J'ouvert

J'ouvert (pronounced 'juuvay'), is a large street party during Carnival in the eastern Caribbean region (celebrated the day after Christmas in St. Kitts). It involves calypso/soca bands and their followers dancing through the streets. The festival starts well before dawn and peaks a few hours after sunrise. Another part of the tradition involves throwing colored powders, water, smearing paint, mud, or oil on the participants. (In St. Kitts, we use body paint)  

J'ouvert is derived from the French jour ouvert, or day open (morning).The origins of street parties associated with J'ouvert coincide with the emancipation from slavery in 1838. Emancipation provided Africans with the opportunity to not only participate in Carnival, but to embrace it as an expression of their new found freedom. Some theorize that some J'ouvert traditions are carried forward in remembrance of civil disturbances in Port of Spain, Trinidad, when the people smeared themselves with oil or paint to avoid being recognized.
 

Some of our EC78ers, who I am beginning to love =) 

The point is to have a bunch of 'troupes' that provide food, drinks, t-shirts and music to compete. This year there were about 7 troupes, but ours was honestly the only one I even noticed. A bunch of the PCV's (and their respective visitors) joined the mother of all J'ouvert troupes: the LIME Xtreme J'ouvert Jungle; the winning troupe for the past ten years. We paid a registration fee to join the troupe which included our costume (a t-shirt), whistle, bandana, sports bottle (we didn't get ours), body paint, food (goat water & cook-up), and drinks throughout the route. And a party starting at midnight (we didn't show up till past 2.30 am) at the TDC staff complex.

 Part of the big crowd we were a part of

 

I think Geoff and I were trying to make ugly faces

 

I unfortunately did not realize that the paint does not wash off and have ruined some of my clothes. Oh well, they will be used again for J'ouvert next year!

 

We arrived at the staff complex (basically a big field) at about 2.30/3:00 a.m. to find around a couple hundred people already drinking and partying. After getting brushed up against by a few sticky people and realizing they had wet paint on them, I decided I wanted some of my own and convinced Will, Julie Ann and Cynthia to join me. So we found the people walking around with buckets of different colored paints and let ourselves be covered.

The drink van that was chugging along behind us. You had to jog along beside it as you ordered anything. 

At around 4:30 a.m. the music truck finally pulled out of the parking lot and we hit the streets and began to follow/dance behind it. We danced from the parking lot to Bay Road to downtown and then performed several 'laps' around the circus and downtown, at snail speed I might add. The total distance covered was probably no more than a couple of miles after we arrived in town, but it took forever to dance your way behind the crazy crowd. I think J'ouvert is just one of those things that simply can't be explained, it has to be experienced. West Indians are crazy dancers. Add the fact that I can't dance in the first place and all I can say is that I'm just glad that everyone was probably too drunk to care about the fact that I looked like a fool.

The sun rising with people showing up to watch the troupes parade around town

 

 

We didn't finish all the laps with everyone. Although I had intended on not falling asleep, after taking the LONGEST shower ever to get the paint out of my hair and everywhere else (I don't know how it ended up in some places), we passed out.

Some people got tired and sat on the sides to take breaks 

Michele said I was the last person she expected to join J'ouvert from our group because I'm 'too shy and quiet'. She also didn't expect me to give the swearing speech in either, so I guess I'm proving her wrong. I can't wait for J'ouvert again next year. Thankfully there's still some more of carnival to come... 

Mt. Liamuiga

I climbed a volcano!!! Alright, so it's dormant and hasn't erupted in over 1800 years. But it's still a volcano. Mt. Liamuiga is the highest point in St. Kitts at an elevation of 3792 feet on the Western side of the island. It was formerly called Mt. Misery: quite accurately if you ask me.

 

The scenery on the drive to the base. It reminds me a little of a scene from Madagascar.

