Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Poverty
I had the opportunity to visit a friend's house the other day. They live in a more impoverished area in Monchy, St. Lucia. They didn’t have a lock on their front door. It had to be kept closed with an empty gas cylinder. They don’t have running water or electricity, and they don’t have a washroom. They told me stories about how St. Lucia only received these things about 12 years ago. They remember bringing water from the river and bathing in the river. They expressed their blessing for having a neighbor near by that has pipe that they can draw water from on occasion. Incredible! I felt so spoiled. This same person expressed confusion about seeing Americans walk around with so much that make it look so hard.
Mango Tree
My friend told me a story about a mango that I can’t forget. One day, when he was a small boy of the age of nine he got called to his fathers side. His father said to him pointing at an immature mango hanging from the mango tree, “You see that Mango son? That mango will be ripe by the end of the day, and if you don’t pick it before the sun goes down at sunset all the bats will come and start biting that mango, and by morning there won’t be any mango left for us to eat.” When he heard this he responded with confidence to what his father had said, “No panpan, I already climbed that tree this morning, and that mango won’t be ripe today, it’s much to firm to the touch, but that one there,” he said pointing to another mango lower in the tree, “will surely be ready by the end of the day.”
By the end of the day his father was dead; fell from a 70 foot drop while on the job working as a telephone pole repair man. That evening he went back to the mango tree to find the bats picking at the very same mango his father had pointed to, while his mango hung from the tree untouched and still to firm to eat.
He climbed the tree, plucked the unripe mango from the tree and left his fathers mango for the bats to devour in the night. The mango was gone in the morning.
By the end of the day his father was dead; fell from a 70 foot drop while on the job working as a telephone pole repair man. That evening he went back to the mango tree to find the bats picking at the very same mango his father had pointed to, while his mango hung from the tree untouched and still to firm to eat.
He climbed the tree, plucked the unripe mango from the tree and left his fathers mango for the bats to devour in the night. The mango was gone in the morning.
Peanut Brittle
As for that peanut brittle; boy can it be a project. The 2nd batch came out right and required much less sticky cleanup. As for batch #1, I wish I had taken pictures of my kitchen because you would have to see the mess to believe the disaster I made of my kitchen. Caution: baking soda makes things expand! Be sure to use large pot when making brittle!
Recipe for Peanut Brittle
(makes 1 ½ lbs)
2 cups white sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
2 cups raw Spanish peanuts
1 cup water
½ tsp salt
2 tbsp butter
2 tsp baking soda
Optional – dash of vanilla
Heat on low and stir sugar, syrup, and water in large saucepan until sugar dissolves. Add salt. Cook over medium heat to soft ball stage (234 degrees). Add peanuts at 250 degrees. Continue to boil until reaches hard crack stage (290 degrees), stirring often. Remove from heat.
Quickly stir in butter and baking soda. Beat to a froth for a few seconds. Pour at once into 2 well buttered 15 ½ x 10 ½ x 1 inch pans, spreading.
Break up when cold
(tip for if you don’t have a candy thermometer: when light amber color and when small amount dropped into ice cold water separates into soft balls, introduce peanuts. 290 – 300 degrees is when small amount dropped into ice cold water separates into hard and brittle threads immediately)
Recipe for Peanut Brittle
(makes 1 ½ lbs)
2 cups white sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
2 cups raw Spanish peanuts
1 cup water
½ tsp salt
2 tbsp butter
2 tsp baking soda
Optional – dash of vanilla
Heat on low and stir sugar, syrup, and water in large saucepan until sugar dissolves. Add salt. Cook over medium heat to soft ball stage (234 degrees). Add peanuts at 250 degrees. Continue to boil until reaches hard crack stage (290 degrees), stirring often. Remove from heat.
Quickly stir in butter and baking soda. Beat to a froth for a few seconds. Pour at once into 2 well buttered 15 ½ x 10 ½ x 1 inch pans, spreading.
