Start of a new season

Hey everyone.

What does today mark?
June 1st (thanks Wikipedia) ^_^
--a day that marks admitting 2 into the U.S., Kentucky (15th state, 1792) and Tennessee (16th, 1794).
--1963 – Kenya gains internal self-rule (Madaraka Day).
--1967 – The groundbreaking Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album by The Beatles is released
--1974 – The Heimlich maneuver for rescuing choking victims is published in the journal Emergency Medicine
--1980 – Cable News Network (CNN) begins broadcasting.

Today is also:
--International Children's Day in many places around the world.
--National Tree Planting Day in Cambodia
--National Day Against Homophobia in Canada

But most notably--here in the North Atlantic, June 1st marks the opening of the hurricane season.

Communities are gearing up. NEMO (National Emergency Management Organization) will soon be conducting sessions in various communities and disaster preparation jingles will take the airwaves. And what a better way to begin the first day of hurricane season that plenty of pouring rain.

I woke up to the sound of the rain coming down, of course it was 5 minutes before the alarm was set to go off. Don't ya hate waking up before the alarm? The rain has been on and off all day and is closing out the day with another symphony of droplets on rooftops. I got to hear thunder this morning. Sure we get plenty of rain depending on the season, but thunder is something I don't often hear in SVG. Dunno, perhaps it is just me missing it, but given the volume of rain we get--I can probably count the thunder one one hand since I've been here. I don't usually think about it until I hear that rare moment and just enjoy it. Thunder is something I've always enjoyed, coming from Chicagoland where the thunder rolls loudly and crashes like an overzealous timpani drummer. I'll admit a bit of nostalgia and why not. For some it's Starbucks, but for me it's nature's orchestra of thunderstorms and lightning showers that streak the sky.

--------------------------------------------

Ok before the worry worts back home get ready to unleash themselves--let me say that I've been eating plenty of food and trying to make sure I've got a fairly balanced diet. I even snack quite a bit on crackers/biscuits, banana bread, and was apples (recent addiction). I even started to get a little of what I call my rice pocket belly; alright so it isn't a gut but just my name for it. lol. However, I've still dropped a few more pounds. I was holding steady at 161.4ish for awhile and as of Friday I'm down to 156.7. I haven't weighed so little in a LONG time; I can't even remember how long ago that was. Even in some of my peak training back in high school, I never dropped below 160 and usually sat around 165. I know we are expected to lose some weight.....but I'm going to need to start adjusting my cloth sizes soon.



Voice update--still hoarse, although I can croak out sounds here and there at audible levels. I'm still supposed to keep silent, but have come to the realization that I can't really be an effective volunteer and remain silent. I tried to use my dry-erase board and carry it with me everywhere, but either many people were having difficulty reading what I wrote or noticed I could talk and insisted I do so. Also, I still teach and work alongside community groups that require some level of vocal participation.



My doc on St Lucia (who overseas our med care here) called and told me after consulting with the PC med team in Washington D.C. that I am to go on an inhaler. Not sure what I'll be inhaling or for how long....first time going on one. Supposedly it will take a couple weeks to get here, so more info on that as it comes. I'm told to take it easy on the voice, even with the inhaler, for another 6 weeks and see how we go. If it doesn't get better, more drastic measures will be investigated.

----------------------------------------------


Got contacted recently from a person on Barbados affiliated with UNIFEM/FAO. She wants my help kick-starting a dormant (but shouldn't be dormant) women's group here in Spring Village. This group started a few years ago, but for reasons I don't know yet have simply stopped meeting altogether. I've been here 9 months now and didn't even know they had existed.

So, now I'm equipped with a list of names and I've been talking to a few of them. They seem interested in regrouping which will make my efforts easier. However, if it's one thing I've been learning--people here love to start and meet for a bit, but the longer efforts/groups last the more the people participating become like magnets with matching polarity.



I'm also prepping to start doing some workshops on organizational strengthening. They will start as a supplement to some communication/leadership training our local tourism has been doing. I'll be testing it out with a fun activity--personality tests and emotional intelligence & how they can affect the work environment communication. If that goes well, I'll be continuing with organization ethics and conflict of interest. I'll be trying to get the Adult and Continuing Education Unit & Community Development Units involved as well--but I'm not holding my breath on that. With proper mobilization, I'll continue the workshops into a series for most major aspects of business/CSO management. I haven't taught these courses, but did rather well on them back in college. Armed with the internet--there is plenty of research material. Now I just need to dig out the time to create my handouts and workshop plans.

