Poinciana Theatre

"You're coming with me" said the tall, dark and handsome boy as he looked at me with his chocolate brown eyes and attempted to literally sweep me off my feet from my seat by the pool where I was reading my book. Alright, so really and truly he came to my waist and he was the adorable 3 year old named Ambrose that happened to be swimming in the pool at Natacha's house. But it was the CUTEST thing ever when I asked him if I could take a break from playing with him and he looked at me like I had just asked him the silliest question ever. And when I did manage to get back to my book, he came and tried to pick me up. However, he did disappoint me when he left me to fend off the bees for myself =( My hero didn't deliver. 

When we first came to the island, I think we were all insanely naive and excited about the difference we thought we were going to make. The same hopeful exuberance that is characteristic of most Peace Corps Volunteers, in the beginning. And then, slowly but surely, we all hit our slumps in our own time and at different points in our service. We got frustrated. We lost hope. We gave up to some extent. Now I can't speak for everyone else, but I got to the point where I built up that hope again. It's like relationships. You get hurt, you promise yourself you won't let it happen again and you won't get close to anyone, you try to protect yourself. But inevitably, something happens that makes you break your promise to yourself.

Maybe I'm being naive and hopeful again. Maybe I'll crash and burn again. But then again, maybe I won't. And I can definitely say that I'm learning. I don't take EVERYTHING personally. I've given in to the fact that I can't and won't succeed at everything. I can let go of projects without feeling like I'm giving a part of myself up. I accept things the way they are and have stopped trying to change the world. I've don't try to make absolutely everyone happy. And along the way, I still make progress and changes.

The DASKN has come quite a long way since I first started attending their meetings. I don't want to jinx any of our projects and programs so I will only discuss them as things progress. But one thing I am really excited about is the theatre production we will be putting on in collaboration with the Poinciana Theatre Production Company. They are the only group of its kind on the island, and they typically focus on social commentary; crime, sexual abuse, domestic violence. So I approached Mr. Tatem, the founder and head of the group, about putting on a performance for our week of activities.

We had a meeting with a couple of the group's members, and if we are able to get even half the crowd to have a similar reaction to their's when we told them what message we wanted to get across to the public, I will feel like I made the biggest difference. I walked away feeling as though I could leave the island right there and then and know that I did SOMETHING. One of the girls jaw dropped as we told her about some of the possible complications and how they only occur IF you don't take care of yourself, and not simply because of the fact that you have diabetes. She realized that her grandmother had suffered from all those complications and the fact that it hadn't been inevitable was a reality check for her. They were all motivated to get tested themselves after our meeting.

Hopefully we'll be having the play at the ECCB (Eastern Carribbean Central Bank) auditorium. It has a capacity of about 400 people and the Poinciana Theatre Productions are always sold out =) Wish us luck! I'll keep you updated. Oh, and it's going to be a comedy that will have a professional video that I will hopefully be able to get copies of  =)

You'd think that after being here for quite a while (I can't believe it's already been almost 10 months!) that you would know everyone on an island this small. But lately I've been meeting a lot of new people. At a gathering with a lot of people with different background (locals, expats, people from nearby islands-especially Trinidad) I was asked multiple times "What's your story?" And I realized that I've become that girl. I leap into how I'm originally from one place, born in another, lived in multiple countries and cities, and now I'm here. And I absolutely love having a 'story'. But then they ask me how I got into the Peace Corps. And honestly, I don't even know anymore. I always start with how I fell in love with international affairs back in high school with Model United Nations and wanted to work with human rights ever since. And as true as that is, I can't remember a time where I didn't want to join the Peace Corps anymore.

"Happiness is when, what you say, what you think, and what you do are in harmony." -Ghandi.