Jumping Towards Healthy Living

As we piled into the bus that would bring us to the Jump 

Rope Festival location, I could hear voices talk in anticipation of getting to skip.  Before we had left, I helped to warm up the girls with short little competitions of 

who could jump the longest, a showcase of their skills, and double-

dutch dynamics.  Despite my attempts to use some of their energy before the bus ride, they all managed to maintain an energetic personality on the ride over.  Singing songs by Serani, Beyonce, and other popular St. Lucian artists, I was amazed that these girls have such a broad spectrum of talent.  To hear their voices was a blessing to me, but for the bus driver who has learned to tune them out; unfortunately, he just kept driving.  

As we walked into the Vigie multi-purpose courts, I looked around at all 24 of the girls with excitement.  Every single one of them had a gleeful, bright smile on their face and I could tell that they couldn't wait to get started.  I could hear the light brush of the ropes hitting the pavement all around me.  In the background, there were voices singing different tunes and girls laughing simultaneously.  As we waited for the balance of four other girls from the Primary School and Mr. Long, the Primary School P.E. teacher, to show up we searched the stands for a good place to sit.  In addition to Gros Islet Primary, around 25 other schools were in attendance.  

Seeing an array of colors jumping up and down was quite the site!  Each school was sporting their own uniform, owning anywhere from one to four colors.  The Gros Islet Primary School girls were wearing bright green jerseys; red, blue, or white skirts or a pair of jeans.  The girls were anxious to put on their jerseys in the morning; anxious to look like a professional skipping team.  To me, they were that day.  

Mr. Long warmed up the girls with stretching and light aerobics, while I helped to prepare them for the skipping activities.  The staff in charge of the event, which included Kelly, another Peace Corps volunteer, promoted healthy living and proper nutrition through out the course of the day.  We were given plenty of water and fresh bananas, oranges, and grapefruit.  In the middle of the day, the girls were given fruit plates full of watermelon and grapes.  It was a nice change to see the students filling up with fresh fruits rather than candy and sodas.  Mr. Long and I encouraged the 

girls to focus on eating healthy for the day.

The events began with single skipping skills.  Including basic skipping, cross-overs, double-skipping, skiiers, and diagonals.  I stood in front of the girls in our section to give them an example of the skill at hand, just in case they got lost in the excitement.  All of the girls showed exceptional skills.  Grades 3 and 4 went first, and then we followed up with grades 5 and 6.  

In between events, many of the girls hung near me or on me, making sure I was involved in the social scene included at the event.  All of the girls are curious about the differences between us, as humans, but their 

curiousity is a good one.  Despite the obvious differences of skin color, eye color and hair color, they focus more on why I have freckles and why I am short.  Just as I enjoy finding out about their lives, they are just as interested in mine.  They ask about my family and whether or not I have a boyfriend; they ask about my brother and the sports I love; they ask about my interests and what type of shoes I like best.  

These girls are part of the reason why I am recently so 

interested in going back to school to get my teaching certificate and the reason why I am in love with eventually becoming a wife and a mother.  The girls are always fascinated with either being photographed or using the camera to photograph others, so we had a little photo shoot in our spare time.  I am hoping a photography club will be of interest in the next two years!

The skipping competition continued on with a skills set of partner skipping; including double-dutch and two persons-two ropes.  All of the participants were rather impressive at these skills.  I don't remember ever being able to do the two persons-two ropes skill when I was in elementary school!  At times through out the festival, I joined them in skipping.  It brought back many memories of care-free days and recess agendas.  I still am able to do a cross-over and a double-skip 

jump along with jumping in reverse, but I am a little rusty on all of the rest.  

It was a long day of skipping but it was a good day in St. Lucia.  I had a lot of fun helping these girls show off their talents while at the same time building self-esteem and active lifestyles.  The girls had a ton of fun, and they want to participate in the Trinidad competition next 

summer.  I am hoping that I will be able to go with them...it all depends on fundraising and whatnot.  At the end of the day I got a little sun, I had eaten three 

bananas and two grapefruits, and I got a little exercise. The best part of the day, however, was seeing the joy on the girls' faces every time the skipping ropes hit the pavement underneath them.  They were somewhere else for the day, 

and that is what empowered them to live actively.

