That's right. For those of you who didn't see it on Facebook, I ate termites yesterday.
On Tuesday afternoon I received an email from Diane inviting other PCVs on an around-the-island bus trip Wednesday. I was very hesitant to go, for two main reasons. 1) I wasn't sure if the teachers (along with other civil servants) would still be on strike on Wednesday, which would allow me to take the day away from school if they did. 2) I'm on a pretty tight budget right now, since I transferred most of my savings to my US account to pay for my plane tickets for summer vacation.
Well, the teachers, with the rest of the Trade Union Federation (TUF), did indeed strike Tuesday, Wednesday, and today. They're also planning a meeting (another day away from school) for tomorrow to discuss their next couse of action. There are a few developments that makes the issue more complicated than I had described in previous posts.
A couple weeks ago the government offered a 3% increase now (the rest to add later when they have the money), which TUF rejected. The government offered a 3.5% increase, also rejected. Earlier this week TUF said they won't stop action unless negotiations start at 4.5%. Tuesday government said they could maybe go for 4%. No deal. The government called in church leaders to speak to the TUF strikers, trying to "appeal to their sense of humanity." It just made the civil servants more upset. Wednesday morning the Ministry of Education announced that parents should send their children to school, even though many if not most teachers wouldn't be there (this confused me when I saw children in uniform yesterday morning, since I hadn't heard the news that morning). The president of TUF complained about this, saying parents should sue the Ministry of Education if anything happens to their children while teachers are not there. Wednesday there was also talk that civil servants might have pay docked for days they're on strike instead of at work, which TUF president had already said absolutely wouldn't happen.
Though on Tuesday morning it looked like the impasse might be resolved by the end of the week, as the strike continues to me it looks like the two sides are struggling farther apart in their demands.
So Wednesday, as I said, the strike continued, so I considered the around-the-island tour. When Diane gave me the price for the trip ($10 for transport, instead of the $30-35 it would cost normally), I had to get in on it. I'm so glad I did.
Our first main stop was in Forestierre, to take a walk through the rainforest. We had a really good trail guide, Cristel, who knew a lot about the different plants and animals in her forest and on St. Lucia. We stopped for a break to eat some fruit at the end of the short trail, but not before Justin, Mary Ellen, (Eric? I don't remember,) and I ate some live termites, fresh from the mound. Honestly I could't even taste them once they were in my mouth, they were just like tiny crumbs of shredded wheat.
We then headed to the Plantation House Brewery, where I enjoyed a nice microbrew lager with an overpriced but decent hamburger. On to Mega J, where I suggested we buy a 5 liter tub of neopolitan ice cream to share among the 9 of us on the van instead of stopping at an ice cream shop later. Idea approve and implemented. Excellent idea. Too much ice cream, it was awesome. We headed down the West Coast, much of which I hadn't seen before. We stopped at Plas Kasav, where they make cassava bread in the old-fashioned way, on leaves in a huge 200-year old cast iron pot over hot coals; then a nice gift shop with local crafts between Canaries and Soufriere. Our last stop before heading home was a dip in the Sulfur Springs (I didn't go in, because I hate the hassle of the grime and the smell on my skin and bathing suit and everything blech). Plenty of nice lookout points along the way.
Excellent day, I'm very glad I went.
Today I'm working on my volunteer report for the current trimester. Looking back I've done a lot of things in the past four months. I'm sure you can look back and see that too!
Tomorrow we have an all-volunteer conference, so I'm looking forward to seeing everyone again. It has been quite a while, and I don't think I've been up to Castries in about a month!
17 May 2009
Thinking through obstacles
Discussions with Randy (my "host brother," a secondary school English teacher) and Mrs. Eugene (a secondary school counselor) make salient a some things that have made my progress here slow. Lack of parental involvement, lack of volunteerism, young parents, low educational standards (both cultural and institutional), distractions and hardships outside of school, the list goes on.
With my sociological mentality, I'm constantly looking for explanations and solutions. Why are there so many children who perform so far below their level? What's the difference between the low performers I work with and the bright children who occupy the same classrooms and schoolyards? The obstacles mentioned above, certainly, but why are those the determinants, and how can we improve conditions for these kids?