In fact, I should be doing that now. hehehehe

Alas, I've been munching on Crix multi-grain crackers...another local weakness...and am starting to slip in my well know food comas.

Stay safe and happy,
ciao tutti,
~your local wannabe jedi
~Shawn

Searching for green gold and now free texting!!!

Another day in Caribbean...
For some of us--like our Florida volunteers, the weather patterns and warmer climate this time of year are normal. Personally, I've been in warmer places, but I don't think I've ever gone a full year without seeing a 'northern' winter. A couple people back home tell me about how cold it is getting and snow will be right around the corner. I certainly won't get any of that down here. A bit strange, even surreal to the mind--wet and dry season only, when I'm used to 4 seasons back home. Speaking of wet--it's still raining plenty here. It's now been 7 days straight with breaks in-between the down pours; heard it is supposed to go through Saturday. No worries for me though, just makes transportation a bit more difficult (they don't like driving in the rain and don't drive as late in the evenings) and tends to keep people from attending meetings in the village.

Spring Village is a more rural village, mostly farmers here. Even many of the people who don't farm as a livelihood still maintain some sort of agriculture to supplement themselves. One of the major things they farm here is banana. There is even an organization called Fair Trade that correlates the farming efforts and production. I got all excited to hear that there were so many banana farmers here and figured that it would be raining bananas. I really like them--they taste great and are extremely good for you. Funny thing--I can't really find any for sale. I'm surrounded by banana farmers and don't see any on the street corners here. Sure, I can find them in town--but I want to try and buy more of my local foods in the village if I can.

I see plenty of plantain, but no banana. haha, I learned by doing that ripe yellow plantain is still tricky to get out of it's skin and really doesn't taste good at all when raw. I managed to get another member of the banana family--called a fig (not to be confused with the date type of fig). It is smaller, chubby, and a bit sweeter--and they need longer to ripe. There is also another member of the banana family here called a grindy--also rather tasty. Grindy, fig, and banana are all ok to eat ripe--so those will be the ones I search for later. Plantain are nice, but I'd rather eat ripe than cooked fruit. Sunday, I am supposed to be getting up early (5am?) to meet up with some of the banana farmers and go work with them in the mountain. I've seen them coming in before, boxing up blue bags of banana that go onto large flat bed trucks to be exported later. They told me that if I really wanted banana, it's best to get some from them when they come back from the mountain. ^_^ The hunt will soon be over! lol, I've also learned from them that there are 2 sub-types of banana....but I can't recall their names. One is more like what we find back home and the other is a type that is preferred here. Perhaps I will find the difference. I joked with one of the locals that we should do a blind taste test and see if they can identify which of the banana types they are eating.

Banana, Fig, Plantain. I haven't seen red banana here, but the grindy looks more like the red ones--only yellow when ripe.


Yesterday I finally got to deliver a letter to the Ministry of Education officially requesting that I be allowed to use the school's computer lab to teach computer classes. The school principal says that it is ok, but I needed her to give me the letter--which I've been waiting for +/- 2 months now to receive from her. Finally, Tuesday I drafted the letter myself and brought to her for her edits and signature. Sometimes we just have to do things ourselves...now I wait for the red tape to clear and I will have some very happy locals. ^_^ The only thing I don't like about the computer lab is the operating systems on the computers. They used to have older desktops, kinda slow but usable for sure, that had Windows XP. Some time before I arrived, the ministry had them changed to these little box things (smaller than micro cases if you've seen one) that don't even have floppy or cd drives on them--just 2 usb in the front. I think they are flash memory based (didn't see a fan on it either) since I was told that we aren't really supposed to store things on them. Worst part about them--they are running Windows CE. It is windows, but doesn't run like the conventional windows system that I'm used to and I don't know much of anything about it. I believe that it is similar to what you might find on a PDA running a Windows environment, like 5.0. So there goes all the little training and educational software I was going to use--it's not compatible. Time to get creative again. ^_^ Good times, that's why I'm here.