Youth Development through Empowerment

Youth empowerment is quite possibly the best method of achieving youth development.  Self-esteem, confidence and self-awareness of youth are all issues that need highlighting in development within the community.  Youth become unattached, insecure, and have a sense of personal failure when they lack direction in their lives.  Too often, individuals are lost in the grander scheme of things and they feel as if they have no guidance.  By spending the time and effort to empower youth, we can begin to facilitate the ability to achieve great action within themselves and, shortly there after, the community.  

I have been spending a lot of my time building relationships with the youth in my community for the purpose of building self-esteem, self-

confidence and self-awareness within these youth.  Despite the presence of teachers, many of the students feel, often times, alone in their daily routines.  By establishing a connection with the students, I can build relationships with them that are supportive and create positive reinforcement.  

Many of these youth have disciplinary issues or perform poorly in school because they are without proper guidance.  The limitations of a teacher are obvious in the St. Lucian classroom.  Not only do a great portion of St. Lucian teachers lack on positive disciplinary methods, but they have classes that are larger 

than typical classrooms in other areas of the world.  Many of the classrooms have 25+ students and, therefore, the teacher to student ratio is out of control.  In order for education to be more effective, the student needs a good amount of one-to-one academic time.  Of which, the particular students that I am working with receive slim to none.  I am attempting to spread the idea of working with individuals more often outside of the schools when possible.  In order for this to happen, parents need to be more involved in their childrens' educational lives, tutoring and community workshops need to be instilled and maintained, and after 

school programs should be offered for homework help and positive role modeling.  

With Gros Islet Primary School, I have been spending my time on literacy, numeracy, arts and crafts and sporting.  Working in small groups with the children that need more individual attention has been my primary goal.  Taking these students outside of the classroom is sometimes difficult, as the teachers have a certain agenda.  Often times, I end up substituting or watching over the classroom while teachers get other agenda items completed.  For my own personal growth, this is perhaps one of the greatest gifts I have been given.  This is because the longer I work in St. Lucia with the Primary School, the more I think about getting my teaching certificate after Peace Corps service.  However, I make it clear to the school that I am not a certified teacher and, therefore, should be the last resort if needed.  

In addition, I also have been doing arts and crafts with the students in spare time as a reward for working hard.  I find that most of the students have some sort of artistic talent, and when they sit down to draw or color they are generally much more well-behaved.  Art allows the students to express the creativity that they often times do not get to expend during normal classtime.  

    With Grow Well, I recently began teaching an IT/English class with a program called "Thinking Reader".  This program allows the student to interactively hear and read a book through the computer.  The program is great because the levels of learning are much different with the second-chance program students.  Each student can move at their own pace, while being tested at each interval and learning how to read successfully in six different strategies.  I am allowed to access the progress made by the students over time and at each interval.  At the same time, they are learning how to type and use the computer software available, which proves to be extremely valuable in the lives of St. Lucian students after their education.  IT is important to teach in developing countries because IT changes so frequently, and being ahead of the game rapidly increases job opportunities in the technological field.  

   The after school club is my primary concern (along with creating a sports program) at Grow Well.  Because of the need for an after school program, the sports program may take a little longer to get going.  However, in hopes of coordinating with the secondary school, I will be introducing volleyball and either tennis or track and field shortly after the new term begins.  In order to do this, work with the ministry of social transformation; youth and sports needs to take part and coordinating a schedule with the secondary also needs to happen.  The after school program is one of the new initiaves for Gros Islet as I am finding out.  Grow Well has been wanting to implement an after school program for quite awhile and, thus, I am their catalyst for now.  Beginning after the new term, as well, we will be combining library and the club to focus on

 homework help, games and recreation, healthy guidance, and arts and crafts.  Along down the road, we will hopefully introduce club-building activities including but not limited to:  Evironmental Club, Community Activities Club, Photography and Arts Club, Volunteerism Club, and others as options.  Grow Well is hoping to put in a joint bid with the community to secure a larger plot of land which can be beneficial in creating a more sustainable community centre offering an after school program.  For now, we are trying to get the ball rolling so that the students have a place to come.  

