ISS

Growing up I always wondered what it would be like to go to ISS or In School Suspension. I never tried to go because I knew that my parents would kill me. I am now getting the opportunity to experience what that would have been like. At the Primary School I have a group of about 5 boys that haven't been able to survive in a regular classroom. They constantly get in trouble and get kicked out of class. I mean, 3 out of 5 of them were suspended on Friday. It is interesting to say the least and quite challenging.
But it is oh so rewarding already! Since I wasn't at the school in the morning, one of the boys came to my home at lunch time to see why I wasn't there and to make sure I was coming for the afternoon. My one boy that is in grade 4 (the rest are in grade 6) is learning and finishing his work faster than the grade 6 students. And he's doing a great job. Plus he gets in less trouble when in my class.
We even got the same amount of work finished this afternoon as we did all day on Monday!
On Monday I had the students write 3 paragraphs about the Jounen Kweyol celebration. The first thing the did was look at me and ask what a paragraph was. Square one! This took most of the day. I then had them complete an addition math sheet.
This afternoon, I had them complete part of their grade 6 homework from this past weekend (which they of course did not do). We wrote a letter to a cousin about why they needed to continue to go to school! They then did a subtraction worksheet. Some of them had to take this home and correct for homework.
I know that at least one of them needs some serious help reading, which is why his wiring is so bad, but I'm trying to figure out a way to help him without the other boys being around to find out and tease him. Any suggestions!?!

Projects

These last couple months have been boring. "You live on a Caribbean island, how can that be boring?" you might ask. It's not where I live, but my work that has been boring. Trust me, I went to an awesome beach bonfire Saturday night! Since my projects at the primary school have been mostly stalled, that left my days open. For someone who likes to work and be productive, it's been a nightmare! So I've finally been able to find a couple of projects I'm excited about.
Project 1: This started today. During the day there are a couple kids that usually just get kicked out of class and walk around the school doing nothing. I get to work with them. Today we worked on Math. I found this really awesome website that makes worksheets for you. We did basic addition and subtraction and double digit of both as well. I got to see where the boys were struggling. We then made flash cards and played a game with them. They also got some time on the computer playing math games (their favorite part of the day).
Project 2: This is going to start next week. There are some kindergartners that are struggling and already a little behind. I'm going to go to the Infant school two mornings a week and help give them some extra 1-on-1 or 2-on-1 attention to help them get caught up.
I'm really excited about these. It should be fun, hopefully help the kids, and keep me busy too!

Lately.

So I realize that lately I haven't been good at posting. I wish I could say things have been really busy and that's why I haven't, but I can't. I'm going to work at doing better.
The principal at the school retired the end of September. We didn't know who the next principal would be. I went to the states October 1-13, and had no clue who to tell at the school! When I got back, I found out that one of the teachers is the acting principal. In December we'll find out who the principal will be for the long term.
In the states I got to do some wedding planning! I tried on my dress (love it!), saw the place that the wedding is going to be (again love it!), and picked out some decorations. I didn't get to see everyone I wanted (I wanted to make a trip to Echo and see my friends there and also see my friend Clarence who lives not that far from my parents. In addition, I didn't get to see my relatives in Toledo). But I got to see my sisters and their kids which was fun! I can't believe how fast the kids are growing up.
When I got back I found the computer lab still not in order. I've been helping the acting principal with a new reading program that she is putting in place. Every week the students have to read a book and write a book report on it. This week in grading is was really obvious when students just copied from the back of the book (and there were a lot of them that did!).
This Sunday we're kicking off Boys and Girls Club for the term. Hopefully the kids will come up with fun activities that don't cost a lot of money. They usually come up with going to the mall (up north) and going to Pizza Pizza (the only place here that has a playground). It should be a fun rest of the term!

Bursting Bamboo!

