Thursday, December 27, 2007

Christmas, Dominoes, and a Recipe

So even though I’m in the Peace Corps, at times I feel as though I’m in the middle of a World War, as I hear loud bomb-like noises coming from around the area. Come to find out, as Christmas comes traditional bamboo bursting commences as a celebratory activity. To get right to it, a hole is made on one of the ends of a piece of bamboo, and when you add some kerosene and fire, you’ve got yourself a deafening noise. I came across some kids from the primary school doing it one day. I thought it was kind of entertaining to watch, until one of the kids proceeded to take the bottle of kerosene, put some of it in his mouth and spit it out at a flame to make a “dragon.” Seeing this at the circus is one thing, but watching an elementary school kid do it is another.

Before coming to St. Lucia I didn’t really think too much of dominoes. To me it was a very simplistic, tedious, and unexciting game. Boy was I profoundly mistaken. After joining a few games at a local convenience shop not far from my home, I quickly came to the realization that I know just as much about the game of dominoes as I do about how to properly dispose of pesky mice stuck to glue traps (if confused, refer to previous post). After getting completely schooled a few times, I learned that there’s a lot more thought that goes into the seemingly straightforward game than I thought. Plus, St. Lucian dominoes is quite a bit more entertaining than what I remembered playing at my grandparents’ home as a child. When feeling good about their next play (or just for kicks), players lift the domino high above their heads and smack it down hard on the table (reminiscent of watching WWF with my previous host mom). I’ve done it a few times but still need to work on channeling my inner rage. There’s also a very particular way of shuffling the dominoes that I’ve yet to master. How difficult can it be to mix up a few dominoes, you ask? Well, apparently it takes more skill then I’ve got because I definitely got laughed at when trying to do it. When it comes to shuffling cards though, St. Lucians have no idea how to do it the way we do it in the States (the bridge, etc.). Instead they “beat” them by rapidly taking some on the bottom and smacking them on top.

This past week has been really encouraging, especially with respect to my social and spiritual life here in Fond St. Jacques. People here are very friendly, but for awhile now I’ve felt like I have a ton of “friendly acquaintances” rather than true “friends.” I have also felt somewhat discouraged in terms of spiritual fellowship. Going to the Catholic Church has been alright, but I’m just more accustomed to a different style of service. The Catholic Youth Group is also really struggling right now to get people to show up to meetings. A group of around 15 people attended a nation-wide Youth Rally, but since then only 3 people (including myself) have shown up for the meetings. It seems that people are more interested in the social aspect of the group (i.e. meeting people from other parts of the island at large events) and not so much wider, consistent involvement.
So back to what has been encouraging. I’ve made good friends with one of the teachers at the school. We’ve started exercising (walking/jogging) in the morning starting around 5:30 or 6. Yeah, I’m also shocked that I’m able to wake up that early, but it’s such a great way to start the day. We’ve also been having bible studies periodically throughout the week. It’s such an answer to prayer because not only has God blessed me with a friend, but also one that is like-minded. We’re hoping to eventually get some of the other guys in the area involved as well.

I’m also really excited about an opportunity that has come up to teach even more students the violin, as well as start teaching some kids tennis lessons. After talking with the director of the school of music, I found out about a violin group at a school in a community about 30 minutes south of where I live. They currently lack an instructor, but have 10 violins and a couple handful of students with varying degrees of experience. Starting next term I’ll be going down to give them lessons on Fridays, and in a different community close by I’ll teach some tennis lessons to a different group of students. Once again, God has been so great in blessing me with so many opportunities to utilize what I truly enjoy doing for projects.

So one day I come home from the school to grab some lunch before heading into town. I search the cupboards and refrigerator only to realize that I’ve got squat to work with. Just then I remembered that my host mother had passed by in her car earlier that day and had said a few things I hadn’t entirely picked up. I thought I would go down and say a quick hello to make sure I hadn’t missed anything important. Perhaps I would think of something brilliant to cook for lunch with ketchup, flour, and peanut butter on my trip over…you never know. As I reach her house I notice that she’s just finishing her lunch specialty…chicken and chips (fries) from the Chinese restaurant in town (sidenote: she always gets the chicken and chips, and once looked at me strangely when I nearly ordered actual Chinese food…shame on me!). I ask her what she had said driving past in the van that morning and she responds, “oh nothing, just saying hi.” She then tells me to take the remaining scraps of her food back to Bojangles (the dog) as a treat. I agree, say thanks, and proceed back to home with the white Styrofoam take out container in my hand. As I walk back home, I think to myself, should I really allow my dog to have these greasy fries? After all, he’s just a puppy…we wouldn’t want to screw up his digestive system. True, dogs eat anything, but should they be eating everything? As I’m sure you’ve already figured out, the story ends with me gluttonously stealing the scraps of limp fries from my dog and voraciously gobbling them up, a look of devilish glee upon my face. This was done, of course, only after making sure the window looking out to my host mom’s house was shut. 