If you have any ideas or questions, feel free to let me know!!!   I have been nervous a good portion of the time, because I really want to be successful in these areas but I can never tell for sure if they are going to happen.  First thing is first, though, and that is getting these students to start believing in themselves as individuals and that often takes a good amount of time!   Spending time with these youth, in a variety of ways, is the best way to help this process and it may take the entire two years to help them along their way!  I have the time

 and energy to commit to them, however... whether it be through sports, arts and crafts, Girl's Circle, or whatnot, I am trying to reach them anyway I can.   What I have learned over the last four months, is that love and compassion can guide anyone to success.  And these children, and every child additionally, deserves individual attention and guidance to help them along their way.  It makes all of the difference.  

     

Thanksgiving in Another Country

Thanksgiving Away from Seattle

When I commited to my service in the Peace Corps, one of the things that I had to contemplate was whether or not I was prepared to survive the holidays away from Seattle.  Never having lived outside of Washington, I have never had the challenge of spending a thanksgiving away from home.  Knowing that this was one requirement when moving to St. Lucia, I tried to prepare myself fully beforehand.  Of course, there is no way to fully prepare oneself when it comes to holidays in a new country.  There is only experiencing it firsthand, and adapting to the environment as it happens.  

     I thought about the turkey and the stuffing, I thought about the football game, I thought about family, and of course I thought about the stuffing.  Yes, I said stuffing twice in that

sentence.  Cranberry sauce and stuffing are my favorites by far.   Certainly I was afraid that I would have to live through a thanksgiving or two without cranberry sauce and 

stuffing...but I was not prepared for what Thanksgiving actually was like!  You would never guess that, in actuality, Thanksgiving in St. Lucia was very much like Thanksgiving in Washington.  

       There were about 30-35 of us PCVs and PC Staff that attended the Thanksgiving dinner in

 Dennery this year.   Mary Ellen was nice enough to host us all that day.  We began with a traditional "PCV turkey bowl", which my team dominated.  It was a lot of fun, and for a minute, I forgot that I was in a different country for the holidays.  

   

 After the "turkey bowl" we showered up and prepared the dishes in preparation for eating around 1 o'clock.  We had soooooo much food!!!  And yet, we managed to eat every single bite of it!  Hallie cooked amazing pilgrim hat cupcakes, Ashley cooked Key Lime pie and every one each brought a fantastic dish that included turkeys, stuffing, cranberry sauce, corn, tortillas and spicy salsa, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes and much more.  The desserts were plentiful, and almost all of us needed a sky helicopter to lift us out of there.  

     The company was nice to have, and the conversations were great.  It was hard not to miss family, however.  I tried to keep my mind off of family by watching the football games on tv...but with the Seahawks playing the Cowboys it made me think of family even more!  I don't think that I will ever take advantage of having family around on the holidays ever again after spending one away from them. 

    After most of the PCVs and the staff took off, a few of us stayed around Mary Ellen's to play card games and lime a little bit.  It was a lot of fun to just relax with friends for a night!  I was taught a new game, which I still can't remember the name of for the life of me!  Andy and I taught Hallie and Greg to play cribbage, and they actually enjoyed it after a little while.  Perhaps I will have more cribbage buddies from now on!  Overall, it was a good Thanksgiving and quite a learning experience in my heart.

     

We Survived the Sorceress.

Surviving the Sorceress Mountain....

  There is an old myth that whoever attempts to climb the "Sorceress mountain" aka La Sorciere, in Patois, would never come back.  Their spirits would be taken by the sorceress, who lives at the top of the mountain, and their bodies would never been seen again.  Apparently, there are men who have climbed the mountain and were never heard from again.  We were told this only while hiking the fourth tallest peak on St. Lucia and never once before the hike. Luckily, I am not superstitious when it comes to myths like this one.  Hiking in broad daylight up a mountain that is smaller than most trails we have in Washington is not exactly the most mortifying experience.  However, I did see flashes of Blair Witch repeating in my mind at times during the hike.  

    We began hiking through the rainforest on the backside of Babonneau.  We were dropped off by the van near a water container with a set of steep stairs.  As we climbed the stairs, we were second guessing our decision, as many of us were tired from the longevity of the week.  Regardless, we knew we were going to have a great day ahead of us and pushed on strongly.  The rainforest trail was plush and green, nowhere near bare or unsightful.  I thoroughly enjoyed the fresh smell of the forestry that we passed through and embraced every moment of the scenery.  Though there were only few openings to a view, the scenery was refreshingly beautiful.  Green, green, everywhere and not a spot of city life.  

