8/7/02

Here I am!  I’ve actually been here awhile now but it’s not so easy to get on a computer here.

Here’s what’s been going on lately:

The first couple days after I left home were spent in Miami at “Staging”.  That was our first training part where they laid down the basics of what would be going on for the next couple weeks and did ice breakers with all of the other kids in the training class.  There are 51 of us…was 52, but one girl left after the first night.  I would say that overall our group is really cool.  I was actually surprised at how cool everyone was.   I would say that about half of the people graduated from school within the last year.  The other half ranges in age from 23 to 71.  There are about 9 or 10 people who are over 50, and two married couples.  In Miami we stayed at a really nice hotel.  I roomed with two other girls, Christina, who is from Las Vegas and/or Seattle , and Martha, who is from San Francisco .

On Thursday the 26^th, we set off EARLY for the airport to leave for St. Lucia .  I’ve never seen so much luggage in my life.  And I think the people were few and far between who actually heeded the “80 total pounds of luggage” rule.  But they were really cool about letting us take all of our garbage.  Our flight from Miami connected in San Juan , PR.  We had a bit of more trouble there with the luggage because we were on a tiny little plane.  We were split into two flights because we were too many, and on the second flight two kids had to be left behind because the airplane was overweight.  Lucky them, got to tour PR while they waited for the next flight!

Our first 2 days in St. Lucia we stayed at a hotel in Castries .  It was really nice and had a pool.  It was really nice to swim after we trucked our luggage around in the Caribbean sun and humidity.  At the hotel we met the on-island Peace Corps staff.  Every second we were amazed by the scenery.  The hotel had a view of the ocean and the town.  There were all kinds of flowery trees around.

On Saturday, we left the hotel to meet our families in a town called Babonneau.  I was met by my host mother, Theresa, her daughter Shanet and Shanet’s daughter, Chelsea (Chelo).  Later I met my host father, Vitalis (I.O.) and the other daughter, Krishna .  We had the entire weekend for relaxing and getting to know each other.  On the first night I went to the grocery store with Theresa, Chelsea and our neighbor, Flavia.  I was really surprised at how American the grocery store was.  In Miami , one guy had to make an emergency, last-minute run for Pop-Tarts.  But they had them at the grocery store here.  They had contact lens solution, most kinds of American cereal, freezer garlic bread (yay!) and almost everything else.  Prices on some of the things were high.  You could get apples there, but they’re imported from the states and really expensive.  The local things are cheaper, but I think they’re cheaper yet at the markets.  At the store I saw a few other volunteers.  Theirs were about the only other white faces I saw!  After shopping, we went and got Domino’s Pizza.  It tasted just like the stuff at home.  Probably not the most “ Caribbean ” first meal, but it was good!

The next day we went to the beach for a bit.  I didn’t swim, but it was nice to hang out there.

Our house is cute.  As you drive up to it, you can see Pigeon Point, at the north of the island, the ocean, and Martinique on clear days.  I have my own small room.  It’s off the main room, and the other bedrooms and bathroom are off another hall.  The kitchen is downstairs, and you can only access it from outside.  It’s good sized, but BUGGY!  The yard is beautiful.  Aside from the view, there are lots of trees and plants in the yard.  Theresa explained to me what all of them are, but I forgot.  Right now there are avocado and star fruit (five-fingers or star apple) trees that are producing.  She also has lots of smaller plants, tomatoes, peppers and herbs that are producing, as well as all the flowers.

On Monday we started our official training.  The weekend had been nice, but I was glad to get back with the volunteers and compare notes.  So far the training has had its ups and downs.  Some of our guest speakers have been really great.  A man named Dr. Lenox Honeychurch spoke to us about history and culture of the region.  A number of political people have also come.  The Prime Minister, Dr. Kenny Anthony, was scheduled to come, but cancelled due to a scandal and shake-up in government (one minister had represented himself as “Dr. whoever” for years, and then it came out that he never had a doctorate.  He resigned and they’re replacing him.  Now they’re checking up on everyone, including a radio DJ called “Dr. Beats” J  )

Anyways, part of the frustration about training is that they’re telling us all these things, but we still don’t know where we’ll be or what our precise assignment will be.  Also, there are always a few people who get their panties in a bundle and have to ask the most picky and precise questions, that will all be answered when we get to our real assignments.  Other people talk just to hear themselves speak, and feel that at every opportunity for questions they must ask one, AND the people who have to say “well, where I come from it’s like this…”  As you can tell, the honeymoon period is over for us getting to know each other!!  I guess sensing that, the trainers addressed the issue in a small group session.  I thought it was appropriate and effective because it made everyone get their grouchy feelings out in the open.

