The Most Beautiful Place on Earth??

Just a few random photos...The first photo is a picture of the Chicken Wings I cooked to eat during the Superbowl.. They were delicious! The second photo is when I got bored with my computer and photo shopped my picture so that it looks like a mugshot.. Hopefully this is the closest I ever come to taking a mugshot. The third photo is with my adopted sister, Davia. She is the daughter of one of my co-workers and she got an award at her school for her good grades. She is a very sweet girl with an amazing family! The fourth picture gives the allusion that I cooked a Bouillon (which is a Saint Lucian meal) but actually was just the assistant. It was a mix of dumplings, lentils, and chicken all cooked in one huge stew. I ate for a few days off of that one pot. The last photo is from a beautiful sunset last Friday night. The sky was ON FIRE!! Whenever I am having a rough time or a long day and there is a beautiful sunset it always makes me smile. Sometimes it takes a little sign from above to remind me that I have someone upstairs looking out for me ;). I hope everyone is doing well back in the United States. I am very happy and healthy here. I love you all!!

Peace Corps Choiseul

As soon as I tell anyone I am Peace Corps volunteer, whether it is in Saint Lucia or the United States, they ask me "What exactly do you do?" So I am going to briefly explain what I do/have done. The Peace Corps' mission has three goals-

1. Helping the people of interested countries in meeting their needs for trained men and women.

2. Helping promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served.

3. Helping promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans.

They tell us at training that Peace Corps is a 24/7 job. This has been difficult for me at times. I am used to focusing when necessary and then relaxing when I have free time. Not to say that I am always tense here, but sometimes I forget that my actions (everyday and every night) reflect the Peace Corps program and the Saint Lucian view of United States citizens. Let's just say I have made some mistakes. I have been friends with questionable people, I have partied a little too hard, I have been in some difficult situations, but I have learned and grown from every experience. I am a 23 year old woman and I still have a lot to learn, that being said one of the things I appreciate about the Peace Corps is the idea of their three main goals.

The first goal is addressed everyday by my worksite at the Education Office. I report to the office 4 days a week and use it as my home base. I do all of my computer work here and it is the area where I can be reached to collaborate on projects within the schools. I am a Youth Development volunteer so Peace Corps believes I will be most effective if I am working within the schools. Here are a few different programs I have worked on: A pen-pal program between a Grade Four class here and a Fourth/Fifth grade class in the United States. Starting a Girl Guide company at one of the Primary schools. Football for Lives (an HIV/AIDS education program). Working with a Healthy Lifestyle/HIV/AIDS After-School program at a Primary School. Working on Football skills with females at the Secondary School. And other various activities. The education office is my "Primary Worksite" but I also have secondary projects. I enjoy working with the Choiseul Council of/for Persons with Disabilities. A few of our events have been a Christmas party for Children with Disabilities and a summer camp for Children with Disabilities. I also work on a Youth and Sports committee and we have had a very successful Recreation Day last summer which encouraged families to come and play games and enjoy some good, clean, fun. This year I plan to help with the Choiseul Carnival planning committee to help plan for Carnival. I also like to help out with whatever random things I can... My life is volunteering so if I am asked to help I will not say no.

Goals two and three are accomplished everyday. They are accomplished through the pen-pal program, through my visits home and family and friends visiting here. I am constantly singing the praises of Saint Lucia and also answering any and all questions about the United States from my Saint Lucian friends. Sometimes when I have difficulties getting motivated at the Education Office, I just remember goals two and three. So far I am proud of the work I have done here but there is soooo much more for me to do. I guess I should stop writing my blog and get to work!! Thanks to everyone reading this for supporting me in my journey! I love you all!!

A few pics..

These are some of the children from a Grade Four class at Riviere Doree Anglican School. Just another example of how beautiful and precious children can be.

2010...Already?

Wow! I cannot believe I have not updated my blog in over 5 months! I apologize to anyone who is reading this and assuming I disappeared. The last blog was quite a cliffhanger so I think it is my duty to fill everyone in on what happened. This is going to be choppy, like usual, in order to describe the last 5 months in a few paragraphs. Since I am writing this in good spirits you may ascertain that I made it out of Panama....barely! I stayed in my little hotel, Costa Inn, for about 4 weeks! Phew... So now my houses include, Broomfield, Fort Collins, St. Lucia, Prague, and Panama City. When you live somewhere for a month or more it counts as your house...even if it was a tiny hotel room. On the positive side, I am cancer free and I got to live in Panama City for a month. Not that is was not a trying experience, now that I am back in Saint Lucia I am trying to find the positives in my trip. After spending 4 weeks in Panama Peace Corps decided to send me to Washington DC to run a few more tests. They took great care of me and wanted to be absolutely sure I was clear before they let me return to Saint Lucia. After spending 6 days in Washington DC the doctor's at George Washington University Hospital cleared me to return to Saint Lucia.