As the trail we went on disapated into greenery, we slowly began to make our own pathway.  We continued through the rainforest until we reached the path to Louvert beach.  We decided a little late to hike the La Sorciere, as we had passed it more than a mile back.  However, we decided to reverse our steps and hike up the mountain before heading to Louvert.  As we climbed up the steep mountain, we were in charge of creating our own way.  There was no trail and we found ourselves bushwhacking most of the way upwards.  We relied on marking the trees for rememberance of our path back and, fortunately, we actually used them upon the return.  We bushwhacked through vines and razor grass as we climbed up boulders and slippery slopes. 

        Razor grass was all through out the hike; however, when you are climbing upward it tends to get you more most often.  This is one thing I will never understand.  Razor grass, for those unaware of what it is exactly, is a type of grass that grabs you and slices you just like a bad paper cut.  At first there is slim to no pain.  The next moment that you know it, you are in irritating, stinging pain with a slight, long red mark in evidence that you are freshly a victim.         

      

 As we reached the top of the mountain a few hours later, we became aware that we will not surrender to the sorceress.  In fact, not only would we not surrender, but we were going to make it back down; indefinitely.  Perhaps the sorceress sleeps during the day and we were lucky.  I guess we will never know where she was that day that she let us slip through her fingers.  The way down proved to be harder than the way up due to the enormous boulders that stood in our way.  I was fortunate enough to be carrying a walking stick with me that allowed me to move from boulder to boulder faster than usual.  Though, I wouldn't say this was an easy task for a short person like me.  The more challenging the better when it comes to hikes though!

     After returning to the base of La Sorciere, we moved on to Louvert beach.  Louvert is on the backside of Babboneau.  The Atlantic ocean is in control of the water at this point.  It was a rather clear day when we reached Louvert, yet the waves were rough and out of control.  I can understand why it is that no one swims in this water, as the current is much too fierce.  The sight of the waves crashing down on each other was an amazing sight!  

     Along the way, we stopped in at a little abandoned park office nearby.  There were pictures and objects that made it appear that someone was living there but we saw no one.  Perhaps this is where the sorceress remains when we do not see her.    Lenin tried to bobby pin his way into every room, and he actually succeeded.  I was waiting for someone to pop out every time the door swung open but, alas, it did not happen.

    

After spending a few hours at Louvert, sightseeing, meditating and drinking and eating fresh coconuts, we moved on our way.  

     

            

  

After about 2 hours of hiking back we still had another 2+ hours to go and it was getting dark.  We continued hurriedly along our way back to Babbonneau centre and we eventually made it after dark nearing 830 pm!  We were all dirty and tired, but we were feeling good.  There is nothing quite like spending the day tiring ourselves out from a long hike in the rainforest!

     We found a beautiful crab along the way that had colors that enveloped us for at least 10 minutes.  The crab was shy for the first five, but finally allowed me to take the portrait.  

   On the way back home, I managed to snap a few of my favorite photos.  One of two butterflies mating for a long time.  I expected them to move away from each other when I came closer and closer to them to take a picture.  However, they were so involved that they did not move away from each other at all.  Rather, they continued to mate and I continued to stare in awe.  There is something so beautiful about the process of butterflies mating that I just cannot describe in words.  They are distinct and focused.   They have one partner for their lives and live to mate with that partner.  I can only admire this mating ritual and hope that humanity can one day mirror this lifestyle.  Apparently, St. Lucians have a long way to go in the faithfulness department.  