It's almost October! Which in St. Lucia means it's time to get ready for one of our favorite holidays. Not Halloween, but Jounen Kweyol, which is the celebration of the Kweyol heritage!
While I was doing dishes one evening. I heard what sounded like gun shots. I looked at Luthur a little worried and asked him about this noise. He said that the police were probably having a shootout with someone and we shouldn't go outside. This didn't sound quite right to me, he started laughing, and told me that it was just the kids bursting bamboo! I should have remembered from last year. This is something they do to celebrate Jounen Kweyol. The take a piece of bamboo, hallow it out, put a hole on the side of the bamboo at the bottom, put kerosene in it, and then use a stick to put fire inside to fire it like a canon. (Sounds like something my dad would have done as a kid!) Almost every evening I'm going to be hearing this until the end of October.
The last weekend of the month several communities will hold celebration around the island. Last year my village got to host, so we won't get to this year.
School is going well. I have learned how much the grade K's learned last year when I got this years grade K's and they were using their finger poking the screen to close windows and select things on the computer. We have a lot to learn!

New Direction

Wow! Summer went by really fast. It was not at all what I expected it to be, but what is, especially in Peace Corps. So a week after school closed we were told that some construction was going to be done on the computer lab. They were going to retile the lab, so everything was moved out. I figured that it should only take 2 weeks for the tile to be taken up, it to be retiled, and everything to be put back in. I couldn’t have been more wrong. As I type this, the only thing that has been done is the old tiles were removed (and are still sitting in a pile in the lab). So that shot my main project for the summer, computer club. So instead, we got together and played cards, made journals, finger painted, made play dough, and set up our own bowling alley. It was fun, but not what I expected.

Now we’re getting ready for school to start on Monday. We have some new teachers and energy. It should be a really good year. Right now both of my projects at the primary school are in limbo. The computer lab is torn up and the computers were placed into the library (the only other secure place) and are blocking the books, so I’m trying to figure out what to do for the beginning of this term. I’m still going to be at the infant school one day a week working with them. It is also the last month for our principal who retires at the end of September. This term is going to be interesting!

Opportunities

So recently I’ve been realizing how much Luthur’s world is going to change if we get this visa (and how much mine will if we don’t). I think this was really pointed out to me by a trip I got to go on with some of the students not too long ago. For this trip we went to the mini-zoo, Pigeon Island, and Pizza Pizza. It was soo much fun! The kids loved it, and I did too! It made me remember going to the zoo when I was in 1^st grade, only with one difference. You see the zoo here is quite small. Less than 10 different types of animals. The animal that the kids liked the best was the talking Blue and Gold Macaw (the birds are always the highlight for me at the zoo!).

It also makes me that much more excited to show Luthur the zoo in the states! To get to show him and experience with him getting to see exotic animals from all over the world for the first time, blows my mind away. Simple things that I have taken for granted my whole life, like going to a huge zoo, students here don’t get to experience.

Not too long ago, I saw a yahoo! article about different playgrounds that every child should experience. The last place we went, Pizza Pizza is the only playground that I have seen on the island. (I’ve heard about one of the special educational schools that got one donated, but that’s the only other one I’ve even heard about). Schools do not have them, communities do not have them. Think of going to the park and swinging when you were a kid. That memory does not exist here because there are no parks that have swings.

I think that’s why people say multicultural relationships are harder. Backgrounds and memories are so different from each other. It just makes me excited to be able to show Luthur all the museums, zoos, playgrounds, parks, imax movies, trains, bridges, and restaurants that the US has. Maybe for our honeymoon we’ll go to the zoo…

Wedding Bells are Ringing!

These last couple of weeks Luthur and I have been wedding planning long distance with my mom, dad, and sisters. When I add Luthur into that equation, most people would think he's a silent partner for wedding planning. Not my man! He's helped choose all sorts of things, such as decorations, accent color, and what type of cake. Ok, so he's had the main voice in the color and cake :) It's been quite a fun process so far.
All this on top of my normal work, so I took a vacation day tomorrow. On that day we're going to do several things related to visa/getting married. First of all, Luthur's getting some additional shots and picking up his birth certificate that will (hopefully) now have his name on it (the visa things)! Next we're going wedding ring shopping for Luthur! This should be a lot of fun! We've looked at a couple different places already. It's just a lot of fun doing this together. (That's one of the things I love about Luthur, we just have so much fun together.)
While I'm on the topic of our wedding, I just wanted to mention that it will be a small affair. Our plan is to get married about a week after we get into the states. That means that Luthur will be dealing with culture shock, along with finally meeting my family in person. I really don't want to then overwhelm him with a large wedding. I thank you ahead of time for being understanding.

