Various Moments of Happiness and Frustration

Although it’s been almost nine months, it always feels like it swings one way or the other.  Thankfully, the past month I think it’s more often been the positive.  

Happy Times:

1. My Sewing Graduation.  This is the closest to “integrated” I’ve felt so far.  Who knew I could be so domestic?  The day of my graduation, I took off from work so that I could go into town (2+ hours on a van) to purchase a dozen buttons.  Definitely a moment where I was acutely aware of the conveniences of the States.  I left G’town at 8:30 AM, got home around 12:30, and then sewed button holes, buttons, and finished seams like a mad woman right up until the moment I left to walk to the secondary school.  Still, the stress was totally worth it because I finished a dress in under a week!  And it’s wearable!  The event turned out to be rather formal.  I got a graduating certificate (“Be it hereby known that Shannon Lincoln has successfully completed a 3 month ‘Garment Construction Course’”) and was given a special award from my instructor for “Most Determination.”  Haha, I’m not sure if this means I had the most determination to learn or that I took the most determination to teach.  Either way, for me to overcome my pathetic spatial ability, or well, let’s be honest, perfect the art of the seam ripper, took a crapload of something.

Me posing with my black and pink outfit

All of the graduates perform a song

The blue blouse and gray skirt are mine

2. The Turtle. A few weeks ago, Katie called us to let us know that there were supposed to be sea turtles on the beach that night — some locals informed her that there had been “turtle-shaped clouds” throughout the day — so we packed a headlamp and took off to Byera beach, where we planned to meet Bethany and Todd (2 other PCVs) and build a beach bonfire.  Unfortunately, we didn’t pack a camera, not thinking that we would actually be so lucky as to find a turtle, and I think also harboring our doubts about the locals’ prophetic predictions.  What a shame, because we did find a sea turtle, and it was one of the most incredible experiences I’ve ever had.  I had no idea how large they were!  If not for the Vincy guy with us, I don’t think we wever would have found her because her “flipper prints” looked exactly like tire tracks.  When he called out to us that he had found one, I expected to see what I envisioned as a typical sea turtle — about 2 feet long, maybe a little smaller.  Instead, the flashlight shone down on an absolute beast, around 5 feet long and 3 feet wide, with huge thick flippers and a massive face.  Apparently the variety of sea turtle which visits Saint Vincent, the Leatherback, is the largest sea turtle in the world.  We found her when she was just beginning to nest, watched her dig a hole about 3 feet deep (not even looking, entirely with her back flippers) and then lay dozens of round, shiny white eggs.  We witnessed her bury them, circle around to cover up her tracks, and then followed her as she went back into the sea. It was a totally magical event, to be the only people present while an endangered species gives birth.  After she was gone, we took our own turns at covering her tracks, as well as taking trash from the beach and placing it all over her nesting spot so that it would blend in and no one could find it.  We heard the next day that another turtle on Byera Beach had not been so lucky — some locals found it and hacked it up.  Whether they ate it or just did it for the “fun of it” I don’t know, but it made me cry to think that anyone could kill such an amazing creature.  Although it’s illegal in SVG, people still persist in killing the turtles, as well as digging up their eggs to eat.  Disgustingly, turtle eggs are rumored to help with a man’s “virility;” the first morning we were with our host family, our host father made Steve a concoction of Guinness and turtle egg.  So I guess, on the flip side, the turtle is both a great happiness and a frustration.  Although it’s certainly not all locals who don’t respect the turtles (in fact, it’s probably a minority), it depresses me that there are any men out there who feel that they have to kill an endangered species just so that they are better in bed.

Katie with another turtle

3. The Bonfire. After the turt-lo (Vincy pronunciation) encounter, we attempted to build a bonfire.  So, we had matches, but fire was still eluding us.  I quietly suggested to the boys that “based on my knowledge from Survivor” I thought they were not building it correctly.  Of course, they didn’t listen to me.  Then, when they went off up the beach to retrieve some drier wood, I rearranged the twigs and got the fire going with one match!  Booya!  Proof that hours of watching bad reality TV can come in handy.  Once we got the fire really blazing, we had S’mores and lay under the starlight.  Perfect.