Break up when cold
(tip for if you don’t have a candy thermometer: when light amber color and when small amount dropped into ice cold water separates into soft balls, introduce peanuts. 290 – 300 degrees is when small amount dropped into ice cold water separates into hard and brittle threads immediately)
No White Sugar!
(entry from 12.23.08)
Today I went to Bill Jackson’s house along with several fo the other PCVs. Him and his wife work with the peace corps, and they had invited us for Christmas lunch. It was nice to have a truly authentic x-mas dinner. After we feasted I left to run some errands. I was wanting to make some peanut brittle for my local friends, neighbors, and host family and still needed to buy the ingredients. I was able to purchase all but one ingredient at the Super J in Rodney Bay; one of the largest supermarkets where I live. However, one essential ingredient was in shortage, white sugar! I also checked the Super J just north of Rodney Bay, the Super J just south of Rodney Bay at Gablewood, and the Super J in Castries. None of them had sugar. I decided to stop by Mega J on my way home, thinking sugar in bulk is better than no sugar at all. Mega J is the Sams/Casco of St. Lucia, and they were all out of white sugar as well!
In a last attempt, I stopped at the mini-mart in Babonneau, and of course they didn’t have any sugar either. How could this be? Just 3 days ago there was a shortage of brown sugar and white sugar was in abundance, and now it is 2 days before Christmas and I can’t find white sugar anywhere. I asked my neighbor, Cindie; she had no sugar. Cindie called and asked her mom to try the shop next to their business. What do you know; NO WHITE SUGAR!! Just as I was giving up and about to result to using cane sugar as a substitute Cindie suggested walking to her brothers house to see if Prascillia had sugar. YAHOO, his wife had 2lb of white sugar. I had 2lb of brown cane sugar. Walabing walaboom, we made the swap!
Ohhh the woes of being an islander!
Today I went to Bill Jackson’s house along with several fo the other PCVs. Him and his wife work with the peace corps, and they had invited us for Christmas lunch. It was nice to have a truly authentic x-mas dinner. After we feasted I left to run some errands. I was wanting to make some peanut brittle for my local friends, neighbors, and host family and still needed to buy the ingredients. I was able to purchase all but one ingredient at the Super J in Rodney Bay; one of the largest supermarkets where I live. However, one essential ingredient was in shortage, white sugar! I also checked the Super J just north of Rodney Bay, the Super J just south of Rodney Bay at Gablewood, and the Super J in Castries. None of them had sugar. I decided to stop by Mega J on my way home, thinking sugar in bulk is better than no sugar at all. Mega J is the Sams/Casco of St. Lucia, and they were all out of white sugar as well!
In a last attempt, I stopped at the mini-mart in Babonneau, and of course they didn’t have any sugar either. How could this be? Just 3 days ago there was a shortage of brown sugar and white sugar was in abundance, and now it is 2 days before Christmas and I can’t find white sugar anywhere. I asked my neighbor, Cindie; she had no sugar. Cindie called and asked her mom to try the shop next to their business. What do you know; NO WHITE SUGAR!! Just as I was giving up and about to result to using cane sugar as a substitute Cindie suggested walking to her brothers house to see if Prascillia had sugar. YAHOO, his wife had 2lb of white sugar. I had 2lb of brown cane sugar. Walabing walaboom, we made the swap!
Ohhh the woes of being an islander!
Hiking Mt. Gimie
Mt. Gimie
Yesterday I climbed Mount Gimie! Mt. Gimie is the highest peak in St. Lucia! It stands 3,200 ft. tall. We started the climb at 10am. At about 1:00 and just 1 hour to the top I was bear crawling to the top, I was so tired. One hands and feet I slowly ascended stone over stone to the summit. Our hiking party was 13 strong, and I was the 3rd one to arrive to the tope. When I got there, boy was it a sight to see. We had a clear view for about 20 minutes before the clouds and fog covered the peak. I hear you are lucky if you get a view from the top because peak is always covered in clouds. When I got to the top and looked out at the 360 degree view of the island and ocean, all the strain and weariness from climbing for 4 hours faded away in an instant. Incredibly, a rainbow appeared near by where it had been raining. Absolutely beautiful!
