Thursday, September 23, 2010

here we go then

no one i have ever known has been to french guiana. very few people i know have even heard of it. to get there, i will be taking a total of 5 flights and logging 11 hours in the air and 20+ hours in airports. i have, coursing through my veins, yellow fever, typhoid fever, dengue fever, malaria, hepatitis a, and, thanks to a slight mishap at the doctors office 2x the necessary amount of hepatitis b.

why am i doing this again?

of course, this will all be water under the bridge once i arrive. i received an e-mail from a man named Jean-Louis who works at the school that i will be working at and he couldn't be more excited to share his "treasure" of a country. he wrote in english, which is encouraging. and doesn't seem to be originally from french guiana (which means he may know what other parts of the world are like and he has made the choice to be there).

despite the sour tone of this first (ever!) blog post, i am thrilled for this opportunity. imagine the wildlife! this is truly an adventure. i only wish i had a few comrades to run around the jungle with me.

i'm getting used to journaling in the public realm so it is likely that my first few posts will be a bit awkward. not as awkward as this photo though

i'm sure it wont be long before im missing america. but for now i'm ready. ready for the spider monkeys, tarantulas, snakes, mosquitos, rain, rain, and rain. it will certainly be something to see and take part in a completely foreign way of life. i'm interested in people and what it means to be human in a place so different than the ones i know. 

it's 4:14 in the morning and i am alone in the international airport in miami. i'm going to snooze a while before the next leg of the journey. 

a bientot 

6 comments:

  1. *that one axl rose song plays in the background of your post*

    keep up the good blog kayla ; and post some nasty (great) pics of the guyanian? guyanturan? guyanese? aventure

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  2. Can't believe we missed the chance to see you off! Keep up on this blog. It will be your mother's sanity. :-) Love, love, love and hugs.
    ~Arapoffs

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  3. sent you a long message on facebook, I hope you got it...love to my number 1 first grader!!! Please keep blogging, I must hear about the adventures! xoxox

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  4. Should be a great experience, im guessing the internet is suspect down there but let us know how things are going, youre probably settled in by now hope its going alright

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  5. Kayla! Thanks for the call to let us know you did, indeed, make it to French Guiana. Glad you have your own phone now. A note to fellow Jungle Blog followers, I had a quick conversation with Kayla yesterday, all is well as she and her fellow 'Assistants' (20 or so, from all over the world...all hired by the French Ministry of Education to teach in FG) begin to get settled in. She said that for now she does not have reliable internet connection but once they are in their permanent digs, and are assigned to their schools, she should be up and running with the blog.

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  6. Hi Kayla! I'm so happy to be a part of your adventure through your blog. With your writing skills it's going to feel like we're right there with you. Take care and can't wait for the next update!

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