Jounen Kweyol

Sunday was Jounen Kweyol (Creole Day). It's an international celebration of Creole language and cultures, so everyone here dresses up in the traditional madras plaid patterns, white cloth, and red ribbons (or in floral patterns if they don't have madras). Last week Manman took me to get fitted for a dress, so I wore that and had my hair cornrowed for the day. "We're going to Creolize you!" she said.
In the morning we went to the Catholic church in Vieux Fort town for Mass. I was actually a little disappointed that it wasn't all in Kweyol, but the priest is Indian (as opposed to West Indian) and doesn't speak it fluently I think. But it was nice.

I went to Sunday lunch with Manman, and Ellery (a friend from down the road, who works at one of the schools I'm involved with) came over and did my hair. She also sewed a sash for me, since the dress was more of a frock and it needed some shape.
Manman and I went over to a little block party where Julius had gone. I had black pudding for the first time, and it was better than I thought it would be but I tasted it in my mouth for about an hour afterwards. It also has a weird texture.

Julius drove us to Micoud Village, one of the four communities around the island hosting Jounen Kweyol celebrations. It was filled with people, music, food, drinks, displays of old things like pots and pans and stuff. There was a stage by the Temple of Saint Lucia, and when we first went by there a dance performance was going on.
I feel like I'm really becoming a part of the community. Kids call out "Miss!" to me all the time, and most of them I don't recognize because I haven't worked with them, but they most certainly recognize me. I took some of my golden apple oatmeal biscuits yesterday to the Infant School (PreK-Grade 2) for Ellery and Manman, and Manman's sister Eugenia came by to give me some baked goods. More and more I know the people that pass. It's been very nice lately.

Actually it's been pretty hot lately. When I first had my hair cornrowed I had to take some aspirin when I got home because my head hurt, but now I'm glad I don't have to worry about putting it up in a bun in the mornings. Actually, I went out and bought a little kerchief to wrap my hair in while I sleep, and its nice because it keeps all the hair off my neck so I'm not so hot.

Golden Apple Oatmeal Biscuits, etc.

I spent the better part of today cooking various items. After a trip to the market and a store and picking up my dress for tomorrow, I set out to cook a delicious lunch for myself. Well, I didn't eat the intended results until about 6:30, but cooking was so good at occupying me it was ok.

I made the green fig pie, the recipe back from almost two months ago, with some frozen veggies thrown in (and too much mustard), and some pinto beans that I had left over from the stew (I figured out how to get them soft, and now they are delicious), and some golden apple juice.

Golden apples aren't apples, and they are definitely not golden-delicious apples, so finding a recipe was really hard. Turns out their real real name is Spondias mombin, and they're called different things around the West Indies and Americas. So if you want to use them for these recipes, find out what they're called, whether it's hog plum, Spanish plum, jocote, or those-things-that-aren't-apples-and-they-in-fact-look-like-(but-taste-nothing-at-all-like)-potatoes-so-why-would-you-call-them-apples.

For both of these recipes I was pretty much just making them up as I went along, with the limited ingredients I already had in my kitchen (remember, I just moved in!). They came out great, though, so I hope you try them out too!

Golden Apple Juice
Ingredients
4 ripe golden apples
5 1/2 cups water (you may want to use less; I like my juice kind of weak)
1/2 cup brown sugar (you may want to use more; I don't like juices really sweet)

Directions
1. Cut sections off golden apples however possible. Peel skin off sections, put the pulp in a blender. Try to cut out the meat from the spines around the seed, too. After one you get the hang of it. Discard peels & seeds (or eat the peels, but they're pretty sour).
2. Blend by first pulsing a few times so all the meat starts breaking down. Then blend at high speeds to make it a very thick liquid. Add 1/2 cup water, blend a little more.
3. To press the juice: Pour a little of the juice into a strainer over a 1 liter pitcher. Use a spoon to stir, then press, out the watery juice from the pulp. Each pouring takes a few minutes to get nearly all the water out. Put the left over pulp in a bowl or saucepan and set aside (you can use this for the next recipe!).
4. Add water and sugar to pitcher, stir well. Stir the juice in the pitcher before pouring. Chill, serve over ice.

