'Lewis' Year in Guyana' is perhaps slightly misleading for this entry, but I'll continue nonetheless. I left off my last blog entry in La Paz, so I'll waste no time and continue straight from there. After two days of exploring the capital itself, we decided to take a trip from the city and cycle the … Continue reading August
And so the time has come. Ridge has felt like home for the longest time, and I quite frankly can't believe I've now left for good. I'd definitely not fully processed everything in the week leading up to our farewell - up until now I've always returned after packing my bag for a holiday and … Continue reading July
June: my last full month as a resident of Matthew’s Ridge. My time here has genuinely defied expectation, and I feel it will be remembered for plenty long (we’ll see how long it takes for my partially Guyanese English to fade). Its people have been inconceivably welcoming, the challenges it‘s presented have provided constant excitement, … Continue reading June
Mark doesn't read all my blogs, but has seen a few and pointed out how I always speak about very specific events and experiences that have happened each month as opposed to speaking about my everyday life in Guyana. I thought about this and realised that he's right, so I decided to use this post … Continue reading A-Z of Matthew’s Ridge
Another month, another blog post. May's been fairly relaxed - we've been on a few trips, taught plenty of lessons, and experienced the odd exciting moment at Matthew's Ridge. The immanency of our departure from Ridge seemed to suddenly make itself apparent this month, so Mark and I are now really trying to make the … Continue reading May
It’s good to be back. I’d been so desperate to return for the longest time, and finally being able to resume Guyanese life is such a relief. Admittedly, I did choose a rather uneventful time to start teaching again meaning that I’ve not really been able to get back to the classroom properly yet. After … Continue reading April
March: the month of my return. This blog will be pretty much the same as my last, but I’m so glad to say it concludes with a transatlantic flight and a long sought-after return to Matthew’s Ridge. The month started just as February ended. I’d manage to establish a steady routine of work, seeing friends, … Continue reading March
Home, bittersweet home. Coming back to Scotland earlier than expected has not been ideal, but I must confess that this first month out of Guyana has been significantly better than I anticipated. There have been so many things I've come to appreciate much more after the four months away, and I do genuinely feel I've … Continue reading February
January was an eventful month. I know I claimed that December was turbulent - which it was - but it really was nothing in comparison. As mentioned in my last post, all of the Guyanese volunteers spent New Year's in Paramaribo, Suriname. It's a truly amazing place at this time of year, and it felt … Continue reading January
I'm so happy to finally be writing this blog post. Somehow it's now February which makes this over two months late, but such an unbelievable amount has happened in my life over the past few weeks which hopefully justifies this. This post and the next will outline everything, but all I'll say is that I … Continue reading December
I know it’s cliché by this point but I’ll say it anyway: I can’t believe that’s another month passed. Four months is a third of a year, and thinking about it like that is quite frankly crazy. November kicked off particularly well when I managed to get myself on a week-long school trip to Mabaruma, … Continue reading November
Despite being uploaded late, this blog entry was written to the same deadline as all others (finished by the first of the following month). Its lateness will be explained in this post. New October, new me - right? Not sure that’s a thing but after starting off the month with a pretty extreme haircut, that’s … Continue reading October
This month has easily felt as turbulent as the last – such great deal has changed since our time in Georgetown. After spending our last few days in the capital preparing for our new lives in Guyana’s interior, we woke early on the 2nd, drove to the airport, and caught a plane to Matthew’s Ridge. … Continue reading September
I can't believe I've finally made it to Guyana. Over 14 month's preparation has gone into this year, and when you wait that long for something it begins to feel fictional, as if it'll never actually arrive. But it (finally) did arrive, and before I knew it I found myself saying farewell to my family … Continue reading August
