Thank you to everyone who submitted questions for my blog!! There were enough questions to make two posts, so if you don’t see your question this week, it will be here next week!
From my niece Kenzie: How are you doing? Have you seen any dolphins? Have you experienced any exotic animals or wildlife yet? Lizards or birds or something in the road?
Overall I am doing very well. Pre-service training is INTENSE and as I mentioned last week, I am feeling mentally and emotionally drained most days. But I find the work incredibly exciting and invigorating at the same time. I spent some time at the beach yesterday with friends from my training group and that really helped me recharge.
I haven’t seen any dolphins yet, but when I do you will be the first to know, Kenzie!! ❤️❤️
There are lizards here—what I’ve seen the most are little gekkos. Not exotic, but there are also a lot of chickens and roosters (and chicks) that just wander the neighborhood.
From Rachel: What do you miss most about your “past life”?
This answer came very quickly—COOKING and RUNNING. I haven’t cooked for myself since I moved out of my apartment. I know some of you may be thinking ‘must be nice’, but trust me, after almost 2 months it is not so nice. I can’t wait to be in my own home cooking for myself again.
I haven’t been able to run since I moved out of the hotel. There is nowhere safe for me to run in my current neighborhood. When we did a drive-through of my home community last weekend, I became hopeful that I will be able to run again once I move. 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻
From Denise: What’s a typical meal? What have you enjoyed? What are the most astonishing colors you witness? What surprises you on the island? Is there industry there?
Typical meal—great question! In my house, it will usually have some meat (or as my host mom says ‘flesh’), starch, and veg. Common meats are chicken, fish, or pork—other meats are very expensive. The starch here is almost always ‘ground provisions’. Think very starchy root vegetables. There is one called dasheen (taro) which is incredibly starchy; it is not my favorite, tbh. Luckily at my house, a serving of provisions usually includes a bit of dasheen, potato, and sweet potato. But a lot homes/restaurants will go for all dasheen. We also eat a lot of lentils and fried plantains, which I love. Lunch is the biggest meal of the day with dinner sometimes being just tea and crackers. Since I can’t eat crackers, my host mom has been making small dinners for us. Overall, the diet here has A LOT of bread. My inability to eat bread is of great interest to everyone here. I am so appreciative of everything my host mom has done to accommodate my gluten-free diet.
The most astonishing colors are the greens of the vegetation and the blues of the Caribbean Sea. Like take-your-breath-away astonishing.
There have been SO many surprises!!! But one of the happiest ones has been how welcoming and friendly St. Lucians are. This is a place where you are dependent on other people for information. Quick example—the bus system. There are no route maps, schedules, any useful information available online. The only way you know how to get where you want to go is to ask someone. Don’t want to ask? Then you are going nowhere.
There is some industry here—tourism being the biggest, by far. Bananas used to be a major agricultural export, but that changed dramatically when the EU formed (I learned this as part of our historical training). I believe avocados and mangoes are also exported. Side note: st Lucia has like 41 different varieties of mangoes!
From Sara (part 1): What is a typical day like for kids in school?
I’ve been in 2 different schools so far and so I’ll report on the consistencies I’ve noticed. School starts with the ringing of the bell—a hand-held bell. Students line up according to grade and the morning prayer is said. In the morning, there are 2 1-hr lessons with a 15 minute break or recess (also snack time) in between. Lunch is 1 hour, which I think is awesome. Kids have time to eat their lunch (rather than just wolf it down) and then play outside. After lunch there is another prayer and afternoon lessons—for the lower grades there is just one lesson after lunch. There is a closing prayer in the classroom and dismissals are staggered with kindergarten beginning at 2:30pm.
That’s all for this week!!! Next weeks blog will focus more on the culture and cultural adjustment questions that y’all gave me!!
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