Strike one

So while the gas dealers never striked even though they didn't get the full cut they were asking for, the biggest news on island right now is the salary raise promised to teachers last year due tomorrow--and how it's not going to happen.

And the Teachers Union already decided if they don't get their raise, they will not go to schools for three full days.

This past Monday they didn't attend because they had an emergency meeting, where they made this decision. Government (that's how it's said here, not "the government," similar to saying "he was rushed to hospital," no article) announced last week that it didn't have enough money to meet the second part of the raise that was initiated last year (there was a "meeting"/strike held on the second Monday of Term 1, back in September, where they negotiated this raise with government).

The teachers I've listened to the past couple of days argue that it's more than just a broken promise, it's actually breaking a legal contract. They say that government shouldn't have agreed to a raise that it wouldn't be able to deliver. The raise was made partly because teachers are not reimbursed in any part for purchases made for the classroom.

The government officials that have commented publicly cite the global economic crisis. Though it hasn't been mentioned directly in this context, a few months ago government provided a bailout to the tourism industry, since it is directly dependent on the currently failing economies of places like the UK and the US. Provisions such as this have dramatically and unexpectedly depleted already strained government assets.

So it looks like we'll miss another three days of school (Thursday, Friday, Monday) right at the beginning of the most important Term as far as test prep goes. Examinations for Minimum Standards, Common Entrance for secondary schools, and CXE (sort of like SATs) are coming up at the end of the term in June.

Because of the possible/very likely strike, the District Six Sports Meet scheduled for Friday has been postponed (again) to early May. This means I'll get to attend the swearing in of the new Peace Corps group and the Barrier Analysis meeting afterwards. I'm looking forward to both.

In other news (food related, of course) I made bread pudding two ways last night. One was savory with my veggie mainstays (spinach, tomato, onion, sweet (green bell) pepper), cheese, and plenty of egg; the other was sweet with cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, currants, and chopped plantains. They're both delicious! I'm superglad that I read one particularly encouraging blog recipe. It said that it's pretty much impossible to mess up bread pudding. I like to think mine wasn't anywhere close from messing up, but I'm probably not the best judge of that.

Whoopie Pies for Carifta Volunteers

Success!

I hadn't had a whoopie pie before, but the innumerable descriptions and recipes and pictures that have bombarded the culinary creative commons of the internet gave me a pretty good idea. So, of course, I decided to make my own. And, of course, I put my own West Indian (and cheap-skate) twist on it.

:D

So I used the same recipe for my candy molasses cookies, omitting the candy and nuts, adding perhaps just a touch more sifted flour to ensure they were super soft and cakey. Several methods of portioning out the dough (two rounded tablespoons, one rounded tablespoon, using a simple cookie cutter) led me to believe that the best prep for the dough just before it goes into the oven is to round a consistent amount (either 1 or 2 tablespoons, depending on your desired size) into balls in your hands, then pat them down a little bit flat on the cookie sheet. Give them plenty of room, since they spread.

Then I used a very simple recipe for the icing, which made a much larger quantity than my one-egg batch of cookies (so definitely go with the full batch of cookies for the right amount), and added several scrapings (up to a teaspoon, by taste) of fresh nutmeg. Make sure your cookies are completely cooled before spreading and sandwiching the icing.
...that doesn't look like good icing.
...but that does!

Encase them well in plastic wrap, walk two miles to the George Odlum Stadium with whoopie pies in your ever-present blue Peace Corps tote, and deliver them to weary Carifta volunteers.


One last bit of advice: the icing starts to stiffen after a day, so make sure there are people around to gobble them up the day you make them ;)

Oh Noes!

Looks like I'm getting sick. Just earlier this week I was thinking about how I'm awesome for not getting sick since I've been here....Pride before a fall, I guess.

Maybe I shouldn't have hung out at the house of a friend who has the flu (coughfaehacksneeze). Though the chicken and mashed potatoes she made for me were absolutely fantastic.

The other night I made a tasty full meal with spicy baked flying fish, a baked sweet potato (half seasoned savorily, half sweetened for dessert), and a mini veggie casserole. I assure you, it all tasted much better than it looks:

Today I went up to Castries for a Barrier Analysis meeting, and it looks like we're on our way towards researching. We developed our questions and revised our goal, behaviour, and priority group. There are still a few things to do, but we're much closer than we were yesterday.

I'm currently on Easter break, and if I weren't getting sick I would make sure to go to all the church services this weekend. I'll try to make at least one of them, though. Probably on Sunday. I'll also try to check out the Carifta Games (esp since they're right here in Vieux Fort!).