We started our dissension at 2:45. Seven of us reached the halfway point by 4:30, where we waited a good while for the 2nd party of 6 to catch up. At 5:15 we became concerned about hiking back in the dark and decided to begin to make our way out, without the other party. We knew they had a couple of flash lights to help assist them. As we were climbing over large boulders, across thin ledges, and using roots to help us climb I began to worry for the safety of the crew that would be trying to follow the 6 inch wide, nearly buried trail back in the dark. The climb isn’t easy; its and advanced trail (rated a 5 on a 1 – 5 difficulty scale established by the forestry department), and should probably only be attempted in the light of the day.
At 7:05 just as the trail is widening out to the road that takes us for our final stretch I received a text message from Wendy in the other crew saying that they just reached the river that marks the half way point! This means they were 2 ½ hours behind us and by now completely in the dark! We reached the trail head by 7:30 and were on Wayne’s bus sleeping by 8:00PM. At this time Wayne called Lynn, who’s hiked the trail 5 times now and had stayed in the 2nd party of hikers. Lynn said they would be out in 1 hour. At 9:00 Lynn says the same thing, “out in an hour.” At 10:00 it’s the same answer, and we are thinking that surely they must have gotten lost. At 11:00 Lynn says the party is just at the part of the trail where it widens to the road for the final stretch. At 11:30 three of the guys, Burt, Gylan and Mervin go back down the trail to try and speed up the party. At midnight Burt came tromping out of the trail with a girl on his back! We had been waiting for 4 hours on the bus for the 2nd party!
One of the girls in the 2nd crew had a very difficult time getting down, and this is what slowed down the party so much. When speaking with her more I found out that she is not an experienced hiker, and she had never gone hiking with our crew before. Now, I thought it was a tough hike for sure, and I did come out with plenty of battle scars (stripes from the razor grass mainly) but we all got to see what the mountain can do to someone who is not a hiker; can be down right debilitating!
Nonetheless, I’d hike it again!!
Yesterday I climbed Mount Gimie! Mt. Gimie is the highest peak in St. Lucia! It stands 3,200 ft. tall. We started the climb at 10am. At about 1:00 and just 1 hour to the top I was bear crawling to the top, I was so tired. One hands and feet I slowly ascended stone over stone to the summit. Our hiking party was 13 strong, and I was the 3rd one to arrive to the tope. When I got there, boy was it a sight to see. We had a clear view for about 20 minutes before the clouds and fog covered the peak. I hear you are lucky if you get a view from the top because peak is always covered in clouds. When I got to the top and looked out at the 360 degree view of the island and ocean, all the strain and weariness from climbing for 4 hours faded away in an instant. Incredibly, a rainbow appeared near by where it had been raining. Absolutely beautiful!
We started our dissension at 2:45. Seven of us reached the halfway point by 4:30, where we waited a good while for the 2nd party of 6 to catch up. At 5:15 we became concerned about hiking back in the dark and decided to begin to make our way out, without the other party. We knew they had a couple of flash lights to help assist them. As we were climbing over large boulders, across thin ledges, and using roots to help us climb I began to worry for the safety of the crew that would be trying to follow the 6 inch wide, nearly buried trail back in the dark. The climb isn’t easy; its and advanced trail (rated a 5 on a 1 – 5 difficulty scale established by the forestry department), and should probably only be attempted in the light of the day.
