Neighbors!

My favorite part of St. Vincent is my neighbors. I love them. They take care of me, send over bakes (bread-type roll), make tutus when there is a hurricane and remind me of why I am here. They give advice on getting out stains, help me check my laundry to see if it is dry and are my knights in the war against crazy ants that are attacking my house. I love to see their faces peeping out from behind my gate asking if it is “okay” for them to come over. At first I was confused because I simply have never had neighbors like this. Sure, I would always wave and say “hi” but here my neighbors have become my family away from home. We spend our days together reading, laughing, baking and coloring. When I see their smiling faces I believe that this is really what I am here to do; just be a good neighbor to a fellow citizen of the world.

This past Saturday, St. Vincent was hit by Hurricane Tomas. It was a crazy experience but I was lucky to have Stefi, my nine year old neighbor, with me the whole time. She came over on Saturday morning and by the afternoon the wind was blowing too hard for her to return to her mother’s house up the road so we braved the storm together. It was a wonderful day despite all that was happening outside the window. We baked bread, painted our fingernails, made a hand sewn tutu and read every book in the house, many of them twice. She now has claim to a toothbrush and a shirt to use as a nightgown. In the middle of the night, as the wind and rained steadily beat into the house, I was so happy to have her with me; cuddled up and using the headlight as a nightlight.

I am thankful that Layou faired quite well through the storm. There were a few families that lost their roofs or had water damage. We have our own source of water and luckily our electricity was not down for long. Other communities had significantly more damage and most of the country lost their crops. Everyone is optimistic despite the situation that may face the country in the coming months. I am trying to stick with them despite being nervous about the tight rope that so many of my neighbors walk between getting by and poverty. I guess we will cross that bridge when we get there.