Keeping on the nerd train...
I was playing around with the plug-ins available for Mozilla Firefox and came across yet another reason why Firefox RULES! They have a plug-in called WataCrackaz AutoSMS; crazy name huh? But this little toolbar (which I usually stay away from toolbars) allows you to select a global region, choose a cell carrier, enter a telephone #, and message to send (suggested under 100 characters) all for FREE!!! Since it sits in the toolbar, I just have to be online and use the toolbar--too simple! Not extra websites to visit or log into. Simply awesome. I've sent a couple texts out back home--but not sure yet if they actually got them. Sent one to my phone here and I got it within a matter of seconds. Sweet....

Getting my yellow fever vacination tomorrow. I don't need it to live here, but one of the other volunteers is taking a trip to South America soon and it is required for her to go there. They needed 3-4 people to get the vaccine in order for it to be feasible to sent the vial to St Vincent.....so I volunteered (yet again....that word is becoming common in my daily life huh?) to get stuck. Not sure if there will be any side effects, but at least I will have the vaccine in case I go on any interesting trips to the Central or Southern Americas.

The PCVs and our staff will be celebrating Thanksgiving this year Thursday the 27th. Our boss, Mr. Cool, has stated we will be joining celebrations with the Taiwanese volunteers and their staff on island. I didn't even know the Taiwanese celebrated Thanksgiving. If they don't, perhaps this is just a good time for cultural exchange. I've met one of them here already, very briefly, and I'm excited for the event. They are making some of their national dishes and we are going to be making some of ours. I am with 2 others on pie duty. I was intending to make 2 pumpkin pies, was even going to make everything from scratch. However--the cost was getting too steep for me, scratch or from canned. So looks like we are having a bunch of apple pies instead. Strange that the apples here are imported, but will be cheaper to create. I've never made apple pie from scratch before so this will be a learning experience. Pie day will be Wednesday. ^_^ Yum. I think we are baking a test pie to see how it goes first....double yum.

Stay safe and well.
ciao tutti
~your local wannabe jedi
~Shawn

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

Ready.....Steady.....GO!!!

And it's official! I am now a fully-fledged volunteer, with all the right and duties and ups and downs that come with the role. ^_^ On Monday, the 20th, we had a good-sized ceremony at a government center with several officials and people of note. It was conducted by our boss on SVG, Mr. Cool, and our country director, Margo (out of St Lucia). One of our group was nominated to give a speech it was awesome. Normally I would have taken a ton of photos, but I was sitting in a 'special section' for us....so one of the other volunteers took some good ones. The local media crews filmed the whole thing and they told me I could get a digital copy later....just have to follow up on that.
--Here's a pic of EC78, our crew. Kudos to us, nobody quit! Actually, nobody quit from any of the EC78 crew--including those that went to St Kitts & Nevis or St Lucia. Our staff is so pleased--they say that usually 10% of volunteers drop before training ends.



So becoming a regular volunteer also means that I'm now on my own. Saturday and Sunday I moved into my own apartment in the village. It's a cute little place--kitchen, bathroom, main room and 2 bedrooms--yeah I can have guests. There are a few issues that I won't discuss here....but I will say that a previous volunteer (a couple years ago) made a real hard time for the landlady which is causing grief for the Peace Corps now. I'm in a spot that is conviently located for the places I'll be working and the locals can pass by regularly. Because lots of kids pass by there and they know my name--I get shouted out regularly. I'm still getting used to them calling out my name and when I answer, they don't. I guess they just like to same my name. ^_^

Tomorrow I am going to town to try and negotiate getting my cable internet installed. The dsl here (Cable and Wireless) is down regularly--even though the locals say it is better than the cable internet provider (Karib Cable). What sucks is the massive deposit they require for 'non-locals', even though we are here by request and will be here for 2 years. Sure we get that deposit back (or should), but coming up with the cash right away is not cool or easy. I suppose complaing doesn't help. I mean, I was expecting dial-up and for the cutthroat price of around 10% of my monthly allowance I will get a whopping 1.1 (supposedly) Mbps 'high-speed' service. It really makes me appreciate my job with Comcast back home...

For those that keep tabs on the weather--Hurricane Omar had done a quick sweep and passed over the north end of the island chain, hitting St Kitts & Nevis. Gladly, all of the volunteers and I'd hope the locals are all ok and safe. The waves caused from the hurricane came all the way down here in force. It destroyed lots of fishing boats and jetties on our northern coasts. Even Kingstown, on the southern end, of St Vincent had high waves. The pic below was taken near one of the bus terminals. Previously, there were wooden stalls that lined the row and the waves destroyed them all and washed them down the street. The wave in the pic is probably 10 feet or so high over the cement wall--probably 16 feet or so altogether as it hit the land.



