On vacation to St. Luica for a conference utill the 13th of June. See you all then!

I found out last week that my extension for after Independence did get accepted, so I won't be home till right before Thanksgiving. I think that this may either be a good decision or a bad one, can't tell yet, going back to MN at the beginning of winter isn't sounding so good... So we decided to go out for Happy Hour at the Garage and had a great time. Didn’t do much this weekend, just cleaned and watched movies.

It is the middle of May and I’m sitting outside in shorts and shirtsleeves, wonderful sounds, the sun has just set and I’m feeling pretty good, a couple of minutes ago I thought, “this is the life.” It has been a nice day; I’m at a friends eco-lodge working on a recycling program and then going to spend the night, just a nice break away from life in town. I was not looking forward to coming up because it was a working break, but it has ended up being a nice time. We have gotten done for the night, a little tweaking of the program will be needed, but that can be put off to another day. The food is on the stove and in the oven, ready to eat when Jem gets back from taking his guests to there camping site. Had lunch with Danielle and Christy in town before I went to work, had a really nice chicken kebab, seasoned to perfection, service was another story…

This past week has been kind of slow, another holiday yesterday (which I cleaned all day) and the past two night ESPN has had Twins games on so I grilled out some hotdogs and got some beer and had a great time just relaxing and cheering for the Twins. Danielle came over and we grilled out, I made potato salad and she made baked beans, you don’t realize how much you love the simple things until they are not there—such as a grill—and when you get them it is great, was a good night!!!

Other than that not much eventful has been going on, but at this moment I’m happy about that and thinking that at this stage of my life I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else or doing anything differently.

Has been a fun week, with things to do and new people to meet. On Thursday, had a Reunion book fair meeting, which meant waiting 30 minutes for the meeting to start and talking about doing things and waiting for others to make it happen. I’m applying to stay a couple of months after the date that PC set for me to leave so I need the people I’m working with to write a letter stating the work that I’m doing and the reason I should stay; I was told to pick up my letter from the Reunion committee that day, but didn’t happen, so I had to go back Friday. Friday was spend drafting this letter with them and then typing it and going through 4 drafts, gotta be very particular… Then that night Danielle and I went to see a play about the Diaspora, looked like it would be a good play, we left at intermission. It was hard to hear and the play really had no plot or any reason to watch it, so we left, went back to my place and just chilled out.

Saturday was Derby day, and since Danielle is from Louisville, she had a Derby party. One thing that the Derby is known for, well besides the horses, is hats, so she had a best hat competition, which I won with my salute to Dominica. The party was a good time, I got to meet Danielle’s host patents, which I’ve heard a lot about and the Chinese ambassador to Dominica even stopped by. It was cool to talk with them and find out what they have been doing here in Dominica and they even passed out some pins from the Olympics in August.

The rest of the weekend was getting ready for our May Day Treasure Trek; May Day is celebrated on the first Monday of the month here. 10 of us from the Peace Corps made two teams for this race up the west coast to Mero Beach. I had most of the team come to my house on Saturday, since it is hard to get to town on Sunday and we had to be at the radio station by 5:00 am on Monday morning. We were all thinking it was going to take us 6 or 7 hours to get up to the beach on Monday, it only took us 3.5 to 4 hours, and we came in 3rd place!! We had 5 stations we had to stop at to do challenges (putting together a puzzle, trivia, limbo, raisin bun eating, and carrying a bag of sand to the finish line). The other Peace Corps team ended up winning the whole thing, so we are all very happy with what we have achieved, what a great weekend. But today, I am a little sore…

Was a nice weekend, went to Happy Hour at the Garage on Friday with some PCVs and had a really good time. The place was really busy and had lots of people there and just a great time! Went to the market on Saturday with Anne, since I’ve been trying to get up earlier and earlier we got up at about 6 and went to the market. It was really nice to be so early, the market has such a busier feeling and more items to buy. Sunday was spent watching the first season of House and then cleaning and mopping. This week has been a nice week with things to do, although dealings with the local electric company over charging me has not been fun, gotta love monopolies!!!

This past week I’ve started back at Life Goes On for more then one day a week, which I am excited about, it is nice to have things to do and people who are there and want to do things. On my way home last night someone who is in charge of a committee I am on picked me up and she told me about a meeting today. I’m so lucky that I met up with her or else I wouldn’t had known about the meeting. This event should not have surprised me, because things like this happen all the time, yet I am still surprised. The meeting today went for 3 hours, however I think we only did about an hours worth of work. Another thing that still surprises me is that people will come to a meeting 2 hours late and then want to be briefed on what happened before, leading to about 5 minutes of catching them up. Gotta love meetings in Dominica!!

