How is the weather in the US? Here it is about 80 degrees and sunny. Not my typical Thanksgiving week weather. Sorry for the sporadic nature of my posts, I am never sure when I wrote the last one so whenever I have free time I like to knock out another one. I am sure everyone is wondering, and yes, I will be having turkey this year! All of the Peace Corps volunteers are having a Thanksgiving feast. Imagine a Thanksgiving potluck with about 25 people and 3 Turkeys!!! I am really exited but my stomach is already hurting in anticipation of all of the food I will stuff into my mouth. Yummmm!!!! We are also having an American Football match between the volunteers. I will be sporting my Denver Broncos jersey so hopefully I represent for my team. Basically from here until next year my work is slowing down significantly. The schools are all in exams and they let out on December 13th. Then they return January 5th. The holidays are a time of celebration where work is much less important than spending time with ones' family. In other words, I do not have much to do these days. The football skills training I am doing is still going well and it will continue into break so I will have something to do no y Tuesday and Friday afternoons. i would also like everyone to know that I have a new addition to my family. NO I am not pregnant!!! I am getting a puppy :) ! On Thanksgiving he will be 6 weeks so he is ready to come home with me. Currently his name is Cupid because he is white with 2 brown spots shaped like hearts. I am going to change his name but I am not sure exactly what I will call hi. Once I spend more time with him i will decide on a name that fits his personality. I am sure that everyone is thinking, what breed? We do not have the luxury of breeds unless you want to shell out a ton of money. He is a mongrel but he will grow to the size of a golden retriever. I am very excited to add him to my family and since the Holiday season is so slow I will spend the time training hi. Do not worry, I realize that a dog is a HUGE responsibility but I have weighed the pros and cons and I am very excited to add a loving member to my family.
I go to the office a few days a week to occupy myself. Everyone in the office is very friendly and they love to joke around and have a good time. I am finding it more and more fun to go to the office. I feel lucky to have such great colleagues to work with. I can't wait until school starts again next semester so that I can start doing some real work. Right now the plan is for me to start after school programs at the primary schools such as: Environmental club, Health and Wellness Club, and Girl Guides (also known as Girl Scouts). I am also trying to start a female football(soccer) team at the secondary school. It will take a lot of time to put all of these programs into place but I am excited to have concrete ideas to work on. I am starting to make more friends in my community. Sometimes I joke that all of my friends are either under 1 years old or over 40 years old but I am starting to meet a wide variety of people. It is just a matter of walking around in the Village and being as friendly as possible. My face gets sore from the constant smile on my face but it is worth it when someone says hello back to me. It is even better when they remember my name, it makes me feel welcome, like I am starting to fit in. Another method to fit in and get to know people is to work on my proficiency with the language (patois). My colleagues in the office are always speaking Patois so I am going to make a serious effort to learn it over the next few months. I have been slacking on my Patois studying since I left Peace Corps Training so I need to take it upon myself to learn the language. I will update everyone on how that goes in a few months...Maybe I could save it for my New Years Resolution...? We shall see. I am currently waiting to act as secretary for the Committee to plan activities for Independence Day. The meeting was supposed to begin at 10:00 AM and it is 10:45 and there are only 4 of us for the meeting. It is a great example of life in St. Lucia. Most activities do no start on time. We are definitely on "Island Time." It is quite the adjustment in mindset. I always get to meetings on time and it is usually just me and the meeting chair for awhile until everyone else arrives. Oh well, I would rather be early and have to wait, than to make everyone else wait on me.
Since it is the week of Thanksgiving I would just like to thank everyone for supporting me through this interesting experience. This blog is e-mailed to all of my close friends and family and I wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving and a wonderful holiday season. I have always the luxury of being home for Thanksgiving but since I am gone this year I finally have an appreciation for family gatherings in the spirit of giving and love. I miss everyone very much.
Sending my Love from the Islands,
Kelli