I'm thinking that gender roles and attitudes toward sex and parenting is actually more important than people may realize. It's one of those things that's so ingrained from childhood that it's hard to see the effects (everywhere, not just in St. Lucia). This site explains it more succinctly than I can:
One of the Peace Corps initiatives worldwide is to empower women and girls. Here in St. Lucia, women already have power. They work, they make decisions about their families. Let's empower men and boys, teach them to respect their own sexuality. Teach them about raising families. Teach them to take responsibility. Teach them that life can get better than liming at the rum shop down the road and getting with whichever woman responds to their cat calls.
As hard a time as I'm having with my small project now, the idea of trying to change attitudes about gender roles makes it look easy.
With my sociological mentality, I'm constantly looking for explanations and solutions. Why are there so many children who perform so far below their level? What's the difference between the low performers I work with and the bright children who occupy the same classrooms and schoolyards? The obstacles mentioned above, certainly, but why are those the determinants, and how can we improve conditions for these kids?
I'm thinking that gender roles and attitudes toward sex and parenting is actually more important than people may realize. It's one of those things that's so ingrained from childhood that it's hard to see the effects (everywhere, not just in St. Lucia). This site explains it more succinctly than I can:
- Women often times run their households and raise their children with little to no assistance from men.
- Most women work, shop, etc., and there is little that is seen as unacceptable for them to do.
-
From a young age girls are encouraged far more than boys to be active in school, which continues into college. Increasingly women are taking over the professional role while men continue in labor jobs (construction, bus drivers, farming). Yet, men still expect to be the sole breadwinners despite a changing professional class of women.
One of the Peace Corps initiatives worldwide is to empower women and girls. Here in St. Lucia, women already have power. They work, they make decisions about their families. Let's empower men and boys, teach them to respect their own sexuality. Teach them about raising families. Teach them to take responsibility. Teach them that life can get better than liming at the rum shop down the road and getting with whichever woman responds to their cat calls.
As hard a time as I'm having with my small project now, the idea of trying to change attitudes about gender roles makes it look easy.
09 May 2009
Misspeaking and Cheering
Looks like I spoke too soon about the Teachers Union pay crisis being resolved. It isn't. In fact it's as far from resolved as ever.
On Tuesday this week they held another meeting (another day away from school) to discuss the government's offer. The teachers continue to demand payment (the full 7.5% increase in salary) by the end of this month, or else. The government still says it doesn't have the money to do that, period.
So we'll see.
Yesterday was the District 6 Sports Meet, where all the schools in the Vieux-Fort area came together with their best athletes. There was a very good showing, and thankfully the weather finally let up, so we just had a few light sprinkles throughout the day. Plainview Combined won the day, but Vieux-Fort Infant/Primary came in second! I sat with the VF Infant teachers, and we had a great time cheering for our track stars in both VF schools. I came home with a slightly sore throat from yelling for my kids.
All the athletes lined up by school. The two schools I work at are both on the far right.
I think this is the Under 9 Girls 80 meter Dash. A girl from VF Primary is winning by a long shot!
Students, teachers, and family from Vieux-Fort Infant and Primary
For those of you in Austin, I'll be home August 5th-19th! Diana will come and visit the second weekend I'm there. I'm super excited for all of it!
On Tuesday this week they held another meeting (another day away from school) to discuss the government's offer. The teachers continue to demand payment (the full 7.5% increase in salary) by the end of this month, or else. The government still says it doesn't have the money to do that, period.
So we'll see.
Yesterday was the District 6 Sports Meet, where all the schools in the Vieux-Fort area came together with their best athletes. There was a very good showing, and thankfully the weather finally let up, so we just had a few light sprinkles throughout the day. Plainview Combined won the day, but Vieux-Fort Infant/Primary came in second! I sat with the VF Infant teachers, and we had a great time cheering for our track stars in both VF schools. I came home with a slightly sore throat from yelling for my kids.
All the athletes lined up by school. The two schools I work at are both on the far right.