Well after way too long of a time I got my computer back up and running, lets hope it lasts for awhile!! I have way too much to cover since my last blog, and well since it it only mom and grandma that read this, I'm sure you know what's happened since then :)

Computer cord died again, so will be a while till next post :(

Friday, January 25, 2008

I tell ya, this week has been a great week, busy, yet nice. On Monday night Ginette invited me up to her place for a cocktail party, was really a fun time. There were people I knew, didn’t know, and even those that I thought I knew but really didn’t.

Tuesday was Kevin’s birthday at work, so I made cookies and took them in and the day just had a very light feeling. We then had and executive meeting that seems to get a little heated but good. People didn’t get mad at each other, nor did they even disagree on things, they just took matters into their own hands and made decisions, this is a really good thing, I see progress!!!! Wednesday and Thursday were both travel days with DPPA around the island. We want to get a survey distributed around the island that way we can see what Dominican’s know about sex and condoms. My job was to go around to see how these surveys could be done, to tell you the truth I still don’t know, but I have a weekend to figure that out. Today I spent the day with Dawn; a friend of Ginette’s that I met when she was here in December. We went up to Portsmouth so she could meet with some clients, she didn’t want to take the trip by her self and I figured since it was my day off, why not. Tomorrow I’m going back up that way with Ginette who is taking a friend back home; she as well does not like to travel by herself. I’ve figured since I’ve spent so much time in Roseau it was time to get out and see more of Dominica and get out for a while, has been really nice.

Sunday, February 03, 2008

It is now a new month, and my time here comes closer and closer to and end, can’t believe it. With the start of February brings the start of carnival this year.

On Monday, we got paid so Danielle and I decided to go to a Swinging Stars jump-up that was happening in town. We got there and decided to go in to Subway and get some cookies. We sat there and talked for a while and then decided to get a sub to eat. After we ate, Armstrong came and met us and we went out for some music and drinks. Was a really good evening.

On Thursday, I went to my first real Dominican funeral. I had gone to a funeral in Giraduel but I didn’t go in to the church and didn’t know who had died. I found out early this week Pa Joe, the guy from Eggleston who always sat buy the bus stop, had died. I went, and of course, like everything that happens in DA, it started late. One thing that I found really weird was that people brought their cameras.

This weekend was fun, some boring, but a great weekend. Friday Ginette asked if I would go to the Queen show with her, I had nothing going on, so I said why not. On a whole, the show was ok, but it sure was long and really drawn out. Then on Saturday, the Calypso show took place, which I was really looking forward to. Ri, Veronica, and I all went together and when we went to go find a place to sit, we were told that that area was for VIP only. So we went down to find some other place to sit. I was leading them all and after I got down the steps, I looked back and no one was there. I sat there for about 5 minutes waiting for them and no one ever came. About this time, I had someone come up and ask me if I was ok, and I said ya, just waiting for someone, but I don’t think they believed me, who knows. Since I couldn’t find them, I just decided to go on the field and make my way up to the stage. I wondered around for a few hours taking in the great music and getting wet from the rain. I then got a call from Kate and I found them and sat with them till they left and then I went and found Ri. Was a great night filled with good food, good music and even fireworks!!! Tonight/tomorrow should be fun with the start of carnival Monday and Tuesday, even thought I will be gone to a conference in St. Lucia.

Sunday, February 10, 2008

This past week has been very busy and exciting. It started with Jove starting on Monday morning, very early, about 3:45 in the morning. I had JR and Amanda stay by me that night so we went out and joined the bands. It was fun to go out with everyone and just jump up in the rain, dance to the music, and get all out of carnival that I could before I had to leave for the airport. As the sun started to rise more and more people were out, and the more and more people drank. Was a fun time, but I’m sure that I ended up having more fun in St. Lucia than had I stayed. We had to leave to go to the airport before the costume parade started, but saw some of it on TV in the airport before we left.

The conference was great, if not only for getting off the island and seeing some development. While in St. Lucia, I saw two movies, ate at Burger King and Dominos pizza, and went shopping, was so much fun!! It was also nice to go to a nice resort and free up one night, and drive on roads that didn’t have potholes. The conference was also nice, learned some things that I had not known.

Now back to work on Monday and getting some letters out for Peace Corps Day, should be a busy day tomorrow.