At 7:05 just as the trail is widening out to the road that takes us for our final stretch I received a text message from Wendy in the other crew saying that they just reached the river that marks the half way point! This means they were 2 ½ hours behind us and by now completely in the dark! We reached the trail head by 7:30 and were on Wayne’s bus sleeping by 8:00PM. At this time Wayne called Lynn, who’s hiked the trail 5 times now and had stayed in the 2nd party of hikers. Lynn said they would be out in 1 hour. At 9:00 Lynn says the same thing, “out in an hour.” At 10:00 it’s the same answer, and we are thinking that surely they must have gotten lost. At 11:00 Lynn says the party is just at the part of the trail where it widens to the road for the final stretch. At 11:30 three of the guys, Burt, Gylan and Mervin go back down the trail to try and speed up the party. At midnight Burt came tromping out of the trail with a girl on his back! We had been waiting for 4 hours on the bus for the 2nd party!
One of the girls in the 2nd crew had a very difficult time getting down, and this is what slowed down the party so much. When speaking with her more I found out that she is not an experienced hiker, and she had never gone hiking with our crew before. Now, I thought it was a tough hike for sure, and I did come out with plenty of battle scars (stripes from the razor grass mainly) but we all got to see what the mountain can do to someone who is not a hiker; can be down right debilitating!
Nonetheless, I’d hike it again!!
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Why Are We Here?
Lately, I’ve been hearing some volunteers asking the questions, “Why are we even in St. Lucia?” and “Do they really need us here?” I must admit, the thought has crossed my mind a time or two - as I walk through the new mall in Castries; sip on an Iced Chai Latte at Rituals, the coffee shop that's imitated Starbucks; visit new places like Meaga J, a bulk retail store designed like Casco; and catch glimpses of the flat screen TVs that are on display in Courts retail windows, it is easy to think that St. Lucia is well on its way to becoming an industrialized nation. It is true, the commercial development here is advanced. It is also true that the sight of strip malls and classy resorts can create an illusion of sustainable wealth and capital. But I urge you not to be fooled by St. Lucias access to industrial world technologies and merchandise. After all, the majority of the development here is outsourced and comes from without.
Anyway, we are not here to help St. Lucians acquire material things. I feel that our place here is in creating the kind of social change and capital that allows St. Lucian youth to thrive, communities to take an active role in addressing community needs, local businesses to succeed in a country influenced by and competing with global corporations, the disenfranchised to have a voice, and the island to become more self sustaining through the development of technologies from within!
I think most PCVs join the Peace Corps expecting to be sent to a destitute place that is experiencing extreme, unmistakable poverty. We don’t expect to have access to cable television and the internet, and we definitely don’t expect to see laptops and flat screens in the market. However, tell me, how many houses have you gone in that have A/C, flat screen TVs, or running water everyday. Very few, you will tell me.
That’s beside the point. Ask, how many children are taught by teachers that lead a student centered classroom? How many kids pass their classes above the 50% mark? How many children are going to school without text books, and how many hang out on the school yard after school because they don’t have supportive families to go home to?
How many parents and teachers beat their children and students because they simply don't know of any alternative methods? How many children have parents show up to their football games? How many parents know how to communicate with their kids about specific health topic like HIV/AIDS and safe sex?
How many people have unfaithful spouses? How many are carrying on in sexual relationships without getting their STIs treated or ever getting tested for HIV/AIDS? How many homes have alcoholic family members? How many households have absentee fathers? How many of the disabled have access to resources, and how many are ever treated fairly? How many people are eating healthy? How many children are drinking alcohol and having sex before the age of 10? How many teenagers are having babies, and how many women get harassed on a daily basis?
The answers to these questions are remarkable and appalling, to say the least. This list may be exhaustive, but sadly I could go on.
This is why we are in St. Lucia!
Anyway, we are not here to help St. Lucians acquire material things. I feel that our place here is in creating the kind of social change and capital that allows St. Lucian youth to thrive, communities to take an active role in addressing community needs, local businesses to succeed in a country influenced by and competing with global corporations, the disenfranchised to have a voice, and the island to become more self sustaining through the development of technologies from within!
I think most PCVs join the Peace Corps expecting to be sent to a destitute place that is experiencing extreme, unmistakable poverty. We don’t expect to have access to cable television and the internet, and we definitely don’t expect to see laptops and flat screens in the market. However, tell me, how many houses have you gone in that have A/C, flat screen TVs, or running water everyday. Very few, you will tell me.