  For the most part, I’ve been busy in training.  We have that from 8:30 to 5 every day (M-F).  We have sessions on things like safety and health, being prepared for emergencies; and then our “technical sector” groups, mine being business.  There we’ve been talking about business basics… everything from consensus building to accounting.  Everyone in the training class is in one of these groups: Business, Information Technology, Special Ed, Health Education and Youth and Community Development.  Business and Health are the smallest groups, with about 6 people apiece.  The other groups are a lot larger.

Other than training, I’ve done a few things with my family and the other trainees.  I already mentioned going shopping and to the beach with my family.  This past weekend, I went out after class with some of the trainees to the beach.  It was nice to blow off some steam outside the confines of the training classes and on our own.  Later that night, I went with Christina, Martha and their host families.  We went to a big fish-bash in a coast town called Anse le Rey.  They had several different kinds of fish.  Martha had a giant lobster, Christina had some grilled, seasoned dolphin fish, and I had this baked stewed fish thing.  It was good, but again mine was the WHOLE FISH, eyeballs and all.  Apparently here they eat the whole fish too, and some of the host family members that we were with had to make a big scene of eating the eyeballs, just for me.  Later we went to another town, Gros Islet, where they have a street party on the weekends.  It was really fun, and people were dancing all over in the streets.  We met up with some of the other volunteers there and partied.  I was glad that we were with some host brothers, though, for dancing, because there a little less intimidating than the regular guys walking around.  We were out till about 2.

The next day I slept in rather than going to church with my family.  They go all day on Saturdays.  Instead, Christina and I went to the Gablewoods Mall in Castries .  We found an internet café there, and some other little shops.  We also had a few things to get at the grocery store.

On Sunday, I participated in a fun walk sponsored by a St. Lucian juice company.  We started at the airport in Castries , and walked to the north of the island, a place called Pigeon Point.  It was 7-8 miles long and took us a couple hours.  A bunch of volunteers were there: me, Christina, Peter, Kari, Michelle, Amanda and Ross.  We all got t-shirts for the walk, and medals and juice at the end.  The finishing point was also the place where we were having a Peace Corps picnic.  It was the nicest beach I’ve seen yet.  It had really clear water and white sand.  There were very few rocks, but some sea urchins and starfish.  We swam after the walk until the picnic started.  After we ate, we hiked up to the fort on top of the peak at the point.  It was neat and had amazing views.   By the end of the day, I was really exhausted. 

What else…?  There are a lot of strange animals around.  Most every morning there’s a little lizard in the shower.  He eats the bugs in the bathroom.  You see them around on the sidewalks too.  There are a million and twelve mosquitoes.  Most of the volunteers have been suffering greatly and slathering on the DEET.  At my house, we have a dog, and there are a lot of dogs milling around.  Dogs have a very different role here, mostly they’re for protection, not for pets.  Ours is named Snippy.  He’s nice, but never comes in the house.  Some of the volunteers have other animals at their houses.  Christina has a goat that just gave birth to kids, roosters, a pig, and a cat.

The food here is interesting.  They eat a lot of starchy foods, what they call ground provisions.  These are things like potatoes, plantains, yams, breadfruit, dasheen and bananas.  Sometimes they eat it all in one meal.  The meals are GIANT.  All of the Americans are having trouble adjusting to the size of the meals.  Also, they’re a little different than our meals.  For breakfast at first, I had bakes--fried donut-y things with cheese or tuna, granola, starfruit, tea, and toast.  Finally I laid it down, no meat or hot things for breakfast.  It was making me late for school, and I would be sleepy when I got there.  Also we have to maintain our figures for the beach!  At school we have snacks and lunch.  Normally the people here eat their main meal at lunchtime.  At the picnic it was really funny.  One volunteer, Scott, sat down after going thru the food line and said that he couldn’t fit any more on his plate.  Then his host mom came and sat down with her plate totally overflowing.  We told Scott that he needed to start thinking in three dimensions.  But even though the main meal is earlier, they eat a good sized meal later too.  I’m still getting used to it. 

I told my family that I was a vegetarian, but that I’m willing to eat fish.  We’ve mostly had salted codfish and tuna.  I’d prefer fresh fish if I’m going to eat it, but whatever.  The other things we’ve had are good.  They have some soy stuff here that people use to stretch out their meat or to substitute.  Feeding myself fake meat isn’t really my thing, but I suppose it’s healthy.  Otherwise we eat a lot of fresh vegetables.  I tried breadfruit.  They’re these things that look like green brains and grow from trees.  They have a kind of spongy fruit inside.  Plain, it wasn’t so great, but it was good fried or made into balls.  There isn’t anything else super crazy food-wise here that I didn’t already mention.  I’m really looking forward to having my own place and maybe a garden.

Several nights Krishna and I have made vinegar-y cucumber salads.  She gets all excited about it.  Next she wants to make pickles.

The only food thing that I miss here is that they don’t eat many desserts.  I think some of the volunteers were going to get together and make a cake or something.  Maybe this weekend.  We have interviews this weekend to place us for our assignments.  We have the whole afternoon free.