HIKING IN A PIGs HEAVEN


My favorite venture so far, however, was the one that I just went on a last weekend from Laborie to Frances Jacques. It was a beautiful hike through the rainforest that took us from trail to river and back. We lost ourselves, mainly on purpose but partly by accident, a few times and found it quite enjoyable to be following the river to reach our destination. A hiker is always told that if s/he is to get lost near a river in the woods, to follow the river downward because the river always has an outlet. Because I was with 7 guys and 2 other girls, you can imagine the amount of effort it took to convince these guys to follow the river. As we hiked through muddy hills covered in unknown, potentially harmful greenery (things like the razor grass and some itchy plant) , we stopped quite a few times to cut fresh fruit from the trees around us. Starfruit, guava, sour oranges, grapefruit and golden apples were on the plate for the day. You have never tasted a fruit until you have tasted one ripened and freshly picked in the rainforest! With the help of a few machetes, we supplied the entire group with lunch for the day. My favorite part of the hike was the waterfall that we came to about an hour and a half into the hike. Secluded from the rest of the world, not too large and not too small, we swam and sat lost in thought about how great St. Lucia really can be. In fact, how great life can be. The water was slightly chilly to a Seattle-ite, but to a St. Lucian it was almost intolerably freezing. I wonder how they would deal with jumping into the Puget Sound during the winter months for the annual Polar Bear Swim. Something tells me the St. Lucians I have met so far might not do it.


























The group that we went with was great. It is a group that gets together almost every weekend to go on outings in St. Lucia. I am hoping to be able to join up with this group for awhile...they really are a great bunch. When it comes to hiking, I enjoy two things. 1) I love the sound of silence in nature. Silence really may not be silence at all when it comes down to it, but it is the nicest sound to my ears. Being outside of the hustle and bustle of the city life allows me to settle down the mind a little bit and surround myself in thinking nothing; in a good way. 2) I love the simplicity of happiness that it brings me. Just walking and observing the environment around me is one of the biggest satisfactions that I get out of life. Paying attention to the littlest of things such as a branch that looks like an apple, two trees intertwined, or the mud that squishes below my feet is satisfying in the purest of ways. Hiking can clear even the busiest of minds to return it back to the reality at hand.














The reason for the title of this blog: Hiking in a Pig's Heaven is because it had started raining and got incredibly muddy as we went along, but well worth the dirty shoes!






What did you do during election night 2008? I was lucky enough to be invited to a party hosted by the US Embassy at the cultural centre here in town. The centre was fully stocked with a full bar, food, and many important people here in St. Lucia. There were two tvs to watch the election results, which proved to not be quite enough. It was difficult to hear what was going on, so I ended up having to leave with a few other volunteers in order to hear the speeches. But I will never forget where I was when I saw Obama get elected for presidency… “yes, grandchildren, I was with the US Embassy in St. Lucia while serving for the Peace Corps when I saw the first black president get elected; which ended up changing the world.” You don’t get the chance to say something like that too often! Now is a good time to be involved with the Peace Corps, being overseas serving as a government volunteer at the time that the US government needs us the most is quite exciting. However, I can’t hesitate to think how it was to watch the election back in the states. I am sure you all were focused on the tv screen that night and have quite the story. I hope that when I return home you will all share it with me.





Working in St. Lucia is different than working in the states. Things happen at a slower pace, but when you least expect them to. While you think that something is not going to happen because you have been waiting a couple weeks to even get a meeting in, the next day you find yourself hectic as hell trying to fit in every possible task you can accomplish. Being a Peace Corps volunteer means to be flexible, and in scheduling for work you truly do have to be the utmost flexible and spontaneous individual. With this, I have no problem. It is difficult at times to accept the down time as quality time for myself though. With too much downtime I will find myself sleeping a little too much, reading a little too much (already have read 12 books and counting so far), eating a little too much or just being on the internet when I can. Embracing the down time and using it for the benefit of reflection and growth is what the Peace Corps demands of us. Already, I do feel like a different person; an improved individual. I can only imagine what will become of me in the next two years.







I am currently working with a Non-profit organization called Grow Well Inc. Grow Well focuses on providing outlets for at-risk youth and families to, well, “grow well”. I am currently putting together two programmes with them: one working in the area of sporting and the other in after-school activities related to but not limited to arts and crafts, tutoring, and team-work skills through gaming. I am also in the process of helping them to develop their current programmes for the CARE school. This school is a one-year programme giving students who did not pass the standardized test at the end of grade 6, dropped out before hand, or students that just found themselves in need of more help, a second chance. After one year of studying with the CARE programme, the students are asked to pick a skill in which they will then move on to the skills training centre to learn for two years. The CARE school offers classes that focus in human development more so than academic development; but also involve subjects such as English, writing, and mathematics just as a primary or secondary school would. The youth here are in need of guidance before it is too late. My work with the CARE school will be mostly in the areas of arts and crafts, sporting and also mathematics and IT.
















