Happy Thanksgiving!

A very gracious American woman hosted Thanksgiving in her home for all the Peace Corps volunteers and saved us from homesickness...and from attempting to cook all that food ourselves. We had a beautiful day of swimming, feasting, watching good old American football, and sharing our traditions with some of our Grenadian friends who joined us. And of course we all ate too much and had a turkey coma afterwards, so why do I still have my eye on my freezer where my tub of ice cream is resting?

Beware of Dengue!

The sad news this month was one of my volunteer friends named Mike Brady became extremely ill and was hospitalized for a week. They think it's Dengue Fever which then complicated into Pneumonia, so they had him medically evacuated to the US to receive more efficient medical care. We’re all praying that he gets well and will be able to come back to Grenada. We miss you Brady!

The exciting news is that I’ve started playing volleyball again! I met with the Grenada National Coach who used to coach when the sport was big in the late 90’s and he is starting up a women’s team again...great timing. We’re still in the process of rounding up some of the old players and training new ones, but practices have already begun and I’m thrilled to be back on the court! There’s a men’s team that scrimmages with us once a week too, so they definitely keep me on top of my game.

I’m also spending more time at the Limes After School Program and trying to work more one-on-one with some of the challenging kids. The other day I pulled aside one particular girl who bullies the younger ones, and asked her to read to me. She replied that she couldn’t read, but I didn’t let her off that easily. Something we’ve noticed here in Grenada is that many of the children aren’t taught phonics so they simply guess when they see a word they don’t recognize, based on the first letter. So she was having trouble at first and wasn’t happy that I made her actually sound out the words. Yet after some gentle prodding and some successful attempts, when I asked her if she was tired, she began shouting “One more page! One more page!” It’s the things like that which make my day!

Bad news is I’ve hit an all-time low…I caved and bought a 1 1/2 gallon tub (not just your average half gallon, mind you) of chocolate ice cream. Don’t ask.

An ode to grocery store strangers.

Never underestimate the people you can meet in grocery stores. My new friends Brad & Petra came into Grenada on a boat about a month ago and fate brought us together in the cookie aisle. They recently got married, bought a yacht, and decided to go on a 3-year honeymoon by sailing around the world. Such a spontaneous and intriguing couple! And Petra & I make a great dominoes team! They have not only been some of the most fun I've had these last few weeks, but a huge encouragement and I've learned a great deal from them. I'm going to miss you guys! Meet you in the Greek Isles when I get out of the Peace Corps!

Happy Halloween!

Halloween was a testament to all of our creativity. Since none of us happened to bring costumes down from the States, we had to stretch our imaginations. In honor of a beloved phone company that just overcharged me $180 EC (about $70 US) this month, I dressed as a devil wearing a Cable & Wireless nametag. My favorite costume though, was Nicole dressing as Kris (and her greeting him at the door wearing almost the identical outfit!).