So I recently experienced my first Christmas away from my family and in a foreign country. It was spent entirely different than at home in Kansas, and while I did enjoy some aspects of it, other parts left me feeling out of place and experiencing significant homesickness for the first time since I have been here. Early on Christmas Eve I went to accompany the church choir with my violin at Ladera, a fancy hotel located in between the Pitons (two mountains). I enjoyed it, tough I must admit I felt a bit strange playing reggae carols and seeing so many tourists. Afterwards, I went back home with a friend and we rested before going to Jouvert (day break). Every year on Christmas Eve people celebrate by having an enormous party filled with drinking and dancing all through the night until dawn. Even though I was a bit hesitant, I figured I should attend to fully experience a St. Lucian Christmas. My friend and I got there around 12:30am and danced a bit. My personality isn’t one that typically enjoys massive groups of people, extremely provocative dancing, and drinking, but I was trying to keep an open mind and was having an ok time. As the night went on, however, I got bothered by the party environment and started thinking about how I had typically spent Christmas Eves of past. In the midst of thinking about family, friends, etc., my mind began to contemplate whether this massive party was how Jesus would have wanted his birth to be celebrated. I began to think to myself of course not, and honestly felt a bit disgusted by some of the behavior I was seeing. At the same time I felt bad because I felt as though I was in part judging the cultural tradition, which I didn’t think was the right thing to do. Two words…culture shock.
Christmas day was much more enjoyable though. After getting two hours of sleep, I went to church and then went with my friend Vincent from house to house for the remainder of the afternoon. Going to house to house is another aspect of the St. Lucian Christmas tradition, where on Christmas people go and visit friends, neighbors, and family and are welcomed in, offered food (lot of pork…I don’t think I’ve seen so many pigs strung up), drinks, etc. This tradition is dying out, but Vincent and I decided we would try and revive it.

So I’m pleased to note that since my horrific mouse experience I have caught another mouse on my recycled glue trap. It wasn’t all in vain…

Cooking with Ben! This recipe for Creole bread is to die for!

3 cups flour
1.5 cups whole wheat flour
1 tbsp. yeast
¾ cup of butter
½ cup brown sugar
1.25 cups of cold water

Mix the flour, sugar, and yeast together. Cut in the butter. Add the water gradually and knead until dough is soft and round. Let rise for 1 hour. Bake at 375 degrees for appx. 40 minutes.

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Earthquake and My Most Embarrassing Story Yet

Earthquake
So I experienced my first sizeable earthquake ever last week. It was the largest St. Lucia has had in roughly 20 years (7.4 on the Richter scale), and affected a good portion of the Caribbean. Nobody died, but houses noticeably shook for a good 10-15 seconds. It didn’t do any damage to my house, but some people had cracks in their houses, lost things off the walls, etc. Personally, at first I was just plain confused at what was going on, but after I realized what was happening I thought it was kind of exciting. Some people seriously thought it was the end of the world.

Embarrassing Mouse Story
Disclaimer: All animal activists should refrain from reading the following, as the contents might cause mild distress
It all started when I woke up one bright Sunday morning from a glorious night of rest, ready to leisurely make some French toast and eventually head off to church. I walked into the bathroom and something under the sink immediately caught my eye. As I eyed the contraption on the floor I was reminded that the day before I had decided my house would no longer serve as the play area for local mice. I was through chasing the little punks around trying to throw washing buckets on top of them to no avail. I had bought mouse traps from the store. Not the old-fashioned mouse traps either, the hardcore glue kind. No more games.
As I moved closer to the trap I spotted not one but two mice stuck to the trap. Score! I then progressed into the kitchen to check the other trap next to the stove. That one also had caught a little twerp. I then proceeded to ponder what the best course of action to take next was. Should I just throw away traps and mice together, leaving the critters to slowly starve? Or, should I humanely try and end their misery? I decided that the best course of action was, as terrible as it sounds, to try and stab the little critters to finish them off. After half-heartedly stabbing one of them a couple of times and not succeeding in killing him, I realized that I was just adding to its misery and that I didn’t have enough rage in me to continually stab him over and over. In all of my Peace Corps thriftiness, I then stupidly decided to salvage the trap with one mouse on it by prying the sucker off of it. Why not use at least one of the traps again, right? After all, doesn’t catching three mice indicate the potential presence of more scurrying about? Even though this proved a challenging feat, I somehow managed to pry the little critter completely off of the trap.
Now, the next step was to walk him far from the house and release him back into the wild, half covered in glue. This is where things get really sticky. My attempt to throw him off of the paper towel I was holding him with failed miserably, and the little beast ended up swinging back and landing on my arm, sticky side down. As I realized that shaking my arm was not going to solve the problem at hand, I started to freak out just a bit. I’m not terrified of mice, but when an angry, half-dead mouse was glued to my arm and wasn’t coming off, I started to get a bit agitated. I ended up ripping the critter off, along with a bit of arm hair.
The rest of the story involves a good deal of time spent uselessly trying to wash the stickiest glue imaginable off of my arm, as well as a walk of shame down to ask my host-parents for paint thinner (to assist in getting the glue off). They didn’t have any…

Volunteer Work at the School
Work at the school has been going alright lately, but I do at times feel like my contributions are minimal. The discipline issue continues to be a challenge, and sometime I feel like I’m doing more monitoring in classes than real teaching. Next term I plan to refine my involvement in the school, however, so I think it should get better next term. The school has a bunch of unused recorders, so I’ve been teaching myself to play it and will start up a music program. I also plan to start up a before or after school reading/math program and hopefully will recruit some of the older youth to help out.

Challenges in Development Work
Development here is quite a process. I’ve been working with the Development Committee here in Fond St. Jacques and just arranging a meeting for members of the group took over a month. There are a couple handfuls of very involved people in the community, but they are so busy serving on each and every committee, as well as having busy professional and personal lives, that they don’t have time to do arrange all of the development projects. We’re currently in the process of coming up with a new constitution and trying to get members from other community based organizations to serve on the committee.

