April 30 - May 30, 2010

This month I:

Conducted HIV/AIDS awareness sessions, wrote a grant, and designed a website.

Went to an art show, a book launching (breadfruit recipes), and a choral speech contest.

Saw the crew of a dugout canoe paddle in from Bequia, the opening of Vincy Mas, and Parliament in action (inaction?)

Attended a funeral, a Confirmation, and Whit Monday fete.

Witnessed a stabbing, a near drowning, and corporal punishment to the excess.

Played tennis, American football, and snorkeled.

Celebrated Mother's Day, my 22nd anniversary, and Indian Arrival Day.

So this weekend... me jos lime!

Indian Arrival Day!

Was in Trinidad May 30th, a national holiday commemorating the 165th anniversary of the arrival of East Indians to her shores. From 1845 to 1917, over 143,000 Indians traveled 14,000 miles to become indentured laborers. The first ship was Fath al Razak ('Victory to Allah the Sustainer'), that brought over 200 adults. Many passengers did not survive the 103 day trip, but those who did worked for about 20 cents a day in conditions akin to slavery. Their descendants trace their ancestry to Uttar Pradesh, the place of my own paternal roots.

At first I thought the idea of celebrating our enslavement was so ludicrous that I had to see it for myself. It is certainly in keeping with the stereotype that Indians celebrate everything...they say there is an Indian festival for every day of the year.

As it turns out, I enjoyed acknowledging the indelible mark that Indians have made in Trinidad, from foods like Roti and Dalpoori to the Chutney style of music.

Guess what season it is!

My neighbors think it hilarious that I don't know the difference between types of mangoes. I think it hilarious that they actually REFUSE a mango if it is not a type they like.
So far I've tried Julie, Old Wind, Dibique, Haas (horse?), Paulover, Glasco, and Grafted, most of which are pictured here (but don't ask me which is which:) BTW, I think it is a myth that you cannot get fat eating mangoes...I may have to be rolled home!

Amazona Guildingii

Vincy Parrot. Found only on the island of St. Vincent. Endangered, only about 500 left. Saw this guy at the Rehab/Breeding Centre at the Botanical Gardens. At 45 years old , he's the oldest to be born and raised in captivity. And he and his friends can talk like humans :)

Red belly and tea... time to chillax!

The end of a not so good, pretty bad week. I guess some days are horrible, even in paradise.

Passion Vine (in front of my house)

Tried to grow this in Phoenix once. Ended up harvesting caterpillars and hatching them into beautiful butterflies on my windowsill, as my boys will tell you. The boys stayed home from school to watch some hatch, so they still remember. (In keeping with Twain, we try never to let our schooling interfere with our education :) In any case, the Monarchs (butterflies) eventually overwhelmed the vine. (Oh, so THIS is what it was supposed to look like!)

Chief complaints...

They drive on the WRONG side of the road.


They think I am functionally illiterate because I don't put extra letters in my words. Hello! There is no 'u' in "color" and no 'me' at the end of "program"! :) Also, I don't say "vex", "venue" or x, y, "zed", I "make" a decision rather than "take" one, and I say I will "get ready" instead of "organize myself".


Okay, I'm just kidding about this stuff, but for real...


Vans, the main form of transport, go much too fast through the steep, narrow streets and nearly every time I ride in one, I find myself crossing myself...and I'm not even Catholic! When I first arrived, I asked how people know which van to take because there are no signs on the vans. They said they just recognized the vehicles. Seems absurd, but I now do the same! Plus, the vans all have names (while the streets don't). The one pictured is "Be loyal 2 D game", printed on its back :)

Greetings, greetings from lovely,lovely St. Vincent!

Everybody says their greetings twice here. Like "morning, morning", "yah, yah", "okay, okay", "nice, nice" :)

And now for a bit of East Indian history...

Between 1860-1880 about 7 ships carrying a total of around 2,450 Indians landed on the shores of St. Vincent. The Indians were brought as indentured laborers to work in the sugar industry. Though they were not slaves, they lived under similar conditions. At one point, they staged a peaceful protest by marching from Argyle to Kingstown, only to be rounded up and jailed, as the law did not allow them to wander more than 2 miles from the compound. Ultimately they were to be sent back to India with fully paid passage, but the St. Vincent government did not uphold this part of the bargain. Apparently, the government had already spent 80,000 pounds to get the Indians here, while a previous batch of Portuguese had only cost them 10,000 pounds, so I guess there were second thoughts about plunking out extra funds to send them back. Interestingly, they never got any Chinese because the Chinese were even more expensive. Some of the East Indians remained and have now become completely immersed in society. There are no remnants of Indian festivals or religion that I can see, so maybe "absorbed" is a better word.

This history comes courtesy of Dr. Adams, a retired optometrist and local history buff. I met him at the Cruise Ship Terminal, where I often go for lunch, as long there are no ships in sight. At those times, it is peaceful and quiet and spacious there. Anyway, I love listening to Dr. Adams tell me about the history of St. Vincent (so much more fun than reading it in a book!) and have made it a habit to harass him at least weekly.

It's raining, it's pouring...

Finally got some meaningful showers! Vincys say they haven't seen such since October of last year! Many villages had not had running water for the past week, and the vegetation here is not as lush as usual, so all were very, very happy for the soaking. Of course, I made sure to get drenched :)

How to make a 'boley'

Hollowed, dried boleys were used as bowls before china came along. I prefer them! Here is how to make them:

First, find a Boley tree and ask the owner if she can spare one (...or two, or three:) boleys.











