First week back- English Yachties and Super furry monkeys

And I’m well and truly back to the blackboard.

I’ve missed teaching. I’ve missed writing on a chalkboard. The lovely way the chalk makes my handwriting look special. The way the chalks always snap mid-flow. The way you feel like washing your trousers every day because they get covered in chalk dust. All these things to help you remember you’re back to work!

Getting the chance to travel and work in India this summer was great but it made me miss the day job. It was also great to get back to the UK with their strange lack of humidity and to see the family but all this relaxation really made me miss the day job. I think an 8 week summer holiday was more than enough for me.

Landing in Georgetown bought back all the memories of the previous year along with the smells (some amazing, some terrible- GT doesn’t do mediocrity!). After a whirlwind first couple of days, settling in and seeing friends, it was back to school. Typically, two days in, I felt that I had never been away.

With the first week under my belt I am back in full throttle. It is my fourth year of teaching now and I still feel like I am in my first! New names to remember, new ideas about teaching different concepts, new tactics to persuade Year 11s to revise and Year 9s to do their homework! I look to the future and wonder if I stay in teaching, will this ever change?!

I remembered why I look forwards to weekends in Georgetown. This past one started with a super birthday party for my Guyanese ‘cousin.’ Then the scenery changed on Sunday and I found myself bombing up the Essequibo River towards a Yacht Rally. A Yacht Rally in Guyana sounded like the most unexpected thing to happen here but then I guess that made it truly Guyanese.

 

 

We turned up at a big house with a jetty creeping out over the murky brown river and were surrounded by a platoon of sailing yachts that had made their way from Tobago to the Guianas. A four day trip we later found out! I spent the afternoon swimming, kayaking and getting toured around the yachts by the sailors themselves. One of the couples sailing happened to be from my hometown in the UK, which just made the whole day a touch more bizarre but a breath of fresh air to be out of the city.

I had forgotten how beautiful Guyana is. Coming back up the river, the Sun was setting in pinky/orange streaks that bounced off the choppy waves on the river. Bright green parrots were making raucous banter over our heads as they crossed the river for the night and troupes of red monkeys were settling up in their favourite sleep spots along the river bank. I resolved to not leave it so long before I next leave the city!