Raining Cats and Dogs
So they weren’t joking around when they decided to call the period from June to November the “rainy season.” The amount of rain that we’ve been getting here these past few weeks is unreal. It’s so unpredictable too. One sunny day as I was hanging my clothes on the line to dry, thinking to myself “great, these will be dry in no time!”, it starts pouring rain. “Eh eh” I thought, annoyed as I look up at the quickly changing sky. One thing I’ve learned is to always keep an umbrella close at hand, because you never know when a torrential downpour is headed your way.

What’s Privacy?
So I’ve pretty much renounced any sense of privacy. One night I was making a pizza and one of the neighborhood kids came by. I reluctantly let him come in and help make pizza. After it was cooked I gave him a couple pieces and he went home for the night. A couple days later a whole mob of boys comes to my house insisting to make a pizza. A few days later one of the teachers at the school asks me how cooking has been going and adds that he’s heard I’m quite the fan of pizza. Since I’ve allowed one kid into my house I’ve had to be very direct about setting boundaries, as I don’t want my house transformed into Fond St. Jacques’ first zoo. For awhile, the same group of kids kept coming over every night at the most inconvenient times (e.g., while I was cooking, right when I got home), expecting me to let them come and just hang out, watch TV, etc. I had to clearly explain that my home is not the local hangout and that I also don’t have enough food to cook for all the kids in the community. I’ve since worked out a reasonable compromise with them that has worked well so far. They are welcome to come over to my house if the time is spent reading. I have a few children’s books and got a few more from the library in town. I’m pleasantly surprised how well they’ve responded to it. Learning to read is one of the challenges that many of the kids here face. It seems that oftentimes they memorize words but haven’t developed phonemic awareness, and thus have trouble sounding out unfamiliar words.

Ant Invasion
So the mosquito situation hasn’t been as bad here as it was during training, but ants occasionally invade with full force. As much as I try to be very clean and dispose of every crumb and granule of sugar, sometimes when I wake up and walk into the kitchen I feel like I’m in the middle of Alfred Hitchcock’s movie Ants! Or maybe his movie was Birds. Anyway, you get the picture. Until I saw how attracted ants are to sugar I thought my sweet tooth was unrivaled, but now I’m not so sure.

Mwen pa pyes touris
One difficulty I’ve faced since being here has been distinguishing myself from the tourist crowd. It hasn’t been too much of a problem in my community, but when I go into Soufriere to buy groceries taxis ask me if I need a ride, people beg for money, etc. I feel torn because part of me wants to give some of them a bit of money, but at the same time I don’t want to set a precedent, especially since word travels fast, and I don’t actually have a ton to give anyway. Anse Chastenet, one of the top hotels in the world, where guests pay $1000 plus a night, is within walking distance of town. Jalousie, voted the world’s most romantic hotel, is also close by. I’ve started saying “mwen pa pyes touris” (I’m not just a tourist) to some of them, and that seems to detract them from persisting.

At the same time, there are occasions when acting like a tourist has its benefits. Some friends and I went to the beach at Anse Chastenet (the hotel) to do some snorkeling. I am pleased to say that I successfully managed to beat the system and sit in the “hotel only” lounge chairs under the shaded umbrellas without getting asked to leave. Usually every time I try and do something slick I end up getting caught, but fortunately a female PCV friend of mine was with me so we blended in with all the honeymooners.

Thanksgiving
Even though it was very strange to experience Thanksgiving in a tropical climate, and it felt nothing at all like it, it was quite an enjoyable time. All the PCVs got together for a spectacular Thanksgiving feast, which included three turkeys, creamed corn, mashed potatoes, pie, cobbler, and all those other wonderful foods. I anticipate Christmas feeling even stranger. I have spent Thanksgiving away from family for a few years now, but Christmas has always been spent in relative cold Kansas with family.

Monday, November 5, 2007

Kansas Rocks, The Mutt, School, and Lucian Mannerisms

So even though I’m on a small island in the middle of the Eastern Caribbean, far from my land-locked home-land, I have still managed to find an abundance of connections to my glorious home state of Kansas. I met a fellow PCV from Kansas who just finished her service and is heading back to Kansas City after a post Peace Corps trip to Italy. Also, the current priest in the Catholic Church is moving to Dodge City, Kansas (slaughter house city!). Finally, I spotted a not so inconspicuous white couple in church a few weeks ago, and come to find out they had just gotten married in Kansas and were here in St. Lucia on their honeymoon. Yes, I’m certainly not in Kansas anymore, but at times I start to wonder…

So if you didn’t have the chance to look at my pictures online, you might not have found out that I got a dog. His name is Bojangles (what else would it be?) and he’s quite the character. He’s a couple of months old and has just successfully learned to sit. He’s a frisky ankle-biter, but he keeps me company and makes sure there’s never a dull moment. Here pets are treated quite a bit differently than in the States though…no little doggie treats, fancy food, bringing them inside, etc. Quite a few seem to be strays and are fed chiefly table scraps. People largely seem to be afraid of dogs, I think because many are raised to be guard dogs and bite.

Speaking of pets, I sometimes feel like the local dog when at the primary school, because quite a few of the kids come up and “pet” me. Every day at least a few of them come up and rub my head or arm hair. Their hair obviously has a different texture and arm hair doesn’t really exist here, so I suppose they’re curious what it feels like. I don’t really mind at all, but it’s a bit awkward when someone you don’t know just comes up and starts rubbing you.