That’s beside the point. Ask, how many children are taught by teachers that lead a student centered classroom? How many kids pass their classes above the 50% mark? How many children are going to school without text books, and how many hang out on the school yard after school because they don’t have supportive families to go home to?
How many parents and teachers beat their children and students because they simply don't know of any alternative methods? How many children have parents show up to their football games? How many parents know how to communicate with their kids about specific health topic like HIV/AIDS and safe sex?
How many people have unfaithful spouses? How many are carrying on in sexual relationships without getting their STIs treated or ever getting tested for HIV/AIDS? How many homes have alcoholic family members? How many households have absentee fathers? How many of the disabled have access to resources, and how many are ever treated fairly? How many people are eating healthy? How many children are drinking alcohol and having sex before the age of 10? How many teenagers are having babies, and how many women get harassed on a daily basis?
The answers to these questions are remarkable and appalling, to say the least. This list may be exhaustive, but sadly I could go on.
This is why we are in St. Lucia!
New Things I Have Learned To Cook
Green Split Pea Soup
Serves 3
1 cup split peas
1 tbsp oil
3 cups water
1 bay leaf
½ cup finely shredded carrot
1 vegetable or chicken cube
Small bunch of celery
West Indies pepper sauce
3 cloves garlic
Salt and black pepper
1 onion
Add water, peas, celery, onion, oil, bay leaf to pressure cooker; cover and cook 40 min. Allow steam to escape before removing cover. Add garlic, carrots, cube, and seasoning. Cook another 20 minutes or until peas tender adding more water if needed. Mash soup until smooth
Yellow Rice
Serves 3
1 cup rice
1 tbsp oil
1 tbsp butter
1 tsp turmeric
2 cups water
1 cup fresh spinach
Heat oil and butter in large pan over medium heat. Add rice and stir to coat. Add water, salt, and turmeric. Bring to boil then reduce heat to a simmer and cover. Cook 15 minutes. Uncover and stir in spinach. Cover and cook another 10 minutes or until rice tender. Add water as needed.
Serves 3
1 cup split peas
1 tbsp oil
3 cups water
1 bay leaf
½ cup finely shredded carrot
1 vegetable or chicken cube
Small bunch of celery
West Indies pepper sauce
3 cloves garlic
Salt and black pepper
1 onion
Add water, peas, celery, onion, oil, bay leaf to pressure cooker; cover and cook 40 min. Allow steam to escape before removing cover. Add garlic, carrots, cube, and seasoning. Cook another 20 minutes or until peas tender adding more water if needed. Mash soup until smooth
Yellow Rice
Serves 3
1 cup rice
1 tbsp oil
1 tbsp butter
1 tsp turmeric
2 cups water
1 cup fresh spinach
Heat oil and butter in large pan over medium heat. Add rice and stir to coat. Add water, salt, and turmeric. Bring to boil then reduce heat to a simmer and cover. Cook 15 minutes. Uncover and stir in spinach. Cover and cook another 10 minutes or until rice tender. Add water as needed.
'Why Try?' Meeting
(Journal Entry: Thursday December 12th, 2008)
Today I had my first parent meeting for ‘Why Try?’ We were expecting 25-30 of the parents to show up. We sent out letters about the meeting, and even made a personal call to most of the parents. I was not able to reach all of the parents, but I did get 25 confirmations. Of the 25 that confirmed only 10 showed up. Not one single unreached parent attended the meeting. This was a huge disappointment. We are involving the students in a program that each student has expressed interest in. We sent a letter home explaining the importance of the program; to help their at-rick children develop various life skills. Its deplorable that over half of the parents didn’t show up to support their kids! Unfortunately, we must have a signed permission slip for each kid and some kids wont get to attend because their parents will remain unreachable. No wonder, some of them are struggling.