Mount Liamuiga is a 3,792 feet (1,156 m) stratovolcano which forms the western part of the island of Saint Kitts. The peak is the highest point on the island of Saint Kitts, in the federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis, and in the entire British Leeward Islands, as well as one of the tallest peaks in the eastern Caribbean archipelago. The peak is topped by a 0.6 miles (1 km) wide summit crater, which contained a shallow crater lake until 1959. As of 2006, the crater lake had re-formed. The last verified eruptions from the volcano were about 1,800 years ago, while reports of possible eruptions in 1692 and 1843 are considered uncertain.
Mount Liamuiga was formerly named Mount Misery. The renaming took place on the date of St. Kitts' independence, September 19, 1983. However, many older citizens still refer to it as Mount Misery. The name Liamuiga is derived from the Kalinago name for the entire island of St. Kitts, which means, "fertile land."
The mountainsides are covered in farmland and small villages up to the 1,500 feet (460 m) height, after which lush tropical
rainforests drape the slopes until cloud forest takes over at 3,000 ft (900 m). Many tours and guided hikes are organized to the peak's summit and surrounding rainforests, usually starting from Belmont Estate in the village of St. Paul's. From the summit, the views are outstanding, including the entire island and the beautiful Caribbean Sea, as well as the neighbouring islands of Saba, Statia, St. Barths, St. Martin, Antigua, and Nevis.

 

Just to prove that I was actually there and didn't just steal someone's pictures!

 

Geoff's family is visiting, so he coordinated the hike with one of our Kittitian friends Royston, one of the most famous tour guides on the island. And you can see why, here he is climbing a tree like a monkey!

 

Which is what we were afraid (ok fine I was the only one who was scared) we heard rustling in the trees above us.

 

 

I tried being graceful.

 

A lot of the hike was straight up vertical (pun intended).

 

A lot of the hike went like this: Royston waiting on me and Julie Ann.

 

But we finally made it to the top!

  

 

And it was definitely beyond worth it. It took us about 2 hours going up and 1 hours 20 minutes on the way down. Pictures will never do justice to the feel of the breeze at the top (especially after sweating your way to the top), looking over the hills to the ocean on all sides. I don't think I can count the times I said MashAllah as we sat at the top eating my home made granola trail mix, peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies (I couldn't make up my mind so I mixed it all together), and turkey sandwiches. It is an absolutely breathtaking view. I think I sweat more than I have the whole time I've been here, which is saying A LOT.

I know William Murray and Julie Ann want to climb Mt. Nevis (which is potentially active), but I think one volcano might just be enough for me. Everyone says Mt. Nevis is way harder... so I don't know if I can handle it. MAYBE just maybe those two can bribe me into it.

Carnival

Nothing gets done in December here, because it is Carnival season in the Caribbean. It's basically a couple of weeks worth of a series of competitions, shows, festivities, concerts, and street activities based on folklore & culture that culminates on New Year's Day when street parades and performances climax in a grand finale. It originated in Trinidad and is now celebrated in many of the Caribbean islands with their take on the West African festivals.

The word ‘carnival’ is derived from the Italian ‘carnevale’ which means literally ‘the removal of meat’. With roots going back to the pagan past, carnival, in much of Catholic Europe, became a time of festivity when the devout and not so devout Christians shed their inhibitions and indulged in a last orgy of feasting, dancing and other sensual activities before Ash Wednesday and the long period of fasting which followed. These activities were characterized by masked balls where those of the aristocratic and wealthy commercial classes could, for a time, play out their fantasies and indulge their yearnings for liberation from some of the strictures of everyday living.

This tradition of Pre-Lenten festivity took root In some of the colonies settled by French, Spanish and Portuguese peoples in the Americas. Here In the so-called “New World”, it was re-enforced and transformed as It came into contact with other traditions.

Today there are numerous annual festivals celebrated throughout the Caribbean and In North and South America which are not all derived, however, from Pre-Lenten festivities, but nonetheless share certain common features: notably street dancing and parades, strongly percussive and rhythmic music, and the wearing of masks and costumes. The motifs are derived from the cultures of five continents: Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas; but the driving’ force, the rhythm is predominantly African.

In the structured and oppressive regimes of plantation society of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the few occasions when African slaves were allowed a measure of freedom were opportunities for explosive outpourings of energy In dance, music, and general festivity. Remembered traditions and rituals were re-enacted or transformed by the realities of the times, and the traditions of the dominating European classes were imitated and parodied. In many cases, the Africans assimilated, If only partially, the customs of the Aboriginal people and incorporated these in their costumes and their dances.

From New Orleans in North America, through the Bahamas, Cuba, Haiti, the Lesser Antilles, to Trinidad and Tobago, and down to Brazil In South America, we celebrate with an exuberance of song, dance, music, and colour at various times of the year coinciding with festivals of Christmas, pre-Lent and other feast days of the Christian calendar.

In St. Kitts and Nevis, the traditional time of our celebration is at Christmas. However, over the past twenty-one years, the Trinidad-style pre-Lenten Carnival has come to Influence and even dominate our Christmas festivities.