So playing the violin has turned out to be a great way for me to become more visible in the community and has opened quite a few doors. I volunteered to play a traditional folk Creole song I had learned at a beauty pageant fundraiser for Creole day, which was based in Fond St. Jacques. For the pageant 5 older ladies wore traditional Creole cloths, danced to folk music, etc., and musical and dance acts were scattered throughout the show. I think that people were surprised that I was able to play a Creole song, and so it was well received (I got an encore!). Since then, I’ve had the opportunity to play with a traditional drumming group while walking alongside people pulling a giant log from the rainforest (another traditional Creole activity…they use it to make a boat), with the church choir, and for 3 schools in the area. I hope to keep playing with the church choir and also join the drumming group. Many people have also expressed interest in learning the violin, so I’ve just now worked out a schedule for giving lessons starting next week. I’m very thankful that I decided to bring down my violin and I look forward to seeing where it takes me.

Working in the school has proved to be a challenging, frustrating, yet rewarding experience. Part of the difficulty stems from the fact that corporal punishment is used here as the primary disciplinary measure. I don’t personally feel comfortable using the same methods, but that’s what the children have come to respond to. Consequently, the kids don’t really respond much to just a loud tone of voice, and so it’s hard to keep the kids under control when in large groups. At the same time, however, I’ve enjoyed helping a small group of 5th graders with reading and the 3rd graders with Math.

When I first starting thinking about doing the Peace Corps, I envisioned living in a hut, cooking rice and beans every night, and having virtually no connection to the wider world. My living situation, however, has proven to be very different than what I had imagined. Instead of a hut I’ve got a house with ample space, instead of rice and beans I can cook most things available in the States, and instead of not having any clue about what’s going on in the wider world I’ve got American cable TV. At first I thought to myself, am I really in the Peace Corps? Isn’t part of the Peace Corps experience supposed to be all about living simply and not having all the luxuries available in the States? I’ve come to the conclusion, however, that even though I have some of the physical comforts that might not be available to most PCVs in other countries, the core of the experience, which includes fitting into a place where you’re obviously an outsider, adapting to an unstructured environment, and figuring out where and how best to help out, is the same.

I’ve been going into town once a week for tutoring in Patois (Creole) with a fellow PCV. It’s coming along, but I find that people speak so fast here in Creole that it’s hard to pick out individual words and make any sense of it. I’ve been enjoying learning more of it though, and enjoy the laughter that usually follows when I bust out a line or two of Patois.

So Lucians have certain mannerisms that I find quite amusing and enjoy imitating, especially when in the presence of other PCVs. The first is a verbal "eh eh?" in response to a statement that someone doesn't necessarily agree with or questions. It can also be used when someone is just annoyed with somebody else. It's hard to truly capture it's hilarity in writing, because there's so much attitude put into the "eh eh?" The other notable Lucian mannerism is the lip smack, which like the "eh eh?", is used when someone is annoyed with someone else or thinks that what the person said is crazy. In fact, the two are often used in combination, with an "eh eh?" followed by a lip smack. I personally am a big fan and am still working on perfecting my lip smack... :)

Friday, October 5, 2007

Life in Fond St. Jacques

Sorry I’ve been a putz about posting stuff these past few weeks. Internet access has been sparse, but now that everyone is settled into their own places, I should be able to mooch off a friend not too far away who has access in her house. Anyway, here’s a little info about my pad, the community, and other fun stuff.

Settling In
So after living with 3 host families in different communities, I’ve finally just this week moved into my permanent residence in Fond St. Jacques, a 2 bedroom house (enough room for visitors!). It’s cozy, but definitely has more than enough space for me. Having never lived alone before, I’m excited for this new experience and hopefully won’t die of malnutrition because of my lack of ability to cook much of anything besides cookies and German chocolate cake. J Side note – I wrote this part of my post a few days back and have since successfully cooked curried chicken with rice, pizza, cornbread, and of course, cookies. Yay for the Peace Corps cookbook.

The Community
I couldn’t have asked for a better environment to live in for the next two years. My community is very close to a protected rainforest, so it’s lush and green because of the abundant rainfall. It’s set in a valley with small mountains surrounding it, so there are plenty of gorgeous places to hike. There are a few waterfalls nearby, a couple of which allow for a bit of swimming. Soufriere, a city right on the coast, is about 3 miles away and has a nice beach as well as grocery stores, etc. I won’t have to make too many trips to the store for fruit and vegetables, however, because between my place and my neighbors there are oranges, grapefruits, limes, sugar cane, avocadoes, cocoa beans, dasheen (kind of like a potato), and plantains. To top things off, on the backside of one of the mountains behind my house is an active volcano; if that thing blows, I’d face a fate similar to that of a chicken walking into Bojangles (who wanted extra crispy?). Speaking of natural disasters, in the middle of the night last week we apparently had an earthquake registering just around a 5. It didn’t cause any damage, but shook things up a bit…not too much though, because I didn’t even wake up (darn!)

