A Quick Update

Wow time has been flying by here in Dominica. We went straight from the Independence season into HIV/AIDS awareness month, which added a lot of little projects here and there to my schedule. And now we are on to the Christmas season! And I cannot believe I have been gone from the States (and that I call it The States) for 10 months! Like I said time is just flying by here.

HIV/AIDS awareness month was a really great month for me work wise I had a lot of new events to attend, things like a HIV/AIDS talk, a remembrance for those who have lots their lives and those who are living with HIV/AIDS, a drive through the country where we gave out a ton of information, and other great events. But Im not gonna lie it was also really hard. HIV/AIDS work takes a really strong person and while I feel I have grown a lot here and did pretty good work I still have the highest respect for those who make HIV/AIDS awareness their job. There is so much emotion that goes along with it.

On top of it all, I have been feeling pretty homesick as of late. Thanksgiving was pretty tough for me. We had a great PCV party with all the traditional Thanksgiving food and I was surrounded by tons of friends but I still missed home a lot. I tried to think of it as a new experience that I will one day look back on and tell my kids stories about but that didnt really help with the homesickness.

But I made it through and I am feeling surprising good considering Christmas is coming up, and this will be my first Christmas away from home. I Think maybe Kristen coming to visit is why I feel so good about it, I cant wait to go to the beach with her on Christmas day and get a tan. And we are going to try to cook our own turkey as well wish us luck, where gonna need it!

So yeah that is just a quick overview of things that have been going on/I have been feeling lately. I dont have much time for writing right now because I have a lot to do to prepare for the end of the term and my little vacation with my sister!  First up is a Pizza/Christmas party with my CALLS art students.

Also check out my photos of HIV/AIDS awareness events and some of the Christmas activities I have attend so far... more to come.

Independence Season

If there is one thing I can say about the Dominican people it that they know how to celebrate! Its Independence season and that means a month long celebration.

I dont really even know where to start Well I guess I will start with the preparations for the Independence season. First I had a tradition outfit made; every Friday during the month of October everyone wears their Creole outfit in town. I got a madras skirt, which is a bright plaid, and a white blouse. I also got my hair braided not only braided but I also got some fake hair added in. My braids were really long and even had some blond in it. It was really fun for a while, but because of the fake hair you cant get it wet. So after two weeks of not washing my hair they had to come out!

The first event I went to was the Cultural Dances at Cabrits National Park. All the dance groups from the North came together and competed in traditional dances like, Bele, Quadrille, Mazook, and Heal and Toe. Near the end of the month, there is a Cultural Gala, where the winners of the dances from all around the country come together and perform. It was really great to sit around and chat and watch the dancers perform. A lot of my friends were there so it was a very social event for me.

Then I went to Heritage Day in Grandbay. There were some great displays of local craftsmans work as well as great food all around the village. Later that night they had live music and more food!

After that is was the Youth Rally back up in Portsmouth. This was a really cool event and reminded me of my days in marching band. All the schools in the North got a group of students together to march in unison, holing a banner of their school, onto the playing field. It has a very military feel that no doubt came from the British influence here. But there is a marching band that plays while they march. My students from CALLS and RDPS were there and it was so cool to see they marching around with pride for their school.

The last week of October is Creole in the Park and World Creole Music Festival. From Monday to Thursday we had Creole in the Park in the botanic gardens in Roseau. There are two stages set up, and tons are booths all over with crafts, jewelry, candy, drinks, food, and lots more food. But the food is not typical festival food, its Creole food of codfish, crab, bakes, calallou, roti, cassava, and mahi mahi dishes. I got try some crab calallo very hard to eat but very good! Local artists played Creole songs, steel pans, reggae, jazz, and harmonicas, and then every night had one international band. This is a day event that ends at 7pm, and buses run all over the country all day long, so its a great family event that is fun and safe and only cost $2 at the door. I got to go Thursday and got to see one of my favorite singers in the Caribbean Queen Ifrica!

Then Friday night, Saturday night, and Sunday night is World Creole Music Festival. This is not for families, but more of a concert that goes from 7pm to 6am the next day! People from all over the world fly here to Dominica for the World Creole Music Festival. Each night costs $120EC, and has a combination of local bands and international bands; its all mainly Caribbean artists and music. With such a high-ticket price all us PCV decide to only go Saturday night because on of the biggest stars in the EC was performing that night. However hurricane Tomas had different plans we didnt get hit with the hurricane like St. Lucia did (all the PCVs there are doing well now) but we did get a pretty nasty storm that ended up canceling the show for that night. But in true Dominican style they picked it back up where they left off the next night and we were able to go to the show then! It was such a fun night!

