More work, more play

It seems I'm so busy now that school is out and I'm not going to a different school everyday!

Last week I went to Dennery to finish up the Barrier Analysis surveys (we're officially done with surveys in both locations! Hooray!) with MaryEllen and Haley. I don't exactly enjoy data collection (I'm too introverted to like it, though this is the third time I've had to contact large numbers of people--first was when I worked for the Census a few summers ago, then a year and a half ago when researching for my BA thesis), but knowing that data collection means data analysis is what keeps me going. That step is scheduled two Fridays from today :D

When I got back into Vieux Fort Town that Monday I was just in time to see the VF bands jump in our local Carnival parade. Today (Tuesday July 21st) concludes Carnival season. Several of the smaller Eastern Caribbean islands have staggered Carnival seasons, while Trinidad is the only one with the correct time (just before Lent). This is so that no one loses out on tourists.

One great group of older women started wining in line, and ended up falling down all over each other!

Tuesday and Wednesday last week I volunteered at Camp Lajwa ("Joy" in Creole), a retreat for children with disabilities. Tuesday was for the families in the south of the country, and Wednesday everyone met up (including those from the north that held their regional camp the Sunday prior) at George Odlum Stadium in VF. Honestly I didn't expect to have nearly as much fun as I did, despite the disorganization on Tuesday and the late meals both days. Seriously, it was a great time.

Friday I went with Fae up to the Gros Islet area. We originally intended to go to "Outrageous: Sexy in Black," a Carnival fete that featured all this year's big Soca finalists, a party to last until sunrise. Then we found out that it cost much more than we were previously told, so along with Fae's lifelong friend Tricia we hit up Rodney Bay and the Gros Islet Jump Up (the best time I've had at the Jump Up, with all the top Soca songs thumping until 2. Though I'm sort of sad we missed out on the real Carnival events, we totally had a blast! We got a free round of drinks from a bartender where Tricia sings sometimes, because it was her birthday (for true!).
A couple of their friends joined us, including Jason (a Rasta version of King Julian from "Madagascar"). The best part of the night was when all five of us were piled into Tricia's small SUV, and Jason realized that the CD playing was Jason Mraz. He flipped out--because he loves Jason Mraz so much! Each song he would listen for 30 seconds, and demand the next song be played, "Pull up, pull up!" At the next bar we went to, he went so far as to request Jason Mraz songs be played instead of the typical Soca or Dancehall songs that dominate St. Lucian night life. Just before we took everyone home for the night, a trip to a chicken and fries stand was necessary. While Fae and Tricia stood patiently in line, Jason called out to the server repeatedly "Ten dollars backs, five fries!" Chicken backs are popular here because they're cheap, and as a Rastafarian Jason is a vegetarian, so he was giving the order for the two ladies and himself, of course!

Sunday I went all the way upstairs to my landlady's apartment for her grandson's birthday party. I forgot to get a picture of the card I made for him; I didn't get a gift because I didn't find out until the evening before. Thomas turned 5, and everyone wins!

Great food, delicious tamarind juice (it's my favorite local juice, it has so much flavor), lots of sweets--ice cream and cake of course!
The past couple days I'm just using to wind down and get serious work done on things I've been needing to type up, like my reviews for the IBG Phonic Programme and the After School Programme, both at VF Infant School. This week will be another very busy one, with a meeting tomorrow, minor surgery on Thursday, and an overnight farewell beach bash for EC77 (the PC group before ours). So it was definitely nice to take a couple days to stay at home in cocoa-tea-with-dumplings weather (lots of rain, a small tropical wave) and just watch the final Carnival Jump parade on the local TV stations.

Bonus: Dancing to "Suzette" at Camp Lajwa!

I'm getting tantalizingly close to the start of the afterschool program. Tomorrow I'm meeting with parents of children nominated to be the first to participate. Wednesday I'll be training volunteers for the program. Next week Monday (the 16th) will be the first day! I'm super excited about it.

Other than working on that, I haven't been doing too much the past couple of weeks.

Sunday, Feb 22nd was Independence Day, so we had Monday off from work. I went to hang with some PCVs in Piaye on the beach, then we went to Jess's house for delicious meatball subs and FUNFETTI cupcakes! It was a great time.