Golden Apple* Oatmeal Biscuits
(this recipe only makes 1 batch of 15 biscuits)
Ingredients
Dough:
3 cups flour
1 cup quick cook oatmeal (actually steel cut oats would probably be better)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 Tbsp honey
3 Tbsp margarine
1/4 cup evaporated milk

Spread:
1/2 cup golden apple* pulp
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 Tbsp evaporated milk
(next time I'll probably add just a little flour to thicken it up)

*Since golden apples are probably hard to find in the States, I think apricots are the closest approximation for taste. Either press out juice from 1lb fresh apricots using the method described above, or blend dried unsweetened apricots to use the pulp.

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 deg Farenheit. Combine all dough ingredients in a medium mixing bowl. It will be pretty sticky, thick, and heavy.
2. On a nonstick or greased cookie sheet put large rounded drops of dough. Make a wide, shallow depression in each one.
3. Heat spread ingredients in a saucepan over low-medium heat, stirring constantly, about 10 minutes.
4. Spoon about 1 tsp of the heated spread into the depression in each biscuit (more if you can). Bake on middle rack 17-23 minutes. The edges of the bottoms and any little parts that stick out will be golden brown.
5. Brush with margarine or butter immediately after removing from oven. These would be great served with milk or for breakfast. No need for jam, it's already on there!

Of course, if you want just the biscuits by themselves, they're pretty tasty and a little (but not too) sweet. If you want the biscuits lighter, add a little yeast or more baking powder and let it set for a while before putting it on the cookie sheet.

So this was my extremely satisfying dinner:

Pikchas!

18/10/08 Pigeon Island (it's not an island, which is why I always end up calling it Pigeon Point) Picnic
It rained on us just when we were going to start eating!
Some of our crew in front of some of the ruins of the British post established in 1778.
This is just a really bad picture of all of us.


22/10/08 Swearing-in Ceremony

That's me reading in Kweyol, introducing the NGO group.
Dr. Stephen King of Rise, Inc. This was the feature address of the ceremony.

Afterwards we went to Spinnakers. This is a toast proposed by Scott to the end of our training and to wish Judy good luck in Dominica.Everyone signed a great big card for her. We'll miss you, Judes!
This is my apartment. This is the living/dining area.

The most important room of the house, of course:
The stew I made Tuesday morning. Green plantain, dasheen, pumpkin, okra, pinto beans, carrots, cabbage. But I need to put some meat or at least bullion cubes in it next time.
The first morning I lived here I found this little guy sliding around my bedroom floor. How cute!

feels like it's been more than a week and a half (pics later)

The past week has been very busy. Along with regular training and school internship stuff, there were extra homework assignments, requiring me to carry more things and go more places, and finally on Friday was our last full day of training.

Thursday in addition to whatever else I ended up needing to do (I really don't remember, it seemed like so much) I went by my new apartment to check it out, meet the landlady, give her the rent agreement, and get the inventory. Looks like I lucked out--there are many things already here, since there were a couple Peace Corps volunteers who have lived here before me. And cable and internet are provided by my landlady, so I get to save more money for vacation (which means I'll get to catch up on fellow volunteers who have more funds back home)

Friday I was sad that I couldn't go to Laborie to see La Magueritte, a cultural festival in which different groups do performances and dress up and have princes and princesses and kings and queens. I don't have pictures on my computer, so maybe another day I'll upload the pics Manman took.

Saturday I went with my host parents up to Pidgeon Point, in the fancy touristy north part of the island. It was organized by the Peace Corps, so almost all of us trainees were there with our host families. Everyone brought food and there were so many tasty dishes. It was neat to meet everyone's families, since we've all heard things about all the others. A few of us went on a hike for a couple hours going around the hills there, and exploring the ruins of old colonial buildings. The views were pretty neat, and it was a good hike. We even grabbed a few guavas from a tree on the way back. And one of the locals, Jason's host cousin (?), talked the park people into not charging us for the hike.