4. May Day Cook.  On May 1st Steve and I headed up to Rabbacca for a beach cook with Hansel and some of her friends and their children.  Like the Independence Day cook we attended, this was a 3 course affair.  1st course: calalloo soup.  Then, rinse the pot in the river and cook the 2nd course: Pelau (chicken and rice).  By the time we got to course 3 — barbeque — Steve and I were so satiated and sleepy that we had to head home for a nap.  But Hansel was sure to save a portion and bring it to our house to enjoy later!  We had a great time being around these friendly and hardworking ladies and I think we were both a bit surprised that we could understand everything they were saying to each other.  I guess we’ve made a little progress!

Steve & Hansel

The kids are having a good time in the river

5. PCV Girls Night.  I love our SVG females.  Especially Anne, our one remaining older volunteer, who would be brave enough to invite a dozen twenty-something girls to her house in Brighton for a sleepover.  From the deliciously fabulous dinner at Driftwood (real hummus and cheeseless gourmet pizza!) to the ridiculously fabulous Vincy Gyels music video which we made, the night was a total success and even further solidified in my mind that our SVG group is the best in the EC.

Sexy Gyals

6. The Falls of Baleine.  Sadly, we weren’t able to share this experience with Steve’s parents — the sea in Fancy was just too rough to risk the trip — but last weekend we were finally able to see one of Saint Vincent’s largest waterfalls, by boat from the Leeward village of Barroulie.  I think one of the best parts of experiencing the natural areas of Saint Vincent is that almost all of the time your group ends up being the only one there.  I’ve seen a few beautiful waterfalls in the States, but they were all at tourist sites.  Here, whether it be the volcano, a wild parrot habitat, or a waterfall, you feel like you discovered it.

we sat here for a while

the water was cold

7. The Remedial Teacher. Maybe I wouldn’t have appreciated her as much if I hadn’t had to endure 3 months of trying to lead all of the remedial reading classes on my own, but Mrs. Roberts rocks.  She’s friendly, intelligent, dedicated to her job, and easy to work with.  Since she’s returned my attitude about my job has progressively gotten better.  Of course, she can’t wave a magic wand and fix all of the problems with the school’s learning environment, but it’s teachers like her that inspire me to believe that a school like GSS is not hopeless.  And, without having to plan all of the classes, I’ve been freed up to work on other projects at the school, which has decreased my stress level significantly.

Frustrations:

1. Teefing kids/adults.  Why, why, why, are we still having to deal with this?  A few weeks ago our bucket of laundry detergent and fabric softener were stolen from under our outdoor sink, and we’ve had more than one large bunch of bananas “teefed” the day before Steve was planning on chopping them down.  A few nights ago, I thought I heard someone in the backyard, and Steve went out to investigate and ended up running down a teenage boy who had covered his face with a T-shirt.  Eventually we called the cops because this lovely masked gentleman, along with his 3 thuggish friends, would not stop harassing us.  Unfortunately, the cops didn’t catch them.  Thank God, we’ve stopped taking it personally.  It seems everyone in G’town gets stolen from, and our neighborhood kids have a reputation for being “rougher around the edges.”  Still, it’s really annoying.

2. School violence.  So maybe it’s not as scary as gangs of teenage boys bringing weapons to school, or as frighteningly unpredictable as tortured youth engaging in school shootings, but I sure get tired of the fact that it seems to be a uniform believe among students that beating someone (or “lashing” someone) is the only way to express your emotions towards them, whether positive or negative.  Friends hit each other in the hallways and are just “playing.”  One day last week the principal was absent, and we must have had at least four school fights.  I walked into one classroom (where there was conspicuously no teacher) to find a girl and guy wailing at each other — yes, girls fight too.  The boy was suspended but ended up with a pretty large cut on his head.  The kids were ecstatic — depressingly, they never seem so happy or excited as when there’s a fight.  They’ll all plow over the teacher and run down the halls to see it; that’s how you know that one’s happening.  After one of the fights last week, they lined up a bunch of the offenders to receive their “licks” (a few whackings with a large ruler).  Personally, I can’t see how hitting someone for hitting someone is ever going to be a successful discipline plan.  I’m not sure, however, that it’ll ever change unless it changes first in the home.

3. Lack of motivation. Steve and I are both sick of trying to convince kids to care.  We realize that there are tons of factors that have contributed to their apathy, but it often seems like no matter how hard you try, they’re just not interested.

So there you go — highs and lows for the past month.