The last event I attended before the actual Independence Day was Creole Day at RDPS and CALLS. At RDPS all the kids were dressed up in the traditional wear and there was a pageant for Miss Creole RD. Two of my old students were in the pageant and did very well. It was very fun to hang out with all the kids and watch the show. After spending the morning with the primary kids I went over to CALLS for the afternoon. The students had spent all morning cooking a huge fest for all of us. We all had lunch together crammed into our tiny schoolroom, and it was so great! The students put in so much hard work and really had a great time. After lunch we took tons of photos (they love taking photos!) And some of the girls did some traditional dancing with the others sang and drummed for them. It was a really special day for me and I was able to really bond with the students outside of the classroom. I think this was one of my favorite events of the season.

After all the celebrations (and I didnt even attend half of them) it was time to celebrate the actual day of Independence (November 3rd) and what better way to do that then a beach day! It was a great ending to a great (tiring) Independence Season.

Check out all my photos that go along with the events!

The Most...

The other day I was talking to my friend Rashawna and she was telling me about an interesting idea her step dad sent her for a blog entry I loved the idea so much I asked if I could do the same thing. Here is what her dad wrote: In the first 8 months can you remember the time you were most afraid? Tell me the story. How about the time you were most lonely? Most happy? Most silly? Most awe-inspiring? Most sorrow for the sadness of the place? Most filled amazement at the wonderfulness of the people? Most struck by the beauty? Most angry and frustrated? Like I said, a great idea for a blog entry so here I go

Most Afraid- The plane ride here no I am just kidding, well kind of! I dont know if there has been a time I have been really afraid I mean leaving home was pretty scary, and sometimes when the power goes out in the middle of the night and you hear voices outside that no picnic either but I really feel safe here and havent had too many scary moments. I am lucky I guess!

Most Lonely- There are two moments that stand out in my mind for the loneliest. The first would be my first day here on the island. For over a week I had been surrounded by people constantly, sitting in training, eating meals together, even sharing a room at night, and forming such tight bonds so fast with everyone around me. And then we get to the island and my host family picks me up to take me home. I had to leave everyone at the airport, with no cell phone and no idea if I would have Internet at my new home  so basically no way to contact anyone I knew.... I still remember sitting in my host familys living room not understanding a word my host sister was saying, eating food I had never had before, and feeling so out of place. I felt like all I had was me Of coarse the next day I went to training and saw everyone, eventually we got cell phones, I had Internet, over time I understood my host sister just fine and was very comfortable in my host familys house. And now I know, that even when its just me thats ok, I like me, and eventually things that seem strange and out of place will come together.

The other would have to be the night before any holiday The holidays themselves are not lonely I am generally surrounded with people and I find it fascinating to see how Dominicans celebrate holidays. But the night before when I am laying in bed I cant help but think back to what my family and friends will be doing together the next day and what I am missing out on. Eventually after sad thoughts and yes even some crying I realize how blessed I am to be here, and that soon enough I will be back home to celebrate with everyone and I feel better. (Often I skype my mom during these times  lucky her!) Then the next day I wake up ready for another Dominican adventure!

Most Happy- My trip to Antigua and my Birthday Beach Day stand out as very happy times but I dont think I have a most happy moment because I am normally happy here. I have my ups and downs like anybody, but overall I would say I am happy here. I think island life had done me good. I wake up happy to be where I am, I am happy to be doing the work I am doing, and I am happy to be me! I am blessed to be here and I remember that everyday multiple times a day and I try to spend the day living up to that blessing. I feel like I am growing as a person and that I am doing good things all this makes me feel happy a good 98% of the time.

Most Silly- I find a lot of things in Dominica to be silly from the random comments I get to some of the situations I find myself and others in. Things just run differently here and often I choose to laugh about them rather then get frustrated or annoyed. But I would have to say the little children here take the cake for being the most silly. Everyday is a new adventure with the kids you never know what funny thing they are going to do or say next. Life looks much more simple through there eyes. I love how they are not ashamed to ask to touch my white skin or play with my hair or ask me weird questions. My favorite comment out of a kids mouth came after I got my nose pierced, I walked in and this little girl looked at me and says What is that in your nose TAKE IT OUT! I couldnt help but laugh!!! Another image that stands out in my mind was when I saw this little boy named Marvin (he was my adopted son for the Carib Territory fieldtrip) running down the road with three goats on a leash and the biggest smile I have ever seen!

