Baptism by Ocean

There was a beautiful baptism in our Branch on Saturday! I have never had the chance to see a baptism any where else by a font. There was a great sunset in the background. Before they even got started, a boy on a horse road by, very Lucian style. The boy who was baptized is 9 and is my newest member of my Primary class. I was so glad to be there and to be apart of his special day.

Earlier that day, I was able to visit my first host mom in the North of the island and to help her prepare lunch for her sick mother. I was so nice to see her again. I also got to go to my favorite beach in the North and spend some time with my fellow volunteers. I really treated myself and bought a big bag of Lays potato chips! I shared of course, it was so relaxing and much needed. Sunday, I was able to go to some appointments with the Sister Missionaries after church. We met with some pretty interesting characters and were able to teach lessons on prayer and families. It is very hard to be a missionary and teach in a country where illiteracy is so common. It’s hard to leave them with a pamphlet or even a Book of Mormon. But the people are willing to listen and often ask you to pray for them, which we did. It was a well spent afternoon.

I forgot, on Friday, I had one of my 6th grade students over for a few hours. We made some chocolate chip cookies, which are only bought in stores here, and she taught me how to make Golden Apple Sauce. If you are imagining applesauce, start over. Golden apples are very tart and bitter, not to be eaten on there own, and are mostly used to make juice with lots of sugar. You can also cut them up and soak them in salt water with turmeric…not the tastiest think I have eaten but it was great to have my student teach me the recipe. I still have 15 golden apples on my counter. Not sure what to do with them 🙂

Local Gifts

   

I have been getting many kind gifts from neighbors in the past few days. Mainly guavas, breadfruit, lemons, limes, cucumbers, and passion fruit. The ones in the sink are breadfruit, a very common and useful provision that is a stable in St Lucia cuisine. They use it for everything, its white inside and when cooked, is similar to potato in texture. You can make fried breadfruit balls, breadfruit pie, breadfruit salad with salt fish, scalloped breadfruit, you name it! I plan to try to cook my first breadfruit later today. The other picture is actually a local lemon. It is not very tart and makes a nice lemonade. The next growing season coming is around December and that is when oranges, grapefruit and yams will be ready. I will be getting a blender soon to start making more local juice!

The Kids’ First Day!

  

Day 1 for the baby goats! They were so cute today, the one on the right is Trevor, he has more white spots and is very friendly. He kept following me around and playing around my legs.

   

This one is Tye, I tried to get so many pictures of him but he wouldn’t hold still. They only time was for lunch so that’s what you get a picture of. He has a lot of energy and likes to tumble and jump around. He has really cute black marks on his face, back and legs. My host dad now calls him Trouble since he was the one that frustrated him last night. 🙂

The last picture is the neighbor goat that I just had to include. His teeth are always showing, giving him a funny expression.

Night with the Goats!

I have just returned from the neighbors house where I got to witness and help with a miraculous event! One of my host dad’s goats gave birth! I didn’t know when I left the house or I would have brought a camera! It was so exciting and gross, so much fun. The best part, she had twins! The first one took a long time, labor started at around 3pm and I got there around 6pm. So I didn’t have to wait since it came when I arrived. The kid was dark brown with a white spot on his head. They noticed he had a lot of mucus in his airway but they got him breathing. After momma helped clean him up, she started pushing again, we were all surprised to see another little one come. This one was brown but has white sides and is smaller than his brother. After they dried off a bit, which was not easy since there was a storm passing with lightning and rain tonight, they finally started to stand up. When my host dad tried to teach them to nurse, they were very unwilling and he got pretty frustrated. So I took a shot at it. (I hope no one is too grossed out…) I got some milk on my finger and had them practice sucking on that, then I switched it with momma and after a few tries, they got it. I remember doing the same thing with some baby cows once,. Things you learn in Wisconsin. They both got their first meal and then went straight to bed. It was such a great and unexpected experience. My host dad said I could name them but took it a big step further, I asked if I could raise them for him. And he said yes! He was happy to see that I too am a goat lover and he agreed to put them in my care in the beginning of January. So I have over 3 months to get a space ready for them!!  I couldn’t resist this opportunity!

Names so far: Trevor and Tye…strange that these names came to me but they really work. Now, I am off to go shower away the smell of my exciting night 🙂 Cuz it smells pretty bad. And don’t worry, I will get some pictures tomorrow!