Today I had my first parent meeting for ‘Why Try?’ We were expecting 25-30 of the parents to show up. We sent out letters about the meeting, and even made a personal call to most of the parents. I was not able to reach all of the parents, but I did get 25 confirmations. Of the 25 that confirmed only 10 showed up. Not one single unreached parent attended the meeting. This was a huge disappointment. We are involving the students in a program that each student has expressed interest in. We sent a letter home explaining the importance of the program; to help their at-rick children develop various life skills. Its deplorable that over half of the parents didn’t show up to support their kids! Unfortunately, we must have a signed permission slip for each kid and some kids wont get to attend because their parents will remain unreachable. No wonder, some of them are struggling.
Always Waiting
(Journal Entry: Thursday December 12th, 2008)
I’m sitting on my coach passing the time by watching Tempo, the music video TV station. I am waiting (I do a lot of that here) for my IPP to call me. She gives me a ride to work some mornings. This morning we were supposed to leave at 7:15, but there is no telling what time we will actually roll out. My guess is 8:00. As I have mentioned before, this course of events is quite typical; that is, any and all events start significantly later than scheduled! Any mention of its frequency is always met with the typical explanation, “Ye, Caribbean time gasa!” Gasa is just another slang for ‘man’ ‘dude’ ‘brother’… ye get da idea, gasa?
Despite my knowing that everything happens on ‘Caribbean time’ I can’t help but be ready or show up on time for everything! It seems as though American society has successfully imbedded a since of punctuality in me that leaves me feeling guilty any time I am late. Additionally, I fear the classic situation; which would be choosing to show up to an event one day 30 minutes later than scheduled simply to find everyone already there, waiting on me, and wondering why I would be late to such a significant affair.
You might mention to me, “Well, just don’t be late for a significant event,” and I would tell you, “What’s insignificant; debriefing the student body about a students recent death, a mandatory parental training workshop held for all school counselors, my IPPs wedding, or an HIV/AIDS walk that is due to begin promptly at 9:00?” All of these events seem significant enough to imbue a sense of promptness, but each one of them started an hour late! Participants are always left waiting, and I always show up on time for the waiting.
7:55 and still waiting for the car.
Oh, and did I mention, we are scheduled to attend a youth summit today, but first we must drive 15 minutes to school, attend an assembly, pick up a couple of kids that will be going to the summit, and drive another 15 minutes to the summit location. The summit is scheduled for 8:00!
(Car didn’t arrive until 8:15 this day)
I’m sitting on my coach passing the time by watching Tempo, the music video TV station. I am waiting (I do a lot of that here) for my IPP to call me. She gives me a ride to work some mornings. This morning we were supposed to leave at 7:15, but there is no telling what time we will actually roll out. My guess is 8:00. As I have mentioned before, this course of events is quite typical; that is, any and all events start significantly later than scheduled! Any mention of its frequency is always met with the typical explanation, “Ye, Caribbean time gasa!” Gasa is just another slang for ‘man’ ‘dude’ ‘brother’… ye get da idea, gasa?
Despite my knowing that everything happens on ‘Caribbean time’ I can’t help but be ready or show up on time for everything! It seems as though American society has successfully imbedded a since of punctuality in me that leaves me feeling guilty any time I am late. Additionally, I fear the classic situation; which would be choosing to show up to an event one day 30 minutes later than scheduled simply to find everyone already there, waiting on me, and wondering why I would be late to such a significant affair.
You might mention to me, “Well, just don’t be late for a significant event,” and I would tell you, “What’s insignificant; debriefing the student body about a students recent death, a mandatory parental training workshop held for all school counselors, my IPPs wedding, or an HIV/AIDS walk that is due to begin promptly at 9:00?” All of these events seem significant enough to imbue a sense of promptness, but each one of them started an hour late! Participants are always left waiting, and I always show up on time for the waiting.
7:55 and still waiting for the car.
Oh, and did I mention, we are scheduled to attend a youth summit today, but first we must drive 15 minutes to school, attend an assembly, pick up a couple of kids that will be going to the summit, and drive another 15 minutes to the summit location. The summit is scheduled for 8:00!
