Monday-
6:12 AM - Wake up and throw on shorts and a t-shirt. Call Jessica
6:30 AM - Begin my walk/jog from Choiseul to Piaye.
7:00 AM - Meet Jessica. We leave our houses at the same time and meet up in between. It is a nice plan so that we do not have to walk/jog the whole way alone.
7:30 AM - Get home and start getting ready for work. Eat some Cream of Wheat for breakfast. (Either that of oatmeal. I like to have easy breakfasts that fill me up. I tried Cream of Wheat for the first time a few weeks ago now I am addicted. Something about the taste and texture.. YUM!)
8:45 AM - Leave for work. Ideally leaving my house at 8:45 would get me to the office at 9:00. The only challenge is that everyone in the Village is very friendly and sometimes I am slowed down by conversations. After I leave my house I walk by a few of my friendly neighbors. Mr. Sigh lives a few houses down. He is a sweet, elderly man who is always sitting on his porch with his reading glasses and hat, listening to Jubois (a Patois morning show) on the radio.
"Good morning Mr. Sigh," I say as I peek through the bushes to greet him while he sits on his front porch.
"Good morning darling. How are you?"
"I am good. How are you?"
"I am good. Thanks. Have a nice day."
"Thanks. You too."
I continue walking down my street, greeting random neighbors as they walk by. Then I get to the gap and take a left down the main road which takes me into the Village. Felicia's shop is on my right hand side and I am sure to peek in to say hello if she is around. Generally in the mornings our conversations consist of greetings and then she asks me if I am going to work and I say yes. She tells me to take care and I keep walking. I continued walking downhill until I reach the public bathrooms. I am sure to say hello to the woman who works there (I have greeted her hundreds of times but I do not know her name). Then I begin walking through the village. Greeting everyone who is randomly scattered through out the street. I also make a quick stop to say hello to my friend, Miss Lowen. She has a house in the Village and she is very old. I suspect that she is in her 80s or 90s. I do not know too much about her except that she has had a very rough life. But in spite of all of her hardships she is still the sweetest and most friendly woman ever! When she is on the porch I am always sure to stop by. Generally our conversation is as follows-
"Good morning Miss Lowen."
"Good morning darling/dou dou" (Dou dou is Patois for darling. Slightly ironic because it is pronounced do-do).
"How are you?"
"I am there, not too bad. How are you?"
"I am good. Thanks."
"Are you on your way to work?"
"Yep, I am on my way."
"Okay, have a nice day."
"Thanks. You too! Take care."
A then I continue walking. It is sort of funny that I can write down our exact conversation, but I have had it so may times that I will never forget it. I continue walking. Greeting people with "Good Mornings." In the beginning it was pretty awkward but now everyone expects me to be super cheery and friendly so they all respond. I am not sure that the people in the Village know it, but having them respond to a simple "Good Morning" really makes my day. I have never felt like such a member of a community or surrounded by so many friendly faces. Some days I cannot help but think of how much I will miss Choiseul when I move back home. In bigger cities in St. Lucia such as Vieux Fort and Castries, they no longer greet each other. Obviously friends greet each other but in Choiseul it is considered good manners to greet everyone, especially strangers. I think it is part of the reason I feel so comfortable here. The longer I have been greeting random people, the more those random people have become my friends. Once I get past most of the big groups of people I walk by Kirk's house and fruit selling stand. On this particular day I stop to chat with Kirk. He gives me a banana to take with me and he talks about how life is rough. It is not tourist season so there are not many people to buy his fruit. Luckily he has started selling bananas and he thinks it will be able to hold him over until it is tourist season again. Usually he makes a joke or says something ridiculous so I walk away laughing or smiling. I greet more random people walking down the street then head up towards the Choiseul Police Station. I keep walking past the station to the bridge across the river. This is the spot where I sit and wait to hitch a ride up to the Education Office. In reality the office is only about a 15 minute walk from the bridge. I have accomplished the walk before but it involves a particularly lengthy hill and by the time I reach the top I am soo sweaty that I need a shower. These days I just wait at the bridge for a ride. I could take a bus the short distance but it would cost $1.50 EC (Approximately .60 cents US) but I cannot justify spending that much every day! So I stick out my hand with my finger pointing up the road and generally within 2 or 3 minutes I have a ride to work. Pretty sweet huh?