The next day some of us went over to the airport here in Vieux Fort to welcome the new Peace Corps Trainees. They look like a wholesome bunch. I'll be excited to meet them more in-depth in the next months.

Last week on Friday I had a great time subbing for a Grade 2 class at Belle Vue Combined. Somehow it seemed like I barely needed to be in the classroom. Even the children who were struggling with the assignment were doing the work. It was a different experience from what I'm used to, subbing at VF Infant and VF Primary, and even working in a 3rd grade class in Chicago when a substitute was there. I'm trying to figure out what the causes of these differences are, so that I might be able to give the teachers and principals in VF town insight to promote calmer classrooms.

Later in the day I went to see the end of the Interhouse Meet for VF Primary. It was a track meet for the four different sports houses at the school: Sunflower, Hibiscus, Evergreen, and Bluebell. Though I was only there for the last two races--the girls' and the boys' relays--the competition was very impressive. It was also a fun atmosphere. The Infant School children were there supporting their older siblings (there was a school-wide workshop for the teachers that day, so no classes were held), as well as many people from the community and some secondary school students who were helping out.

Yesterday Fae came over in the late afternoon, just planning to hang out, and I was going to cook dinner, but then she mentioned that if she had more money she would "sponsor" (treat) me and we could go up to Castries or Rodney Bay and do something. Well I've been pretty spendthrift lately, and I've barely gotten out of Vieux Fort, so I decided we should just go do it. We went up to Castries and met her friend Tricia, who took us up to Rodney Bay. Tricia is in a band, so we went to watch them (after splurging and getting a medium BBQ chicken and pineapple pizza at Domino's). It was a great time (even though I kept yawning; I didn't get enough sleep the night before!).

It may seem sometimes like I do exciting things all the time, because those are the things I find interesting enough to write about, but these things come in little clusters somehow. Most of my excitement comes from cooking. I'll do a post about those things soon :)

Thankfully

There wasn't a strike. The evening news channel I watch didn't mention anything on Thursday, actually, and then Friday when it was apparent that it didn't happen, they said the government appointed a committee to review a report submitted by the petroleum dealers to see what if any increases or changes will be made.

In other news....

Thursday I wish I had my camera with me. The service was nice. I marched with a grade 4 class from the town hall to the Catholic church. When we got there and were finding seats, there wasn't room for me with VF Primary students, but then the District Education Officer's secretary told me I was an invited guest, so I got to sit up front. I hadn't received my invitation due to some confusion at the suboffice, but I'm glad I showed up! There was lots of singing, certificates given to teachers who had been in the profession for 30 years or more, and speeches by several people. I got to sit just behind Dr. Kenny Anthony, our district representative and former prime minister. I also met a former PCV who served in 2005-07, whose name I've heard in the different schools with great esteem--she introduced character education to the District 6 schools. And of course there was "snack" (a full lunch for me!) after the service for the invited guests.

I felt like a minor celebrity all day, from the seating to the food to children (mostly as usual) waving me and shouting my name. Most adorably there was a little preschool girl outside the grocery store who saw me and said loudly "Mummy that's the one--" and then much more quietly "Mummy that's the one who was at the town hall!"

Yesterday I worked on a farm not too far away. This farmer is just starting out, and intends for his crops to be as organic as possible, so there were lots of weeds to weed and such. They fed us a delicious rice dish for lunch, and we all got coconuts to drink. I don't usually like coconut water, but after working a few hours weeding and whacking at taller grasses with a cutlass (a machete), it was excellent. It's a perfect refresher, better than water, because it has electrolytes (like Gatorade, etc) but few calories.

After the workday at the farm I washed up (walking home a woman asked me, "Did you fall?" because I was covered in dirt) and headed into town to see the show at Primary. I did get some pictures from that though. One great part was when a singer was singing "Try to make a platinum song, chicken back boy" to the tune of "Duffle Bag Boy" by Playaz Circle. The kids got to shout the last three words, they loved it.

An exciting couple of days, and this next week will be busy in good ways, too.