Most Awe-Inspiring- This is probably going to sounds a little strange but my most awe-inspiring moments normally hit me when I am on a bus. Weird I know, but here is why: When I take my weekly trip to town I am normally sitting on a crowded bus listening to my iPod and letting my mind wander for the hour or so it takes to get there. And ever so often amidst the random thoughts we turn a corner and there it is the ocean, the amazingly huge ocean, right there 10 feet away from my bus, and I cant help but think about how amazing this island is and how blessed I am to be here. Whenever this happens I cant help but to take a moment and think about how proud I am to be a Peace Corps Volunteer, and how this experience is going to be with me for the rest of my life and help shape me into the person I will be.

Most Sorrowful- This moment actually happened when my parents were visiting. We were driving around killing time, till my laundry was done, checking out parts of Portsmouth that I had never even been too, when we drove past this little shack, for lake of a better word. My mom was the first to notice the little house; it was packed with so many people, children and adults alike. The laundry was hanging outside and as a result most of the kids running around were naked due to the fact that their only cloths were there on the line. Here we were driving around in our car waiting on laundry to be done for me and this family was literally washing the only cloths they had. Then when I thought I couldnt feel anymore, I recognized one of the little girls and realized I knew the family caught in this cycle of poverty.  She is one of the sweetest happiest kids I have ever met despite her home life. It really made me realize how bless I am and that there is a reason why I am here doing what I am doing.

Most Filled Amazement at the Wonderfulness of the People- This moment happens daily here on this island. Everyone is so willing to help anybody not just their friends or family but literally everyone! I remember my first day of training and my first bus experience here on Dominica. My host mom road with me all the way to the PC office to drop me off and to show where to wait for a bus, where to get off, how to pay, how much to pay you know all that stuff you never think about till you realize you have never done it. After training my host day was going to pick me up (he is a bus driver) and take me home. Well turns out he got busy with a bus full of tourists so he called and said I would have to make it back without him. He told me where to go in town to get a bus and to tell the drive to drop me out the house. I found the bus stop (Im still proud of myself for that) but the only problem was I didnt have any idea where the house is I mean I knew it was in Portsmouth but that was about it (hey I had only been there a day so dont judge.) Anyways I walked up to the bus and asked, Do you know where Wayne McLawerence lives thinking that was a stupid question so I wasnt prepared when the drive said yes of course he knew the McLawerences and would drop me there! (I soon found out that everyone know everyone else on this island) Not only did he drop me there, but also he went out of his way to drop me at the front door, and over some pretty crazy roads too. And not one person on the bus was annoyed at the detour!

Most Struck by the Beauty- Literally everyday! This place is more beautiful then you can image and it never ceases to amaze me. Everyday I walk out my door it hits me, and I never get tired of seeing ocean!

Most Angry and Frustrated- There have been a number of times that I have been frustrated on this island, and most time I just remind myself to relax and find the humor in each situation. However the other day that tact didnt pull through. Last week, when I was teaching my art class at CALLS, was by far the most frustrated I have been! My kids were crazy, out of control, and wanted to test me it was too much! There were fights, kids punching the walls, no one wanted to do their work, I got flipped off, and each student magically got allergies to dust when the time came to clean up. Their disrespect was almost too much for me to handle. Somehow I was able to pull trough the class (all 2 hours of it) and make it home, where my poor mom had to calm me down over skype. Now that I have had some time to relax I know that these kids have had a rough life, and it will just take time for them to respect me. They dont have much consistency in their lives and probably no one to trust or anyone who had really cared about them until CALLS. I guess it just a little reminder why I am here and why I decide to volunteer at CALLS in the first place they just better be nicer next week!

So thanks to Rashawnas step dad for the great blog idea! It was great to sit down and think about all these things like a trip down memory lane!

Antiguan Vacation!

A few weeks ago I left the island of Dominica for the first time since coming here 7 months ago and can I just say I love vacations!!!!! Peace Corps gives us vacation days and a lot of people use these days to go home for Christmas or for the summer. I however I have decided to use some of my days to travel around the EC! (Plus my sister Kristen is coming here for Christmas so I dont need the days to travel home).

Anyways a few of us PCVs decided that I trip was in order so Michelle, Alica, Brian, Austin, and I booked a 5 night stay at an all-inclusive restore in Antigua! After a short 45-minute flight we arrived in Antigua, we wasted no time getting to the resort and immediately got a drink at the bar and got in the pool! And I am happy to say this is how we spent most of our vacation that and eating!