9:00 AM (more like 9:15 AM) - I get to work and say "Good morning" to everyone. I sit down at my desk near the office entrance. The wall was very boring at first but I have started decorating it with some family pictures and a few drawings from different kids. I get my lap-top plugged in and running and check to see if the internet is working. Generally the internet is out but if it is up I am quick to check my e-mail before it goes down. I pull out my notebook and check to see what I have to do for the day. I also consult my desk calendar to see if I have any meetings. I spend the morning working on random work and hanging out in the office.
12:30 PM - LUNCH TIME!!! I am always excited for lunch because I love to eat! I have a hard time figuring out what to bring. There is a restaurant down the street that a lot of the people in our office order food from. The menu usually consists of a "Chicken Meal." If I decide to splurge, I order a small Chicken Meal. $7 EC (or about $3 USD) It is DELICIOUS!! It consists of one piece of chicken, macaroni and cheese, salad, mixed veggies, dasheen, breadfruit, plantain and rice. YUM!! Unfortunately I do not splurge very often so usually I bring something from home. Today I have a hard-boiled egg, a turkey sandwich, and some leftover rice from last nights dinner. We all eat lunch together in the table next to the office kitchen. It is a time for gossiping and socializing. It is a great bonding time and everyone always shares their food so if you forget your lunch do not worry. I am usually offered different types of food and someone in always willing to share their juice. Sometimes I feel guilty because i never really bring extra food to share but I think everyone understands that I do not make much money.
1:30 PM - After lunch I usually have meetings or some other business to attend to. If there are no meetings for the afternoon then I usually leave the office around 3 or 3:30.
?:?? PM - Whenever I leave... I walk home from the office. It usually takes about 30 minutes to get from the office to my house. I walk through the Village and greet most of the same people. If Miss Lowen is around, I stop to tell her I am heading home. I walk again past Felicia's shop, and by Mr. Sigh's house. Then I finally make it home. By the time I get to my house I am usually a sweat mess so I throw on a set of shorts and t-shirt.
5:00 PM - I am home from whatever I have been up to for the day. During the day I have most likely been planning what I will make for dinner so I am drooling for it by the time I get home. Usually there are a few kids from the neighborhood over at my house. You never know who will show up. The older kids come over to use my internet connection. Sometimes they use my computer or they bring their own and plug in to my modem. The younger kids come to watch the older kids or to play. Sometimes they color or play games with my soccer ball on the porch. we hang out for awhile. when they come over I always seem to realize how messy my living room is so I hurry to clean everything up and wash my dishes. After they have stayed for about an hour I realize that I need to start cooking my dinner.
6:45 PM - The sun sets (sometimes I am able to sit outside and enjoy it. In case you have not seen the view from my porch, watching the Sunset is witnessing the hands of God. It is soo beautiful that i will never get sick of it). Then it rapidly gets dark so I send all of the kids home before it is pitch black. Then I am able to finish my dinner, watch a little TV or read a book. I usually go to bed around 8 or 9 in order to get up at 6:15 AM the next morning.
That is just a typical day in my life but you never know what could happen to change it. After re-reading this little piece, something stood out to be. I do have programs and tasks I am working on and I pray that they will be successful, but they are not the things that I think of day-to-day. A little success with Girl Guides might make my day once but all of the amazing people I have met make everyday special. Mr. Sigh, Felicia, Miss Lowen and Kirk are just a few of the characters that make my days great and my time in St. Lucia truly special. They will probably never know how much they can brighten my day and I only hope that I have that affect on one person while I am here.