(Car didn’t arrive until 8:15 this day)
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Men As Partners in St. Lucia
Last week I participated in an HIV?AIDS workshop titled "Men As Partners". The workshop was facilitated by two guys, Conroy and Michael, from Jamaica's Ashe Performing Edutainment Company. The workshop was phenomenal. I have only attended one other 3 day workshop in my life that concluded leaving the participants wishing that it didn't have to come to an end, and that was the Landmark forum. The workshop was interactive and elicited rich group discussion.
On the last day of the workshop all the participants met with their island groups. There were 4 - 5 participants from each of the 5 Caribbean islands that were present, one Peace Corps Volunteer, the island APCD, and 2 - 3 locals involved in HIV/AIDS work. Our task is to put together an initiative that will involve more men in HIV/AIDS prevention on our island. My group, made up of me, Sharmon (APCD), and a man and woman from NAPS (National Aids Programming Secretariat) want to host a workshop for men who are fathers and create an ongoing dialogue around gender issues, sexuality, and HIV/AIDS. Our hope is to sensitize more men to the deeper issues that have the Caribbean be the 2nd hottest spot in the world for the spread of HIV/AIDS. We want men to be empowered to change their behavior, and we want fathers to be knowledgeable enough on these issues so that they can communicate openly with their sons about the said issues. YEY!!
On the last day of the workshop all the participants met with their island groups. There were 4 - 5 participants from each of the 5 Caribbean islands that were present, one Peace Corps Volunteer, the island APCD, and 2 - 3 locals involved in HIV/AIDS work. Our task is to put together an initiative that will involve more men in HIV/AIDS prevention on our island. My group, made up of me, Sharmon (APCD), and a man and woman from NAPS (National Aids Programming Secretariat) want to host a workshop for men who are fathers and create an ongoing dialogue around gender issues, sexuality, and HIV/AIDS. Our hope is to sensitize more men to the deeper issues that have the Caribbean be the 2nd hottest spot in the world for the spread of HIV/AIDS. We want men to be empowered to change their behavior, and we want fathers to be knowledgeable enough on these issues so that they can communicate openly with their sons about the said issues. YEY!!
S'more S'mores Please
(Journal Entry from December 2nd, 2008)
I went camping this past weekend in Louvert. In the morning we explored the beach, opened coconuts and I tried to climb the coconut tree.... or I tried to climb the coconut tree. In the afternoon we hiked to a waterfall. Carol and I got to the top of the waterfall that stood about 75 feet tall. Every time I visit a new waterfall I can't resist making my way to the top of it, because you never know what you will find. At the top of this particular waterfall there was another 15 foot waterfall and a swimming hole. Of course, we took a dip in the pool of water but had to get out soon there after, because the Minos wouldn't stop nipping at our ankles! After cooling out by the waterfalls for some time we hiked to Dennery where our bus picked us up to take us back to Castries. If you check out a map of St. Lucia you will have an idea of how far we had to hike... many many miles.
OH yes, the night we camped in Louvert we tried to make a fire. At first, everyone wanted to just go straight to sleep, as we didn't find our camping sight until 2AM. I told them I wanted to teach them how to make s'mores, but every single one of my St. Lucian camping buddies had either never heard of a s'more before or had never had one before; so the word "s'more" didn't excite them in the way I thought it would. However, all I had to say was "chocolate and marshmallows" and the fellas were up and searching for fire wood. I was excited to introduce the wonderfully delicious ooey and gooey St. Lucian S'more to everyone. I sat "St. Lucian S'more" because I did have to modify the ingredients a bit. Since you can't by Graham Crackers in St. Lucia I had to substitute the Graham Crackers with Hob-Nobs, a circular sweat cracker that they make here. Unfortunately the wind was too strong and the wood to wet to get a good fire going and no s'mores were made. I did learn a fire starting technique though. Dried coconut husk is the best base you could ever have for a fire!
