West Indies vs. Australia Cricket Game

Another scorcher of a day (my friend and I were literally pouring ice cold water down our spines so we could get the chills). Unfortunately the West Indies got crushed, but I was happy for my friends Down Under. And I ate about 5 pounds of Rice Krispy Treats, so how can I complain?

School's out for the summer!

We had our End of the Year Party at the Limes today! I can't believe it's already summer. The kids have done so great and responded especially well to the Incentives Program I began in January. They all got their prizes (my Mom sent a bunch of toys and books from home) depending on how many stars they earned on their chart, and it was so rewarding to see their faces when they realized all their hard work paid off. I also ended the year with 2 young girls who have come onto the program to help teach, so that is a huge blessing!

Special Olympics Launch

Tonight they officially launched the Special Olympics here in Grenada. One of the volunteers from the previous group has been working hard with the organization to make this happen, so this was exciting to witness and I'm really looking forward to helping coach for the upcoming games in November (Lauren and I are stepping in to fill her shoes).

Green vs. Yellow

It's not just election fever in the US...Grenada's Prime Minister Keith Mitchell recently called for elections, so everywhere you turn there is something green (New National Party) or yellow (National Democratic Congress). As Peace Corps volunteers, we're supposed to keep our distance from any political gatherings as to keep neutral and not offend anyone. But I was able to watch a New National Party Rally from afar since my homestay family's house overlooks the location.

Limes Field Day

Since the school year is wrapping up and the masses are getting restless, I decided to have a Field Day with my Limes kids. We had football, relays, frisbee 500, jump-roping contests, and cake...it was a great day. I was narrating everything like an Olympics commentator the whole time and the kids got a kick out of that. And of course my whistle made another appearance.

Dancing King

My friend Keith is a performer with the Vinney Way Dance Group and let me tag along as the photographer/groupie for one of their shows at a nearby resort...how fun is my job?

And this is Keith (they won't let him wear the rest of the costume...for obvious reasons. :)

Football & Reggae

Today was the Grenada vs. Costa Rica football game, which was fun, but disappointing for 2 reasons: it was a tie and I wasn't able to snag another free jersey from a player. But there was a free reggae concert afterwards with Maxi Priest! It was awesome and we were dancing along right in the front row!

I chopped my hair!

HIV Peer Counseling Workshop

For the past 3 days I co-facilitated a workshop with my community partners at Hope-Pals, based on the material that we acquired at the Tobago training. We had a small turnout from the Hope-Pals members, but every person trained is a big step towards educating the community in HIV/AIDS and peer support, so I was very happy with the results. It felt like a huge accomplishment running my first workshop and I'm feeling much more confident for the next one.

PE classes

My classes with Grensave have been going a lot better lately since I’ve switched over to PE class instead of keeping them indoors all afternoon. We all walk down to the old National Stadium, do warm-ups and stretching, then either have races or I teach them frisbee. Today I brought my whistle to keep them in line and it works wonders! As well as push-ups for those who misbehave. Muhahaha!

March for the Disabled

I got a kitten!

St. Vincent & the Grenadines

Lauren, Megan, Andrew, Kris, Paul, and I all went to St. Vincent & the Grenadines for 5 days and had a blast! We visited the gorgeous Owia Salt Ponds...

spent a night on Bequia island...

hiked the active volcano La Soufriere (which also meant traversing the entire north part of the island with our backpacks for 9 hours)...

jumped off ocean cliffs in Chateau Bel Air (and swam for our lives when we spotted a shark about 50 yards away!)...

All thanks goes to the Vincy Peace Corps volunteers who took such great care of us and planned out our whole trip!

Peace Corps Director Visits Grenada

We were honored to have the Peace Corps Director Ron Tschetter visit Grenada, especially since we were only 1 of 2 islands in the Eastern Caribbean that he was able to fit in (good choice if I might say so myself). We had a luncheon at the beautiful & historic plantation house in Mt. Fendue and discussed the current changes going on within the Peace Corps and the world in general (i.e. the food crisis). It was a pleasure to meet such an intelligent and genuine man, and reassuring to see that even the "higher ups" of the Peace Corps are as compassionate and authentic as the ground level.

Mama Howard's visit

My mom came to visit me this week! It was so refreshing to see her and so fun to show her my world down here. She got to do everything from touring Fort George with my Grensave class...

having a relaxing day on the beach...

visiting some of the island’s gardens and the cocoa plantation...

going to the Tivoli Drumfest and meeting my crazy friends...

snorkeling at the underwater statues and being swarmed by fish...

watching my volleyball practice, helping me teach at the Limes Program, having dinner with my homestay family, meeting my director Franka, having dinner with my community partners, treating me to sushi and a pedicure, and even helping me clean my apartment! Aren't Moms the best? We had so much fun and of course it wasn't enough time with her. Let's see if she thinks I'm worth it to fly for another 20+ hours on 3 different planes to do it again. I love you Mom!

HIV Health Fairs

Following the HIV/AIDS workshop that I attended in St. Lucia, a co-worker and I set up tables at health fairs in 2 poorer communities. We had a great turnout at both and were able to reach about 200 people in total, ages 16 to about 60. At the first fair, we conducted both male and female condom demonstrations and distributed approximately 1,000 condoms to the surrounding community, while educating them on HIV and STI’s. We found that the photographs of infected body parts were especially effective in getting their attention...you would understand if you saw them too. The small shop owners were very receptive to us and welcomed the information. At the second fair, we had an even larger crowd (and more men) and they were especially captivated by the visual tools illustrating the female anatomy and the female condom. It was exciting how many people showed interest and were willing to learn more about how they can personally prevent the spread of HIV.

Yo quiero tacos!

Peace Corps Goal #2. To help promote a better understanding of the American people on the part of the people served.

I brought tacos to my friends. Lisa and Junior had NEVER had them before, much less even knew what a tortilla was! What??? Ummm, you're welcome.

Tobago

This week I went to Tobago…as part of my job! I went to a Peer Counseling Trainers Workshop with 2 of my co-workers from Hope-Pals, an HIV/AIDS advocacy group I work with, and we got to stay at an all-inclusive resort (thank you Red Cross International)! The training sessions were really interesting and it was even more of an experience for me to hear so many stories firsthand from people who are HIV+. It made the material much more real. By the end of the week, I scored high enough marks on my exams and teach-back session that I received my Trainer’s Certificate!

Our last and only free day on the island consisted of me taking my 62-year old friend Keith and our taxi driver on a wild goose chase to try to find the sites where "Swiss Family Robinson" was filmed. No one I spoke with seemed to know what movie I was talking about, but oddly enough, the random taxi driver had grown up on the land where the film crew had camped for part of the time! Obviously a lot had changed since 1960, but he remembered most of the locations and I was able to narrate for him what happened in each spot. It was quite humorous, and cool to know I was walking where Fritz, Ernst, and Francis had roamed.