Today, I attended another meeting of the Cumberland Valley Environmental Group--an organization here in the village. They meet to discuss a project that will be going on with the nearby beach. The government had requested tourism facilities be erected around SVG to help cope with the collapse of the banana trades here. After several years, this project should soon be ready to break ground and finish before the end of 2009. Although the government requested it and the European Union is helping fund it and will operate with a non-government team here, the local community will be responsibile for it after it is complete. Unfortunately, I'm learning that the community really isn't on board with this project and feel very closed out of the process. The project team is looking to me to help bring aspects of this group together and train them; whereas the local group will need my help to try and find advocates to bring them into the project process. This one will end up becoming some delicate balancing acts and seems to be one of my first activities....

I'll also be starting my 2nd pupil for computer training. The group's secretary does very well with records and seems to do a good job. She doesn't know how to use a computer--so I'll be showing her how to maximize her secretarial duties. Hopefully my payback will be learning/meeting more people here in the village. I haven't met too many adults yet and this will be a good inroads.

I think the NGO Developer role that I've been assigned to will be a good fit for me and will become a double positive. On one side, I'll be helping the people of Spring Village with skills training and organizational development and on the other side, I'll be gaining massive amounts of practical experience that will assist me in graduate school and hopefully politics & policy.

Before I kick-off here, I thought I'd toss up one last photo....
After our 'graduation', the other volunteers who have already been here a year invited us for a swim & chill on the beach at a place called Beachcombers (total tourist area and not our normal place to go). I decided it was time for another tasty round of coconut water and for only EC$2 ($1.50 away from tourist areas) it was still cheaper and better than a soda. There are 2 common kinds of coconuts--the kind you usually drink they call here a waternut. It was a bit strange to me at first, but it's growing on me. I guess this shot is a bit of a caribbean classic.




The SVG independence day is coming up on the 27th. On Sunday the 26th, I hope to be going on a trip to the island of Mustique--land of the rich and famous--on a special independence boat ride. Still have to figure out how I'm getting to town and back for that--since the buses don't usually run on Sundays...more to come later.

Stay safe and happy
ciao tutti
~your local wannabe jedi
~Shawn

Frogs and Bats oh my

Hey readers,
Good things so lately for the most part.
--Last Saturday, I went to see the orphans of St. Benedict's play steel pan as the opening group for a music fest. Hopefully how good they were will help shake some of the stigma that the orphans experience, since all of them have some sort of physical or mental ailment. Although I was approached by some weird guy; he didn't seem drunk but I couldn't understand anything he was saying to me and he wouldn't leave me alone. Our HIV/AIDS trainer was around and took notice and together we got the guy to go away. Funny thing was that our trainer, a local, couldn't understand the guy either. On the way back, I was a bit lucky to catch a late bus and we crammed in the most people I've experienced yet....maybe 22 when it is registered to carry perhaps 16. With the rain and really heavy van, it was a long slow ride home--no worries though, this is the Vincy way. ^_^

--So with all the tropical storms in the area, St Vincent has been getting plenty of rain and a humidity that makes everything sweaty. What should I expect...its the Caribbean. : ) I just hope that our other volunteers are doing ok on the other islands. Last I heard, St Kitts is under hurricane warning from Hurricane Omar.

--There is currently a teacher strike across the entire island as they attempt to resolve with the government terms and conditions of a reclassification system, which affects their pay scales. Although I won't get into the nitty gritty, I'll say that it is causing quite a disturbance on the ground. I hope it gets resolved quickly. I am not taking any particular stance on this issue, but I do see how it is affecting the communities. Even though I can't stand how the current scholastic system is performing--both on the part of the schools and the students--it is certainly better to have something functional. Societies are strange. The amount of attention provided during times of strife depends on who or what is causing that strife. The teachers have been protesting their issues now for a few weeks rather loudly and now on strike since Monday going forward--although they have been arguing with government about this for months. If the strike would have come from a different sector of society, perhaps internal government workers or even the police, I'm sure that the response times to sit down for discussion/negotiation would have occured much faster. Again, I am not taking any sides--especially since I don't know all the details--but I personally think that teachers, good teachers, are the foundation for building a better future and deserve the respect and treatment equal to the services they provide.

