Sooo fast forward two weeks and here we are! I have completed 1 week of orientation/PST in St. Lucia and 1 week PST in my new home, St. Vincent. So much has happened in just 2 weeks here goes:
The night before departure : Total melt down! lol In hindsight I can laugh now, hopefully bestie can laugh as well. Some of the girls came over to hang out and "help" with the final packing. Great idea right?? Wrong! Somehow I managed to overlook luggage dimensions listed on the PC Baggage advisory. Long story short thank goodness for Walmart and great friends. By the time I got my 2 bags packed and my personal items and cleaned the room it was about 2:30am, eek! Trek it over to Michelle's to complete the final touches, only problem is she had my favorite cheese AND 2 episodes of RHOA that I had missed...hmmm finish packing or catch up on episodes of RHOA while munching on my favorite cheese?? Go figure. A break turned into a nap. We were suppose to head to the airport @ 5:30 am. Around 5:15 I looked around an realized I still had a ton of stuff to "sort through" that were intended to fit in my carry on bags. ~ME: (knock knock on Chels door) Chel?? I NEED HELP Chel: " OH ___beep__ I was suppose to get up at 5am, are you done?? ME: No, and Im hyperventilating , I can't miss my flight, I have to take a shower, I can't breathe. Chel: Go take a shower, I will finish the rest!~ We made it out on time and I made it on my flight . Both Teary eyed and a mess, but we made it.
St. Lucia: St. Lucia was wonderful!! I met so many amazing people in my training class. We stayed at the Pastoral Center, it was kind of like living in a dorm all over again. The view was gorgeous and we were spoiled by being walking distance from the beach. Late nights full of card games, taboo, music exchanges, book trades and great conversation- what more can you ask for? I also got to meet some of the volunteers who are currently serving in St. Lucia, cool group of ladies! Wonderful way to start of PST
St. Vincent: Felt like home as soon as we touched down! lol Our group had the longest wait at the airport (arrived @ 7am and flew out at 12pm) and probably the longest wait upon arriving to SVG haha. I think it's a reflection of the personalities in the group to be able to travel with 11 strangers with no major hang ups. I think we were all excited to meet our SVG PC staff , current PCVs and most of all our homestay families! Long day but I think it brought us all a little closer.
*Homestay: This is the start of week 2 at my homestay and I already feel like this is my refuge. My host family is very considerate and sweet. They are patient with me and allow me to ask as many questions as needed about anything. I get wonderful vegetarian meals prepared everyday! I will share some of the dishes in future post. There are 5-6 other people that live on the property, everyone contributes in some way to make the household run smoothly. My host mother is a florist and my host sister is a chef in training. Two of my goals while here are to learn how to make some authentic Vincy dishes and to turn my black thumb into green.
There is a pretty heavy local dialect spoken here in St. Vincent. I kind of felt like I was missing out on language exposure since St. Lucia and Dominica were the only two assignments that take language classes during PST. Creole is still spoken in those locations. Little did I know that Vincy's have their very own local language. I can go an entire van ride and have NO idea what was said, I can sit at dinner and be completely lost until my family laughs or says JESSICA?? I'm VERY excited to improve my ability to understand and speak the local dialect as time goes on.
*Vans- The vans...oh the infamous Vincentian VANS how do I even begin to describe the experience. First off , its completely different from St. Lucia so that was a fake out. The van system here is divided into towns or villages. Each town has its own group of vans that are privately owned by individuals. Its almost like a mix between a taxi and a bus. The names range from " Krunkest, Blade, Gifted, Precious, Da boi" and the list goes on. There are only 5 vans that go to my village which means a lot of waiting and cramming in to fit as many people as possible on the van. Usually its about 25 people on a 15 passenger type van. You hale them like a cab but the route is predetermined like a bus. Good stuff I tell you lol There have been no two days alike thus far...will post pics soon.
*Rain -Apparently this is suppose to be the start of the dry season but it has been raining everyday since we arrived. Usually its just small passing showers about 5 times a day lasting maybe 10 minutes tops but sometimes they last longer. Most people just stop what they are doing if on the street and seek shelter until it passes. I toyed with the idea of packing rainboots for the "wet season" but I think its safe to say in 80 degree down pour I would look a tad odd, I haven't seen any yet hmmmm
*Valley My final note is about my village. The Mesopotamia/Marriaqua Valley- Excerpt:
"This vast expanse of land is so luxuriant and evergreen with virtually every tropical crop growing in the rich fertile soils of St. Vincent. The Valley, viewed from a specific location on the island, offers a spectacular panoramic view of what is often referred as the “islands breadbasket” containing plots of bananas, nutmeg, cocoa, breadfruit, coconut and a multitude of root crops. The grand Bonhomme Mountain (318 ft, 970 metres) dominates the ridges that rises around the valley and a number of streams and rivers come together to flow over the rocks of the Yambou Gorge; in the small town of Mesopotamia (“Mespo”), before entering the sea on the east coast of the island.
Sometimes I wake up and this all still feels surreal. I smile as I hear the roosters or the dogs sounding the wake up calls in the morning. It has been nice to allow myself to wake up to the sounds of nature or the sun gently tugging at my eyelids, is this real? Am I really here? I feel like a child on Christmas morning waiting to unwrap the various surprises, treasures and gifts that await me as I embrace each day with open arms.
Even in the midst of soggy pants, wet feet, overstuffed bags, cold showers, hour long van waits, overcrowded vans and not understanding 70% of what I hear any given day I continue to be overwhelmed with joy and appreciation for the beauty encountered within each moment. The gift of "first sight", new sight...the ability to "fall sweetly into the miracle of ones presence upon the first time truly seeing another.", this makes it all worth it.
