One Wild and Precious Life

 In a couple of weeks, I will participate in our mid-service training for the Peace Corps. As is the custom, we have a load of homework to complete ahead of time. I find most of it problematic for one reason or another, but I will say that it has gotten me into a particularly reflective place.  "Mid-service" is a bit misleading because really I have about 9 months left in my service, but things are being framed in the "year one vs year two" context for this training.  In the last couple months I've been thinking a lot about what I want my 2nd year to look like and what I need to do in order to make that happen.  Which brings me to some updates on what is happening at school... The biggest change is that I moved myself out of a classroom and into the library.  Three weeks in, I can tell you that this has been a game changer in terms of my mental health.  I no longer spend my days witnessing beatings while immersed in the frenetic energy of an environment whe...

 I've decided that I'm not quite ready to talk about the start of the new school year, so I'm returning to the blog with a short video with some of what I did this summer.  I soaked in the beauty of a PNW beach, spent time with people who fill my heart and my soul.  I ate, drank, and was merry.  My soul and spirit flew.  It was bliss.  💓💓💓

  Full quote:  Why, I feel all  thin , sort of stretched, if you know what I mean: like butter that has been scraped over  too  much bread. That can't  be  right. I need a change, or something. I can't believe its taken over a year for me to pull out a LOTR reference! 😉  But Bilbo's words ring so true for me these days.  A few weeks ago I posted that I had reached the one year mark--and it has been a hell of a year!  The highs were really high and the lows were low, low, low.  As the school year finally came to a close on Friday, I am feeling like I can really step back and take a breath.  A nice, deep, long breath.   I have hope and excitement around the projects at school next year; but right now I need a break and some quiet, reflective space.  As part of that break, I'm going to put  a pause in the blog until school starts again at the beginning of September.  So until then, I leave you with a pict...

This short mid-week post celebrates ONE YEAR IN SAINT LUCIA!!!!  This is a huge milestone for a lot of reasons.  A short video with some highlights of the past 12 months.  💓💓💓

I had originally planned to continue writing about the things I took for granted, but then yesterday happened and I decided that I wanted share the day with y’all.  A little context first—my PCV bestie Alexis is currently living with me as her house is infested with rats.  Luckily a teacher from her school works in my community so she has a ride to/from school every day.  But it was still quite a week—so we decided to try for a nice day out and about on Saturday.   It turned out to be one of those rare days when everything aligned for us--honestly, it was the first time since I've been here that I've had a day like this!  As I was closing the gate to my house, I saw a bus coming up the road.  This never happens!  But what it meant was that we didn’t have to walk up the giant hill to go wait for the bus.  When we got to town and got on our next bus, we only had to sit on it for 5 minutes before we left!  That also never happens, LOL. ...

 Today marks the end of my 11th month here.  In some ways, I can't believe that I'm approaching the 1 year mark and in other ways it feels like I left home a lifetime ago.  As that one year mark approaches, I've been looking back at a list I started when I first got here--"Things I took for granted." These were things that I didn't have here and realized I took for granted at home.  Looking back on it now, I'm really glad that I did.  In part it helps me remember what the really early days were like but it also helps me to appreciate all the things that I've had to navigate.  I also remember saying to myself on multiple occasions "In three months this won't seem like such a big deal." For some things, that has definitely been true (e.g. having no street names, house numbers, etc to use when you're trying to find some place).  But for others, they are still challenges--and they may very well be challenges for the entirety of my service...

 I have been on a major America kick lately (the folk rock trio, not the country, LOL) and I also just spent a crazy amount of time in/on the ocean so this seemed like an apt quote for this blog.   Since my last post, I went on my first vacation since arriving!!   I've included a map to help describe where I was--St. Lucia is  27 miles north of St. Vincent.  You leave St. Lucia, fly to Barbados, and then fly to St. Vincent.  There are other volunteers serving on the St. Vincent mainland (but not on the Grenadines).  I was able to connect with Kim (my roommate from our 1st month here), Tara and Adam for this trip; it was so great to see them in person!  I started the trip with Kim on the mainland and then we all connected to go to Union Island.  During the rest of the trip, I was able to go to Mayreau, Tobago Cays, Palm Island, and Bequia.   We spent a glorious few days catching up, drinking the local beer (Hairoun, much be...