Second, cut your boley in half. There is a natural line on the boley which makes life simple (i.e. no need to measure or draw).











Third, gut your boley. It is similar to gutting pumpkins at Halloween, but they say the pulp and seeds are not for consumption. Everyone here thinks the guts smell bad (like Noni, which turned out to have huge health benefits), so I dunno. The guts do stain your skin and clothes... kind of a brownish blue.






Fourth, Scrape out the inside as thoroughly as possible.
(Trust Mommy Wynne...it makes a difference!)
















Fifth, carve your boley with advanced tools (pictured here: kitchen knife, screw & nail :), rub inside and out with lime, and set to dry. I was over-zealous about carving and now feel like I have Carpal Tunnels :) You do not have to finish it in a day, but it is easier to carve on day one, before it dries out.






Finally, the inside will need to be sanded, so the surface will be smooth.

May I walk, please?

Downtown Kingstown is no more than a mile long. Still, if you choose to walk across town for something important (like Soursop sorbet :), people wonder why you aren't taking a 'van' (public transport). The funny thing is, I can walk across town faster than the vehicles during rush hour here, which is weekdays between 8-9 a.m.


I live in the beautiful village of Green Hill. I walk
the 2 miles to and from work daily, so to locals I'm crazy. I try to refuse rides from my neighbors as politely as possible, but sometimes there's just no saying 'no'! There is no public transportation on Sundays and holidays, and it's pretty hard to get anything after 11 p.m on the rest of the days (i.e. you can't get a van when you really need one). Visiting the sights seems to take more planning than I would have liked, and I'm not up to hitching like I used to in Belize...(yet).

Vincy Food & Culture

The food is delish! Saltfish and breadfruit are the national dish. Lots of 'roti' and 'pelou' too...same names but not the same as the Indian versions. Pelou is rice fried with pieces of meat, which gets it's brown coloring from brown sugar that has been carmelized. Roti is usually pelou, potatoes or 'chunks' (soy cubes) wrapped in a thin whole wheat tortilla (see photo). Also have KFC on every corner! Thankfully, this is balanced by 'Ital' places ...Rasta run eateries serving only 'vitals' (healthy, veggie fare) that make it easy to go meatless here. The photo is from "Ras-ital", with fresh sorrel and passionfruit juice to top off lunch:) Sorry, it's half eaten....we were hungry.

As for the culture....

The thing that stands out is that church is very much in season. My landlord went to church 5 times last week. He asked if I wanted to join, but I said I would wait awhile since he had gone enough for both of us. It is also VERY Old Testament here (i.e. eye for an eye). The main churches seem to be Evangelical, Pentecostal, Apostolic, Catholic, Anglican, Methodist and Seventh Day. As we say here (at any/every event/opportunity!), in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Finally in St. Vincent!

Arrived in St. Vincent on February 20th. Saw some black sand beaches as we flew down the leeward side from St. Lucia. First impression: Green, lush, beautiful!...and this is during a water shortage due to lack of rain throughout the region.

Had been here less than 24 hours and was already receiving fruits from neighbors. Most everyone has a small farm of some sort. There is a guava tree in back of my place and four mango trees I can see out the front window across the lane. (Mouth watering yet?:) The other things in the photo are lime, plum rose and cherry.

Greetings from St. Lucia

Happy Valentine's Day!

Passport, yellow card, ticket. Check. Sunshades, sunscreen, visor. Check. Camera, ipod, flashdrive. Check. Sense of humor...remember to pick one up en route, possibly in Miami:)
Okay, I’m ready. Off to St. Lucia...wow, that sounds a lot more romantic than it really is. I’ll be in training. xoxo

The What, Where, Why, and When

The position I've been recruited for involves training youth to serve as peer educators for HIV/AIDS issues in rural communities in St. Vincent. The expectation is that the program will be formally sanctioned under one of the government ministries, thereby improving chances for sustainability. I will be in St. Vincent from February 20th - August 20th, 6 months.

And guess what...LIAT issued a PAPER ticket for the return (seriously!). Good luck to me holding on to it till then :)

A friend from high school posted this. How appropriate!

To Bless the Space Between Us
by John O'Donohue

In out-of-the-way places of the heart,
Where your thoughts never think to wander,
This beginning has been quietly forming,
Waiting until you were ready to emerge.

For a long time it has watched your desire,
Feeling the emptiness growing inside you,
Noticing how you willed yourself on,
Still unable to leave what you had outgrown.

It watched you play with the seduction of safety
And the gray promises that sameness whispered,
Heard the waves of turmoil rise and relent,
Wondered would you always live like this.

Then the delight, when your courage kindled,
And out you stepped onto new ground,
Your eyes young again with energy and dream,
A path of plenitude opening before you.

Though your destination is not yet clear
You can trust the promise of this opening;
Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning
That is at one with your life's desire.

Awaken your spirit to adventure;
Hold nothing back, learn to find ease in risk;
Soon you will be home in a new rhythm,
For your soul senses the world that awaits you.

3 weeks to go...

Have a mild case of cold feet :)
It is a LOT different going away as a mom & wife, leaving my family behind.
I was the baby of my group when I was a PCV 27 years ago, now I'm guessing I'll be the oldest in my group.
Got some great advice at dinner last night: You mustn't worry. It only makes knots in your stomach and those near and dear to you feel that you do not trust them or the universe enough to take care of things.

Cleared for take off...

“Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming: Wow! What a ride!”

Don't know who said this, but I like it.
Have gotten all the necessary clearances and am now just awaiting my gov't issued passport.