92-99 W

Today my kids went crazy. The boys got really jealous when I decided to spend lunch time reading with the girls. I literally had to lock them out of the library (which didn't stop them from banging the heck out of the doors). Needless to say, I was beyond pooped after the school day.

Then, during the Diabetes Association meeting, there were some students (our meetings are at the Nursing school) sitting together and the Azaan went off on this guy's laptop. Then him and the guys he was sitting with starting talking about the lakers. I was DYING to run over. Desi Muslims laker fans??? It was like dangling candy in front of a starving kid. But we had a potential sponsor/donor at our meeting and I couldn't exactly excuse myself so instead I had to bite my lip and sit through it. I was feeling really homesick, wishing I was sitting watching the game with Ali and Taha and Madina at his place, with some of Auntie's kabab's and some sheesha afterwards. Side note: super thanks (I don't think that's a real phrase) to Amar for finding me a site to watch the NBA games live!!! Seriously, who needs cable when you can watch EVERYTHING online? GO LAKERS! We won tonight, 92-99, btw =)

Today's SOS meeting had a presentation on "Budgeting, Savings and Debt Management”. It was interesting, and made me a little proud of myself. Even though I haven't had to pay an electricity bill yet, I've been making sure to unplug everything when it's not being used since it still drains power. I've been logging my expenses on an excel spread sheet so I know exactly where all my money is going. And I've just been careful about what I spend on. Not that I ever thought of myself as a frivolous spender, but I'm even more careful than I used to be. Not making much money will do that to you.

For some reason I agreed to go for walks at 5.30 am every morning with some of my neighbors. So I'm off to bed now.

Settling In

I can't believe it's almost been a week since I moved into my own place here in Spooners. I kept meaning to update here with a video of the swearing in ceremony, but my computer and you tube just don't agree for some reason. So I put off posting cuz I thought I would just wait till I could figure it out. But that hasn't happened yet.

I have less of a regular schedule than I did during training, but that's fine with me. I can't believe I'm finally an official Peace Corps Volunteer, after SO long. And I'm loving it. I thought it would be really weird having my own place all to myself, cuz I've never lived completely on my own. I've always had roommates or lived at home. And everyone knows how I hate doing things alone. But I actually really like it. And I don't really feel alone because I've been busy. I actually am still waiting for a day to just chill at home and not do anything.

 

Here's some pictures of the my house, backyard, view, and neighborhood. There's some green onions, basil, chives (or Max- the caretaker just keeps saying herbs), soursop, sugar apple, breadfruit, passion fruit (SO excited about those)  and some other fruit either in my back yard or next door. I'll take pictures of the inside and post those once I have set up a little more.

I moved in on Saturday. I have dealt with a few roaches (killed a couple too, I'm learning), and there was a frog in my kitchen last night. I've bought some household items to set up (necessities like a FAN, can't live without one here). I've been around the neighborhood and have been getting to know more people. I'm starting to feel a lot more comfortable about Spooners than before. Everyone has told me that as a single girl living on her own, Cayon isn't the best place. Actually, most people have had very harsh reactions. But Spooners is tucked away uphill and it's so communal. Everyone seems to look out for you, and I've been really careful. If I've ever taken the bus at night I just pay that extra dollar for them to drop me at my door instead, and the bus driver's are really awesome. A couple of them take me up to my house without charging extra.

My neighbor, Brenda, is really sweet. She's already had a sample of my baking because I didn't have gas until this morning (that was THE hardest part). So I had to go over to her house to bake for the SOS bonfire last week. Which was a lot of fun. I invited Tiffany and Will to join, and Alisa and Kelsey came too so it was kind of nice to have my PC people there too. I really want Will to meet locals our age, and I don't think he's going to meet a lot working at Saddler's Primary so I hope he comes to more of our events. I'm not worried about Tiffany meeting people, she's already fitting right in here. And it's always a good thing to have more participation in my organization. Yes, I just called it 'mine'.

