I still have a smile on my face from the sweet arrangement of events that created my first Christmas in St. Vincent. I was nervous that I would miss home terribly and while it is certainly true that my heart strings were pulled in the direction of New York, DC, Pensacola and the Bay area, I got through just fine. Christmas Eve is not really celebrated here in SVG so I spent the evening watching The Office holiday episodes (so funny!) and getting materials ready for school. On Christmas morning, I woke up and did my normal exercise routine only to be interrupted twice by my 9 year old neighbor who had climbed over my fence to wish me a “Merry Christmas!” and the second time to wonder what in the world I was still doing! I explained to him that Christmas equates with eating in the states so I was just prepping for the long day ahead! Graciously, he agreed that he would give me until 8:30am to truly begin Christmas!
At 8:30, he arrived bearing gifts of sweet bread and his 3 year old brother, Juvion. We hugged, said “Merry Christmas” and played numerous Christmas carols on YouTube. We took the carrot cake that I had made for his family over to their house and I gave the boys their Christmas presents. In typical Peace Corps/teacher fashion, I had decided that I would only give out books as gifts. Juvion received Where’s Spot and Vianj received his first Berenstein Bears book, a series that I adored as a child. It is the first book that either of them have ever owned and as they carried the books for the rest of the afternoon, I knew that despite books not being the most exciting gifts that they were valued. After spending some time at their house, we walked up the road (and a huge hill) to deliver a Christmas gift to Stefi (The Secret Garden) and her family. We hung out on the road outside their house for a bit, waving to friends that passed and enjoying the sunshine. On our way back to our block, we decided that we would take a tour of the town. Lucky for me, the boys have plenty of family in Layou.
Our tour of Layou took a total of three hours! We stopped at aunts and uncles houses, receiving gifts of juice, cake, Guinness (just for me) and money (just for the boys). We walked in the sweet sunny bliss of a Christmas morning. Children were racing new bicycles down the road and Christmas carols came blasting out of speakers. Everywhere you looked, families and friends were together, just enjoying each other’s company. When we arrived home, Elvia, the boy’s mother, filled a plate with food to send home with me and gave me a glass of Mawby (sort of like root beer) and Ginger Beer. I went home and took a break before going to Flory’s house for Christmas dinner. At Flory’s, we had a quiet dinner, just Flory, Uncle Richard and myself. She had cooked a meal for kings and I enjoyed every bit of it. I even ate the fish cheeks, which is getting downright close to the eyeballs! After sitting for a few hours and talking about life, I helped with the dishes and headed home. Almost as soon as I arrived home, I received a call from my friend Sudi inviting me to come lime (hang out) with him and a group of guys that have become my closest friends here in Vincy. I went and met them at the Nichols house. Mr. Nichols had been their boss and he was graciously hosting the gang on the porch. The boys were already smiling with bellies full of Guinness and the joy that only comes from spending time with your closest friends. I grabbed a chair, sat back and enjoyed the show. A c ouple of times, the boys would look at me and say “Thanksgiving!” They had been invited to the Peace Corps Thanksgiving celebration where we explained that the holiday was about eating, drinking and having a good time with your friends and family. They couldn’t have said it any better, as my heart was giving thanks for whatever cosmic forces came together to land me right in that moment.
Sunday was Boxing Day, a holiday that is spent with friends and neighbors. I spent the morning with my neighbors, playing games and reading books. At 1:30, my landlord picked me up to take me to his house for Boxing Day supper. His wife had cooked an amazing meal complete with a tossed salad, the first I have had since arriving in SVG! We enjoyed lunch, talked about the issues of literacy and how to work with parents. It was a fascinating conversation and I couldn’t help but feel like I was talking to surrogate parents who were interested in seeing my work result in success. After the meal, I took a tour of the house, spent time with their neighbors and watched the end of the Caribbean Cricket tournament on TV. Their children are overseas so I was happy to spend time with Mr. and Mrs. Charles in a way that can only be described as the familiar feeling of downright comfort that one has when they are with their families. After a few hours, Mr. Charles took me home with a “doggie” bag full of macaroni pie, sweet cake and meat pies. Later that evening, a friend picked me up and we went to a liming spot called the Drop Off where I finished off my Christmas weekend by dancing until the wee hours of the morning.
A very merry Christmas indeed!
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
The Greatest Gift in the World...
is friendship! Today is Miss Jennifer Ewart's birthday and I have to take this moment to give a big shout out to the woman that has helped make my Peace Corps experience so downright enjoyable. Jenn hails from Northern California and is always full of fresh ideas about social justice and the ways of the world. She is truly a social anthropologist, constantly engaging people from a variety of backgrounds to deepen her understanding of human existence. As a volunteer, she has a quiet, measured pace. She isn't pushy, she is just herself living in Spring Village offering a helping hand and a cup of coffee. I can tell when we ride through the village in the van and children break into bright smiles when they see her, that SVG needs more people like her. Her Vincy "grandfather" reminds me every time I see him that Jenn is not going home to the states-- he wants to keep her here! Her quiet determination and fierce compassion are the recipe for change in Spring. As a friend, she makes me laugh, helps me through hard times and is my co-pilot in island adventures. We have taken to spending time together getting to know friends around the island (and I do mean around the island! Even though we both live on the Leeward side, it is not strange to see us Winward on Sundays, stirring up smiles!). Just the other day, I was at a government event and I ran into a friend, first question out of his mouth was "Where's Jennifer?" Every once in a while, we are lucky to find people who make us better just by being with them and I believe his question goes to show that in Vincy, Miss Jennifer and I go together like salt fish and rice.