This weekend was the opening parade in Portsmouth, was a great time. After the end of the parade, well when it was dark and started to rain, we went back to Riannan’s house in Caleho and had a great time wondering around her village and walking on the beach. Was nice to get out of town and just get away.

Today I feel really down, I don’t know if it because of the way the Packers played last night and lost or if it the gray skies, but I really don’t want to be here right now. Tonight Ginette asked if I wanted to go hangout with her family up at there house, will be nice to be with people other than PCVs and will be nice to have something to do at night, although I could use some sleep after staying up for the game, yawn…

Pictures at the top are from the past two weekends.

We had the opening of carnival this past weekend, which was a lot of fun! Saturday was the opening parade, which we watched at the beginning of the route and then joined in the last float and jumped up the rest of the way. We were dancing and just having a great time. After the parade, we went back to my place to watch the Packers game, which they won! I still can’t believe that we are so close to the Super Bowl, I just can’t believe it, I’m so excited!!!! This week has been low key, nothing too exciting happening. This weekend I will be going up to Portsmouth for the carnival opening on that side of the island, should be fun.

Happy New Year! I see that is has been about half a month since I have last written, but I have been so busy and my computer has also been broken. Last month was really nice, since I now live in town; I have had more people come visit and have had more dinners/get togethers. I’ve had a Christmas party, a dinner for Lee, who left the next day, and a New Years Party. Christmas was nice, I went to Ginette’s families house, so was nice to be in a family atmosphere, and I got some really ham, has been over a year since I had some, was really nice! Because of the holidays, I have not been to work since the 20th of December. Has been nice to have a little of a break from work and just relax and not have to worry a schedule, I’ll be going back to work next week some time, not sure what my schedule looks like yet.

Meredith was also on island, she got engaged to her boyfriend, and was really good to see them. They came to stay by me one night and was great to catch up.

My New Years party was impromptu to, but was nice. The year marks the 30th year of independence, so the government had an opening party on the Bay Front. Danielle came over and we were going to have some wine and relax until three in the morning, when things started. However, before Danielle came over JR, Tym and some friends of theirs came over, so the party grew, but it is always nice to have more people. We all drank, talked and played cards until after midnight. At midnight, the church rang their bells and we all cheered, made noise, as did some others on the street.

I woke up about four in the morning, that way I could go and watch the happenings on the Bay Front. When I got there, there was not too much activity, just some music going on and an empty stage. At five, some people took the stage and the show was on its way. It started with some Carib people rowing in with torches lit. The Prime Minister then went to meet them and take the flame. He then passed it some people and they kept passing it along from the cruise ship berth all the way down the bay front and to the home of the flame by the stage. Then all sorts of people got up to give speeches and dances. When the sun came up Danielle and I decided to take a walk around town to see what was going on. We then decided to take a nap. Danielle went home and I feel asleep. I woke up around one and decided that I should go see what was going on and go get some lunch. There were noticeably less people around, but there was a boat in so I think it helped have some people around. After eating a couple of pieces of fried chicken I came back home, rested a little, and watch TV. Danielle then came back to town and we then hit up the bay front again. Now there were more people around and felt more like a jam again. We then spent the rest of the night getting drinks and fried chicken, couldn’t get enough of the stuff yesterday, was so good!

Today was a very restful day, didn’t get out of bed till 1 pm, except to make breakfast, and I only did that because I had a meeting. Today was Merchants Day, so only the government was open, so there was no line at the bank or the post office, was really nice to have no lines! I then went to a meeting at the National Aids Office, were we came up with benchmarks for the next two years. The meeting was going well when the head of the program felt that nothing could be done in 6 months. I then said that I don’t accept that as an answer, 6 months is a long time. She then said that the money was not there and it was not enough time. I then got fired up and we got in a heated debate for about 5 minutes on how she didn’t want to do things because she felt that she should not be doing things and I told her that she is the head of the only national program dealing with HIV/AIDS and that if she did not do anything that nothing would get done and that is her job, do things for the country, not to sit back and say your tied of doing things. So was an exciting day.

I’ve had my party, and if I don’t say so my self it was pretty good. My house glowed with a buzz and I just had a good time. I still can’t believe that Christmas is next Tuesday, it just seems like the month has gone by so fast. Also this weekend I got my new oven so now I’m set to cook in my new place. I really like it, a new stove and a new refrigerator, who could ask for more??? Yesterday Ri and I went to go see parliament, she had never seen it, and because I live two minutes from it I like to go sit in and watch when ever they have sessions. Yesterday I think that speaker of the house got a little mad with the opposition party and started calling them out on what every they did wrong, I thought she was getting ready to kick them out, but not this time. Today will be a short week at work; no one is here because of Christmas. Next week will be short as well with it being Christmas and then boxing day. I have a feeling since Carnival is so close to Christmas this year not much is going to get done till the middle to end of February, but I don’t mind :)

I have enjoyed living in town so much, people stop over all the time and has just been nice. Noting too exciting going on, last night went to carols on the bay front, had a good time watching people who can’t sing try to.