Here is the official website with some of the events to come: http://www.stkittsneviscarnival.com/

All of last year's volunteers said it was a lot of fun, so I'm super excited about it. But my point was, there is a major lack in productivity because the whole country goes on break for Carnival. Although I will be participating in Carnival events with some of my counterparts, which I count as 'work'. Hey, the Peace Corps is a 24/7, 7 days a week job. So I'm 'working' when I go to experience the culture at a parade =)

This Friday was the official opening of Carnival with samples of what's to come. It was basically a block party of sorts with masquerade folklore performances on the street followed by the official program in Independence Square with the pageant contestants, teen contestants, calypso performers etc. all making appearances. It wasn't too exciting because it was just me and Will, neither of who was drinking or dancing in the street, but I'm still glad we went.

Some of the folklore masquerade performing on Central Street. If you have facebook, I posted a video of this too.

 

Roadside barbecue chicken set up on Central Street because of the crowd. One of the cheapest and best dishes available on the island (so far the best is the one Kim and Geoff introduced us to on the west side)

I convinced Will to take a picture with one of the folklore performers with their hats

Then on Saturday Will, Patty and I went to Dieppe Bay. There's the view of Statia in the background. We planned on swimming but there was yucky sea weed everywhere. We have a goal to try and eat at all the affordable places on the island and to hit up all the beaches too.

We went to a local bar sort of thing after wards and got some $3 chicken. Patty and Will got cheese sandwiches too. We sat and ate at a local grocery store where a Kittitian told us he would take us to see the monkeys, much to my dismay. After a little coaxing from Will and Patty I was convinced to try and get over my fear...

Don't ask me how Will forced me into actually feeding the vicious monster.

I literally screamed and ran away when they all started attacking each other after Will tried giving them his soda. It was really scary and totally reminded me of the video of drunk monkeys. I'm just glad that most of the monkey's seem to stay inland and aren't near me.

Update

It seems like there isn't a lot going on, but when you start talking and writing you realize there is still so much to say. But then you get tired of hashing over things again. I feel like I have two lives. Outside this house and inside. And once I enter my door again, I want to forget about everything else. I sound like such a drama queen.

There is a lot to be done with the Diabetes Association. The constitution, action plan, membership drive, AGM, registration, project proposals, grants... the list goes on. One of my main goals with the association is to start a clinic. I almost don't want to write about it because I don't want to jinx it. There is a great need for a place for diabetics on the island to be able to go for proper care. There is no endocrinologist, no diabetic counselors, the pharmacy's normally run out of supplies etc. My vision is a 24 hour clinic with trained counselors, nutritionists, and diabetic specialists. The pharmacy would always have supplies, hopefully through partnerships with international organizations (something I am currently working on) that would be provided at a discount rate to regular patients (as motivation). But this is going to be a very long process because I have to determine the upfront costs of the infrastructure and training before I can even apply for a grant. The organization doesn't even have a proper structure yet for me to be thinking about such a large scale project, but what can I say, I'm thinking big.

On Saturday, Geoff invited us all to discuss what happened at their VAC meeting. VAC is the Volunteer Advisory Committee. Every island in the Eastern Caribbean has a representative, and they meet a couple of times a year to discuss different issues with staff members, and serve as liaison's between the volunteers and staff. It was really informative. Anne and I were the only ones that went, but we still had a really good talk about a lot of volunteer issues including living allowances, how to approach staff about issues, and just how things are run in general. I am really excited about the possibility of serving on the VAC committee next year. I believe elections will be held sometime in April. I've been questioning Geoff about the committee ever since I first heard about it. Geoff is the chairperson this year, and I wouldn't want that position but I would love to run for secretary.

There was a Christmas Hash after the VAC meeting, and I don't know if its because I haven't worked out in so long, but I was a little sore afterward. Which makes me a little worried about how I'm going to do on the hike up Mt. Liamuiga in a week. Yes, next week I will be climbing the dormant volcano on island with some of the other volunteers. There will be an entry with plenty of pictures up! After the hash, Kim and Geoff introduced us to some awesome roadside barbecue chicken which was delicious.After that we head into town for Kelsey's groups performance at island expressions.

The National Advisory Council on HIV/Aids partnered with island expressions, which is basically a group of poets and artists that perform and read their pieces every couple of weeks. They have some regulars that are REALLY good. My only complaint is that, like everything else, it starts and runs real late.