After disappearing for a few weeks many Choiseullians thought I had gone home. I left on such short notice that not many people knew where I went. I should add that those who knew what was going on, aka a few friends in Saint Lucia including my amazing Landlady, Miss Grace, and my family and friends in the states, were amazing. They supported me, my mom even came to visit me in Panama to keep me from going crazy. It was great to have some mother-daughter bonding time after being away from home for soo long. My landlady, Miss Grace, was calling frequently and she took care of my house while I was gone. I am beginning to consider her my Saint Lucian second mom. Once I got back, after I tried to explain my story, it was back to work. With my departure next October looming over my head I have been trying to be productive before I leave. In December I visited CO and had great time seeing family and friends. The trip to Colorado was nice to show me how much I have changed. It is in subtle things but I know that Saint Lucia and my Peace Corps experience are having a positive influence in my life.

Another exciting event was in January when some students from the University of Vermont came to Saint Lucia to run an HIV/AIDS education program entitled, "Football for Lives." They were here for two weeks and they ran the program at 2 schools in my district. It was great having them, not only was the program amazing but they are really great people and we had a lot of fun. It was hard work for two weeks but they had such positive attitudes that it was not difficult. Now, it is February, October 15th (my departure date) is looming overhead but I am still trying on my work. Who knows what the next 9 months will entail? I am not sure what will happen but I know it will be great!!!

More photos...

I forgot a few things in my latest post. One thing that happened while my family was visiting was Carnival. It is not quite as crazy as the one in Brazil but there are still costumes, drinking and dancing. We watched it on TV. For Carnival in Choiseul they have different events. One of the events is the Queen Show to crown the Carnival Queen. I went to the show with my friend Ava, her mother, and Ava's boyfriend, Adrian. (The picture where I am sitting next to a girl with a guy behind us and I have on bright yellow earrings). The show was amazing and incredibly entertaining, the only problem was that it ran until 3:00AM! Yikes! Another exciting event was my host sisters wedding. In my first few posts I mentioned Jen. My sweet and friendly host sister. When I first arrived in Saint Lucia she and her boyfriend, Junior, had been together for a few months then on August 15th they got married!!! It was a great ceremony and reception and she was a gorgeous bride! I am sure I forgot a few other events but if I remember I will add them in. (The top picture is me with Panama City in the background. It is a beautiful place!)

A Few Photos...

Just Over a Year!

I am sitting with my computer hooked up to Wifi, drinking a cold coors light (the mountains are blue ;) ), the air condition keeping me cool, listening to some Bob Marley....no, I did not leave the Peace Corps to move home.. I am currently staying in Panama City. I have been here for one week. A lot has happened since my last post in June, let me try to catch everyone up. Sorry this will most likely be sporadic and random, but I guess it fits my personality...?

 The highlight of June was attending a soccer tournament. The Blackheart Tournament was held at the stadium in Vieux Fort and it went on a for a few weeks. Unfortunately Choiseul did not do very well and they did not make it through the playoffs. I knew a few players who were on teams who made it to the finals so that kept it interesting. School went into July so we had school the whole month of June. That kept me busy and out of trouble. I am sure other important events happened but I really cannot remember them now. :)