Just a note on work...I'm gearing up for summer programmes! The kids are really excited about Fun Fridays and computer club! So it should be a lot of fun! Right now we're also working on a dance with the Boys and Girls Club for the variety show next week. It was hard at first (because I had to learn the dance, and I'm not a really good dancer), but the kids are picking it up and we'll have it all together by then!

New Definition of Failure

Being a PCV has taught me a lot. One of the things is about failure. Before PC I used to think everything I did had to be completely successful and perfect. Lessons had to be planned, kids had to sign up and come, and they had to learn exactly what the objectives were. Needless to say, I look at it a little differently.

Last year before the kids were going on summer break, I had a couple different ideas for summer activities: computer club, reading clubs, reading and math help. When time came for the kids to sign up, the computer clubs were packed (and I had to add extra) and no one signed up for any of the other activities.

Again last year we restarted up Girl Guides. At first the girls came regularly, but then it began to taper off, especially with Carnival activities. At the same time, the boys in the community were constantly bugging me as to when Boy Scouts would start. I didn’t want to leave the girls that did come to Girl Guides without anything, hence Boys and Girls Club aka Superstars Club.

My new definition of success is: did the kids have an activity they wanted (not necessarily the one I was planning on from the beginning), did they have fun, and did they learn something. I now tend to come up with projects in twos or threes and hope one succeeds. If an idea doesn’t come to fruition, it doesn’t mean it failed, just not want the kids wanted or needed!

Conference

This Saturday is the Peace Corps Volunteers (PCV), Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers (JOCV) and Taiwan International Cooperation and Development Fund Overseas Volunteer (TOV) that myself along with two other volunteers have been planning for months! I am looking forward to the conference because it should be a lot of fun! I'm nervous though because it's something that I've helped plan. Planning this conference comes under my VAC (volunteer advisory council) duties. It's been really fun getting to know Grace and Chika (the two volunteers I've worked with on this) better, planning, and getting to see it come to reality!
I'm sure the volunteers have gotten tired of my many emails this past month! From emails about the conference, to our MST video that I needed pictures for, to the Project Plan review that I also needed pictures for, they're going to be greatful when this month is over!
I also got to go with Luthur to get shots for the visa process. He doesn't have a shot record and last week when the school nurses were in giving the 2nd Hep B shot to the grade 6 students, they were telling them to get the 3rd one in December and I realized that we needed to start his shot process started ASAP! I don't want him to get turned down because he doesn't have his shots :). He had to get 5 shots and some drops. In a couple weeks he has to go back and could get up to 6 more shots (right now I'm checking at a hospital to see what shots they have, if they have them all, he's getting 6)!
For those of you who want to know about the visa process, we're in the waiting stage. We probably won't hear anything about the first step until about September. Thankfully the PC application process taught me all about waiting!

May and Random Thoughts

So this is the testing term at school. Going through public schools and having to take proficiency tests, I thought I knew what pressure was when associated with a test. When I was working in Cincinnati at Boys Hope Girls Hope and the 8^th graders had to take a test to determine what high school they went to, I realized my tests weren’t that bad. But even those tests were to get into a good private school. In St. Lucia, the grade 6 students take a test that determines what secondary school they go to for the next 5 years. That’s some pressure! Not all these schools are equivalent, so really you’re taking a test that determines your future. However, at least now all the students get to go to secondary school. There was a time, not that long ago, where if you didn’t do well on the test, you didn’t get to go at all.