Exciting week

Last Saturday I went to the joint birthday party for Julius, Ellery, and her daughter Jovanni. I spent a lot of the time in Randy's room hanging with him and Fae, and watching Da Ali G Movie. After that I went out and hung out with the old people (they're my friends too), dancing and eating--"breakfast" was served just after midnight, and was what would normally be a weekend lunch spread. There was cake, and of course plenty to drink throughout the night. It was a great time, overall.

Earlier that afternoon I also got a package from my dad--a framed picture I gave to him a long time ago, and some Godiva chocolate bars. Packages are always very exciting :)

On Sunday I went to the movies with Fae, Randy, and a couple of his coworkers. It was a long trek up there, with waiting for people to get ready at each part (even I was a few minutes late getting to Fae's, but that wasn't much of a problem for anyone, since Randy wasn't ready for another half hour or so). We watched Transporter 3 (I've seen the first one, and I guess there was a second?). The experience was pretty much exactly like going to a theater in the States, except that the hot dog I had was actually good (and the bun, especially). Unfortunately, the movie was at 7, so I didn't get back until late, so for two nights in a row I ended up only getting a few hours of sleep. This week I still haven't been able to catch up on it yet, but perhaps tonight.

Today was exciting because I met with Sister Mary, a nun who works assisting schools all over the south and west of the island. Luckily for me, she lives in the convent here in Vieux Fort, and what's more, she wants to start an afterschool program! So today we met and talked about what we expect out of it, who and what we'll need, and we'll meet again on Monday. I'm really glad she's here, since this is something I've been wanting to do but have been feeling too stretched between three schools all week to get some time to really get it going. Her goal is to have it running by mid-February, which is a tall order, but I'll do my best to make sure it happens.

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.

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.

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.

Limin'

Yesterday we had mid-training interviews with the APCD. Everything went pretty well, though of course she wants me to talk more. I don't like people telling me that, because it's just how I am. It's not a danger to me or anyone else, it doesn't hurt anyone, and it makes things more efficient to have one less person voicing any thought that comes to mind. It's like telling an adult to be taller. It's not going to happen. I wish I were more outgoing, and I've tried to be, but it doesn't work.

Afterwards, Kelli and I had planned to go to the beach here in Vieux Fort, but it was very rainy by the time we got in. So instead we found a little place to have ice cream and beer. Single scoop of peanut butter vanilla swirl on a cone and a Piton for $3.50EC? Sounds good to me. A trip to S&S to get some flipflops for Kelli, and home again through the rain.

Last night Manman took me to Cozy Corner, a bar around the block, to hear a local folk band play.

It was fun. It was a little awkward sometimes, as you might imagine it would be if you were one of two women patrons in a place with many drunken men. But the music was good. I had rum (Crystal White) & Coke, and later the owner (who knows Manman) offered us drinks on the house. Manman had a Malta, and I was offered a Shandy, which is "A refreshing blend of lager beer and ginger," with a low alcohol content. It was pretty tasty--at first it tasted like cider, but after a bit I realized the ginger was a little bitey and each sip after that tingled on my lips and tongue.

:( i tried uploading video but it's not working. The sound on the video is horrible anyways, so oh well.

There was one guy dancing was doing so all night long, sometimes dancing with Manman, sometimes with another man. Another guy kept shouting "Waya waya waya!" to speed up the tempo. He was also a very good dancer, but only danced to one song when he came in. None of the young men danced last night, and none of the other women (but they all worked there, so that's ok).

Pictures finally!

Our bus upon arrival in St. Lucia. Look at all those smiling faces!
This is for Jesse. It's masons! No, I don't know. This is in Castries.
A view of the surrounding area from the first night in St. Lucia. Our building was up a hill, so plenty of sweat went into getting luggage (and ourselves) up and down.

This was the dining room at the pastoral retreat center where we stayed at first.
Dinner on the first night overseas: fish (kingfish? something...), green fig salad (just like potato salad), salad w/ lettuce and cucumber, spaghetti, bread and butter.

The last night in the pastoral retreat center, the band that played for us. Lovely music.
Elaine dancing with some of the staff's kids to the music.
At the Stress Out Bar. Yeah, I know--"heeeeyy guys" expression on my face--I was blinking!
Sea grapes!