I have changed my pictures to random Christmas pictures, none of which I picked, they just come up. If you want to see any of my pictures all you have to do is go to the link that is posted on old posts and they are their. HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

My house is all-clean, it only took 6 days, but my house now is clean from top to bottom. There are still a couple things that I need to do, like clean the windows, that I can, and clean my balcony, maybe this weekend. It has been nice living in town, there are things to do and I don’t have to worry how I’m going to get home. Monday I put up my Christmas and decorated my house, I’m starting to feel like its Christmas. The past couple of days there has been a person on island from the Peace Corps so I’ve been hanging out with her. Last night we went to see her brother-in-law who happened to be stopping by the island. So we went to meet him and ended up at a local artists house and just had a good time. Tonight I might go to a lecture on leadership in Dominica, should be interesting.

Pictures are now at the top, if you want to see them any larger just click them. Pics of the new place will be up next post

I tell ya, nothing exciting happened at all this weekend, the Packers clinched the NFC North, that was all. Above are pictures of my new place, next Monday is my Christmas party!!!

I’ve moved all of my things and spent my first night in my new place. Last night I did not have any power so I was on my way to get a candle and I saw the Peace Corps light on, so I went up to see what was going on. There was Anna and Jerome getting ready to go to the cricket game, so I bummed along. It was the first cricket game in the new stadium, and the first cricket under the lights. It felt so nice to be doing something at night and being in a stadium watching an event felt so cool. Now this would have been the highlight of my month, but what happened today was even better. We had and earthquake here today. I was out getting lunch with a friend in town when all of a sudden I started to feel like I was on a boat. It was not till after a couple of seconds that I realized that it was and earthquake. It lasted for about 30 seconds and was weird to see things in coolers shake and I watched a bottle of Windex the whole time, just watching the blue liquid going back and forth. Now that I’ve been in Dominica, I’ve lived through two natural disasters.

If you want to read more:

http://www.cuopm.com/newsitem.asp?articlenumber=1523

Thanksgiving was great, ate way too much, but I guess that is what your to do on that day, oh and give thanks. My landlord has been a bigger pain in my butt than I could have ever imagined. I can’t wait till I have everything settled with her and I can just wash my hands of it. I move into my new place tomorrow, but I think I will spend one last night up in Eggleston, cool air, tv, and power. Work has been busy, with World AIDS Day coming up on Saturday and the LGO gala event coming on crunch time, have been working hard, I even had to come to work on Saturday, only one day off this week :( But I have enjoyed having things to do and feeling like I’m doing something productive. I started to listen to Christmas music which makes me feel in the Christmas mood. I do wish that I would be going home for Christmas, I miss being with everyone, seeing decorations everywhere, and just feeling the sprit of Christmas. Guess I will just have to wait till next year.

I had my first day at Dominica Planned Parenthood on Tuesday, and it was quite good. It was really nice to work with people that are excited about what they do and willing to do something, it also helps that they have some money and can do things. I felt a little bad because I was really enjoying what I was doing more than at LGO, but we shall see how things go there.

I have found a place to move to in town, so at the start of the month I will be moving, I’m so excited! I told my landlord and she started bitching and saying that I will have to pay for another year because that is what the lease said. I told her that she has broken parts of the lease and two and a half weeks notice is enough time and I will be out in December. She then accused me of being drunk and I told her I was sober and she hung up on me, and she wonders why I want to move. How great is life, I can’t wait for Thanksgiving!!!

Independence is over, and I didn’t make it to one show, or even watch one cultural dance, which I can’t say is a sad thing. Now is time to focus on Thanksgiving and Christmas, which is always my favourite time of year.

It is Independence time, and I and sick for it :( Last year this was the best week of the season, Creole in the Park, and this week I’ve had to miss two days. Monday and Tuesday, I either had a touch of the flu, bad cold, or something that made me sicker than a dog. Yesterday and today, I have been feeling a little and little better, but still not a 100%, so hope this weekend I can get all better.

Miss everyone at home and I hope that they are all doing well.