In addition to Grow Well, I am also working with the Gros-Islet primary school. Here I have been working hard with the Grade 6s to prepare for the standardized tests, and with the Grade 4s for what is called the SBAs. The SBAs allow the teachers to see how the students have progressed thus far and in what group they will be placed in for grades 5 and 6. I have also been working as a small-group/individual tutor and working on arts and crafts during lunch time with the students to help build self-esteem and positive relationships between teacher and students and also peer to peer. I have worked with grades 3-6 on literacy, numeracy, and arts and crafts; along with becoming a teacher when other teachers are out for the day. Who knows, I might be a teacher after all...I'll tell you, it's difficult but it is an amazing "ting" when you hear a child understand something for the first time.



Discipline at the schools is something most of the Peace Corps volunteers have an issue with, including myself. In St. Lucia, students have undergone many years of “alternative” discipline. While it is going to take time for the students to understand that I will never hit them, I believe strongly that my actions will eventually wear off onto other teachers. These are high hopes and small steps, but I am not trying to change the entire world. Helping one person to improve their life can be substantial. Small steps can eventually lead to giant leaps further on down the road. So if we, as Peace Corps volunteers, help to be role models for positive reinforcement in the classrooms, at one point we may find better disciplinary methods used in classrooms around the world. So while this may be a small step for me, it can be a giant leap in the bigger picture…who knows…it may happen.

A WHOLE LOTTA PLAID

A WHOLE LOTTA PLAID


What do I love about St. Lucia? Well, one of the main things that I enjoy in St. Lucia is that they do not hesitate to celebrate-a lot. There are many holidays here in the Caribbean, especially in the second half of the year. Not to say that St. Lucia does not also work hard, but they do not forget what it means to spend time with their families and their communities in celebration for a good life.




Jounen Kweyol: Creole Day in Patois. Celebrated by St. Lucia every year in three distinct areas of the island. In order to become one of the three celebration locations, each area interested must apply. Judging depends on amount of accessibility, resources provided, and etc. This year, Jounen Kweyol was held at Grande Riviere, Canaries, and one other location I can’t think of right now.





Jounen Kweyol was everything that I expected and nothing that I expected. As Ash and I walked from the Marisoul Gap to the open area that Jounen Kweyol was being held this year in Grande Riviere (a couple of miles from the gap), we were instantly overwhelmed. Not only had we both been sun burnt before even arriving, but the minute we arrived, we were instantly lost in a crowd of St. Lucian style plaid! It was lovely. After spending the first hour walking around to all of the different booths, we finally decided upon one particular booth to provide us with our traditional kweyol meal. I found a great saltfish and breadfruit meal for $6 EC (about 2.5 US), which was absolutely delicious! Ashley, on the other hand, managed to find herself eating chicken feet! The sauce was good, apparently.





After jotting around for a couple of hours, we ran into three of the Japanese Volunteers that are here in St. Lucia. The JOCVs, as they are called, have a similar setup to the Peace Corps. They, however, come here with slim to no English, so they have a language barrier that we as Peace Corps Volunteers do not have. I have often contemplated what it would be like having my service be in places where English is not the primary language. Despite the fact that English is the main language spoken in St. Lucia, there still remains a heavy accent that I still have trouble working around, and the kweyol that is spoken in the villages. I can understand how PCVs in areas where English is not the primary language, have issues with isolation and often times, depression during the first year of their service.




Speaking on the idea of isolation; I can already understand why it is PCVs must be able to handle isolation well. I have always been, at times, a solitaire individual. As much as I like being around people, I also enjoy being around just myself. It is in this quality that I come to really like about myself so far during my PC experience. However, living in the area that I am living, I am finding that I am going to have to work five times as hard as many of the other volunteers to integrate due to my location. I am, unfortunately, not in the village in which I am going to be working. I love my apartment; and find joy in living below my landlady who is gracious and an amazing woman. I do, however, constantly find myself wishing that I was closer to my community that I will be working and recognize that my neighbors are hardly ever around. Because this area is the “nicer” area to live, I am behind a gate for security and the houses are more spread out and protected. I am thankful for the security of where I live, but have a difficulty in meeting people in the area. While I hear stories of my PCV friends having children on their porch daily and their neighbors coming to bear fruit, I find myself desiring to be more in the community. I am caught between being lucky enough to get a nice apartment on the chance that my landlady’s family members have benefited by PCVs in the past and feeling a little isolated from not living in a more integrated manner. I desire community belonging so much.