Happy Birthday to a lovely, lovely friend and a wonderful member of the United States Peace Corps!
Picture above of Jennifer and Justlyn, my host sister!
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Vincy Hodge Podge
I promise, everyday I think to myself that I simply must post something but somehow by the middle of the day my mind is overwhelmed by all of the wonderful things that I could send your way that most of the time I just head to bed, satisfied with the fact that life is going along just as it should and not at all how I would have planned. But in an effort to keep this blog going and to explain what is so many times downright impossible to explain, I write again today. It is going to be a hodgepodge of my life in Vincy and the moments that bring me right to my knees.
Everyone, I mean EVERYONE, wants me to marry a Vincentian and stay here forever! It is funny, I hadn’t realized it until this past week but on a regular basis, I get asked if I have met any nice men or if I would like to be introduced regardless of what I say. I also am asked what my “requirements” are—money, age or Christian. I have come up with a variety of answers, the best being that I have my hopes out for the next Soca Monarch that won’t be announced until next Carnival (July) and that I would have no chance with anyways since he will be a major (or minor) celebrity after being crowned the BEST Soca artist in St. Vincent. I consider it a compliment—they want me to stay!
My library books were two weeks late! I had tried to return them twice but the library had an unscheduled closing those days. It is the end of the month so the librarian has to pay her bills. Anyways, I went to the library and of course, I ended up with a $0.90 fine and of course I did not have the money to cover the fine. Fortunately, there were a couple students who threw in their ten cent pieces and shillings ($0.25) to cover Miss Smith’s fines. I was able to check out a new load of books for class this week and I promptly returned the money during break the next morning. It was a wonderful feeling to have kids throwing out their small change to ensure that I could check out more books. They don’t have money, I don’t have money but together we can work it out.
Yesterday at the 4-H meeting we were working on creating Christmas Wreaths out of our handprints. In the States, I had run this activity a few times with no problems. Everyone traces their hands, colors them green and cuts them out. We put all the palms together and make a lovely little wreath. Well, the children of Layou made a whole new kind of wreath. There were long (LONG!) fingernails, red hands, green hands, purple hands and brown hands. I love it. They always give me a run for my money. At the end of the day, it is about giving the wreath to someone in our community who is less fortunate than us.
Finally, I have been teaching a composition class which I have basically kidnapped and turned into a Creative Writing class. It is FUN!!! Most of the students are not regularly encouraged to use their imaginations and write what they feel inside so it is really interesting to see what they have to say when there is no grade. My rule is that they have to write something but there is no judgement after that. Today, the topic was “If I could learn about anything I want.” I wanted to share a few of the responses:
Cheslon, “ I would like to learn about Haiti because I want to help those people affected by the hurricane and Cholera.”
Josh, “I would like someone to teach me to play football for me to get better at it.”
Marvin, “I want to learn about mechanics because I love to fix vehicles because vehicles take you anywhere you want to go.”
How could I not fall in love with SVG? Come visit… we will make you a lovely sign like the one below!
Also I would like to give my mom a big "Thank You!!!" for creating the Smithers' Vincy Gym, it has been put to good use and we are all much stronger for it!
Everyone, I mean EVERYONE, wants me to marry a Vincentian and stay here forever! It is funny, I hadn’t realized it until this past week but on a regular basis, I get asked if I have met any nice men or if I would like to be introduced regardless of what I say. I also am asked what my “requirements” are—money, age or Christian. I have come up with a variety of answers, the best being that I have my hopes out for the next Soca Monarch that won’t be announced until next Carnival (July) and that I would have no chance with anyways since he will be a major (or minor) celebrity after being crowned the BEST Soca artist in St. Vincent. I consider it a compliment—they want me to stay!
My library books were two weeks late! I had tried to return them twice but the library had an unscheduled closing those days. It is the end of the month so the librarian has to pay her bills. Anyways, I went to the library and of course, I ended up with a $0.90 fine and of course I did not have the money to cover the fine. Fortunately, there were a couple students who threw in their ten cent pieces and shillings ($0.25) to cover Miss Smith’s fines. I was able to check out a new load of books for class this week and I promptly returned the money during break the next morning. It was a wonderful feeling to have kids throwing out their small change to ensure that I could check out more books. They don’t have money, I don’t have money but together we can work it out.
Yesterday at the 4-H meeting we were working on creating Christmas Wreaths out of our handprints. In the States, I had run this activity a few times with no problems. Everyone traces their hands, colors them green and cuts them out. We put all the palms together and make a lovely little wreath. Well, the children of Layou made a whole new kind of wreath. There were long (LONG!) fingernails, red hands, green hands, purple hands and brown hands. I love it. They always give me a run for my money. At the end of the day, it is about giving the wreath to someone in our community who is less fortunate than us.
Finally, I have been teaching a composition class which I have basically kidnapped and turned into a Creative Writing class. It is FUN!!! Most of the students are not regularly encouraged to use their imaginations and write what they feel inside so it is really interesting to see what they have to say when there is no grade. My rule is that they have to write something but there is no judgement after that. Today, the topic was “If I could learn about anything I want.” I wanted to share a few of the responses:
Cheslon, “ I would like to learn about Haiti because I want to help those people affected by the hurricane and Cholera.”
Josh, “I would like someone to teach me to play football for me to get better at it.”
Marvin, “I want to learn about mechanics because I love to fix vehicles because vehicles take you anywhere you want to go.”
How could I not fall in love with SVG? Come visit… we will make you a lovely sign like the one below!
Also I would like to give my mom a big "Thank You!!!" for creating the Smithers' Vincy Gym, it has been put to good use and we are all much stronger for it!
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