MST is all over, everyone has left the island and I now have the house to myself. I really did enjoy having people stay with me, but it has been nice to get back to a schedule and have some Nate time. I learned the other day that my work is going to be expanded a little to work with Dominica Planned Parenthood, Patrick and I have a meeting with them next week. The last few days of going around with Megan were low-key. Tuesday we went up to Cabrits and walked around and then went to Purple Turtle Beach for lunch. While we were there Megan started to feed the cat that was there, and of course the cat ended up giving her a nice cut on her finger. She went to go ask the lady for the bathroom key and asked what happened and Megan was trying to make all kinds of excused for the cat. I don’t know why I’m writing this, I just found it amusing…

Last week I had to take care of mid-service medical stuff, my physical was fine, I’ve gained some weight, yeepiee!!! And I have no new cavities! The Packers won again this weekend, making 5-1 for the season, gotta love that!

So much has happened since I last wrote, so much!!! We are now over halfway through our service and everyone from all our islands came to Dominica. Jordan came to stay with me a little early to see the island and extend his vacation.

Monday was the VAC meeting where I got to bring up points concerning PC that I have been worried about for a long time. I still feel that I get lip service sometimes when I send her an email, but I still felt like I got lip service. I also learned that the Peace Corps yearly budget is the equivalent to 12 hours in Iraq…

Tuesday was the start of MST and it was great to see everyone, I can’t believe how much it felt like we have not left at all, everyone just slid right back into the way it use to be. I also got to learn all the local island gossip and what I have been missing. I can’t believe how close some of us all use to be and how now there were divisions in some of our groups. Wednesday and Thursday were boring during the day with classes and them asking us questions to help them out. But at night it was fun to catch up with everyone and talk about what has been going on in our lives, which I feel is the best part of MST. Now I get to go all around the island with Megan and Jordan, has been nice to see the island again, back to work Thursday.

New pictures!!!

Well not much exciting has happened since I last wrote. On Friday, I went to a class taught by one of our PCVs about how to teach children, so got a couple of tips on how I can help some of the kids I teach how to read. I would have to say the most exciting thing from my last week would be my Sunday football day. I didn’t get to watch the Packers but I did get to watch the Vikings game, I find that being away from MN has actually made me cheer for them, and then they lost :( and hope that they lose next week as well, Go Pack Go! Volunteers from other island are starting to come to Dominica for our mid-service conference next week, so it will be great to see everyone again.

Sunday, September 09, 2007

I know that I’ve been here for over a year, meaning I’ve been here over 52 Sundays, but today was first time it felt like on in a long time and the reason was that today was kick-off Sunday!!!! I woke up this morning thinking about football, and I knew that I had a 99% chance of not seeing the Packers game today because of where we get our TV stations from. But the feeling was there; maybe I could watch the Vikings or maybe some NFC North game. I was pumped, planned my whole day around football, meaning I stayed home and did noting. To my surprise the Packers were on TV, I was going to be watching my Packers play the season opener! During the game, it started to rain so hard that if felt like a hurricane was here and the lightning was right outside my door. About the third quarter, the power went out and I could not see how the game ended, I was so bummed. It came back about 30 minutes later and found out that they had won by 3 points, I was so excited. Not only did I get to watch the Packers game I got to even watch the Bears, game, poor Bears, they lost…. I still can’t believe how “normal” today felt, a very traditional Sunday, Go Packers!

Monday, September 17, 2007

Last week was good week, for the most part. On Sunday night, my cable went out and was out till Wednesday night, so frustrating when it gets dark out at 6 and then you have no TV. On Tuesday starting tutoring again with the local kids, had to set down the new rules, but they seemed to be wanting to come back next week so I think it will go ok. Wednesday was also the day when the new class got sworn in, after that we had a meeting with Kate our CD and then went around town visiting different bars and just getting our drink on, was a good day. Stayed after everyone left to visit with Kat and Danielle, just caught up one thins that have been going on, seems like we have just all gotten busy. On Thursday, we had a gala planning committee meeting which did not happen, leading me to wonder if it will actually happen. I also go in an argument with Dwayne, he would not listen to anything I had to say and kept interrupting me so I just left, I need a little respect. Friday night was Andrea’s goodbye party in town. Was really nice to be out past 6 at night and be around people that I know just dancing, eating, and talking, did not get home till after 3 in the morning, was a nice change of pace. This weekend my neighbour had there second child, heard them all weekend crying… Packers won yet again, next week will be a real test of what we got, but 2 and 0, how exciting!

New Pictures!!!