There's been a lot of different projects and meetings and ideas floating around along with socializing and integrating this past week, I don't think I'll be able to fill you in on everything. So I'll just leave off at I will post more pictures and hopefully everything from swearing in soon.

Light at the end of the tunnel

Even though I've been loving everything so far, I can't wait for training to be over and to be officially sworn in and to finally stop moving and be in my own place. To know I won't have to move again for a whole two years (longer than I've stayed put in one place for a while now).

Almost

I guess this is weird, but the one thing I really miss is physical contact. I haven’t gotten a real hug in a long time and I really miss it. In my family, I am the one who likes her personal space the most. But maybe because the rest of my family is SO huggy kissy, I’ve gotten used to it. And I miss it. More than I crave certain foods, or cool weather; I miss putting my head in Erum’s lap as we watch a movie, cuddling with Mommy, and the big bear hug dances with Sophie.

Monday I went to the launch of the OECS’s EU treaty with Mavis and Margo (our country director) and two other volunteers. Everything here has a launch first: a big show of important people with speeches. The Prime Minister and the Governor General were both there. It was interesting.

Tuesday was busy:

1) Remedial reading with the boys at Cayon Primary. I had a surprise visit from Francil (our PC school trainer) and apparently he was very impressed with my lesson and went back and reported to Mavis and Margo and told everyone on Friday, which made me smile.
2) Meeting with the head of AVEC, the vocational school in Basseterre. He wants me to help with the basic IT training class as a teacher's assistant and substitute. Not sure if I'm going to have the time for that sort of commitment, but I'm sitting in on a class next week to see if I can help out (I'm learning to be non-committal, still working on how to say no)
3) Weekly Diabetes Association meeting
4)  Weekly SOS board meeting which ended around 8.30-9.00 yet I didn't get home till after 10.30 pm

Wednesday was my interview with Mavis. She’s apparently very happy with how I’m doing. I was telling her how happy I am working with SOS because I really like all the people I’ve met so far and how they’re an awesome group. Then I went on about how great everyone at the diabetes association is too. So she was like I don’t think it’s the groups you’re working with, I think it’s you. That was really nice =)

Thursday I spent the day visiting schools on the island with Mr. Bailey. We visit 5 schools that received books from For Granted (my old boss) and see how they were being utilized. One classroom had the kids reading while the teacher graded and it was adorable how they poured over the pages, trying not to let a single word or picture escape. What I came away with at the end of the day is how amazing it is that the simplest of things in life make all the difference.

Friday we lost another one of our volunteers. Evelyn, our oldest volunteer in her 70’s, decided that she wanted to go back home. We are all proud of her for making it this far and following her dream instead of being one of those people that sits at home saying ‘I would love to do that’. The swearing in ceremony is going to be bittersweet without three of our original members. I told Julie-Ann I would cry if she left. They’ll have to pry us both away after all that we’ve been through to get here.

Went to our first hash Saturday. Hash House Harriers, drinkers with a running problem. It was a lot of fun. Eddie stuck with me the whole time, we weren’t the last but we weren’t the first either. I think he slowed down a lot for me. Afterwards the people who set the trail had to sit in an ice bucket, and guzzle down their beer in one go while we all chanted down down down… whatever you didn’t finish you had to pour on your head. Then they called on all us ‘virgin hashers’. Geoff made sure to grab my purse before pushing me in, which made me think oh crap. We were baptized. In beer. It was hilarious. They made us get on our knees, and say our name real loud and poured beer on our heads and made us down our drinks. I tried with water but couldn’t finish it. I held my breath to make sure I didn’t swallow any but this is the most contact I’ve ever had with beer. It stings your eyes! Patty claims its good for your hair. Tiff, Will, Eddie (Eddie from SOS not Tiff’s) went to a pub in Cayon to try and catch the Cal-USC game but they only play east coast games here =( not cute. We stank like beer the whole night.

