Massive update (April)

Ok, here is my attempt to recap what has been going on over the past few weeks without writing a novel. Here goes!

Last day of Pre- Service Training: We arrived in SVG on Saturday February 5th. After 8 weeks of training we successfully completed PST.

New Apartment:
 On Saturday April 2nd I moved out of my host family’s home into an apartment below them. The apartment was being renovated since my arrival to their home so I really had NO idea what to expect. I would take a peek inside every few weeks but after seeing what I deemed as little progress I decided to quit stressing it. I am so glad I did! The apartment is perfect. The renovations turned out very well. A nice quaint space to make my own . It is nice to still be amongst "family" I will say. Although I am really enjoying my own space, coming home to a compound like environment where someone is always around makes it feel a little less foreign.

Starting work as a PCV:
The first 8 weeks of training I went to my assigned school twice a week to observe the classroom. I spent the majority of my time with Grade 6 but also got to see the various teaching styles and classroom management techniques of the whole school, Grades K- 6. On Monday the 11th of April I returned to school as a fulltime PCV. Now the fun begins!! The goal is for me to work with 3 or 4 students weekly from grades 4-6. I will be working with the students that are the farthest behind as far as reading level. Since I am working with the Literacy Coordinator, I guess that makes me a literacy specialist assistant? Interesting. The first week was a bit frustrating because I just wanted to jump in and get started. I have been sitting around the past 8 weeks just watching, I'm ready to DO. But, things didn't work out that way. So I continued to watch until the time was right for me to do. I have found that a delicate balance exist between trying to be proactive and action oriented and just being a pushy American who wants things done instantly. Obviously the later is not my intention so I find myself *woosaaah'ing* quite a bit. :)

Week two went a little better. I went in with a plan but also with the awareness that at even given moment my plan will be tossed right out the window like scraps for a stray dog. In training, we were told to have a plan, kids need structure, they need to know that you took time to prepare...right? Sometimes I reflect on my days in the training class room while sitting in the real class room and I just laugh. *chuckle*


Week three was much better than week 1-2. I keep lesson plans in my folder, but I'm always ready to make adjustments which may include tossing them out into the wind for another day. I have completed the assessments for 8 of the students I will be working with. There is something extremely special about each and every one of the students I have been given. I feel like they were lost in the shuffle somewhere. With only a few weeks of school left I tell them  all  I ask of them is to give me their BEST for the time we have together. I need your eyes, ears and attention just for an hour each day. I want to discover the place where they were lost and pick up from there, piece things back together. *sigh* And off to the clouds I go again. This work , the literacy aspect is very different from my previous experience with children. It will be challenging. Baby steps.

Secondary Project:
There is an agency that I have decided to dedicate 1 day a week to. They have a program for youth ages 16-24 that dropped out of school. Its kind of like a Job Corps type program. I was lucky to sit in on the orientation day of the new group that just started. This session will last for 6 months. Just being amongst the group made me feel this sense of passion that was much different from what I experienced at the primary school. I feel like it is a great balance for me. I LOVE the kiddos, but I also enjoy being able to talk to older kids that are at the crucial point in their lives , the cross roads where they can either continue to stray or take this opportunity to dedicate their time to improving the quality of their lives. Sometimes all it takes is someone to lend an ear, a heart or a hand...
Homesick?:
I had a moment. A moment of REALLY TRULY missing my friends and family. It was some kinda deep soulful missing, a yearning for something, someone familiar. A don't think acknowledging that I miss the amazing people I was surrounded by at home takes away from the beauty of the newness I'm experiencing now. I have met some magnificent spirits along my journey already. A few of these people have touched my life greatly in just a few months, for them I am grateful beyond words for letting me fall into them at times when I needed to lean. ..but still, sometimes you just get homesick. And that is ok :)


Holidays:
SVG ( and possibly most of the EC) LOVES some holidays!!! I feel like we have had a day off for a holiday almost every week since we have been here. We have had "spring break" in March, then off Thursday - Monday for Easter break, and now we are off for May day/ Labour day. Trust me, I am not complaining at all. I thinks it’s great to be in a place where they openly embrace taking time off from work. With all these Holidays, why would you ever need to call in "sick"?? :) Time is made of moments, not money.

Rainy Dry Season:
So this was technically supposed to be the dry season, but I heard that the weather is changing . It rains, and rains...and rains, then pours...and rains some more. I have an umbrella that is rusting and an emergency poncho ( plastic bag thin) to shield me from this weather. I toyed with the idea of bringing rainboots but thought that would be "too much". I haven't seen anyone here with rainboots but I honestly don't understand why they aren't more common. I see kids wearing timberlands in 80+ degree sunny weather, why not rainboots in torrential down poor???

A few weeks ago it rained for 4 days straight and school was canceled due to landslides. Sometimes school is canceled just because it rains for awhile. At first I thought this was comical but after trying to work with students at school while its pouring down rain outside, I GET IT. Its pointless most of the time. The classrooms are nestled in nature, the rain is pretty loud on the roof and the windows aren't sealed. Most of the kids ( and myself) have to walk to and from school in the rain as well. I guess its hard to focus on your lesson when you are concerned with skipping puddles to get home.


Silver lining: Wonderful weather to fall asleep on those  nights :)


Hurricane season is from June1st- November 31st , lets just hope it doesn't actually get worse...


Dark Skin Peace Corps:
" I've never seen a dark skinned Peace Corps, where are you from?"- Pops


I think I am going to dedicate an entire post to discussing my experience as an African American PCV serving in the Eastern Caribbean. Initially, I don't think it even crossed my mind that me being a volunteer of color would be recognized as anything other than the obvious- Shes a black volunteer from the states. Nothing special right? Wrong. As the weeks go on, I am seeing how extremely different my experience here is than some of the other volunteers. I am not the only volunteer of color serving in the EC, nor am I the first. I guess its just so uncommon that when we do appear people comment on it. Overall, as far as my ability to integrate I will say hands down it is an advantage. I have not had enough time here to conceptualize the other aspects of how this will impact my service. So many layers...The EC is part of the Diaspora but their experience is very different from that of an African American living in the states. Each island has its own residual imprints from colonialism which still lingers heavily. Ok, already I've written more than I planned...tbc






I think I have touched on the major updates at this point! Hopefully I will do better in May.