On Sunday I went to my first fashion show. Judith, one of the SOS members, has her own line called Brown Sugar. I wouldn't wear any of the stuff myself, but it was really interesting to see. Let me tell you, models have major attitude! We had given some of the models a ride over to the hotel, but I couldn't recognize them as the same girls once they were on the runway. Not a single smile. Quite a few SOS members were there for support which was nice, because otherwise SOS is making me sad. Barely anyone showed up to the general meeting last week, and less than half the people who signed up to participate came to the Christmas gift exchange. Our panel discussion was originally supposed to be over a month and a half ago, then was scheduled for Monday, then today, and now FINALLY will hopefully take place tomorrow. I really hope it goes well.

Adjusting

This past week we had a bit of a blow up at one of the SOS meetings. Basically three of the board members didn't show up, three stormed out after getting into a heated argument, and the VP formally resigned. The board is dissolving in front of my eyes, and it doesn't look good. Let's just say it was a bad week work wise. Hopefully things will get better.

Yesterday I went to watch the Street Theater on Domestic Violence and HIV on Bank Street. It was actually extremely impressive with some pretty good acting, and I think the story had an impact. They played out a story about a girl who was prostituted by her own mother to bail her violent brother from jail, who pulled a gun out on his step father while he was beating up their mother... it was intense. I ran into Nadine from Alliance (http://www.aidsalliance.org/linkingorganisationdetails.aspx?id=27), who invited me to go to Nevis with her and a co-worker from Barbados the next day.

So the three of us head over to Nevis on the morning ferry and went to Nisbett Plantation. I felt like a complete tourist. This was the view from the hammock I chilled in while they swam, after which we got some lunch. Afterwards we went back to Charlestown where it rained for a little bit. Then we walked over to the Riviere House (thanks Julie Ann! I would move to Nevis just for this place), an adorable vintage coffee house/bar/restaurant. Nadine and her friend are super nice and it was really nice spending the day with them. I did not feel like a volunteer in a developing country today...

Until I got home and had to get groceries. I seriously haven't had time to get refrigerated groceries because every time I go into town for a meeting I don't head home till later in the evening by which time the stores are closed. So I finally got to get some milk etc. on my way home from the ferry today. I REALLY miss 1) the grocery stores with an endless variety of products and a lack of flies over the produce 2) coffee shops to hang out at. Another thing I still have to get used to is how it's a cash economy here. Especially for us PCVs who only have savings accounts with no debit cards. Having to withdraw money and always have cash on you is still a little strange. But it really does help you realize where your money is going.

I went to pay my electricity bill the other day and got really scared. These two men got into a fight outside a bar/restaurant that was on the way, and started swearing and throwing glass bottles at each other. They were on opposite sides of the street so glass was flying everywhere. One of the men was on my side of the street and it started pretty much as soon as I started passing by, so I was almost caught in the middle. It was really really intense, and it was the first time I felt physically threatened since being here. But I walked away as fast as possible as soon as I could, and it was OK.

There were two things that I could/should have gone to this weekend. One is the Jah Cure concert last night, and the other is the Calypso contestant event at Sprat Net tonight. I wish it wasn't so inconvenient to get to places here. Especially on the bus at night.

MY house

I finally took pictures of the inside of my house. It's still weird saying that: MY house. It's probably better than anything I could afford on my own in the states...

 

My bedroom

 The front entrance

 

The kitchen with my tiny oven that barely fits my baking sheet =(

 The 2nd bedroom that I only go into when I need to iron, or have guests. I need to buy more pillows before people visit...

The bathroom 

The living/family room that I never really use either. The TV is just for show, I decided not to sign up for cable. It's an unnecessary expense. 

Eid and more

Eid Mubarak to everyone =) I had my first interaction with Muslims since leaving home, over three months now! I took Will and Julie Ann with me to the Eid potluck held by the Windsor Medical Students MSA. As with most MSA's, the group seems to be more on the conservative side. I was a little surprised that they had the brothers and sisters completely segregated. I'm glad Will and Julie Ann were able to experience a little bit of my culture. Ironically, Will said it was really nice to hang out with 'Americans' which made me a little sad that my fellow Muslims were more American than desi. But oh well. The girls were all extremely nice and hopefully I will be able to go to more of their events.  