Monday, December 8, 2008
No One’s Getting Thinner at Thanksgiving Dinner
(Journal Transcription from November 27th, 2008)
Today is both Thanksgiving and the three month anniversary of our arrival in St. Lucia! Thanksgiving was wonderful! It was my first thanksgiving away from home and I was feeling rather apprehensive about it. Quite honestly, I expected the day to be a little dull without all the hustle and bustle, the decorations, thanksgiving traditions like decorating the tree after dinner, fighting over the wish bone, no family, Stacy, or other friends brought home for the great feast, etc. However, while the tradition of having some of my international friends over for thanksgiving was broken for my family, being in another country has allowed me to uphold the tradition. Anyway, I thought the day would be a little dull, and it wasn’t feeling a lot like Thanksgiving when I woke up in the morning. I thought staying up all night trying to perfect the recipe of a home made key lime pie would get me in the spirit, but when I woke up it still felt like just another day.
We decided to have a big Thanksgiving feast at Mary-Ellen’s house. She is a volunteer in Dennery, a cute little village on the Atlantic coast. About 30 of us brought different Thanksgiving dishes to complete the feast. We had three 12lb turkeys, stuffing, gravey, cranbarries, potatoes, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, spinach casserole, salad, mixed vegetables, potato salad, corn, cream corn, rolls, Caribbean rolls, tortillas with a bean, pepper and corn mixture, pasta, cranberry orange bread, brownies, pumpkin pie, apple pie, key lime pie, cookies, raspberry cream cheese spread, carrot cake, chocolate cake, cup cakes that looked like little hats, fudge and more. AND, we ate it ALL! Everyone chatted, had a good time, and some watched the Macey’s day parade. And let me tell you, by the end of all that food it felt unmistakably like Thanksgiving!
Oh and as a side note for the family, funny thing how I really cared about helping set everything up and cleaning when it was all done. Even though I might always run away from cleaning duties after dinner at home, I have obviously been taught well, haha. Mama, you would be proud… though I was a little sorry to not have a Bridget on hand!
Today is both Thanksgiving and the three month anniversary of our arrival in St. Lucia! Thanksgiving was wonderful! It was my first thanksgiving away from home and I was feeling rather apprehensive about it. Quite honestly, I expected the day to be a little dull without all the hustle and bustle, the decorations, thanksgiving traditions like decorating the tree after dinner, fighting over the wish bone, no family, Stacy, or other friends brought home for the great feast, etc. However, while the tradition of having some of my international friends over for thanksgiving was broken for my family, being in another country has allowed me to uphold the tradition. Anyway, I thought the day would be a little dull, and it wasn’t feeling a lot like Thanksgiving when I woke up in the morning. I thought staying up all night trying to perfect the recipe of a home made key lime pie would get me in the spirit, but when I woke up it still felt like just another day.
We decided to have a big Thanksgiving feast at Mary-Ellen’s house. She is a volunteer in Dennery, a cute little village on the Atlantic coast. About 30 of us brought different Thanksgiving dishes to complete the feast. We had three 12lb turkeys, stuffing, gravey, cranbarries, potatoes, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, spinach casserole, salad, mixed vegetables, potato salad, corn, cream corn, rolls, Caribbean rolls, tortillas with a bean, pepper and corn mixture, pasta, cranberry orange bread, brownies, pumpkin pie, apple pie, key lime pie, cookies, raspberry cream cheese spread, carrot cake, chocolate cake, cup cakes that looked like little hats, fudge and more. AND, we ate it ALL! Everyone chatted, had a good time, and some watched the Macey’s day parade. And let me tell you, by the end of all that food it felt unmistakably like Thanksgiving!
Oh and as a side note for the family, funny thing how I really cared about helping set everything up and cleaning when it was all done. Even though I might always run away from cleaning duties after dinner at home, I have obviously been taught well, haha. Mama, you would be proud… though I was a little sorry to not have a Bridget on hand!
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