Who’s the White Guy?
I’ve really enjoyed getting to know people in the community. At first some people looked at me strangely and asked if I needed directions, but after telling them who I was staying with (everyone knows everyone…literally), people were very friendly and curious about where I’m from, what I’ll be doing in the community, etc. Meeting so many people and having the same conversation over and over again was tiring though. I think that when I’m placed in new situations where I’m not completely comfortable I tend to be naturally introverted, so forcing myself to be extroverted and sociable day in and day out was draining. Now that I’ve gotten settled down and don’t have to explain quite as much to people since most of them know who I am even if I’ve never met them (news travels fast), I’m not as tired. My neighbors are very friendly and are nearly all related. My landlord’s mother had 19 children, and is currently alive and kickin’ at the age of 105.

A Honking Culture
I think I mentioned the public transportation bus system in a previous post, but I don’t think I mentioned the element of honking. Unlike in the States, where it seems that honking is utilized almost exclusively in a negative context, here the horn has many purposes. Yes, it’s still used in the “get the heck out of my way” context, but people also honk in quite a few other situations. If a bus speeds by another vehicle it honks, just to let the other vehicle know it’s there and is passing it. A lot of drivers know each other and some buses even have clever names written on them (i.e. Rush Hour), so they’ll also honk as they drive past one another. The roads here are oftentimes narrow and windy, especially on the west coast where I’m at, so oftentimes buses just honk around turns to let cars they could potentially run into know they’re coming. And lastly, people sometimes honk at people they know or their friends’ or families’ houses as they speed by just to say hello (they don’t stop though). My most recent host mom is especially cautious driving on the particularly windy road from our community down to Soufriere. Most drivers just give a little beep beep around turns, but she lays it on hard around every turn. So, between all the windy turns and people she knows in the community, she’s pretty much laying on the horn the majority of the drive. I think she might have replaced the rooster as Fond St. Jacques’ official wake-up call every Saturday morning on her way down to the market.

Church
The majority of people who are religious here are Catholic. Despite not being Catholic, I’ve been going to mass with my host family the past few weeks. Although it’s kind of awkward not knowing the prayers or participating in communion since I’m not confirmed, I have enjoyed the messages and the worship. The worship is plugged in with electric guitars, keyboard, etc. and incorporates the Caribbean reggae flavor into traditional hymns, which is really cool. I plan to keep attending the services while I’m here and hopefully might be able to eventually play my violin with the worship team.

Country Western Music
While on the topic of music, I forgot to mention in the music section of my last post that in addition to the reggae, calypso, folk, and hip hop, country western music is extremely popular. Who would’ve thought? Now it’s important to note that I’m not referring to modern country music like Garth Brooks or Kenny Chesney, popular artists in the States. We’re talking old school twangy country from decades ago. I honestly don’t understand how it could have infiltrated this wonderful country, but nevertheless it’s here, and in full force.

My Community Involvement
So you might be wondering what I’m doing now that I’m done with training and am in my community. Well, during the first 3 months we’re supposed to focus on integrating, so they discourage us from jumping off the deep end and starting major projects right off the bat. The Fond St. Jacques Development Committee requested a PCV, so they’re my base from which to start. I’ve met quite a few “stakeholders” in the community…principal of the school, leaders of groups, etc. and have been gathering information about assets, areas for improvement, etc. The Development Committee is hoping that I can develop some programs for youth (ages 15-35). The concept of youth is obviously different here. Young adults don’t simply move out when they’re 18, as in the States, but rather live with their families much longer. It’s more convenient and oftentimes they don’t have the financial means to move elsewhere. I think that because people aren’t individually established until a later age, youth therefore encompasses a larger age range. Anyway, so I might be working on developing more activities to engage the youth of the community, as football (soccer) is the only main activity, and isn’t extremely organized. I’ll also very likely teach some violin lessons, which I’m obviously excited about. An Irish guy donated 4 violins to the secondary school some time ago, but they haven’t really been used much. The violin is part of traditional folk music, but it seems to be a dying art and very few people know how to play it. In addition to giving lessons to a few students from the school as well as a teacher, I hope to also write out a music book of traditional folk songs.

Working at the School
Starting this next week I’ll be helping out in the primary school for a few hours each day in different classes so I can get to know the staff and students. All of the little kids I see always say “hi Mr. Ben,” but I swear I haven’t met ¾ of them…so I’m hoping that will change. I’ll be working primarily with the kindergarten class, as there are 35 students under 1 lucky teacher. I’ll also be helping out the 3rd grade teacher with teaching some basic Math. I won’t be working as extensively in the school for the entire 2 years as I will be for this first few months, but I thought it would be a great avenue to get to know the kids in the community (outside of attempting to play football), and the teachers are more than happy to have the help.

Are You Married?
So after talking with people for a minute or two they oftentimes ask whether I’m married and have kids in the States. At first I thought it was kind of funny and odd that they wouldn’t think it a bit strange for me to leave a wife and kids in the States for a couple of years and jet off to the Caribbean, but then it started to make sense, because many people here have family members who are in England, the US, or Canada for work.

American Culture in the Caribbean
So I’ve noticed that people here, especially kids, are fascinated by American culture and think acting American is really cool. One night I told my host mom I was going to make a grilled cheese. She wasn’t familiar with the popular American dish and so I explained how it works. I then realized that we only had round rolls and were lacking any sort of flat bread, so it wouldn’t work. After establishing the fact that grilled cheese wasn’t meant to be that night and conveying that to my host mother, I decided to cook some eggs. A little while later, I noticed that my host brother had heavily buttered the inside of several rolls, had put cheese in them, and had smashed the rolls in the George Foreman grille. Needless to say, it didn’t work out so well. We got some sliced bread the next day though and got things squared away.

I hope to post some pictures soon of the area so you can get a better idea of what the environemtn actually looks like. Peace!