--Tuesday I began to teach an older gentlemen from a nearby village how to use the computer. He is interested in learning how to use email, since he is currently relying on others to send messages for him to buy a boat from overseas somewhere. Before Tuesday, he had never touched a computer before and although he admitted it was overwhelming, he was very excited to be learning about it. Teaching bare basics, like how to move a mouse and even how to touch a keyboard key properly are things that are easily taken for granted. I was glad to be able to help him and see his responses. Sure, we didn't get much farther than a couple sentences and using MS Paint to connect a few dots for mouse skills--but it was a great start. He didn't mind at all being my guinea pig, since I've never started helping someone from ground zero up and the experience was good for me as well since I will be doing regular classes for people of all ages that have never touched computers. Fortunately, this gentlemen was able to read/write well, so my concerns for later will be for those I will train that can't read/write. Gotta walk before we run.

--A fun little experience. I was at the computer at my host family's house the other day and I noticed a funny looking dark spot bouncing on the floor. I thought it was some strange bug and was pondering if I should squish it or not. A closer look showed that it was actually a really small frog; the entire frog could fit onto the fingernail of my index finger. So small! I have no clue how it got in as the doors and windows were closed, but I captured it and let it go on a plant leaf outside. I'm actually glad to hear the frogs at night. After spending some time in the research labs at Southern Illinois Unv with Dr. Lips, I learned of the Chytridiomycosis bacterium that is causing the deaths of amphibians across the Americas. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chytridiomycosis

--More SVG Animal Planet....we have bats that enjoy roosting in the spaces between the metal sheets of my host family's roof. They are really loud in the evening and when they suffle about. I don't really mind, but it is driving my host parents crazy. Last night, they were taking the broom and whacking the ceiling as they tried to drive them out. I really doubted it worked, since their previous attempts have all failed. I'm not sure if they really cause any damage to the home, perhaps buildup of guano will eat away at the metals over time. Otherwise, I enjoy bats and think they are great for insect control.

--Last night's U.S. presidential debate was a disappointment in my opinion for Obama. Sure, the polls and pundits are saying that he did better overall and that this now makes him 3 for 3. I couldn't ask for better on that part. And yes, he did maintain a cool and collected air about him for the entire thing. I was split on his discussions. Some portions really resonated with me, such as education, while others left me wanting more details. Either way, I really thought that Obama was a bit flat, to echo the words of the analysts. Where is the great speaker and motivator that carried him through the primaries? I am glad to see that he is settling in rather comfortably into the presidential 'look', but I think his tone has lost a bit of its fire. As much as I can't stand Sarah Palin, she seems to have picked up where he left off in terms of energy and enthusiasm during her speeches.

--Which tosses me to my last thought. My village has expressed an interest in reviving the drama group they used to have. I will need to spend time research what that actually entailed, but this is something that several have really wanted help with. I don't know a thing about how to work with or run a drama group--but if it is one thing I know how to do.....is find and bring people and skills together. I might also try to revive the drama group and umbrella other efforts with it as well, such as the steel pan and public speaking efforts--try and put them all into a greater organization and reduce the individualized structure and resources required for each group within a smaller village. So don't be surprised if I shout out a few emails asking for your thoughts and opinions as I seek guidance down the road. ^_^

Stay happy and well.
ciao tutti
~Your local wannabe jedi
~Shawn

Haven't been washed away yet!

Hey all,


First off....I have been advised to let all know about a mailing address change. Well, the address hasn't actually changed, but things being what they are...some mail ends up in Jamaica and not usually heard from in a long time--if ever. So, I've corrected my address listed on the side of this blog. If you wrote it down before--just erase the city name of Kingstown. Jamaica has a city called Kingston and it has caused shipping problems. Mur.


For any of the weather channel junkies....the past few days, there has been a massive storm cycling itself over the entire West Indies. The tons of rain we've received have caused local rivers to flood and in some cases knock out part of roadways. Several landslides have been reported, spilling onto the main roadway. I've heard from my homestay (not officially confirmed) that a landslide even covered a bus/van and it wasn't found until they unearthed it. Not sure of any casualty counts. I posted a pic of the waterfall in our 'backyard' garden. The water from that fall has turned into a full gushing falls and it totally carved out the lil river it made. The muddy banks collapsed and I lost some of the dasheen I got to plant alongside the bank. >.< I did spend some time with my host dad moving unearthed rocks from the riverbed to try and support the new dirt banks. I'll post some pics at the end of the blog--but be sure to compare the water flow with the same falls in the pic from the other blog post.