Saturday night I went out after dark by myself for the first time. In downtown Vieux Fort at The Old Plantation Restaurant was a cultural music event organized by my friend Fay. It was a lot of fun, and of course I ended up seeing one of the boys I work with at school. No pictures unfortunately of this event, but it included a group of drum dancers and a band. There were supposed to be more, but there was some confusion between Fay and the restaurant owner about the time of the event. It ended early and I went home to pack, but fell asleep on my floor (and my clothes in a suitcase) after less than an hour. It was a long day.

Sunday seemed even longer. I finished packing in the morning, then walked down to the Super J (the big chain grocery store around the island) to get food and supplies for my new apartment. I spent $400EC there, and of course there are plenty of things I didn't/couldn't get there. Albert, a taxi driver that's a friend of Manman (who lives down the street from me now) picked me up there, then we went home, packed up the van with my luggage, and moved everything into my apartment. After putting away groceries, Manman and I walked back to her house (about 35 min walk, at about noon) for lunch. I thought I would get ready to go soon after that, but she insisted I just hang out and watch TV or something. I guess she was sad to see me go, even though I'm going to be around and visit often (more on that later). So she walked me back around 4pm, passing by her cousin's house on the way, and showing me a place past the brewery where there are roads going all through a grassy area where I can start jogging (it was originally going to be an industrial complex, but only one or two factory shells were put up, and they are long out of work). Once home I continued to unpack, although a lot of my time was spent going through the kitchen and cleaning lots of dishes and appliances. I didn't get to sleep until midnight, even later I think.

Monday I went up to Castries for the final interview of training, to make sure I was in good condition for swearing in. Sharmon (pretty much my Peace Corps boss/supervisor) said I had done very well in training, and that I had surprised everyone because I'm competent (good, some might even say) at working with kids who need help in school. Who new? Well, they didn't expect it because I was quiet in training. That day we also practiced for swearing in, and got information about reporting, monitoring, and evaluation throughout service. Which is nice, since it'll give us (and the PC office, and Washington) good quantifiable things to see what we've actually accomplished.

After training Kelli and I went through the market up in Castries, where I picked up some garlic, a dasheen, some okra, and a big red tomato (that alone was $4, but they're expensive here). We also went by a home improvement store, where I picked up most of the things I still needed, like towels and an iron. I lugged home a heavy tote bag and a big bag o' stuff. That night I prepared things to make stew the next morning. And of course I watched Heroes.

I did make stew on Tuesday morning before school, and it turned out ok, but I'll definitely need to revise it a few times before I'll post a full recipe. Suffice to say, though, it included green plantain, dasheen, pinto beans, okra, cabbage, pumpkin, and carrot. The really cool thing about stew is that for about $12 plus energy and time, I get a good 10 meals.

After work on Tuesday I walked between a few stores and got some more things that I needed and things that aren't necessary but nice to have. I got some instant coffee and some powdered cocoa, which made me jittery the next morning. Before I went home on Tuesday I also picked up some grapefruits from a fruit vendor on the street ($2 for 4 big ones), who I talked a little with and who I saw the next night on the bus. I remembered his name but he didn't remember mine (which doesn't usually happen).

Wednesday was our Swearing-In Ceremony. Manman and my point person, the District 6 Education Officer (Mr. Joseph), as well as the families and point persons of other trainees, and a bunch of gov't officials, and current volunteers, and.... well they all attended, and it was nice. I and three other volunteers (we had by this time taken our oath of office) read an address in Kwéyòl written by our instructor, and everyone was surprised and impressed with our pronunciation (although the four of us were selected because of that quality, and just because we could say things doesn't mean that we know what they mean). It was a nice ceremony though, and catered with delicious finger foods.

After the ceremony, the volunteers all headed over to a restaurant/bar in Rodney Bay (where all the hoity toity touristy types go, so everything is pretty expensive) for a send-off for Judy, who trained with us but will be working in Dominica. It was fun getting to hang out with everyone, and I was sad that I had to leave at 4 to get home before it got late, since most other people who lived south were spending the night with Haley, who lives there in Rodney Bay. But I had work at the school in the morning today so I couldn't stay.

