Jason Pearce

The mosquitoes get really bad each night when it gets dark. So much so that I climb into bed shortly after dinner to seek the shelter of the bug net that surrounds my bed. In a matter of a few minutes, I will be able to find at least 15 to 20 bugs clinging to the outside of my net looking for a meal.

Staying in the net is not a problem. But keeping my arms and legs from touching the net as a sleep is a challenge. Each morning, I wake up with new bites from mosquitoes that were smart enough to reach me through the net.

Even worse, I sometimes find a bug that somehow made it into my net. I know, because by morning, I’ll find a big fat mosquito trapped inside my net; unable to fly for she is so heavy. Naturally, I make sure it was her last meal.

The worse part about sleeping in a bug net is falling asleep. Every little twitch wakes you, for you are certain that a mosquito has penetrated your defenses. You spend the next five minutes searching the inside of your net with your flashlight, only to find it was your imagination.

This weekend was fun. On Friday night, most of us went to a bar well outside of Georgetown. There, we had a chance to meet a few of the current volunteers and hang out with some of the Peace Corps staff. I visited with Sean quite a bit. Sean is the IT staff person for the Peace Corps office here in Guyana. He has many high hopes and expectations for our group and many aspirations for me. I’m glad to have his support, and hope that I can live up to his expectations.

On Saturday, I spent most of the morning learning how to do my laundry by hand. My host mom Gale was a big help, for she actually did most of the work. I just clipped my wet clothes up on the line to dry. Of course with all of the constant rain storms, some of my clothes are still hanging up today.

After lunch on Saturday, I started to walk to the Peace Corps office (10 minutes) but was picked up by Darren, a fellow Peace Corps guy. He and his host dad were driving around having a few afternoon drinks. I never made it to the Peace Corps office and instead spent the rest of the day having fun with them. It was a good time.

Sunday included church with my host family and ultimate Frisbee with other volunteers in the National Park. The park was very wet and muddy, so we were filthy. But is was fun. I’d like to add more, but it’s time for class.