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 Train
ees (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 covered
ourselves 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!
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 Train
ees (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 covered
ourselves 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!
6 comments:
Ben!
The photos you sent were wonderfu! Especially the one with the lady behind who is definitely not Happy with your muddy body, very funny photo. And the dog...just when you're tempted to think animals are dump, you realize they might be smarter than humans (lol). Great to know you're doing well and excited about your journey in your new home. I hope your experience continues to be enriching as you heartly serve and love those around you!
-Qwabe
B-slice!
Dude I just ate up your blog and all that you're up to. Wow. Good stuff, man. St. Lucia looks absolutely gorgeous. Those pictures of the Pitons or whatever are breathtaking. Wow. I'm jealous, and of course have a bit of a vested interest in reading all your PC blog stuff because I'm curious to see how it's all going to work. And as far as I go, my medical clearance had a bit of a glitch, so I missed my original nomination, so now I'm not leaving til OCtober at the earliest. Kind of a bummer, but I think it's God's way of saying "slow down," etc. Anyway, it's all good. Take care, brother-- When I think of you, I'll throw up some prayers!
Hey Qwabe and Andrew! Good to hear from you guys! Hope senior year (woot woot!) is going well for you Qwabe...you're on your way to graduating! Sorry to hear about the delay with your departure, Andrew, but like you said, I'm sure God has his own timetable for how things will work out. Be sure and keep me updated with how you guys are doing. Peace!
ben your life sounds amazing!
i dont have as much to say as those two awesome people above me, except that im at midd and i saw your pictures too! it looks beautiful over there. i hope you will continue to have fun there! be assured you will bei n my prayers!
-fugelo
Hi Ben,
It's been years! This is your friend James typing from my post at Washburn University here in Topeka and I'm especially interested in your work in the Peace Corps. I spoke with your mother and father last night, and your mom gave me the address to your blog, So here I am!
From the way you write, you obviously have great interest and direction in your work and I hope the very best for you. My work here at Washburn University is 15 hours this semester with plans to enroll as a full-time student and focus on media writing. I thouroghly enjoyed your account of what's been happening in St. Lucia and, again, wish you all the best.
Sincerely,
James Ahrens
Hey James,
It's good to hear from you! It really has been years since we went tubing in my pasture and spreaded oats all over Cody's yard. :) Good times. I'm glad to hear that things are going well at Washburn. I think you would be a very talented media writer, and I'm not just saying that. Best of luck with school, and I hope to keep in touch.
Ben
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