So….Delirious….

Is it Day 4 in Guyana already? Keeerist. I awoke today with whole body aches and a fever and NO desire to do anything but sleep. But work waits for no epidemiologist, however sexy and arrogant! No, I don’t think it’s malaria or dengue… but that would make a good story, no?

The new Guyana continues to surprise. Yesterday for lunch I went to the “Roti Hut”, which could not possibly have existed 5 years ago. While in its over-advertised embrace, I felt like I was in Mississauga (which clearly is impossible, since Mississauga has plenty more Guyanese people than does Guyana). Food prices have risen to North American standards. Wages have gone up, too, but not as quickly as the cost of living. I’m not sure what’s driving this change, but every impressive iota of Westernization necessarily is partnered with a further slide into poverty for one group or another.

Last night I also broke one of my cardinal rules and went for a walk along the sea wall after dark. Our Project Manager insisted on it. Mind you, she felt safe because she was in the “company of a black belt”. I didn’t have the heart to tell her that when push comes to shove, this black belt is using his #1 self-defence technique: he’s running like heck back to the hotel.

But, you know, it was a very pleasant walk. The only people on the wall were couples smooching and the occasional pair of boys playing dominoes. A far cry from the murder and rape nexus reported with so much zeal by ex-pats of the last 40 years.

Okay, off to the TB clinic. I’ll update you as the malaria eggs continue to hatch…

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