At lunch today (Thursday) Manman came by the school and took me down the street to a seamstress so I can have a dress made with the madras cloth for Jounen Creole on Sunday. I'll even get have my hair in corn rows, according to Manman, and then I'll be ready for Creole Mass and the celebration that goes along with the day. Expect pictures!

Well, after a few nights of being on my own, I'm feelig comfortable in the place. It's nice to have things to do in the evenings (cook and clean), and I feel like I'm doing things nicely. On Monday evening I made some popcorn on the stove, and I don't ever want to waste money on microwavable popcorn again. There was so much of it! I'm still eating it a few days later. Most of my meals consist of either sandwiches filled with lots of veggies and some cheese and a cut-up chicken hot dog, or some soup and bread. Lots of fruit, too.

I feel like I'll get to know plenty of people around here eventually. One of my neighbors in this apt complex has made herself available for anything I need, and she's invited me to an election night party. Things are nice in general.

Well, it's very late (almost 12:30am!), waaaaaay past my bedtime, and I'm going to a school on the other side of town in the morning, so I think it's time to turn in.

Swing Dance Party!

So yesterday we did indeed host a swing dance party. Well, there was only about an hour total of dancing, but the party lasted for several hours. Two fellow PCTs, a married couple who are also living in the neighborhood for the time, came by, and many of my host family's friends and family.

We started with a full lunch for everyone--fish, saltfish, breadfruit, black beans, rice w/ vegetables, avocado, fried magombo (a lot like plantain), shredded carrot, sliced tomato. It was all very good. To drink of course we had the rum punch (recipe below!) and some grapefruit/lime/sour orange juice made from fresh fruit.

After lunch I taught a short lesson for 8 people (there were more than that many there, but they didn't want to dance). Most people picked it up really quickly, including my point person's young daughter! Not many people danced after the lesson, though. Fay was a very good follow for me to work with to demonstrate the steps and some turns. After the lesson, for the most part, the only dancing was a few of us just moving around by ourselves. Everyone was impressed (and surprised, those that didn't know I like to dance) by my moves. I'll see if I can get a video up later.

After a while I switched the music from a swing playlist I made to a band my brother plays with, The Neoprimitive. Everyone liked that music, too, and the different kinds of dances you can do to it.

After the party my host parents and another couple took me to a (free) "country and western" dance so I could see what it was like, since I had mentioned it before. Well: the music is very loud. There weren't many people there since it was early on a Sunday night. There's pretty much only one kind of step that people do to the music (box step), and no turns or anything. And the songs all sound the same--old country music. After an hour we left. It was pretty boring, to be honest. I don't think I could do more than an hour and half unless I were with friends at such a dance.

All in all yesterday was very busy, so I was very tired by the end and still am today! Tomorrow I have a dentist appointment, then I'll go to my school internship like most Tuesdays during training.

Rum Punch Recipe

Tomorrow we're hosting a swing dance lesson/party, so today Manman made rum punch for it. It's delicious!

Ingredients
1.75 cups water
1.5 cups sugar
peel from one lime or lemon
1/2 cup fresh lime juice (about 6 small limes)
1 sprig anis (or 1 tsp anis seeds)
20 oz pineapple juice, unsweetened
20 oz grapefruit juice, unsweetened
20 oz orange juice, unsweetened
1 cup strong light rum
2 cups dark rum
1/2 cup grenadine syrup
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tps (about, just do a few dashes) bitters

Directions
1. Make simple syrup using 1.5 cups each of water and sugar, and the peel from lemon or lime. Boil, stirring constantly until sugar is dissolved. Remove immediately from heat and let cool to room temperature.
2. Boil anis in 1/4 cup water for 5 minutes, remove from heat.
3. Squeeze limes to make lime juice, strain to remove pulp.
4. Combine pineapple juice, grapefruit juice, and orange juice in large bowl or pot. Remember to shake before opening! Add cooled simple syrup and cooled anis water through a strainer, add lime juice, mix.
5. Add light and dark rums, grenadine syrup, bitters, and ground nutmeg (fresh, if possible). Stir. Taste, adding whatever may need more, but don't ask a man to taste it, since he'll just say it needs more rum. You don't need more rum.
6. Pour into a large (very large) juice bottle through strainer and funnel. Refrigerate overnight.
7. If it's a small party, serve chilled. If it's larger, serve with plenty of ice. Remember to shake bottle before pouring. Enjoy!