Sunday I went to a kid’s 2nd birthday party. There were jumping castles (that I was SO tempted to jump into), a guy making animal balloons, some face painters (I had, you guessed it, a penguin painted on my arm!) a piñata, some local street performer type dancers and A LOT of food. Oh I also saw a bunch of monkeys today =( Granny showed me her daughter’s restaurant out in Frigate and then was showing me her house and some of her other friends places, and there were three monkeys just liming like they owned the place. For the fact that I’ve been here six weeks I’ve done pretty well. Only 5 monkeys so far. Yes I’m counting. Don’t judge.

 

Side note: sorry these posts have ended up being insanely long, but that's what happens when you don't have regular internet access to be able to post more regularly. 12 days to move in day!

Week Summary

On Thursday I woke up early because I was supposed to have four different appointments. Two of them ended up being canceled/postponed. It’s something I am going to have to learn to deal with, the spontaneity in schedules here. That afternoon, I had the opportunity to meet with the program director of the World Diabetes Foundation. I don’t know how but I somehow manage to get thrown into diabetes related organizations, even though it has never been my goal to work with them or try and help other diabetics. I have always felt like other conditions and hardships deserve more attention because of the fact that I am a diabetic, and think it is one of the easier things to manage. But maybe that is why I am thrown into these situations. To help myself come to terms with the reality of the hardships that comes along with my diagnosis. To come to terms with what I have gone and continue to go through as a Diabetic.

That evening I went to my first SOS event. They had planned a social Bingo night, which was pretty successful in my opinion. I made some new friends and met new people. I feel really lucky because I get the opportunity to meet and work with people my own age. My actual work assignment goes hand in hand with integration; unlike my fellow NGO developers and youth developers who are either working with younger children or older adults. So far the people I have met through SOS are really easy to get along with, and I look forward to working with them for the next two years =)

Friday after training we all met up with some of the EC 78 group at a local restaurant/bar. I had been craving French fries, so me and Julie-Ann shared a plate. I stayed till around 7.00pm. I got a chance to talk to Geoff for quite a while about a whole bunch of things. He’s a really really nice guy. And when Kim told me that she and Geoff had some baking materials including a hand mixer I could have kissed her. A mixer is one of the things I was ready to have Sophie ship over to me because of how expensive they are over here. But one of the volunteers who finished her service this summer left a lot of her stuff and Kim and Geoff are being generous enough to give some of it to me. Needless to say, they are both getting the best birthday cakes ever!

I know I mentioned this before, but I love the group of people I am here with. This group now includes the people from EC 78, and is growing to include the people from SOS and other community members I am getting to know. I can already see myself being really sad having to leave St. Kitts…

Saturday we went to Brimstone Hill. It is absolutely beautiful up there. Definitely one of the places I will be taking my family and friends when they come to visit (note I said WHEN not IF, hint hint). There are supposed to be a lot of monkeys in the area, but the only one I saw was the dead stuffed one on display. Ironically I happened to be the first one to walk into that room and let out a little squeal. It was not cute.


Side note, I have Will and Julie Ann started on the ‘YOU’RE’ come backs!!! They are going to hate me for it at the end of these two years, mwahaha. But it’s SO entertaining. For those of you who don’t know me, I have a habit of saying ‘YOU’RE ____’ as comebacks, regardless of whether it is appropriate or not. For example, if you said ‘Something smells bad’ I would reply with “YOU smell bad”. Or ‘That’s not appropriate’ I’d say ‘YOU’RE not appropriate’. Sometimes it comes out really wrong because I don’t normally think before using these responses. Only recently have I started using them around my fellow trainees because I’ve reached that comfort level with them. My true colors are coming out as they discover my random quirks. Will hasn’t fully caught on, he just throws in the YOU wherever he can, but he’s getting there.