I think this is the Under 9 Girls 80 meter Dash. A girl from VF Primary is winning by a long shot!
Students, teachers, and family from Vieux-Fort Infant and Primary
For those of you in Austin, I'll be home August 5th-19th! Diana will come and visit the second weekend I'm there. I'm super excited for all of it!
Vegetarian Curry Patties!
After jerk chicken, Jamaican beef patties are one of the more well known Caribbean dishes. They're delicious savory pastries sort of like empanadas (which are kind of like turnovers), but the dough is denser. Jamaican cooking is full of strong, spicy flavors, so many different spices are usually used.Here in St. Lucia food usually isn't hot-spicy, but we do use a lot of curries because of the East Indian population influence.
Inspired by this, limited by my choice to refrain from buying meat, I came up with my own version of a Jamaican patty. The veggies involved are onions, eggplant, and shredded cabbage, with lentils thrown in for protein. The patties aren't exactly low-fat (butter and shortening are used in the pastry, coconut milk in the filling), but they are filling and full of healthy stuff. Plus they're delicious!
Vegetarian Curry Patties
Pastry
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
2 tsp yellow curry powder
1/4 cup shortening
1/4 cup cold unsalted butter
1/2 black plantain, cooked, mashed, cooled (about 1/3 cup) (if not using plantain, make sure shortening and butter together total at least 3/4 cup)
1/2 cold water (more as needed)
Filling
1 Tbsp oil (I used soybean oil)
1 1/2 Tbsp yellow curry powder
1/4 tsp cayenne powder
salt to taste
1/2 cup white onion, finely chopped
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup dry lentils
1 cup eggplant, diced
1 cup cabbage, finely shredded and chopped
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
Flour for rolling dough
1 egg, beaten for brushing patties
1. If using a black (very ripe) plantain in the pastry, cut off both ends, cut in two, boil 10 minutes. Let it cool, remove the skin from one of the halves, and mash it up with a fork. Put it in the fridge for 10 minutes.
2. Sort, wash, and soak lentils. (Usually they don't need to be soaked, but with the oil and coconut milk in the filling they'll need the extra moisture to soften up.)3. In a large bowl, start the pastry. Mix flours, salt, curry powder. Cut in shortening, butter, and plantain bit by bit. Mix thoroughly until everything clumps and breaks apart easily.
4. Add cold water bit by bit, mix until a tight ball of dough is formed. Wrap dough in plastic, refrigerate while you prepare the filling.
5. Dice eggplant to 1/4 inch cubes, toss with a pinch of salt, set aside.
6. Saute curry, cayenne, salt, and onion with oil in medium saucepan, 8 minutes over low-med heat. Add minced garlic, saute for 2 minutes, then reduce heat.
7. Add coconut milk, lentils, and eggplant (diced to 1/4" cubes). Cook uncovered for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add cabbage, continue to cook 10-15 minutes, letting the mixture reduce until it's moist but no longer soupy (resembling cooked ground beef, actually). If lentils don't soften after about 20 minutes, add 1/4 cup water, continue to cook and reduce. Add lemon juice, stir, remove from heat.
8. Preheat oven to 350F and get out the pastry dough.9. Sprinkle a clean, dry, even surface with flour, and flour your trusty rolling pin. Pinch off a 3 inch ball of dough, flatten it, roll it out as you would a flour tortilla, but just a little thicker. Use a bowl between 5-7 inches diameter to cut a circle in dough.
10. Spoon the filling onto half the circle, leaving at least 1/2" around edge. Fold other half of pastry over, use a fork to press the two edges together, place on greased cookie sheet, brush with egg.
11. Repeat steps 7 and 8 to make all the patties. Cookie sheet with patties goes in the oven for 30-40 minutes.
Makes 5-14, depending on size.
I found that though the patties are good while they're still warm from the oven, they are a little too dry. After they've been covered at room temperature for a day, the pastry is softer and moister, and it can be reheated easily. Refrigerate after 1 day.
The aroma from the filling cooking was one of the best I've had in my apartment since I moved in. Sometime I'll do just the filling without reducing it and eat it over noodles as a fake Thai dish.