Things that STING and BITE and STUFF!

As promised, here are the pictures I drew for the presentation today. Ours was probably the longest presentation, but people enjoyed it because of the pictures we both drew and because it was mildly interactive. I gave each person an animal, and everyone had to figure out what it was called, and each person put theirs under the labels "Poisonous" or "Non-posionous." Only a couple people guessed wrong, but theirs were difficult animals that aren't obviously poisonous.

Click on the pics for bigger images!

Phylum Osteicthyes (fish!) (Clockwise from top left): stingray, sea catfish, caribbean reef shark, moray eel, stonefish, lionfish.

Phylum Cnidaria (except Portuguese man-of-war, which is pictured later): sea lice (which are really like baby jellies), sea anemone, box jellyfish, fire coral (which isn't true coral, obviously if it's in this phylum).

Phylum Molluska (shellfish!): cone shell, caribbean reef octopus.

Other Phyla ('cept as noted above): Cnidaria: Portuguese man-of-war; Echinodermata: crown-of-thorns starfish, black sea urchin; Annelida: fireworm; Arthropoda: crab!

I had so much fun drawing these. I brought them home with me too, and I will decorate my house with them when I move!

nothing doing

I've been meaning to post a few times already, but somehow haven't gotten around to it. That means this will be an extra long post. Subtitled for clarity!

Shadowing and the Beach
On Thursday I went to Laborie to shadow Eric, a volunteer who's been here a year already. He works at the Boys' School, so it was helpful to hear from him advice about getting projects started. He said that if I have a really good idea, I should keep trying for it, even if I meet resistance from people who don't want to change the way things are already done.

At the school, I helped some kids read and complete verbal worksheets. Eric does remedial reading, and I felt right at home. After lunch a bunch of boys came in for their chess tournaments. I checked in on games to make sure kids were playing the rules, and to give constructive suggestions to those who needed it (as in, "Where can you put that one so that he can't get to it?") Then I played a game against a boy who had finished early. It was like being at Sue's again!

The boys had a sort of half day, so at 1 we started heading back to Vieux Fort to go to Sandy Beach with some other volunteers.We hung out, swam around a bit (the water was warm and the day was beautiful), and bought a couple coconuts from a guy walking around selling coconuts. As you can see, Jess didn't really like hers (the rest of us had to finish it) but Nina did!

Boring Saturday
I haven't really done a lot to speak of this weekend, which is especially sad since it's a three day weekend. I spent a lot of time researching for a water safety thing Kelli and I will present tomorrow. But it's OK because I got to draw sea creatures, and learn more about them! :)

Saturday night Randy and I went over to Fay's house for a movie night. I met some people around my age, but since it was a movie night there wasn't much talking. We watched a "preview" that Fay filmed herself (it was hilariously ridiculous) and Mind Hunters. The movie wasn't great, but to its credit I was surprised by the ending. I guess I haven't been watching enough mysteries (movies or TV shows) lately; I've lost that edge. That ended up being the only thing we watched, since Fay had another party to go to. She kicked us out at 10:30. I was up until 11:30 or maybe even midnight reading. Wow. I slept in until 7:30 the next morning. Yes, you read that right.

Walking
Yesterday I went with Manman, Eugenia (her sister), and Theo (a friend) to visit a relative who is sick. We walked from Campus A up the road in Moulez-a-chique to the house, then walked from there all the way home. I have no idea how far it was, but it took about 1 hour 20 minutes to get back. It was a good walk. It was nice and cool, BUT that was because it was dark! There's a stretch of the Vieux Fort - Laborie highway (that we were walking along) outside of town that is absolutely not lit at all. We could barely see where we were stepping, unless a car was passing us. Other than not being able to see, it was a nice walk.