Today was the international coastal clean-up, sponsored by the Ocean Conservancy. All over St Vincent, different organizations had agreed to go to respective ocean/river shores and clean up the trash--and there is LOTS of it. Data cards are to be filled out for stats collection. There were some sort of communication issues and with the rain still going.....my clean up turned into a lonely event. I was the only one on my beach front (the same beach I posted on flickr--see the link in a previous blog post). Either way I still managed to pick up around 20-25 pounds of garbage before walking with the garbage bag 20ish minutes to deposit it in a proper location.


Funny things to note--coming from Vincy's:

"A Vincentian will take on someone pointing a gun at them. A Vincentian will not have any problems taking on someone with a cutlass [machete]. But a Vincentian will run away as soon as dah rain ah come."

Another volunteer and I were waiting in the rain (of course) last night for a bus. An older local guy approached us and asked for money. We gave him our truthful reply, sorry-but we're poor. He replied, "We are not poor. Only the rain pours. We are but strugglers." He had a big smile and wished us well. Wise words. ^_^


Not sure if I've mentioned this yet....but of the few radio stations, most of them play a regular song list that I swear have a revolving set of the same 5-10 songs. They are replayed more often than any songs on major commerical radio stations back home in Chicago. On top of it, when I go to larger social gatherings, there are djs with large speaker stacks and they CRANK really loud music. Yeah, the same few songs that are constantly on the radio! I am enjoying the style of music here....nearly all reggae (95%), soca and calypso. But if I keep hearing the same songs--it will really kill my radio interests, not that I can get away from it. >.<


Very happy having CNN and MSNBC here. That mean I will get to watch the Presidential and VP debates! YEAH! Not sure when I turned into such a politically interested dork, but I'm liking it now.

ciao tutti,

~your local wannabe jedi

~Shawn

Of rain showers and brain cramps

Hey readers!
Ok, so last time I was talking about the crazy 5th graders. I forgot to say that I had a very strange and pleasant experience too..... As the school bell rang to let the kids go for the day, I sat in the little computer lab (where I had been trying to work with the 5th graders) and just sat--cooling off the brain. A moment later, in come some of the 6th graders I had be observing (helping the teacher) the week before. They were interested in just hanging out with me for a few minutes and wanted to know what I was doing in there. So I showed them how to use a spreadsheet to help them with their math problems--of which they are all fairly deficient and need tutoring (which will be one of my projects). Not sure if they will remember my tips--but having piqued their curiosity was a good feeling.

But yesterday, I actually got my first hands-on attempt at helping with beginner-basic literacy. I was shadowing one of the other volunteers here--already here a year--and this person was helping at a local school. I never thought teaching the beginner basics could be so hard and by lunch my head was ready to explode. Much kudos and props to the volunteer I was working with and any others who have been dedicated and doing this for so long. I know literacy is a big problem here with people of all ages. You'd be surprised what passes for literacy as far as statistics are concerned.... But I'm really not sure I'll be able to handle teaching literacy, at least from a beginner level. Perhaps it will be different with a different age group. The kids we were working with were probably 3-5 grades. This will be a long road for everyone....

Otherwise it has been raining a ton here lately and I like it. Well, I don't like getting the shoes soaked--which has been frequent--and I haven't broken down into sandals yet. >.< But after playing with the area kids the other day and getting really dirty nasty, I was in desperate need of a shower. The rain came hard so I figured why not....and stood out in it. My host mom was on the porch and I joked with her about showering in the rain. What did she do? Got my soap from my room. Ended up taking my first rain 'shower' right in front of the house and it was GREAT! Nobody cared either--later finding out that while not too common, people do it here. Lol.....I took another one around 5 this morning. ^_^

Going on a little field trip with the training crew today. I wonder what will be in store.

Hope all are happy and well.
ciao tutti
~Your wannabe jedi
~Shawn

Ha-zah! A new look and pics to post.