Saturday evening, it took me an hour to get to Will’s host house. I left the house at 7 pm and didn’t arrive till 8. And mind you originally I was told the party begins at 6. Then I was updated that it probably wouldn’t start till 7.30ish. Kittitian timing is just like desi standard time, so I’ll be just fine. So I didn’t actually catch a bus going towards Saddlers till after 7.30. Now anyone that knows me knows how much I HATE waiting. That’s one thing that has surprised me about myself. I have way more patience than I ever thought I had. I don’t feel like I have to be in a rush to get anywhere anymore. Probably because nobody else cares. I can see this being a problem when I readjust to the way things work in the states. It was also my first time taking the bus at night, and my first time sitting up front. There are some unspoken rules of riding the bus here, that I am still learning. If a girl sits up front, the other guy sitting in the passenger seat gets out and lets her sit in the middle. Personally I would prefer to sit on the side by the window in the passenger seat, but for some reason it’s like a sign of respect for a woman to be shielded by the two men instead of on her own or something. So this was my first time riding up front instead of in the back. And then I had never actually ridden to Saddlers before. And I had never been to will’s. so I kept asking where we were, and the bus driver was VERY nice and accommodating. I got dropped off right in front of his house. I met some of his host family’s friends, and had his host sister ask me a lot of questions and share a lot about her musical tastes and sports preferences. Very sweet teenage girl. I also got to try some sandwiches that will made (Diane you will be proud, your son is learning!) and some goat water which is a soup with chunks of goat, vegetables and huge dumplings that I had great difficulty getting down. Will also made me try some ginger beer (don’t worry Mambu, it’s non-alcoholic), but I’m not a fan. I also don’t like the local malt drinks here either. But I absolutely LOVE the passion fruit juice. We told each other a bunch of riddles and jokes and had a good time. Then one of Will’s host mom’s friends dropped me home. It was a good weekend.

Sunday was the first day I got to sleep in this entire month. It was awesome.

MIA

One person can only do so much. I understand that being a PCV comes with a lot of responsibility. But I can’t do EVERYTHING. Training alone is turning out to be a handful, and I’m not quite sure how they expect us to get everything done. Since Tom and Barbara left, Mavis asked me if I could possibly help out with his organization as well. But my main worry is the work they expect us to do with our school attachments. There are four aspects that we need to prove competency in, but the school’s don’t really understand so in order to get work in any of these aspects done, you pretty much have to start a new project. So where does that leave us or the schools after swearing in? Am I supposed to keep carrying out these projects? I don’t have the capacity to possibly work on all my projects AND carry out all this extra work with the schools. I’m definitely going to have to talk to someone about this.

Update: Scratch that. I’m not so worried and overwhelmed anymore. I started writing this entry a couple of nights ago but because of my limited internet access I haven’t actually gotten to post it until now:

As NGO developer’s we don’t have our demonstration with our school attachments (I believe we have separate presentations with Abdul-Karim). We do still have to display competencies in four areas: Remedial reading, extra-curricular activities, IT training, and a life skills program. But we don’t have to start actual programs. Which brings me to this past Tuesday. I went to my primary school attachment, but all the teachers were too busy for me before the assembly. So I went over to a group of kids, mainly 2^nd graders with one or two 1^st and 3^rd graders tossed in the bunch. One of the boys decided he was too cool for me and started copying everything I said. Then we all started playing tag. But they all wanted to ‘catch’ me so as soon as I tagged someone they basically tagged me back. The girls held my hand and showed me their classroom. They all wanted me to teach their class, but I told them I was assigned to work in the library today. They begged me to take them with me, but it was my remedial reading day. I have been assigned to six boys. Four from fourth grade and two from third grade. Originally I was supposed to take each student and work with them for half an hour. I don’t know if you’ve ever tried working with 8-9 year old boys before, but you can’t get anything done in half an hour. And because their teacher wasn’t there, the four fourth graders were really curious and wanted to sit in the library with me at the same time. After the break, the four boys came together. So I improvised and pulled out an old box of scattegories. I handed them each a blank sheet of paper and a marker. We sat in a circle on the reading rug. I chose different categories and had them write out a word. My favorite was ‘things in your room’. One of the boys wrote- ‘girl’. Gosh they start early! I told him the only girl that should be in his room is his mother or sister and he laughed at me. I think it was just the easier word he could spell. At lunch time, they decided to bring some of their other 4^th grade friends. So I had around ten 9 year old boys sitting around me while I read them different story books like Pinocchio and the Ugly Duckling. Surprisingly the boys were fascinated by my hair too, so they pet my hair while I read. Somehow they discovered my fear of monkeys and love for penguins and thought it was hilarious to jump around acting like monkeys. Not cute.

