10/15/02

I’ve been a bit lazy lately with my journals. Not that much has been going on lately. I think that I’m finally getting into the routine of things, and most of it is pretty unremarkable.

This past Friday we had a Volunteer meeting. Afterwards, several of us went to one of the beach bars for a drink. The volunteers from the south had to get to catch their bus, but Deb and I ended up hanging around for a while. We met a group of ex-pats who live and work in the area. They work for an offshore telemarketing company. So when those telemarketers call you at dinnertime, maybe they’re actually calling from St. Lucia. These guys seem like they live pretty large here. They bought drinks and food for Deb and me all night. They also gave us a ride home. In several weeks, one of the guys is leaving, so they’re chartering a catamaran cruise. They invited Deb and me, but we’ll see what comes of it.

This coming weekend, there’s a big get-together for all of the international volunteers on the island. There are a number of Japanese on-island, besides the three Canadians that I met. Renee also invited several ex-pat employees at the Vieux Fort hospital. It should be fun. We’re meeting at a beach bar in Vieux Fort to spend the day. I hear they have swimming and beach volleyball there. It will be nice to meet some new folks and to check out a new beach. There’s a whole van of people going together from the north. I’m not sure if I’ll ride along with them yet. There’s a chance that I’ll be in Choiseul on Friday. In that case, I’ll probably just stay over at Renee’s or Lauren’s instead of coming back up here just to turn around the next day. When they were up for the meeting, Renee and Lauren were not used to the cosmopolitan lifestyle up here in the city! They live in Laborie, a fishing village in the southwest. It’s very nice down there, but there is no traffic and few tourists. Maybe I’ll run into some of my pals from the training class in Choiseul.

In work news, it seems that I’m actually going to start working. Officially, we’re supposed to be INTEGRATING until the beginning of December. I think I would feel like a bit of a slacker shirking duty until then. But I suppose there are several ways you can look at it. I’ve seen so far that one of my major tasks here will be rehabilitating the Choiseul Center. Of late, it’s kind of an unfortunate place. It serves as a kind of regional marketplace for artisans in that part of the island. Things haven’t been going well there for a number of years. It’s sad because there’s a lot of potential. I met with Mr. Azeez, the General Manager, to talk about it. For the next several months, I’m going to be working on an assessment of the Arts and Crafts Center. "Working" is kind of a flexible term. For now, I’m going to be exploring some of the problems of the center and possible resources. I have some ideas for where to start. So I guess, for Peace Corps’ purposes, I’m integrating more in a directed fashion. I think that should be ok. I think I’m a little beyond meeting the neighbors and stuff like that.

Tonight I have swimming. It’s a lot of fun so far. It’s been a long time since I’ve been around small kids, and it’s interesting the way several of them took to me even after just a couple days. They’re really cute. I also think it’s going to be beneficial to meet people up there. For one, it feels good to go places and bump into people that I know. Also, many times when I bump into these people, they give me rides. I never complain about that.