I am going to warn you readers that this next passage might be a little heavy…stop reading now if you cannot stand heavy reading…but it is the truth about my perception of how I came to be where I am now.




As I am experiencing my time here in St. Lucia, I find myself wanting to spend more time with people so that I can genuinely connect. Back in Seattle there is a desperate need for a reconnection. So often people forget about their communities and their families in efforts to afford a “better lifestyle” that they get lost in work to such a point that a connection to their surroundings is extremely sparse. I, among other Seattle-ites, have been one of these people. I admit fully that I became so intoxicated with luxuries and working toward these luxuries that I was infatuated with an entirely meaningless lifestyle. Because I always wish to remain honest with you readers, I will admit my fallacies in attempt to remind myself and you all that life can really hold meaning when you wish it to. To further state, shortly before I joined the Peace Corps, I, myself, went through a period of living a selfish and rather numb life. I took for granted my close friends and family much of the time and forgot to cherish every moment that I spent with them. To be honest, I felt as if I was surrounding myself in a bubble and I just could not break free from it. It was as if this bubble was strong plastic that began to suffocate me slowly. It’s not that I did not possess the desire to break free from this suffocation, rather that I did not have the capability. Looking back on this period in my life, it often haunts me that I did not appreciate all that I had in my life. I was too preoccupied with where I was going and the things that I wanted, that I was not “sober” enough to realize that all I had wanted was right there in front of me. My desire to become who I was supposed to become, in actuality, distracted me from being that person. I had the right intentions, but my actions did not follow. To look back on this period took some needed courage and observation, but alas my preparation and my journey into Peace Corps service led me back on the right track. Every person must go through a similar journey, one that leads you off-track onto the road that leads you nowhere. I am lucky enough that I found that road early on in life and realized after following it for a time that I was on the wrong path. My desire to fully exert myself and my abilities into the humanitarian lifestyle by giving what I can to the people who need it most continues to be the motivation behind my service as a Peace Corps volunteer. I may lose confidence from time to time, and become nervous or shy that I may not have full ownerships of all of the skills that I need to, but my heart knows where I should be at this moment and where I wish to employ my work and personal ethic in the future. I love volunteering; every aspect of it. I enjoy sharing my skills and abilities with others who lack these skills, but I cannot resist the smiles that I see just from building a connection from heart to heart. I will have to work hard to “reconnect” myself with my environment here in St. Lucia during my service, and when I return to Seattle. It may take my entire life to do this and it may be difficult for me, but I am declaring right now that I am committing my life to making these connections. I urge you to do the same.

Oh, the Joy of Washing.

I am constantly amazed at the fact that even the littlest of tasks to get done on your day off back at home take ten times the time and effort, here in St. Lucia. For instance, getting your mail. It seems to me that the post office has no desire to be open when I need it to be. They must know that I am coming and say, "quick, close the doors"! While I know that they don't actually fear me, I am very aware that I am forced to make multiple trips to the post office just to buy a couple stamps. Why not buy a book, you ask? Well, we live minimally and I really don't feel like spending the money on all those stamps. That and they don't sell books of stamps in St. Lucia anyways.



Going to the post office is just one of them, though. To move in to my apartment, it took multiple trips to the "super j" (the local supermarket) and to smaller stores around Castries. I think I just may be all moved in now, except I am not quite settled. The littlest tasks here sometimes fill up your day, and it really is quite the accomplishment to get it done. It makes me live for the moment, that is for sure. Laundry, for instance, takes me all day because I do not have a washing machine. You know, it's funny, because when I thought of the Peace Corps, I thought of hand washing clothes and now look at me. I am in, ironically and VERY luckily, the nicest place that I have ever lived on my own, yet, I don't have a washing machine! There really are pluses and minuses to it. I get to enjoy music and sing to myself while tediously scrubbing, and I get in a lot of quality bonding time with myself. The miraculous part is that it actually made me start to enjoy doing the dishes. Ha, Brian would laugh at that one... YES, I like doing the dishes...even if I get nothing more out of the PC (which I already have) I will have at least increased my fondness for scrubbing dirty dishes. How lovely.