Every morning we would wake up, head to the pool and stay there all day breaking only for lunch (which was a little grill next to the pool). There was a swim up bar so we didnt even have to get out of the water, so nice! The ocean was right next to the pool, but the water was too rough so the resort didnt want people swimming in it, fine by me! I have beaches here its the pool I was there for! Every afternoon we would head up the rooms for a nap before dinner. Dinner was at a different restaurant every night, Seafood, Italian, Indian, and a BBQ! Oh how I have missed normal food!!!! After dinner we would participate in whatever activity the resort had that night, karaoke, bonfire, dancing, steel pan group, and lots more. Then head to bed (the AC!) to start it all over the next day!

We had a blast and I have so many memories and so many stories to tell. There are just so many its hard to know which ones to write! I guess one that I found pretty funny was: When we were driving to the resort we stopped in the middle of the road, and for the life of me I couldnt figure out why then I looked up and there it was a stop light! We dont have those in Dominica! It was funny how annoyed I got sitting there waiting for the light to change, when back home (in Dominica) I wait 45 minutes for a bus to fill before we even leave!

Other fun stories include:
 - Making the boys bead bracelets with us
 - Brian mashing up his face while trying to do a handstand in the pool
 - The Wine Ninja  who kept refilling our glasses without us knowing!
 - The other crazy guests and the thing they did (topless sunbathing, and a guy even paralyzed himself from the waste down by diving into the 3 ft pool naked)
 - And many, many more!

I was so happy to have a little vacation with some great friends, and I am so blessed that I have the opportunities that I have! This is the life!!!!

Birthday Bliss

Well I almost hate to say this but my 24th birthday here on the island was probably one of the best I have ever had. Not that I am discounting any other birthday spent back home with everyone but this was one to remember! But for some reason I am having a really hard time writing this post I have been staring at my computer for over and hour and I have deleted paragraphs and started over countless times. I think the problems its easy to write about what events happened on my birthday but infinitely harder to write how special the day was for me.

The night before my b-day I was feeling down, it was just hard to imagine not spending my birthday at home with my friends and family. If you know me you know how much I love holidays, even my own birthday (how vain is that!) and I was nervous that it wouldnt feel like a special day being so far away. But that couldn't be further from the truth! My amazing PC friends and this amazing island made this one of the best birthday ever!  I cant even begin to explain how much it meant to me that everyone here took time out of their crazy busy schedules and money out of their crazy empty pockets to come celebrate my birthday with me. Not to mention all the amazing friends back home who sent countless message, phone calls, skype message, and even a youtube video just for me! I am truly blessed to have all you guys as friends and this weekend was a huge reminder for me! Thank you all for being there for me and for making my 24th birthday a day I will never forget.

Woo, now that I have all that mushy stuff out of the way I can give you a quick rundown on what we did to celebrate: The entire day was spent at Coconut Beach here in Portsmouth, we pretty much played in the Caribbean Ocean from sun up to sun down! We brought tons of snacks and even had fun water toys to float around on, which was really nice after a great lunch and birthday cake! In the afternoon we rented some kayaks and a small little sailboat and went out to Secret Beach, more fun ensued there till we realized the sailboat was heading out to sea without any of us on it and then had a kayak chase! (We caught it in case you were wondering). We even got a bit of snorkeling in too! After a full day at the beach we all went out to dinner followed by drinks and great conversation! We ended up renting a beach cottage for the night so after dinner we all heading back to the cottage and chatted for most of the night out on the dock, then feel asleep to the sound of the waves outside and the blissful AC inside!!! The next morning, which I am still counting as my birthday, we took a swim (naturally) then all had breakfast before everyone had to head home.

It was an amazing day filled with great friends, countless stories, tons of sun and beach time and so many memories! Even though I wasnt at home and that was a little weird for me, my 24th birthday was one I will never forget and quite possibly the one of the best birthdays I have had. Thank you to everyone who made it a special day, who know who you are!

Check out the fun photos from the day and hopefully soon the video that everyone back home created for me!!!!

Adventures in Dominica with the Rents

Well I realize it has been a long time since I updated my blog last, but I have good reason! For the past few weeks I have been busy hanging out with my parents! Yep Mom and Dad made the long trip down here to Dominica, and rather then sit on a computer writing a blog entry I spent all my time hanging out with my parents and showing them this wonderful island. And can I just say we had an amazing time!

