Sweltering Georgetown.

Here I am in Georgetown, Day 3. I am sweating and doing well in this interesting place. I have spent most of my 3 days at my flat and lounging on the shared patio of my flat reading and thinking. I am staying at one of three apartments on the property of a very old and sweet woman. I have spent much of my time chatting with her outside, where under the patio- shade & a breeze cools better than in the apartments. She is an awesome whipper snapper of an old woman, and has a pHD in sociology, specializing in women's studies and social work. She never married and has no kids- and when she retired she bought the property and decided to open a Guest House. My "flat" is nice and I feel comfortable there. Above me is a British couple, and I have yet to meet a Canadian who lives across the patio- she was in Brazil.

Georgetown feels a bit like a mix somehow of India and South Africa- or perhaps that is all I know to relate it to... There is very much a Caribbean feel- there are busy streets with lots of honking and yesterday I listened to 2 young men drumming while checking my email. There are many birds in Georgetown- the Garden City, as it is called. I hear birds chirping from inside my flat & a rooster crows throughout the morning- that def reminds me of South Africa- especially if he starts crowing at night (hopefully not). The buildings are predominantly wood, colonial style (or so I read) and many appear somewhat run down- at least in the few places I have been. The people so far are very friendly. Some spots I see remind me of South Carolina near the beach, or something along those lines... I am now at an internet cafe, after my first little venture on my own. Despite the short walk I was sweating intensely. It is hot here with a very bright sun. There was a short rain shower this morning, but no rain, otherwise in the past few days. We are in one of the country's three rainy seasons. I visited the Nurse's Association yesterday and ran a few errands. I got a cell phone to be in touch with people here. Strange how I seem to only be able to go 24 h without cell phone...

Today has been a slow day, which is somewhat hard for me,as I feel like I need to be doing something. I am sort of waiting around to hear from my local sponsor (who is a very busy woman)about her having some time to introduce me to the clinics, etc. I sat around the house all day, and outside reading, got myself invited to lunch on the porch with the owner Sybil (she is like in her 90s) and her niece (a dentist) who comes over each day for lunch. We had fried fish and rice. I decided to get some guts so I picked them up off the floor and mapped my way to an internet cafe- so here I am quite a short walk- although I am sweating like crazy from it, and was nervous of course, for my 1st walk alone here. It seems I will be spending a lot of time here, as i think I will not be getting the internet after all in my flat. Seems very time consuming & expensive process for just 2 months. I will try to come here often if I can- to the internet cafe.

I jogged last night (dad-Longinotti-style)while watching a Friends episode on the tv. My first time to turn it on. There are only a few channels & some are very sketchy & some change rather awkwardly from 1 show to the next, as if it is being sloppily edited together from channels in the States. I saw a Obama commercial- that made me teary. How interesting to see this commercial here. I am feeling sort of ancy about getting my research started, but I know I should just relax and be here and not worry about it all too much. I am actually on NYC time- so same time zone as CT- interesting... Did I mention I had malaria-prophylaxis dreams last night that stirred me out of my sleep. I woke up and was itching like crazy due to mosquitos, or so I thought, I grappled for many minutes (way too many) with the big Out-of-Africa-style mosquito net hanging above my bed. Trying to put it on- I guess I should have taken a class on this, b/c in my tired state it was nearly impossible to cover my entire bed. I was moving it out away from me around the bed with all my extremities- I seriously must have looked like a Saturday Night Live sketch- I laughed at myself out loud. All I could think to describe it, in my one thin, sweat drenched sheet was "malarial heat"- Last night this descriptor sounded like a Tennessee Williams-literary masterpiece. In the light of day, I cannot even find the mosquito bites...