Happy Birthday Ruby!

Today Ruby is one year old! Can’t believe I have had her for 10 months. She has gotten so big and is still a bush dog through and through. Also, I have been in St Lucia for 18 months and have 8 more months left. This week is also the last week of school for term 1. Today was the Christmas party which is always a blast. Lots of snacks and loud music to dance to. The students’ new favourite song is The Cha Cha slide, something I danced when I was a kid. They love that song and we must have played it 10 times today. They also love the Cheerleader song which is super popular all over the island. I am looking forward to a nice Christmas holiday and 3 weeks off of school. In attempts to get into the Christmas spirit, I decorated the house with my little Christmas tree, some lights and tinsel, stockings and paper snowflakes, since for me it is hard to feel the Christmas season without snow. My neighbour joined me and was a great sport in cutting snowflakes she has never actually seen. She proudly has her snowflakes hanging in her house.

Two weekends ago, Peace Corps had their Thanksgiving meal like last year and I decided to bring 2 pies (apple and pumpkin cheesecake) and some rolls. The night before the get-together, I had some co-workers over for a party. We had a fun time cooking and talking and at around midnight, I decided to try and get a head start with baking a pie. I got the pumpkin cheesecake in the oven and to my horror, I later found a half baked pie and no gas. My cooking gas finished. In St Lucia, cooking gas is kept in a tank next to your oven and last about 3 months. When it finishes, you get to carry the empty tank to the nearest gas shop and get it refilled. When the tank is empty, it’s not too heavy. But when full, it’s terrible to carry. So I had no choice but to wait till morning to try to refill it. That morning was Saturday and I left my home around 7am in search for some cooking gas so I could make everything by noon. Talk about mission impossible…I went to my local gas guy, turns out he is Seventh-Day Adventist. So he was closed and I got to carry my tank to the road and wait for a bus. If you don’t know St Lucia buses, they are 15-seater vans and do not have much space for a gas tank. But there I was, making it work. The next stop I tried didn’t work either so I took a bus to town. I finally found a place that could help me out and happily struggled, feeling pretty proud to be doing this all by myself, to get my full gas tank to my bus to go home. I know I earned some man points from the Vieux Fort bus drivers as they watched me carry this thing and I heard them say that I was pretty strong. Women here would never attempt to do this by the way. They either have a car or a guy to do it for them. I have neither. So there I was, standing at the place where my bus should have been only to realize that there will be no bus for a long time. No buses pass by my home from town on a Saturday morning. What could I do?? My friends don’t have cars. I had to get home and precious baking time was being lost. So I did what you should not do unless you are stranded with no other options, like I was. I fleeced a ride. I hitch hiked my way home. Luckily, my need was clear. A white girl standing with a gas tank by the bus stand. Clearly she needs a ride home.  I am sure I was quite a scene. A very kind man stopped and helped me out. While you always need to be cautious, I really love how helpful and kind people are here. People genuine help one another since you never know when you need the help in return. I love the communal vibe. I was able to bake everything in time and enjoy a Thanksgiving feast with my fellow Peace Corps volunteers. God is good.