After a whole week of baking and cooking for Thanksgiving, I had to stay up late and bake brownies as a part of the breakfast fundraiser SOS had this morning. Despite my worries because of the lack of coordination and member involvement, it went surprisingly well. If things had run on time, we would have sold out a lot earlier. We had meant to try and catch the St. Maarten boat rush at 6.00 am but because everything ran late, we didn't sell out till around 10.00. We made quite a decent amount, and it looks like we will be able to fund all the great events we have coming up. I think things are starting to look up for SOS =)

This past Wednesday we had a board meeting scheduled, but PAM (one of the political parties on the island) had demonstrations in the city. According to Peace Corps regulations, I wasn't allowed to go into the city. As volunteers, we aren't allowed to associate ourselves with any political party and have to be very careful. The different parties have different colors (which we have to be careful about NOT wearing, so no red or yellow for me while on the island) and we aren't allowed to take part in political conversations either. And therefore we had to stay far away during the demonstration.So our board meeting has been rescheduled for Monday evening.

Last week I gave a presentation at one of the high schools as a 'Youth living with Diabetes'. I thought that I would be presenting to the same kids from the high school quiz we held, but it ended up being kids from the 2nd form instead (2 grade levels below the quiz students). They didn't have the background understanding I had expected so I don't think my prepared speech was as applicable. Some of the questions they asked were quite absurd while some were actually really good. A couple that stood out were: 'Can you get diabetes from having sex' and 'If your pancreas isn't working anymore, do you have to take it out?'   

An unfortunate incident from this week is that my phone was stolen =( A lot of children from Will's neighborhood attended the Thanksgiving dinner. My phone was primarily sitting in Will's room, and for the most part there were always volunteers hanging out in there. However, one of the girls apparently decided to pickpocket it, which I didn't realize until the end of the night after all the chaos was over. We know this because Will asked some of the children later on and they saw her with it and heard her talking about it =( We tried to convince her to return it but she denied it and pointed fingers instead. Needless to say, I'm a little jaded with children right now although I am trying to be very understanding of the fact that the temptation is hard when you see things that you want and can't normally have.I'm more upset about the loss of all my contacts than the actual phone, because my primary contact with a lot of people here has been via phone.

Another random update, I no longer have the kitten I was fostering. They found another home for her, which I am actually relieved for because she was a handful and more than I could handle right now. Right now I just don't have the time or energy to invest in properly training a kitten and was looking for an already trained calm cat. Apparently bottle fed kittens are a little crazy, and she was just too much for me.

A lot of the work I am doing right now involves a lot of assessments and planning. Things are running slow, which can be frustrating but I think I am slowly getting used to it.

Thanksgiving

After over a month of intense planning, we had our Thanksgiving feast on Thursday. It was a great success =) I think I showered about 5 times because as you can see, a whole day in a kitchen with two ovens and stoves running filled with volunteers can get a little more than stuffy and yucky.

This was only one of the three counter tops worth filled with food.

Main Courses

- Turkey
- Glazed ham

- Breadfruit curry

- Lasagna x 2

- Green bean casserole

- Whole wheat pasta & green vegetable casserole

Side Dishes

- Coconut brown rice

- Stuffing

- Mashed sweet potatoes w/pecans & brown sugar  

- Garlic mashed potatoes

- Fried okra

- Lumpia - Filipino spring rolls

- Buttermilk biscuits 

- Cranberry Sauce 

-Cornbread Muffins 

- Guacamole w/breadfruit/plaintain chips
- Green fig tater tots

- Egg and Tomato dish

- Squash and onions

- Kale

- Gravy

I'm pretty sure there were additions that I didn't add in there, because there was some soup like thing and a couple of pasta dishes in there too.

 

 Everyone enjoying the yummy food =)

 

 

 And then my favorite part of course:

Dessert

- Cheesecake x 2
- Pumpkin pie x 2

- Banana Guava pie

- Coconut Pecan cookies

- Swedish Apple cake

- Passion Fruit cake

- Apple Cranberry Crisp

-Starfruit

 

 They were pretty excited to get started on the dessert

 

As were Julie Ann and I

After a hard days work, it was all totally worth it. Ironically I've never really celebrated Thanksgiving on such a big scale back in the states. But this is also the most I've been around people who do celebrate. I think all the planning paid off because we were paid one of the nicest compliments here by being told that it was 'Better than the Marriott', which is saying a lot over here =) That being said, I definitely don't think I'll be taking on half as much next year. I was in charge of practically all of the desserts, made the breadfruit and helped with quite a few of the side dishes as well. I had been prepping for over a week, having frozen the cookie and pie dough well in advance, along with baking and chilling the cheesecakes beforehand and having cooked the breadfruit curry the day before. I'm an overachiever, what can I say...