Ok, I squeezed in a few minutes at my homestay and gave my blog a make-over. Also, here is a link to my recently created flickr account to check out some pics.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/30305553@N02/

Oh yeah......ending 5th grade class coverage was hellish today. >.< And after all that, I ended up taking a few of the local kids to the beach and play area for more games. Kids are a major key to integrating into our communities. The kids will talk about us to the parents.....the parents get curious and talk to us.....and then their friends....eventually most adults. The teens and younger adults will be harder to reach. That usually comes through activities and social gatherings. --or so I think.

Wow....the rain is REALLY coming down right now. It is so loud it is nearly deafening. Kinda cool actually.

Let the rain begin. ^_^

Of course, it is the rainy season here....and all week I have carried my awesome smiley face umbrella with me expecting rain. None really, until Saturday when Murphy's law kicked in...the day I didn't bring it. That's ok--a few of us had a good time running for shelter and waiting it out in Kingstown. ^_^ It has rained on and off steadily since then, a nice warm rain.

Village update--
--I was expecting to find old computers in dire need of rehab and I walked in to find 4 new dells, sweet.
--Took some pics I can post.....you'll find them posted below. ^_^


Vans, our wonderful mode of transportation.
--Not sure if I mentioned this already, but all of our vans have these quaint little differences. Most of them have names on the front and body using car decals. Again--I'd post some, but I am going to check for approval first. (this is getting on my nerves, but better safe than sorry)
--They also usually have something wrong with them, typically harmless, but the Friday night my ride home had the headlights cutting in and out. On a dark and very winding mountain road that makes for quite the ride. >.< I'm not taking that one in the dark again.

Schools.............
--I have yet to see them in action firsthand, but I am scheduled to start visiting them this week. Others have already been inside a few and we are learning about the educational system here on St Vincent.
--Based on a British model, the kids here study for 2 major exams. The 1st (CEE) takes them from a primary school into secondary with the exam scores allowing parents to choose which secondary schools they would like their children to attend. The 2nd exam (CXC) is near the end of secondary school and is a major factor in the child's chances to get certain jobs, go on to college, or find a particular trade school. In fact, we learned that their actual diploma is not worth nearly as much as those exam grades.
--The schools education and resource allocation is determined completely by the government.

Cost of living
--Having a few more times to explore the capital, I'm seeing that many things here cost an equivalent to the same items in the U.S. after guesstimating for exchange rates. USD $1.00 = ECD $2.7. KFC offers their 2-piece meal combo for about EC $16......and no I did not eat the chicken. A .5 gallon bottle of juice at the supermarket was around EC $18-19.....so given how much juice I like to drink.....time to get started on that garden. >.<

More adventurous stuff:
--Got to meet some of the other volunteers on the St Vincent. They are cool people and seem excited to have us around. Finally, they are not the newbies. ^_^ They have just finished their 1yr marker.
--Helped my host dad feed his goats and also fed a baby goat from a bottle. Pics have been taken....may post later.
--Have been waking up around 5:30 and starting to get used to it. Bucket baths are becoming normal for me and I really don't mind them.
--Saturday morning/afternoon, hung out with 2 other volunteers and played ball with some kids on the beach. It was fun. Got to see one of the other volunteer's homes--it was awesome and she has a great view! Perhaps mine will be so sweet once I move in....well not as sweet since I've already seen the outside, but I'm looking forward to stepping in. Look for that in late October.
--Spent Saturday evening chillin' and watching another game of dominoes with my host dad. He says perhaps next time I will be ready to jump in--lesson time over.
--Met my first guy who REALLY didn't like my being in the village. Nothing personal to me, but he didn't like the Peace Corps being here. He got very vocal and used some colorful words. I was also a bit wary of the cutlass (machete) he was slapping against his thigh. I left him quickly and now know at least one person to avoid. Later, I learned he is a few cards short of a deck--according to others in the village. Even more reason to take care around him.
--Took tons of pics of my village today during some early morning rain. Sorry, I can't post nearly any of them....but here is a triple treat that turned out really nice!









This last one is an old government installed clothes and bathing station pulling water. Although most people have indoor plumbing, these are still in use by many people.

Holy breadfruit batman! I just saw the time and it is LATE for me. Time to log out and get a couple hours of sleep.....
Until next time, stay happy and well.
ciao tutti,
~your wannabe jedi
~Shawn