St. Lucia Top Ten Lists

In the style of David Letterman and Andrew Haile, a college friend and fellow Peace Corps Volunteer in Guinea, I decided to do a couple of “top ten” lists relating to different St. Lucia topics. So here goes…

Top Ten Indicators That You Live in a Slightly Humid Climate
10) Cornflakes lose their crispness within one week of being opened.
9) Shirts can be wrung out as if soaked in water after having gone for a jog.
8) Paper from the printer comes out curled up like a scroll.
7) It proves to be rocket science to get something to permanently stick to the wall
6) Mold grows…on just about anything
5) You wake up at 2am sweaty and hot, even though you happen to be sleeping nearly naked and coverless.
4) The handy hot water switch on the shower is never used out of fear that once getting out of the shower you’ll somehow start ironically getting wet with sweat while drying off.
3) The motor of a brand new, flashy Japanese-made fan goes out within months because of overuse.
2) In an attempt to expedite the process of going to sleep, prior to going to bed you open the freezer and put your arms, back, etc. on frozen chicken to cool off.
1) Envelopes magically become sealed by themselves and must therefore be unstuck and glued shut when sending mail.

It’s not always as bad as I make it out to be. August and September just happen to be the worst months. This week it’s been really rainy and thus quite a bit cooler. Just now in a couple months it’ll be “cold.” Still come and visit me. :)

Top Ten St. Lucian Phrases/Mannerisms
10) Eh eh (used in surprise, disgust, and many other situations)
9) Wi Papa or Ma-ma! (like the surprise form of “eh eh”)
8) Awa! (emphatic no)
7) We Me`sye! (way-mess-yay; like the surprise form of “eh eh”)
6) Sucking teeth/Lip smack (usually followed by an “eh eh” in the form of disgust)
5) Popicho! (pop-ee-show; nonsense!)
4) Ci Bon Dye Vle (God willing)
3) Irie (eye-ree; positive or safe)
2) Sa ou di a (sow-dee-ah; translates to “what do you say there” but means how are you).
1) He…he…he…he Salop! (used when someone makes a big mistake, falls down, etc.; last word used in isolation is taken as a curse)

A couple of posts ago I mentioned that we had started up a table tennis/games afternoon in the parish center on Sunday afternoons. It’s been going well and fortunately a considerable number of youth has been consistently coming. We were also able to get access to a few more games (scrabble, chess, connect 4) from an after school program that has since stopped. We’re hoping to open up the parish center a couple of days during the week as well and are in the process of getting permission from the parish council.

Oh, one last thing. The mice are back. Good thing I’ve already established the most effective, humane way of dealing with them, eh?