Now if you’ve read any basic statistics about St. Kitts & Nevis, we claim to have an insanely high literacy rate. And according to the ‘evaluations’ of the teachers, these remedial students were able to read certain level books. So you can imagine my surprise when one of the boys couldn’t even write out the entire alphabet without my help. Over here, there is a system of automatic progression. Regardless of your academic ability, you are sent into the next grade according to your age. So you can get up to the last year of high school and never learn to read. The reading recovery program used to begin at 3^rd grade, which is already way too late in my opinion. But in my school, since I have come, they are now spreading their resources and trying to include 1^stnd graders so they can catch the problem earlier on. Now I have to deal with the issue of starting from the basics and teaching these boys basic phonics before moving on. The problem is also that within the current remedial reading programs, they are still being pushed beyond their means because the school wants to rush them to catch up and boosts their evaluations so they can weed them out of remedial classes. So I am starting at ground one with these boys. And I’ve already formed a soft spot for these six, so in all likely hood I will continue to work with them for the next year. Perhaps it will be part of the after school reading program instead of the reading recovery during school hours, but I just know that I can’t abandon them, and I know the school doesn’t have the resources to work with them. and 2

Going backwards, on Sunday I moved to my new host family. It was also Eid, however the place that Eid namaaz wasn’t easily accessible by bus, I can’t afford a taxi on this stipend, and I had to get ready to move and didn’t have enough time either. So I had a very uneventful Eid =( but I did get to call some important people and say Eid Mubarak so that was nice. And ironically, I went to an ordination at the Anglican church with my new host. The sweetest old woman you will ever meet, Mrs. Delaney insists I call her Granny. Granny Olinda. She’s made me fish twice already since I told her I absolutely love sea food =) Including the salt fish I told her I really wanted to try! She’s going to teach me how to make those and Johnny Cakes. Yummmmy =) We sat and watched the Emmy's together the other day. I’m not big on tv watching, but she lies in bed and watches before falling asleep every night. So it’s just something we do. The other night I read my book on her bed while she watched some movie. She eats breakfast later in the day and dinner earlier (after I leave and before I come back) but she still prepares food for me and sits and talks to me. And I come home and sit with her at the table while she has her tea as well. We talk about all sorts of things, and I’ve told her about our modified baking workshop idea. She thinks its an awesome idea that she’d actually like to take part in herself and she says she knows more women that would want to participate too =) Point being, I love Granny. She is awesome. And instead of thinking, oh man a whole four weeks left till we move into our homes, I’m thinking oh wow less than four weeks and we’re already moving. 

I don't have internet at my new host house, so I have to wait till I can come into a cafe and grab wireless. I have been trying my hardest to bring my laptop and come into town as often as possible, so I haven't been too bad. But I can't make any promises. 

Independence Day

Tomorrow, Saturday the 19th 2009, is the 26th year of Independence for the Federation of St. Christopher and Nevis.

There were patriotic programs to celebrate Independence Day at all of the schools today. I swear I almost started crying at one point because here these kids are sweating in this big barn like 'auditorium', some of them walking pretty far just to get to school, singing 'We are blessed' at the top of their lungs. After the usual morning assembly rituals, every grade got to participate with either a song, the anthem, a skit, etc. One group of girls did an adorable dance while another did a little modeling show representing all the colors of the flag.

The National Flag of St. Kitts and Nevis features green for fertile lands, yellow for year-round sunshine, black for African heritage, and red for the struggle from slavery through colonialism to Independence. The two white stars on a black diagonal bar are symbols of hope and liberty.