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Address and Cell Phone

Alrighty, so I finally have a permanent address and a cell phone, which I'm still trying to figure out how to use. :) My address is:

Ben Wiechman
Fond St. Jacques Post Office
Soufriere
St. Lucia
West Indies

My cell phone number is 758-285-6813.

I don't have time to write now because about 10 people are in line to use the computer, but things are generally going well so far. I find myself exhausted at the end of the day, but the place is beautiful and people have been very friendly. Peace!

Thursday, September 6, 2007

Fond St. Jacques

In two days I'll be moving to Fond St. Jacques, a small rural community of about 1,000 people (150,000 on the whole island) in the rainforest of St. Lucia. Yesterday I had the chance to meet with a member of the developmental organization that I'll be partnered with. He was very friendly and has had experience working with Peace Corps volunteers in the past. After many weeks of uncertainty about what our future work will look like, the opportunity to talk with someone from our future communities put many of the PCTs' minds, including my own, a little more at ease. I found the picture on the left from google images of Fond St. Jacques, so it'll probably look something like that. I was excited to find out that there are some opportunities for hiking in the area and that there are a couple of famous waterfalls nearby. Even more thrilling, however, is the fact that Fond St. Jacques can get a little bit cooler than other places on the island, given that it's in the mountains. My community partner said that sometimes he feels the need for a light blanket at night...maybe that means I'll sleep with the fan a whole foot away from my bed instead of directly on my head. :)


I'm writing this partly because I most likely will not have internet access in my community. I originally thought that I would have internet, as most PCVs do, but Fond St. Jacques is enough inland that landlines aren't even readily available. Wireless internet might be a possibility, but I don't know how feasible that is. One of my good friends lives about three miles away though in a larger city, so hopefully I'll be able to visit her on occasion and use her internet. I will have a cell phone starting here in a few weeks though. I find this particularly ironic, given that I didn't actually ever have one in the States. Join the Peace Corps, finally get a cell phone. check. Many people opt not to get a landline though, so everyone has cell phones, even my 13 year old host brother. It's kind of weird because in some respects St. Lucia is very developed (i.e. everyone has cell phones), but at the same time other areas lag far behind (i.e. access to water...sometimes it's randomly turned off, and apparently during the dry season sometimes for several days at a time).


St. Lucia, and the Eastern Caribbean in general, has it's own unique sense of time (or lack thereof). If a meeting is "scheduled" for 7, nobody will show up til at least 7:30...probably 8. It's just the way it is. The phrase "just now" is very popular and means "wait." I've found though that the "now" part of "just now" really translates to anywhere from 5 minutes from now to never. Even though at times this can be a little frustrating, it's kind of nice to break free from the routinistic schedule that is so prevalent in the U.S. It's especially strange having just graduated from college, where it seemed like nearly every single moment of every day was planned out. In college you would even have to plan time around your hectic schedule to hang out with friends. Here you just hang out when you want to.


I can't wait to see my community here in a couple of days, and hopefully next time will have some more information about my community, as well as a few pictures. Peace!

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Hurricane Dean, Hiking, History, and More!

Hurricane Dean
So, just in case you were wondering, I'm not somwhere in the middle of the Caribbean Sea floating on the dessimated remains of my previous host family's house. Even though Hurricane Dean pretty much went right through Saint Lucia, it fortunately was only a category 2 storm when it reached us (instead of a 4 or 5, which it became soon afterwards). It was still pretty intense though, with 100 mph+ winds and certainly no shortage of rain. The Northern part of the island was hit the hardest, with power lines down, trees strewn across roads, and flooding, while my community had minimal flooding and only had to deal with a short couple of days without water. Now that's out of the way, there's much more news to share.

Grand Piton Hiking Trip
I mentioned a trip to the Pitons in my last post. To expand a bit, some fellow Peace Corps Trainees (PCTs) and myself traveled to Grand Piton, one of the tallest mountains on the island, for a hiking trip a few weekends back. The hike was great with very scenic views of the island. Even though it was only a couple of hours up, it was an intense hike and incredibly steep towards the top. I don't think I've sweat so much in my entire life! Let's just say you know it's hot when you spot a dog indefinitely lying (but not dead) in the middle of a creek to cool off. We went to the beach in Soufriere afterwards which was very refreshing, and some local kids showed us a nice spot for some cliff jumping.

Sulfur Springs
Ok, so I've got to mention just one more touristy thing I did with my host family before getting back to business with how PC training has been going. My host dad took my host sister PCT Kit and I to the Caribbean's only drive-in volcano (not inactive, but it's not blowing it's top off tomorrow). Near the volcano are a bunch of Sulfur Springs that serve as a public bath. It's supposed to be really good for the skin, kind of like the water in the Dead Sea. We all coveredourselves in mud and bathed in the ridiculously hot water. You're supposed to go around 6am when the water isn't scorching hot, but 1pm works too... :)

Training
Ok, so back to PC stuff. We've just moved into phase 2 of training. 13 of the 70 PCTs were assigned to stay on Saint Lucia, and we've all moved into a new community with new host families. The training has been tiring, but I've really enjoyed learning more about the culture and some Creole. I accidentally told the language instructor to "Give me shit" instead of "Give me a dog" today though, so I'm obviously far from mastery. We're really just learning the basics right now though, which is important in establishing ourselves as not simply being tourists.