01 May 2009
Labor Day, yet another day off
If I remember correctly, the decision reached by the Trade Union Federation (including the Teachers Union) and the government is that workers will get a 3.5% salary increase soon, and by April of next year they expect the other 4%. That's taken care of, and we don't have to worry about any more unnecessary school closings...
...Except that this North American Flu thing has everyone scared, and people are so reactionary (here and throughout the world) that I won't be surprised if they start closing schools without full evidence of a confirmed case. Especially next week and the week after, because today is the beginning of Saint Lucia Jazz Fest, which is on of the big tourist draws for the country. We'll have world famous musicians, including one from (*gasp, run for the face mask*) Mexico. I have a feeling that group won't get the crowd it deserves.
Sometimes there are things I encounter here that impress me, other times they remind me of the hassles of daily life here. I am impressed that the news media has since Tuesday been consistently called the H1N1 virus "North American Flu," as encouraged by WHO. I'm not impressed that we've banned the import of pork from North America (remember, it's spread by human-to-human contact, not from eating pork!). I am glad that the teachers at the VF Primary School yesterday had some very good and insightful questions about how to deal with it.
Tuesday I went by the bank, expecting to wait an hour in line to transfer some money to my US account to pay for my plane ticket home (I'll be in Austin August 5-19th!), but I got there a little after 2:30 and apparently the bank closes at 2pm. What? Why would they close so early? And of course there's no hours posted on the outside, so I don't know if that's just on Tuesdays, or everyday, or when I'll next be able to go to the bank. Most offices and stores close at 4 or 4:30, so I guess this is one of the reasons why people leave work at random times and don't come back for an hour or so.
Finally, today I woke up at 6:30, like most mornings, saw that the sky was a nice bright blue. Excellent, I thought. Perfect day to do the laundry. Then I turned on my sink, and only a trickle of water came out. I'm not sure why, but my water supply is on our tank now, rather than regular water service. Not a great day to use the washing machine. If I don't get the right combination tomorrow I'll probably hand wash a few things, but what I've been needing to wash are my pants, clothes that need more vigorous work to get clean than blouses. I may go another week with unwashed slacks and jeans, but what's another week after a month and a half?
...Except that this North American Flu thing has everyone scared, and people are so reactionary (here and throughout the world) that I won't be surprised if they start closing schools without full evidence of a confirmed case. Especially next week and the week after, because today is the beginning of Saint Lucia Jazz Fest, which is on of the big tourist draws for the country. We'll have world famous musicians, including one from (*gasp, run for the face mask*) Mexico. I have a feeling that group won't get the crowd it deserves.
Sometimes there are things I encounter here that impress me, other times they remind me of the hassles of daily life here. I am impressed that the news media has since Tuesday been consistently called the H1N1 virus "North American Flu," as encouraged by WHO. I'm not impressed that we've banned the import of pork from North America (remember, it's spread by human-to-human contact, not from eating pork!). I am glad that the teachers at the VF Primary School yesterday had some very good and insightful questions about how to deal with it.
Tuesday I went by the bank, expecting to wait an hour in line to transfer some money to my US account to pay for my plane ticket home (I'll be in Austin August 5-19th!), but I got there a little after 2:30 and apparently the bank closes at 2pm. What? Why would they close so early? And of course there's no hours posted on the outside, so I don't know if that's just on Tuesdays, or everyday, or when I'll next be able to go to the bank. Most offices and stores close at 4 or 4:30, so I guess this is one of the reasons why people leave work at random times and don't come back for an hour or so.
Finally, today I woke up at 6:30, like most mornings, saw that the sky was a nice bright blue. Excellent, I thought. Perfect day to do the laundry. Then I turned on my sink, and only a trickle of water came out. I'm not sure why, but my water supply is on our tank now, rather than regular water service. Not a great day to use the washing machine. If I don't get the right combination tomorrow I'll probably hand wash a few things, but what I've been needing to wash are my pants, clothes that need more vigorous work to get clean than blouses. I may go another week with unwashed slacks and jeans, but what's another week after a month and a half?
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