It being the testing term means that I’m not doing computer club after school, because I had students that were skipping lessons to come. (Grade 4 also has a huge test which they are taking today, so it’s not just one grade.) This, however, give me more time to plan for activities this summer and the last two weeks of school. The last two weeks, again this year, are throw away weeks because the ministry has planned teacher trainings during those weeks, so we’ll have about 3 teachers for the 155 students. Not a really good ratio, so I’m seeing what kinds of large group activities that we can do that don’t cost anything! Field days, scavenger hunts and things like that look like they’ll be on the agenda. I’m working on a video because our project plan for the Eastern Caribbean is up for review. I’m going to show what the volunteers have been working on this past year!

It’s kind of weird. When I got here I was counting up how long I’d been here. Once I hit the year mark as a volunteer it went more towards counting down. I can’t believe I only have about 10 months left. It’s going so fast.

Catching up!

Wow! Time flies! This month has been going fast. We stared out the month by taking a group of kids to the beach for Labour Day (the first day in May). We had fun, but got rained out in the end. Then some of my PC friends threw an engagement party for Luthur and I. We had so much fun! It was amazing to see how many people showed up to support us. This month is reading month at school, so I'm holding a creative writing workshop at the school on Fridays. The kids are enjoying writing, and are really creative when you let them be! This past week I was "up north" all week at the VAC meeting and MST. VAC is a group of us that get together with PC senior leadership to go through any issues our islands are having. MST is when you're a year into your service, all the volunteers get together and refresh. It was a great time and very much needed. I think one thing you don't see on PC blogs is how much of a struggle it is at times. In PC you have the highest of highs but also the lowest of lows. It was good to get together with other volunteers that are facing some of the same struggles you are!

What I don't know

At every stage in my life, it seems to me, that I learn how much I don't know. When I went to Jr. High, I though I knew a lot, but I learned that there were still things I didn't know yet. Then I went to high school, of course by this time I was pretty smart (or at least I though so!), but then I met people who were smarter, better, and more talented. After high school I went to college, what could they teach me? Didn't I already know most things? I learned that there were subjects and conversations that I couldn't even comprehend (aka Mr. Axton's Philosophy of Religion class). After that, I graduated and went out into the real world, where of course I would share my "vast" knowledge with people who had a lot more knowledge and experience than myself. I realized again how little I knew. And then I joined Peace Corps, so I could share some of my knowledge and skills in another country. Oh, you would think I would learn!
I have learned moer in this last year that I have probably contribusted. I have learned from the kids to be hungry for knowledge. I have learned from the teachers to do your best with what you have, from the principal to take advantage of every situation, from Lousie determination, from Luthur that your situation does not determine your future, from the guys on the block to appreciate beauty, and from my neighbors how important relationship are and to take care of each other.
I look forward to what I will learn in this next year and hope I can keep an attitude of learning for the rest of my life.

Spring Break, Poems, and one year

I am so excited! Today is the last day of school for two weeks! What am I going to do you might ask? Well, being the planning I am, it's most already planned, but being in PC I know that I will have many surprises along the way. Luthur still has work most days, but he does have Good Friday off (yes, he's making me eat fish, but at least it's fried and in dough, plus he's rewarding me with cocoa tea!) and Easter Monday off. Overall it will be a good break!

This last term we did poems during computer club. Here are one of each type of poem we did:

Cinquain By Britney

Please

Help me
I am begging 
My shoe is  stuck
Britney

Haiku By Abigail

My brother is cute

He told me I am so rude
We are so happy

Limerick By Goddel

I wanted to buy a new shoe

So I could go to the zoo
I swim to shore
To go to the store
And the little black bird said coo-coo.

Acrostic By Shernia

Smiles with you

Interesting
Shares with you
Teaches me
Easy to hang with
Reveal your secret to

Autobiographical By Genesis

Genesis

fun loving carefull
brother of jay
who loves football games and jay
who feels good to feel safe
who needs love family and friends
who gives hope care love
who fears the dark, ghosts, and dogs
who'd like to see the zoo
who dreams of my father
a student of Ms, Kate Popo
Christmas

For computer club we had 82 students that participated and 55 that came on a regular basis!