Back to the host family. As with my 1st host family, I'm having a great time with this one. They're really friendly and we've had some engaging conversations. After implying about the roosters I spotted around the house, I soon found out that my host dad raises them for cock fights. I told him that my only exposure to cock fights comes from an episode of the TV show Seinfeld, in which Kramer raises "Little Jerry Seinfeld" to fight in the big leagues. He was familiar with the show and thought that was pretty funny. I soon learned that even though it's illegal, it's very popoular (especially ironically enough among police officers). My host dad even showed me a little demonstration cock fight when we visited his friends up in a small rural community. I must say that I'm not pro cock fights, but I did find it fascinating to learn about the subculture, how they train their roosters, etc. I never realized how popular it was and how seriously people take it as a sport. Let's just say that they take their cock fighting nearly as seriously as I take my blueberries. Enough said...

Jam Session with the Locals
So I officially lived up the the name of my blog - "Benjammin' in the Caribbean" - with my first jam session with the locals. My host grandfather coincidentally is the only person in this district who knows how to play the violin. He has his own CD, is very well known, and oftentimes plays at dances and festivals around the island. I actually brought my violin down, so my host mom took me to meet him and he taught me how to play a traditional St. Lucian song. Afterwards, he strung his banjo (using fishing line) and also brought out a hand drum and one of the shaker things. We all played the song that he had just taught me, which actually sounded pretty cool. It was so much fun and I hope to play with him again and learn more of the local music. After people found out that I could play, they were asking me to play all these random songs (mainly hip-hop music). Yeah, I don't think that was really covered very thoroughly in Suzuki. I did manage to figure out how to play the chorus to "Beautiful Girl" though, which is probably the most popular song down here at the moment. Besides the influence of American hip-hop on the music scene, they also have some reggae and calypso music too, which is big.

My Permanent Community Assignment
After waiting in eager anticipation to find out which community in St. Lucia I'll be permanently stationed in, I finally found out that I'll be staying in Fond St. Jacques, a small rural community high in the mountains near the west coast. Even though it would be nice to be really close to the water, I'm so glad that I'm deep in the rainforest and up high. Soufriere, a larger coastal town, is fairly close by (within 10 minutes by bus), and only of my good friends will live there. I won't know exactly what I'll be doing until I move there, get integrated into the community, and see where I best fit in, but it sounds like there has been some expressed need to develop programs for at-risk youth. If I've learned one thing so far from my training, however, it's to be flexible and patient, so we'll wait and see what actually happens.

Brief History of St. Lucia
St. Lucia, the Sunshine Isle, has a rich history and has been referenced as the Helen of the West Indies. After it was discovered by Columbus, it was constantly fought for because of its strategic position relative to the sugar islands of Martinique and Barbados. It traded hands 14 times between Britain and France before the British eventually gained long term control. The British then brought over many African people as slaves to work the land. Taking cue from those who were involved in the French Revolution, a group of St. Lucians called the Brigons began to revolt against slavery, although they evenutally had to surrender. After slavery was abolished in the early to mid 19th century, the British then started bringing over poeple from Asia under indentured-servant contracts. It's therefore a culturally rich place because of people having been brought over from a wide range of places, and because of the major British and French influence.

Economy
For awhile now St. Lucia has been operating as a single cash crop society with bananas as their chief export. With liberalization of the market, however, the World Trade Organization (WTO) has changed its policies, ending its preferential treatment of smaller nations like St. Lucia, essentially leaving them high and dry without a way to compete on the world market. And, while the diversification of agricultural products is needed, it sounds like famers largely stick to what they know, even though it's not paying off anymore.

Alrighty, I'm hoping to send out an email for pictures soon. Hope all is well with you guys!

Wednesday, August 8, 2007

Permanent Assignment and Early Experiences

So, I've been in training for a little over a week and just found out a few days ago that I'll be permanently stationed in St. Lucia for my Peace Corps service! Even though it would have been great to travel to another island in the Eastern Caribbean, I feel comfortable here on St. Lucia and am excited to try and learn a new language (Creole), explore the many hiking trails and beaches, and most importantly get settled and integrated into a community.

So the St. Lucian people I've met so far are probably the most hospitable, welcoming, and friendly people I've ever met. I've really enjoyed my host family, especially my 6 year old, energetic host-brother Gus, who's really going on 27. Even though my host family only consists of my mom, dad, two brothers, and grandparents, people I don't even know are constantly in and out of our house...neighbors, cousins, aunts, etc; it seems like everyone is related (and in many cases, they are). As we ride in the back of the truck, my host mom calls out to people's houses as we drive by, and they respond from inside with a hello.

On the other hand, here are some slightly unpleasant things about my experience so far...
-40 plus mosquito bites on my ankles and arms (fresh blood!)
-crazy intense humidity and heat...gotta love sleeping in your own sweat. Where are the sub zero temperatures of Vermont when you need them?!? :)

Some things I've come to appreciate...
-really cold showers; it's seriously probably the highlight of every day
-saying hi to everyone you pass on the street
-fresh fruits (especially mangos)
-dental floss ( to get the stringingess of the mangos out of your teeth)

Some things I never expected to be doing...
-watching WWE wrestling and kung fu with my host grandmother...she gets really into it
-whistling along to American pop ballads (e.g., Celine Dion) as my host mom sings along
-watching geckos crawl across the ceiling (so cool! they eat the mosquitos!)
-waking up to the sound of roosters each morning around 5:30 or 6...something that mysteriously never happened in Kansas...
-watching cartoon network with my host brother as hip-hop music plays in the background

My Peace Corps training has been going pretty well so far...some days are pretty tiring, but all in all it has been good. We've been learning quite a bit about the asset-based approach to community development, which basically relies on strengths and resources from within the community to bring about sustainable change. It also focuses heavily on developing projects that stem from needs expressed by the community, ultimately promoting ownership (and thus sustainability). I think that when I'm put in my community that I will most likely be essentially left to my own devices when it comes to assessing where I see a need, but I'm becoming more comfortable with that idea as training progresses.