I cant not even being to tell you all the things we did on this island! We packed every minute full of new Dominican adventures! Ill list just a few so everyone can get an idea of the amazing things to do here in the Nature Island:

Emerald Pool:  Quite possibly one of my favorite stops on the island. Just a small walk to the pool that is full of the clearest fresh water with a beautiful waterfall filling it. We had a great time swimming around and even diving off the rocks. The best part was, there were theses two guys from Martinique who saw us diving and decided to give it a try ending in a spectacular belly flop! We all had a good laugh including him.  Oh and we saw a really cool stick bug!

Just Driving Around the Island: Thanks to Dad for taking on the roll of the driver for the trip! I really think most of our crazy adventures started with us driving somewhere new and finding millions things to stop and look at on the way. I think this is where the bulk of our photos came from too, we would see something cool, back up, snap a photo, then head down the road to the next great photo op. Dad was fitting right in on the road before they left, just like a regular Dominican driver! Way to go Daddy!

Carib Territory: Always a must do on the Island! Its a guided tour of a replica village from the native people here on Dominica, the Carib people (you learn that Carib is not a very nice term for the people they are actually the Kalinago people renamed Carib by Columbus cause he thought they were cannibals) Anyways its a great tour with amazing scenery. Two highlights from the trip: One we saw the two couples from Martinique again, they were on the same tour with us and dont speak a word of English. One lady farted on the trail right in front of us and tried to blame it on thunder never heard that one before! The best part is she had to ask the guide how to say thunder in English just so she could tell her joke to us! Funny!!! We ended up seeing them at least 3 more times all around the island! Second: There was a slight rain storm in the middle of the tour at the top of a very large hill so we took cover for a bit in one of the huts. After the rain we all headed down the trail to the bottom of the crazy hill and guess what we left the cooler up at the top in the hut. So guess who got to run up the hill to get it, yeah me and running was not a good idea! I am covered in sweat for all the remaining photos from that trip but I got the cooler, yay me!

Trying New Foods: Well I really tired to have Mom and Dad eat as much local food as we could along with going out to dinner cause that is something I dont do very much here. So we had a great balance. Dominica Foods Had: Mangos!!! Jelly Coconut, Coco Tea, Dynamite, Creole Lunch, Roadside Grilled Plantain, Dasheen, Bread Fruit, Kubuli and Carib Beer, Rum Punch, Bakes and Local Juice, Cassava Bread, Ribs, KFC :), Freshly Backed Bread, and more! Amazing Restaurants Had: steak and Shrimp Dinner at Fort Young, Amazing Pizza and Chicken Burrito at Red Rocks (SO SO GOOD), Sunset Dinner at De Champ, Beer and Pizza at Tomato (across from Georges) and many more! Best food story finding worms in out mangos twice and still eating around them. Now that is eating like a true Dominican!

Beach Days: Oh how I love the beach, and we had some great beach days! From the calm waters at Purple Turtle Beach to body surfing on the east coast beaches. We found some new beaches that I didnt even know existed all starting with crazy drives down the side of a mountain with noroad just a semi path! So fun and great adventures! Although I did get hit with a branch in the face on one drive lesson learned, when drive down said paths windows should remain up!

Rituals: After long active days we would come back to my apartment and cook dinner. Now when its already 90 outside and you are cooking with an open flame with three people in a tiny apartment, it gets pretty hot! The way to beat it coffee and cards at the coffee shop after! Quite a few times we would have dinner at home, wonderful home cooked meals cooked by mom (I now have more ideas for great dishes I can make here, thanks mom!) then head to the coffee shop and play Phase 10! I never won but we had fun anyways!

Horse Back Riding: Ok not the best trip but still an adventure that can all be summed up in one crazy horse for Mary that was suffering from Rain Rot that really didnt want to go on the trip, and two down trees blocking all paths we could take. So we got a mini 30-minute ride long enough for my crazy horse and me. I think he was about to try and get rid of me anyways!

Snorkeling: LOVE LOVE LOVE snorkeling! This trip was the first time I tried snorkeling and I love it so much! We tried Champagne Beach first. The water is famous for these tiny bubbles that come up out of the ocean floor making it look like champagne. We swam right over them the first time but caught them on the way back! Pretty neat, but the best trip was when we hired a guide that took us down to Scotts Head. It started with a great boat ride (I love boats!) Then into the water, it made such a difference with a guide, he showed us so much wildlife that we would have misses on our own. We saw all kinds of fish, cool string like animals that retract when you touch them, squid, a barracuda, and a frogfish! Apparently people come from all over the world to see this fish and hardly ever do, but we got to! Google it, its a cool little fish! We saw a bright green one! Snorkeling might have been one of my favorite things we did; its a whole different world under there, crazy!