One year from today is my COS (close of service) date. Time has flown by so fast this past year. I can only dream of what this next year has in store for me. There will be the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. I will learn, teach, and change. This will be a great year!

I'm trying...

After a year of being in St. Lucia, there is still something I haven't gotten used to. It's not the high prices of certain foods I like (1 lb of strawberries for over $20), or not seeing food that I do like (snow peas I've only found once in a whole food like store in the north). But as you might have guessed, it does have something to do with food! I have not been able to get used to the fact that some weeks (or months) I can find things, such as stick of butter, sour cream wheat germ, and honey, and other week (or for several months) it's not available at any of the 3 grocery stores I check! I think of sticks of butter as a staple because I love to bake and it makes it so much easier to measure. I know that sour cream is not considered an essential, but to see it once in a while just drives me crazy because I expect to always find it! However, I deal with it and eat my tacos without sour cream and measure out my butter using my measuring spoons. Sometimes, I think the grocery store just likes to tease me and let me get used to things and then pull it away!

Visa

While I'm outsite of the US, I try to keep informed about what is going on there, the hot topics, pop culture and such, so that way I'm not completely out of touch when I get back. The news became important to me while I was in college, news around the US and world news as well. There has been a case in Florida of a teen girl overstaying her visa and it was ruled she and her sister are to be deported. From my understanding, she was there on a visitors visa and stayed without renewing it (and I'm pretty sure visitors visas have time limits, such as you can only stay for so many months and then you have to leave and come back). So now a community in Florida is fighting for her to get to stay.

I am getting ready to go through the visa process for a fiancee visa. It is a long process that takes time, money, and a ton of documents. Would it be easier for us to get a visitors visa for my fiancee to come to the states? Yes, it probably would. It would take less time, money, documents, and headache. But that is not the type we're going to file for because we want to stay there and it's lying. I've had people tell me to just get that type, go to the states, get married, and then file for him. That's untruthful and not right, so we're going to go for the type of visa we want and need, even if it is more work.

You may wonder how these two cases fit together. I'm in a different country and we're going for a different type of visa; however the end result will be the same. She wants to stay in the states, but her mom did not get her the right type of visa to stay there. We are working hard on the correct type of visa because we want to be able to stay there. Since I have been here, I've heard dozens of stories about people being turned down for even visitors visas or student visas for one reason or another. I've heard stories of people who have masters degrees that would like to stay in the states, but are unable to. If this girls mom files the right type of paperwork, I have no issue with her staying, but there are people in her home country that are going through the correct methods to get the correct visa to come to the states. My question is this: why should you be the exception and jump in front of everyone when you disobeyed the rules?

Now I am all for uping the quotas so that way more people are able to come to the states legally. But I think this debate about making people who came into the states illegally legal takes a whole different turn when you know people trying to get to the states legally.
What do you think?

Living in the moment

"Wherever you are be all there. Live to the hilt every situation that you believe to be the will of God." Jim Elliot

This is something that is really hard for me. I am a planner. Which obviously means that I look to the future to plan. The future being later that day, week, month, year, or even the next couple years. While this is not a bad trait, in moderation, for me it can become obsessive to the point where I miss what is going on around me. I was sitting on a bus the other day thinking about how I just wished the bus ride was over and I was in town. Then it dawned on me, I'm not always going to be living on an island in the Caribbean, just enjoy the view. While planning is good (and I have a lot to plan for right now!), I still can't let it take over my life or I'm going to miss the present and what God has to teach me here and now. I'm going to miss the smiles on the childrens' faces, their greetings, the joy of the people I interact with each day. I will miss all this and I don't want to.