Thanksgiving
Today I have the day off, since it is Thanksgiving. Nothing really special about this day, everyone celebrates in their own little way. We didn't go out at all or anything, though some people go to the beach or have cookouts or things like that. But Manman did make cocoa tea with dumplings (absolutely delicious, but I will postpone putting up the recipe until I can make it on my own, and it'll be personalized) for breakfast (edit: and dinner!), and saltfish and breadfruit for lunch. Delicious!

Tomorrow or sometime soon I will post Things That Sting And Bite And Stuff. Look forward to MelaneyArtz!

Boulyon with Dumplings

Manman made this on Saturday. Here's the recipe. All measurements are estimated! Don't blame me if it tastes bad, is what I mean :)

Ingredients

8 cups water
2 lbs ribs (salted ribs were used)
3/4 lb pumpkin on rind, strings & seeds discarded
1 cup carrot, peeled & chopped
1/2 cup turnip, peeled & chopped
2 or 2 1/2 cup any (or all) of the following, peeled & chopped: green plantain, green fig (unripe banana), potato, yam
1 Tbsp chives, chopped
1 sprig thyme
1 cup cooked beans
Dumplings (see below)
1-2 Tbsp dry seasoning mix, your preference.

Dumplings
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup water

1. Dissolve salt in water (room temperature). Add salt water a little at a time to flour in large mixing bowl. Mix as you add water. Dough should form into a ball with a little effort. Dough should flake easily, be slightly sticky on inside. Add water or flour as necessary to get desired texture. Set aside for 5 minutes.
2. Pinch ball of dough into pieces, forming logs 1 inch thick. Cut 1/2 inch sections of log with a knife. Add more flour or water only if necessary.


Boulyon
1. If using salted ribs, boil in water 30 min, rinse and discard half of water. Replace with fresh water, boil over medium-low heat for up to an hour, pot covered. Turn off heat after an hour.
2. Put pumpkin in broth for 10-20 minutes to soften, then remove pumpkin and mash it. Return mashed pumpkin (with rind) to pot. Add 1 cup water.
3. Add chopped carrots, turnips, ground provisions, cover. Heat over medium-high heat until it boils. Remove lid.
4. Add dumplings, a few at a time, stir. Add beans, stir, cover for 15-20 minutes. Stir occasionally to make sure dumplings don't stick together.
5. Add chives, thyme, dry seasoning mix (avoid seasoning with much salt if using salted meat).
6. Serve & enjoy! To eat like a true Lucian, suck the meat off the bones (it will be very tender by now), and chew out the marrow--if you've never tried it, it's actually really tasty!

quick mid-week update

I was supposed to have an assessment of sorts yesterday while at my internship, but the person who was going to assess me couldn't make it. So I'm expecting a call from him to reschedule for tomorrow, although I have a shadowing assignment with another PCV tomorrow, so I'm not sure how it'll all work out. If we had had more time & info about the activity & assignment I don't think there would really be a problem, but here we are. Flexibility is one of the PC qualities emphasized, after all.

I got a package from my mom today! It's very exciting. I have clothes--more t-shirts, shorts, pants & such. Thanks mom!

I'm nearly done with The Hobbit, and next I will move on to God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater by Vonnegut. I like reading. :)

On Saturday I was bitten many times by mosquitoes. There are small red spots all over my legs still left, but even worse, there are a couple of very red patches where I must have been bitten by a spider or something. These spots itch still!

During training up in Castries we've taken to playing "Suzette" by Herb Black, the Soca Monarch for 2008--it's an award-winning calypso song, in other words. Well, when you listen to the song you have to dance to it if at all possible. So I've gotten plenty of (toned-down) wining and shaking and "bat-bat"ing in at the office. Here's a good video of it, since you can see also what the schools here look like from the outside. It's hilarious and awful though that he's singing this song for kids, and having them dance to it. Try to figure out what the song is about. Check out the blue video on youtube too, it has the song with full music quality but no video.

Manman bakes cakes (like coffee cakes, but moist and better than any kind you'd find in a store), and they are delicious, and it's a good thing I'm moving out in two and a half weeks, because I'd get fat really quickly otherwise.