Gotta keep on the bright side

Rain ah come.
It's been raining here (at least on the north leeward) for a few days now. Sometimes it comes and goes in intervals and sometime is just comes and comes and comes... Usually when it rains for several days, the land tends to loosen a bit and earthslides become frequent. Outside of transport difficulty and outside stuff closing down during storms--I actually enjoy the rains. The sounds of pounding rain on the roof or just watching it from my porch is soothing. Haven't taken another walk in the rain yet....maybe later.

I was considering going to Bequia for an event yesterday/today and really wanted to go....however I felt the call of responsibility in my community, so I remained in my village to do my job. So instead of going, I was supposed to meet with a person who has the records for the community center where I work. She moved to another village and is nearly impossible to get in person. SUDO (Spring Village United Development Organization) also called a meeting at 1700; considering they are not only my host NGO that requested me to be on SVG but also because they almost never have meetings (3-4 since I've been here), I felt compelled to be there. Guess what? The records person I was supposed to meet never came--personal reasons. This just delays my getting the community center electricity fully restored. SUDO? Another no show. Of all its members (however few there may be), I was the only person beside the librarian--who was working--who happened to be there and the librarian left shortly after I arrived. Figuring for island time, I stayed an hour and half until I completely gave up. If participation like this continues, it seriously undermines my presence here. Gotta keep the chin up and keep talking to people--just put more time into 'street talk'.

Local news:
--Previously I mentioned the teachers union strike due to certain parts of a reclassification process. They eventually when back to work in the schools after +/-2 weeks of industrial action so the kids would not suffer more than what they had with the lack of instruction. Although the teachers did return to the classrooms, they were not done with their protests and requested mediation and sit-downs wit h government. Government has since refused and I feel that things here are going to get a bit bumpy. I'm not taking any sides on this one, not that I should be anyways.

--The whole island has been on fire with talk about President-elect Barack Obama's election victory and the papers have been lit up with opinions and articles on the topic. Everything from a good day for the black people to expectations of leadership & administration to comparison of US politics to SVG politics. Personally, I'm split. I really enjoy having the chance to learn about what's going on at home on a person to person basis and get excited to be talking global/US politics; we're not supposed to talk local politics/opinions. However, when I buy a newspaper--I read all 3 weekly papers--I'd hope to see more than article after article consisting of much of the repetitive rhetoric. Note: According to a paper this week, 2 people here have named their child Barack already--one in July and another after the election victory. That might not seem like that many, but there are only 110k people here and do the math for newborns...

--Papers have articles that claim crime is on the rise and the stories to back it. Every week now I'm reading about murders, violence to others and property. Even now, the articles state there is social conflict as the people claim there is also too much police brutality.

--I don't know much about the sport of cricket, but the news is also blowing up over something called the 20/20 match and how the West Indies team beat England and won US$20million. That's a ton of money for players from developing nations-or any nation for that matter. I wonder what they will do with it.

--Updates on building an international airport are supposedly on target. Too bad it isn't expected to be completed until 2011. : ( Sorry guys, but that means no direct flights from the US here.

I heard that it is getting rather chilly back home. Strange for me to know that it is mid-November and not see what I know as 'fall'. 2 seasons here, wet and dry.

I found a few pics taken by other volunteers.....here ya go:

The 2008 election crew

Some of us on the Mustique Independence Ferry Ride

Aw....Haruka's umbrella broke. Go Go Gadget multi-tool ^_^

This was awhile back already....from a birthday party. Veg Oreo! 2 vegetarians and a vegan. Good times.
Stay safe and well.
ciao tutti
~Your local wannabe jedi
~Shawn