Well, I'm here in an internet cafe and have to run now, but I'll write more about the country of St. Lucia, what's going on here economically, and a hiking trip I took to the Grand Pitons (hopefully with a few pictures) when I get the chance. Peace!

Friday, July 27, 2007

Arrival in St. Lucia!

So after two days of training in Miami I’ve finally arrived here in the gorgeous island of St. Lucia. It has been great to meet so many other people who are just as eager, nervous, excited, and clueless as I am. Orientation was jam-packed with lots of information, but ultimately I think it was helpful in preparing us for this initial phase of training. One of the highlights from Orientation was a poem/rap that some volunteers and I wrote for a performance on becoming integrated into a community. Just imagine the white kid from KS (bojangles!), a 65 year old woman, and some other atypical rapsters bustin' out the following...

July 26th, an auspicious date
For we must learn to integrate
Into this Caribbean state
But first…contemplate

Integrate, integrate, it’ll be great to integrate

Just take it day by day
‘Cause you know, persistence will pay
Culture shock will go away
And 6 G’s, they’re sure to pay

Integrate, integrate, it’ll be great to integrate

We must remember to stay cool
Learn their ways, don’t act a fool
All work towards the golden rule
To exemplify and maintain the stool.

Pretty cheesy I know, but a lot of fun to come up with in 15 minutes. Oh, and the “stool” reference is an inside joke (a labeled picture of a stool was used to describe what processes are involved in integration…)

This evening those of us who weren't extremely tired (or just too giddy to notice it) walked to the local beach. Walking barefoot in the sand of the warm, blue sea and seeing the lush, green mountains of the island definitely made the 4:30am wake-up time this morning well worth it. Later on there was a big welcome dinner with lots of different types of Caribbean food. I’m happy to say that I loved everything, from the fish to the rice (with some really good seasonings) to the guava/papaya juice.

I’m really excited that tomorrow I’ll meet my homestay family for the next three weeks. On Thursday (sooner than I expected), I’ll find out which island I’ll be stationed on for the next 2 years. Needless to say, I’m anxious to find out.

All in all I’m doing well…kind of physically tired and emotionally drained after all the travel, excitement, and crazy sleeping schedule, but at the same time mysteriously energized. Well, I don’t have time to write much more now, but I wanted to post something while I'm here in the hotel and have internet access. I’ll hopefully write more and post some pictures sometime soon!

Monday, July 16, 2007

Counting Down...

Well, in just over a week I’ll be moving from probably the most land-locked state in the nation to a tiny island in the middle of the Eastern Caribbean. Nervous? Yes. Excited? Heck yeah.

Since I’ve been home in good ole Kansas and have told people who’ve asked about my life’s direction (ahh!) that I’ll be joining the Peace Corps, most everyone responds with a “wow, that’s really great” or some other answer of approval. The next question they ask is inevitably “where are you headed?” After telling people the Eastern Caribbean, I most oftentimes get a “whoa, that’ll be a nice vacation!,” or “Beach Corps…sweet!” (I really like that one…:)). Even though I’m thrilled about the opportunity to play Gilligan for two years living in a tropical paradise, I know that my time in the Peace Corps will be no vacation. From what I’ve heard from people who have served in the Eastern Caribbean and elsewhere, the Peace Corps certainly comes with its fair share of challenges: loneliness, feeling worthless at times, culture shock, etc. So, while I am really excited about having the chance to experience probably one of the most beautiful places in the world (all those cruise ships don’t go there for nothing), I must admit I’m also a bit ambivalent about what lies ahead.

I think this ambivalence is rooted in the fact that I still don’t really have a clear idea of what I’ll be doing while I’m down there. Based on the information I was given, I could be helping an established organization better meet the needs of the people, trying to improve different social or health services, or a number of other things. I suppose they would be contradicting the very nature of “community development” if they got much more specific. I’ve been corresponding with a guy down on St. Vincent and the Grenadines and have asked him some questions about his experience so far. His response to whether or not after the training period he felt adequately prepared to do his job and had a clear idea of what that entailed was, “I pretty much got dropped off.” Although some people do get placed with organizations, he was essentially left to his own devices when it came to assessing how to help the community. His first couple of months were therefore really difficult as he wasn’t sure what to do or how to go about helping. Yeah sure, I kind of hoped for a slightly more pleasant answer, but I’m glad that he was honest about his challenges and doubts. I still hope to have at least a bit more of a framework from which to start though…

Even though the uncertainty of what awaits me makes me a bit nervous, I’m excited to be stretched and challenged. After all, I didn’t sign up thinking it would be a vacation and would be pretty disappointed if that’s merely what it turned out to be. I trust that I’m going there for a reason, that God will encourage and teach me through the challenging and lonely times, and that ultimately what I learn from my experiences will be invaluable.

In the meantime, it’s back to eating blueberries and hoping they’re in plentiful supply down there. :)