In July my family came to visit!!! It was great to have them here. They were able to meet a lot of my new friends and my friends were very excited to meet them. The family came for 2 weeks. The first week was spent in Choiseul. We crammed all 5 of us into my house. The first night was the worst because I only had one fan. Everyone woke up drenched in sweat and I think a few new bug bites. We spent the day in Vieux Fort at the beach and buying 2 new fans! I am excited because the fans were a necessity I have just been too cheap to buy them. And it would be impossible to transport them from Vieux Fort to Choiseul on a bus. Yes, we rented a car. The only instructions given to my dad, our amazing driver, were, "Stay to the left." In Saint Lucia we drive on the right side of the road. Who would have known! It was a little stressful at first, but after a few hours, dad was driving like a Lucian. The driving is still a touchy subject so I am going to say that dad did a great job and he was the only one of us who was willing to try. My family came everywhere in Choiseul and met as many people as I could introduce them to. But I still have friends asking me when they were never introduced to my family..? Why didn't I bring my family by their house to meet them? Phew!! Talk about stressful, I consider everyone in Choiseul my family, but there was no way we could meet everyone. We also did some fun activities outside of Choiseul. We toured both Soufriere and Vieux Fort on separate days. We went to beaches, waterfalls, and the sulphur springs. We also went zip-lining in Dennery. It was a first for everyone except me (I went earlier this year when Sarah was visiting). It was really exciting. By the end we had a ton of great photos and all of the 20 something guides became best friends with dad. It was a lot of fun. After the week of shuffling around the Southern part of the island, we stayed at a resort for some much needed R & R. We stayed at Almond Morgan Bay Resort in Gros Islet/Castries. It is an all-inclusive resort and it was great! We had some amazing meals and a pool and the ocean at our disposal. As far as the resort being all-inclusive that also meant that drinks were included. I think I speak for everyone in the family when I say that we have never had so many smoothies in our lives. We would have at least 5 or 6 fruit smoothies a day! And they were great!! The time flew by but it was very relaxing. It was great to have my family there! Another fun event in July was the BBQ for July 4th. Our Country Director, (read Peace Corps Boss Lady) Margo, hosted a huge BBQ at her house. We had amazing food. I might have been too greedy with the food because I had a belly ache from eating so much. It was great though! July 5th was Jessica's birthday so we had a little camping trip to celebrate. It was really fun, although the sleeping was slightly uncomfortable, it was a great experience. After my family left, Jessica went home a few days later. Unfortunately her time was up and she was done with Peace Corps. It was hard to say good bye but it is always exciting to hear about her new life back in the United States.

In August (which is not over quite yet) there were a few main events. I turned 23 years old on August 14th. It was a weird birthday because I was not at home. While the family was here we went out for my Birthday Dinner at Debbie's. It was great food, so I had to conjure up that memory on my real birthday. I spent the day with the Peace Corps Volunteer, Lilly, who lives in Anse-La-Raye. She brought her boyfriend, Mandel, and one of my good friends, Fire One, to one of the beaches near her house. It was beautiful and quite possible my favorite beach in Saint Lucia. Another exciting birthday surprise, my friend Fire One got my name shaved into the back of his head. I had mentioned it earlier in the week, sort of joking that I wanted him to do it for my birthday.. and he did! I got mad at him for spelling my name wrong but he did it on purpose because if he wrote it with an "I" then people would pronounce it wrong. Sort of like, Kell-Eye. It is hard to describe but one is example is that Rastafari is pronounced Rasta-far-eye. So he spelled it Kelly. Anyway, the was one of the most unique things anyone has ever done for me. That night I went out with my friend, Humbert and my Jason (the volunteer in Canaries) came over for a birthday drink. On Saturday the 15th I hosted a small BBQ at my house. It was fun and the food was really good. Some of my friends brought over their huge sound system. Similar to my family visiting, for days afterwards there were people asking my why I never invited them to my party. I tried to explain that it was just a little BBQ, nothing special. Apparently everyone in Choiseul heard the loud music coming from my porch and they wanted in on the fun. Next time I am going to have to be sure to invited everyone I see in the days before the party. 

Now, the reason why I am in Panama. A few weeks ago I was at my doctor's office in Castries and he noticed a lump in my throat. I had always thought that I was abnormal and I had an adams apple. I think I have had it for a few years but I cannot remember exactly. Apparently, it is not an Adams apple. It is a cyst on my thyroid. My doctor was very concerned and began running tests immediately. In Castries I had a chest x-ray, a thyroid ultrasound and a thyroid function test. Everything was ok but Peace Corps Washington (The big guys) decided to send me to Panama to get checked out more thoroughly. The Peace Corps term for going to a different country for medical attention is "Medevaced." (or "Medically Evacuated") I was told on Wednesday that I was going to be medevaced and I was on a plane to Panama City on Sunday morning. Today marks one week of me being here. I underwent a biopsy of my cyst last Tuesday (August 25th) and the biopsy showed that there are no malignant cells. Basically, the cyst/tumor is not cancerous. That is great news! I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow afternoon to discuss the next step. I might need surgery to remove the cyst because it is so large. I will find out soon... and add a little post tomorrow once I find out. Anyway, in the meantime I have been trying to enjoy Panama. I did the city/Canal tour and got to see a ship pass through the Panama Canal! Pretty sweet! Although it is a stressful situation I have been able to enjoy myself and look upon my trip as a little vacation. It has also taught me to appreciate each day, because I am not really sure when I will be returning to Saint Lucia. This is the longest I have been away from the island and I definitely miss it. Oh yeah, and the title of this post is because as of August 27th, 2009 I have been living in Saint Lucia for more than one year. Pretty crazy! I had a great first year and I have no doubt that this next year will be amazing! I love and miss everyone at home. I am planning to visit in December so hopefully we can all catch up a little!

Besos y Abrazos,

Kelli