Other great adventures include: Whale watching, Trafalgar Falls, Indian River, Bird Watching, Cabrits National Park, Sari Sari Falls :), Botanical Gardens, Local Bus Ride, Market Day, Souvenir Shopping, Driving in the South, trying to fit three people and all our stuff in my tiny apartment, Miracle Valley and our crazy guide, countless chats with locals, and many other crazy adventures!

Well I guess you can tell we had an amazing packed two weeks here in the Nature Island. But the best part was spending time with my parents. I missed them so much and after 5 months without seeing them we could have sat in the airport for two weeks and I would have been happy! Thanks again Mom and Dad for making the trip down here! Love you!

Oh and check out the photos there are a lot, but I whittled it down from about 900, which was not easy! Enjoy!

2 Graduations and a Field Trip

Well this had been one busy week, and its still not over! On top of all my normal projects I had two graduations and a field trip! Check out the photos!

First was the CALLS graduation (Center Where Adolescents Learn to Love and Serve). I helped teach an art class and did computer tutoring here. This was one packed ceremony. First the Bishop came up from Roseau to do a blessing of a new building at the school. The school asked if I would play my flute during the ceremony, which I did. It felt great to pick up my flute again and play! And hey, I still got it!

After the blessing I got a ride to the school from the Bishop, yep Im cool like that, where we had the graduation ceremony. It was a pretty low-key ceremony complete with gifts for each student and personal stories. Their life stories are amazing! You wouldnt believe what some of these kids go through just to graduate from high school! They are truly an inspiration! After the ceremony there was lunch prepared by the cooking class and all the art and crafts that were made during the year were on display. Even some of the art from the class I helped teach was hanging up! It was an amazing graduation, and one I will never forget!

Next was the Roosevelt Douglas Primary School graduation. This graduation ended up being a little more formal then I thought it would be. The sixth graders even wore caps and gowns! It was your pretty standard graduation, with the keynote speaker and handing out diplomas, and music you know the norm. But there were a few little extras, one was a little boy, maybe about 4th or 5th grade, came up with a calypso song about reading and performed it at the ceremony. It was so good, and I think he might have a future has a calypso king here some day!!!! All in all it was a good ceremony.

Yesterday I went on a field trip (yep a field trip after graduation) with the first graders to the Carib Territory and Emerald Pool. A few other classes came along as well. Each students parent had to come along on the trip, just for safety reasons, but one little boys parents could make it so I was his parent for the day. His name is Marvin and we had a great time together other than the bus ride. You see Marvin suffers from carsickness, not the kind where you just dont fell good but can make it through the ride no Marvin threw up every 15 minutes for the entire hour and a half bus ride into a little bag that we had to throw out the window each time. It was lovely! But as soon as the bus ride was over he was back to normal! We ended up doing a tour of the recreation of the Carib Village. It was pretty interesting to learn about the Caribs and how they feel about Columbus discovering them still not sure they think it was a good thing. The students questions were the best part things like why didnt they wear cloths and what made them turn into Catholics you know only questions kids will ask, out loud anyways. :)

 After the Carib Village we went to the Emerald Pool for some swimming It was a total nightmare for me! 30 kids swimming around splashing and dunking each other. And I was in charge of two of them! (One girls parents wouldnt make the hike to the pool so I took her) Anyways it was crazy! And at one point one little boy, from the other class without parents on the trip who couldnt swim, decided to jump off the rocks into the water, just cause everyone else was, and one of the dads had to jump in and save him. He ruined his camera and cell phone in the process, but he saved the kid so you know small price to pay. I guess that is why my teacher made sure each kid had a parent present. Despite the near drowning, I think all the kids had a good time, and so did I. I love those little guys and I am gonna miss them now that school is over. They are all grown up and 2nd graders now! Oh and Marvin made it all the way home without getting sick probably cause he was so tired he, and all the kids, feel asleep on the way home and maybe me too!

Sounds like a great week huh; well its not over, full day of work today at the Town Council and teaching computers at the Womens Center.  And then a 4th of July BBQ with all the PCVs tomorrow!!! I cant wait; Im bringing the stuff to make smores. Ill tell you all about it, but thats a different post altogether!