have looked on the internet for a manual, but for some reason IT thought that I was arriving on Saturday and not Friday, so there was no internet in the flat. [Guyanese note: there is no one working on Saturdays to configure the connection, so I would still not have it.]  I was assured it would be working on Monday ..... and it was running on Wednesday -- not bad, and now I am happy!     

I try to get here on a Friday as I can connect with everyone and get set to teach on Monday.   And I adapt, though usually grumbling.   I can get WiFi signals in the flat, but they are password-protected and I guess I don’t have the appropriate clearance.  

So I go down to the school or the cafeteria patio where I can connect and meet evening mosquitos and old friends and students -- whose first question is:

 “Do you remember my name?”   [They know I have this disability and still they torment me.]   Then they ask, “What are you doing out here?”     “Just getting some breeze.”

If this was the only inconvenience, it wouldn’t be worth mentioning.   But my printer can only work through an internet connection.   [Yes Tim Carr, maybe you could get it working without the Net, but I can’t.]  So it will be a race to see if IT will connect the printer before my 11:00 am class.  Ah, the suspense.   If you have read attentively, you know it wasn’t.  However, as so many times in my life, a wonderful secretary has bailed me out.  Yolanda, the school’s Do-Everything, printed all the sheets I needed.  Thanks.

I was assured the flat was ready.

I have a roommate this year, Obel, a Cuban Pediatrician.   Obel is a fine person; I’ll write about him in a later blog.   We will do well together.  

There were a few small problems; all the windows were stuck shut, and they still are.  Maybe tomorrow?  Wilton, a Bosco graduate and now working with maintenance, got them fixed   I did get an extra fan…  They took the one that we gave Michelle (the Director of Housekeeping) last year, and gave it back ….. after the weekend as she was not there those days.

And the best; see if you can tell what is missing from my bedroom.    

Now, Peter K, this really would be Spartan.

There was no mattress on the bed till 4 on Friday afternoon.  It is a long, long Guyanese story with which I won’t bother you.  But Terry got it done, along with many other requests from me.

And the last in this litany of woe:   My ATM card for the local bank had expired. Who knew?   So I called my personal and important banker, Davy Ram;  he said to just call him in the afternoon before I left for the branch and he would arrange it.  I forgot that Guyanese bankers really do have banker’s hours.  So when I called at 2:30 that I was ready to go, they had stopped working at 2:00.    Luckily I had enough money to get essentials – coffee and … you thought I was going to say beer!  But when my friend, Taju Olaleye, delivered all the tablets [to which many of you had contributed and which are now all working and fully charged] for the new first year nursing students, he also brought a case of beer which I had asked him to pick up !   And he put it on my tab J 

On Tuesday afternoon, I did go to get my ATM Card.  Davy had warned them I was coming  ..… It is good to know people in high places, especially in Guyana.  I was done in less than an hour!  I did have to sign papers for everything, though ..… And once, the young man told me that his supervisor said it wasn’t my signature because it wasn’t identical to my passport.  Now I resisted asking for the supervisor’s credential in graphology and just tried to copy my passport signature, and now she agreed.   And the card worked and I have money.

Later on Monday evening, I was forced to go to the Everest Cricket Club for something to eat, and a few beers, and their internet to send a loving email to my wife.  

 Actually, I got lots done despite the small difficulties ..... I did get a chance to chat with both the Board Chair, Carlton Joao who said he would buy lunch –- bonus!  Also met the new CEO, Enoch Wain Gaskin.  I like him and think he is a good fit for Mercy now.   He didn’t offer to buy lunch, but one can’t have everything, eh?

The end of the first day with many hiccups and frustrations and laughs; I am well and there is a cool [by Guyana standards] breeze blowing through the flat

Looking ahead

Anne has convinced me that I can’t keep coming back to Guyana for ever because I am getting old.   I am not sure she is right, though next year I do not plan to be back in September or October.   I just said, “Yes, Dear.” as I have missed her birthday for 17 years… and she has let me live, without too much grumbling. Anne will be 80 in October 2019 and we will be going on a trip through Scandinavia ..... Neither of us has ever been there, so I am looking forward to that.  

It also means I will plan a big 80^th celebration, though she says the trip is more than enough. Maybe everyone will have to bring a book she hasn’t read; and that will be a big challenge. 

There was no Coup…

I thought it was a great opportunity to have last year’s co-leader to take over the reins of leadership.   So I am not Lead Faculty for the Problem Based Learning Course -- I will be Nurse Candy Mohan’s assistant.   I know she will do well; I am not so sure about myself.  Candy has already made changes to the way I [and Tony Carr] had done stuff and we haven’t even had the first class.    

I usually ask you to pray for the students; this year I, too, may need all the prayers I can get.  I am sure that I will write more as the time goes along.   Thank you for joining me.