Natural Distilled Water

One of my new found joys is ironing practically every article of clothing that I own after every single wash…correction: when I say joy, I mean pain. Since I hang all my clothes to dry and the water is hard, my clothes are so wrinkly when they finally dry. So I invested in an iron and board for my daily chore each morning before school. I realized that I could not use the tap water (since its pack with metals and minerals like iron and sulfur) so my neighbor gave me a great tip to getting free distilled water. There was a big rain storm today so I threw my large basin out in my front lawn and like magic, I had instant distilled water in no time at all! I now have several bottles of rain water stored away for my next month of ironing. I am starting to really get the hang of living in the Caribbean. I even knew to wash a load of clothes in the washer today when I saw the storm clouds coming. I knew that as soon as it started to rain, the water would be cut off. By the time I finished hanging my clean clothes, the water was gone from the tap. I was so proud! Apparently the water treatment plant near by floods every time it rains, contaminating the water so they turn the tap off. I feel pretty lucky to have running water for half the week. Blessings, esp. since running water means I can take a shower 🙂

First Ray of Light

So I feel that today, I had my first ray of light in my service and what I want to accomplish while I am here. I have loved living in St Lucia and getting to know my school but I was a bit lost when it came to figuring out what I could honestly help with in my school and how to even begin. Today, the clouds parted and I was able to see a sliver of why I am here. My day actually started with hearing the children sing “The wise man built his house upon a rock” song which, on a side note, I thought was an LDS song. They were doing the motions and everything! Of course the also had a third verse which I can’t remember but I hope to learn it soon. What a lovely surprise, esp. for them since they saw I knew that song too.

Later that day, I was helping in the 1^st grade room and it came time for the struggling readers to go to the resource room while the other students stayed for their language arts lesson. Today, their resource teacher was not there and the 1^st Grade teacher asked for my help. She didn’t know how to proceed with a lesson that was too advanced for those struggling readers. I agreed to take them on and on the spot, prepared some differentiated learning for these students. I kept the same objectives of the lesson but presented in a different way, focusing on auditory and visual methods. Let me tell you, it worked. I think I surprised myself! It wasn’t that I taught so well but that these kids have never had this individualize attention to their learning and they responded so well. They were able to complete the assignment and for the first time, I saw the “troublemaking” students, who can’t focus or stay in their seats or be quiet during a lesson, sitting and working diligently. They were all motivated and so beyond thrilled to show me their work and to be praised. One boy who does not know most of his letters was asking for more work to do by the end of the hour. I could not believe it. Neither could the 1^st Grade teacher, she was so excited that, after class, she grabbed their notebooks and ran up to the principal’s office to show her what the student were able to do. This moment was my ray of light as well as my golden ticket in since now I have a planning session tomorrow afternoon with that same teacher to discuss next week’s lessons and how we can co-teach to help those struggling readers. The clouds are beginning to part and I see how I can help these students and support these teacher who are burned out from the challenges that education always faces. I am truly excited.

Uninvited Guest

So as I was getting ready for school today, I noticed I had a special visitor at my back door. My skin is still crawling from it!  A giant centipede made it into my house and boy was I not happy about it. I have seen them out in the bush and they are scary lookin’ things. When I tried to escort my unwelcomed guest out the door, he decided to crawl under my flooring!! (I have a plastic covering on my floor, designed to look like hard wood flooring. Then he was out of sight. I was afraid to move, since one wrong step would make that crunch sound I was trying so hard to avoid. Finally, he sought cover in my closet. I had him take a minute to catch his breath as I searched for something very long to use for my next attack. I grabbed my broom and after some strategic swipes, he was gone…it was an intense battle that I do not want repeat but somehow, I know I will. After I recovered, I googled my not so little friend and learned that they are not poisonous but they do bite. I will try to sleep soundly tonight…

Better news, I received my water filter today from Peace Corps! It’s really impressive and I am thrilled to be done with boiling my drinking water. Its a filter that has a chalk ceramic core that purifies the water and is used in Africa to clean the contaminate river water. So I will be safe from any dirty water that comes my way. I wish they made bug filters for houses! I have to just stick to my Bop (a very useful bug spray that I keep close at hand at all times). I’ve discovered that bop has become a verb as well…I noticed when a fellow volunteer said she bopped her house. It’s a commonly used verb around here.

 

Sandy Beach

Today, at the end of my second week at school, I spend the day at Sandy Beach in Vieux Fort with my friends! It was such a beautiful day and I got to swim, relax, and decompress with my fellow Peace Corps Volunteers, it was perfect. This beach is along the East coast and across the bay is Maria Island, a national nature preserve and home to species of snakes and lizards that are only indigenous to that small little island. Its has great hiking, nice beaches, sea turtle nesting in the spring and is my next destination as soon as I can afford to go. To get there, you can take a boat ride from a local fisherman to get there  or some people swim over. The water is rough and I don’t think I am experienced enough for that kind of adventure.

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to shadow  a volunteer at a nearby community and see the work she has done in her school’s library! WOW! If I can accomplish what she has, I will be a happy volunteer. She successfully created an environment for her students to develop a love for reading. The library itself was beautiful and colorful and at every opportunity, students came running in to read and borrow books. Several students asked to read to me and I loved listening to them and asking some comprehension questions afterwards. She gave me tons of tips and resources to help me to get my school’s library up and running as well as NGO’s contact info to receive book donations. I can’t wait to start, my students need a library!

Beautiful Views of Vieux Fort Peninsula and Maria Island

Too much sun today

Guess who forgot to put sunscreen on her feet today…  🙂