Tuesdays

I think Tuesdays are some of my hardest days, but also some of the best! On Tuesdays I switch it up a little and work at the Infant School (grades K-2). There I teach computer class that helps reinforce what they are learning in class to 115 kids. It's crazy and fun! They're so cute and full of energy, a completely different type of energy than the kids at the Primary School. Today I taught one class of grade K's how to turn the computer off after they got to play the game on the computer for the day(because they have class at the end of the day!), and then we had extra time so I got to read them two stories. At the end of the day I always feel drained, but it's well worth it. I love the day that I work at the Infant School!

The story of us

If you want just the engagement story it starts after the big bold letters (and for those of you who might recognize the ring yes we're using my grandmother's ring set, her and my grandfather were married for over 50 years, a legacy we want to continue)

March of 2011 I was riding the bus home from training like I did every Friday, wondering what the weekend would bring me. It was late and I was tired and just ready to get home! When we got near my stop I asked the bus driver to go up the hill, however he did not hear me and kept going. The guy who was sitting right next to me got the bus drivers attention and had him go up the hill to my stop. He then turned to me and said, “You live up here?” I replied that yes I was living up the hill with Ms. Cleo. He told me he was staying with his aunt that weekend right next to where I was living, so he might see me. On my way home from church on Sunday I saw this same guy. He offered to take me to the beach (which I had not been to in my community and didn’t know where it was). I said yes and we set up a time. I told my host mom I was going to go to the beach and she wanted to know who with, I didn’t remember the guys name but said that he was staying next door. She told me to go get him. I brought him over and as soon as my host mom saw it was Luthur, she was ok with me going to the beach, but she still questioned him about when he was bringing me back and told him to keep me safe!

We went to the beach and had a lot of fun! I saw him a couple of other times in passing while I was staying with my host family. When I moved into my house in the village he continued to check up on me. We would talk, go for walks, he would teach me Kweyol and how to play pool, I taught him where the big dipper was and Orian’s belt. We just had fun! Around the beginning of June, I began to realize that this wasn’t just a friendship. He officially asked me to be his girlfriend on July 1^st! When my host mom found out we were dating, she sat Luthur down and gave him a lecture about how he needed to take care of me and not hurt me! We continued hanging out getting to know each other better. I started including him in Peace Corps activities (such as pot lucks). The more I got to know him and see him in different situations, the more I grew to love him and the man that he is.

The unique thing about PC is that it’s a time limited thing. We knew I only had two years here, so we started talking about the future and what we wanted. It became clear that we were both heading in a similar direction and wanted to be a part of each other’s lives.

Engagement story starts here On February 22 (Independence Day in St. Lucia—which is kind of ironic because I’ve always been really independent) we had decided to go to the beach since we both had the day off of work. We packed up a bag with towels, a Frisbee, water, and sunscreen we headed off to the beach. Our timing was perfect and we got a ride up the hill. We walked down to the beach and talked about how perfect of a day it was. We got to the main beach and then climbed over a bunch of rocks to a smaller beach that we like better. We were standing underneath the almond tree, he puts his arms around me and tells me that he loves me and wants to spend the rest of his life with me. He then asked me to marry him, “for real this time” because he asks me all time just for fun (I always say yes), but tells me one day he’ll ask me for real. That was the day! I said of course yes! We hung out at the beach for a while and had a blast! When we got back to the house we got out the ring and he got down on one knee and asked if I Sara Jean Faison, would marry him. I, of course, said yes again, and he put the ring on my finger and made me the happiest girl alive  J

So excited!

So yesterday was Independence Day (if you want to learn more about that go to my blog on the US Embassy's official blog http://usembassybridgetown.blogspot.com/2012/02/independence-day-in-st-lucia-one-nation.html) However, it was an even more special day for me because Luthur (my then boyfriend) asked me to marry him! I said yes! (so now he's my fiancee!!) I'm so excited that I've been blessed with a man that is as amazing as he is. Someone that I'm able to always talk things out with and work through issues. Someone I have fun with, learn with, teach, share, and can just be myself around! It was special and a really fun day! Let's just say I love this guy and enjoy every minute with him. Gonna keep this one around :)

