I'm Magically Adapting

As a result of being a former British colony, Guyanese schools follow the British system. The students have a different schedule every day, which keeps life exciting for me. Until they get the timetable straightened out for the year, I won’t know for sure what I’m going to be teaching the next day.

Speaking of things being unpredictable, Caroline is a bit upset today. After almost two weeks of teaching at New Amsterdam Multilateral Secondary (NAMS), she was informed last night that since Berbice High School (BHS) had originally requested her, she is obligated to teach there. BHS decided this a day or so ago while making payroll arrangements for me. NAMS has already made a timetable for her in which she was scheduled for 36 out of the 40 weekly periods. Instead, she spent the day today in the BHS staffroom doing basically nothing. On the upside, I now have company and moral support at BHS. Another happy thing: I found out that I am going to get paid more than I had originally been told, about the equivalent of $300 US versus $225. Hooray! I need groceries.

I am beginning to understand how the Guyanese school system works overall, though I have to admit the only way I’ve been able to keep things straight is by drawing parallels to Harry Potter. Like Hogwart’s, Berbice High School is a secondary school, meaning the students begin at level seven and are called first-formers. The oldest students are in level 12 and are in the sixth form. The students wear uniforms and belong to houses with funny names; I have been assigned to Pugsley House. Also, like in Harry Potter, the houses compete against each other in sports. I don’t really know what else the houses are for, though, since the students don’t matriculate. The lab reminds me of the potions lab because in the stockroom there are many irregularly-shaped bottles filled with mystery liquids and in a nearby room are several jars with preserved animal specimens in them. One jar contains a human fetus and ovary from an aborted ectopic pregnancy. Unfortunately, unlike in Harry Potter, the students do not wear robes, cast magic spells, or fight evil wizards.

I finally learned my address:

New Amsterdam Multilateral Secondary School Compound
Cummingsville, New Amsterdam
Berbice, Guyana
South America

Apparently, it is very important that you specify South America, because there have been instances where things have been shipped to Ghana by mistake.