Lessons

So these past couple weeks I have been sick. While being sick I have learned some very valuable lessons. OK, one lesson. I learned that I have to take care of myself or I can't give to anyone else. I know simple lesson, but I'm probably going to have to learn it over and over in my life.
I have also learned these past couple of weeks (not due to being sick) that if I pile on too many projects, I shut down and avoid some of them. NEWS FLASH: avoiding projects does not make them go away! The deadline (because they always have them) will still approach and only make you panic more! Thankfully I did not avoid it until the last minute (I still have 2 weeks left).
It's like my blogging. Sometimes I think if I don't look at my blog, it's not really there and I don't have to update it:)
Someone once told me (when I first got here) that it's hard to keep writing a blog while you're here because it just turns into everyday life and doesn't seem that exciting. I find this to be true and getting harder and harder to find subjects to write about. So if you have something that you would like to know about my life here, my work, Peace Corps, or St. Lucia, feel free to mention it!

Learning

I feel as if I'm one of the "old guys." As in to say we just welcomed in a group of new PCVs which means I've officially been here for a year and in a couple of months will be the "oldest" PCVs here. Crazy! In some ways I feel like I've lived at least 5 years since I flew in last year, but in others I feel like it has only been a couple months! I think part of that is because of how busy I've kept with work, secondary projects, and with my social life; but most of all learning. I have learned so much in the last year about another culture, way of living, perspectives, way of cooking, coping, and most of all about myself. I know that this next year I am going to be learning a lot as well. I will be learning how to make this work go on after I leave. I will be learning more about computers so I can teach it to the children. I will be learning more about planning sporting activities in my community (I want to do an olympics this summer with a different sport every day during the olympics). I will learn more now than I can imagine. But learning is life, and I love living and love learning!

Getting back into the swing of things!

The school term is underway, computer club has start, prep for the next Serious Ting (PC EC magazine) is in full swing! It's been a busy month! The kids are still loving checking books out from the library! It's so much fun hearing about the books that they are reading and see what they like to check out! I have several different computer clubs through the week. They keep me busy in the evenings :) Next Friday we're welcoming in a new group of volunteers! It's crazy to think that a year ago that was me getting ready to leave.
Currently we have a group from Global Volunteers here. They're helping at both schools I'm at, the pre-schools and several other places in the community. They are a great help! Global Volunteers are sending several more groups this year and then next year even more! It's great to see all the good work that's going on here. Hopefully with the several groups through the year that they are sending the work they are doing can be sustainable.
Life is going great here! I'm loving my work and all that goes along with it. It makes the time go soo fast.

11 months and 3 days

No that's not a countdown for how much longer I have in PC (thankfully I have longer than that...but not much), or until my birthday, in fact it's not a countdown at all. 11 months and 3 days is the time between when I came to St. Lucia the first time (January 28, 2011) and the time I came back to St. Lucia from vacation (December 31, 2011). I never knew how much difference that little amount of time could make.

When I was first coming to St. Lucia last January, to put it bluntly, I was scared out of my mind. What did I do? Did I really just sign up to live in another country for 2 years? Who are these other Peace Corps people? What is this place like? Will I make any friends? Where am I going to be working? What will my host family be like? Will they feed me fish for dinner every night (btw I HATE fish)? These fears and more were going through my head.

11 months and 3 days later, instead of looking out of the airplane in fear, I was excited! Excited to get back to my life, my friends, my school, and my boyfriend! (Yes mom, I love you and had a lot of fun at home.) Instead of looking out the window in wonder of what did I get myself into, I was picking out the places that I know! (BTW the Pitons look super cool from the sky!)

And now, while we're getting ready to welcome a new group of volunteers to St. Lucia, I'm excited to encourage them to make this thier home for two years! There are struggles, with what good thing in life is there not? But it is worth it! The people in my village have welcomed me back, so have the teachers and staff at the school. I'm looking forward to this school term, working with the kids, getting to know them better, and getting beat like crazy in football (soccer) with the new ball my sister gave me for Christmas!