Term 2

Hello again. A few, quick words on the new school term. We're three weeks in, and I'm working a little more than I was last term. That's actually a recurring theme in my life here. As I slowly get my bearings, I am able to take on more and more. This is fine for a Peace Corps Volunteer, but I really feel for first year teachers, who walk head-on into such an overwhelming situation. I'm finding that I really am getting better at the whole teaching thing. My lessons are more interesting, I relate better to my students and I even have an easier time with classroom control. This term, my students are focusing on the elements in a story, specifically 'setting,' 'characters,' and 'main event.' We're reading a lot of different types of stories and then dissecting them: discussing themes, answering the 5 Ws and 1 H, relating them to our lives. My students are especially enthusiastic about the last part - they really like finding a relationship between the books they read and their own lives. I'm really excited about this unit, because it's something that all my students can do, from the absolute beginners to the most advanced. It's also a way for me to teach a complete reading course. We look at the words, of course - we sound them out, spell them, practice them - but we also look behind the words, at the meaning they hold for the story. I hope it will be a successful and busy term, despite the looming sports interruptions.
I've also changed things up a bit in my music class. Instead of learning new songs this term, we'll be writing them. That's right, we've started a unit on composing. It's a pretty big change from what we've been working on, but it's in their music curriculum (which I finally got a copy of), and it pushes creativity, so I'm 100% for it. We had our first lesson on Monday - some get it, some don't, but they all seem excited by the change. Let's hope it lasts.
Finally, I'm working on a big project with the Adult and Continuing Education Office. We're going to host the first ever Career Fair in our community. I got the idea at a meeting I attended last year. One of our program participants mentioned that while the office helped people attain higher education, it didn't provide any job support to help them use the higher education. So, I suggested a Career Fair to the Zonal Coordinator and we're running with it. We're inviting local businesses to come conduct informal interviews, college representatives to talk to people about getting a degree, and of course, unemployed community members. This is a real first for the area, so I'm excited to see how it turns out. We're planning for sometime in late February.
On a unrelated note, I just finished a book that I'd like to recommend, The Dogs of Babel by Carolyn Parkhurst. It's a really beautiful, original and truly haunting love story. It's a quick read, too - I finished it in about a day, although that might be because I couldn't put it down! If you're looking for a new book, I definately suggest this one!

Holidays/New Year

Sorry it's been a while. My life starts to feel so normal here that I don't register change as much. I forget not everyone lives on a Caribbean island. Fortunately, one of my New Year's Resolutions is to update more often. And take more pictures. Happy New Year!
I just returned from a 3 week vacation in the US. I visited a bunch of cities(Kansas City, Houston, St. Augustine), ate tons of delicious food and went into total sensory overload in places like Target and Wal-Mart. The superstores in Kingstown take up about 500 sq feet, smell like moth balls and sell everything from flip flops to matresses, but they just don't compare. It was a complete whirlwind of a vacation and I was surprised at how quickly I re-adapted to America. To be honest, it was hard to come back to SVG, but my first day back, several of my neighbors and friends stopped by to chat and hang out on my porch, and I remembered why I like it here. Even without a Target.
School starts back on Monday. It's the dreaded "Sports Term," which, you may recall is about as conducive to learning as cartoons. There will be lots of missed school over the next 2 1/2 months, but at least the students will be getting some exercise. My schedule looks about the same - reading classes, music classes and after school tutoring. I might throw in some chemistry, but I have to talk to the teacher first. This week, we have a couple of teacher planning days and grades are given out, so I still have some desperately needed time to transition from 'vacation mode' to 'work mode.'
Let me backtrack a bit. In December, another Peace Corps volunteer, a local volunteer and I took 5 Vincentian students (aged 10 - 17)to a running event in Barbados, Run Barbados (clever name)! We'd been planning the event for months, but it definately came together at the last minute. Our funding proposal was accepted about 1 1/2 weeks before the event, so you can imagine how hectic that time was (buying plane tickets, getting passports, reserving hotels, registering for the race, etc!). We made it and it was an absolutely incredible experience for everyone. We were so happy to get the opportunity to introduce the students to another culture, and even happier to do it in a way that played to their strengths (running). Three of the five hadn't travelled outside of SVG, so it was neat to watch their reaction to things we consider ordinary, like malls and movie theaters and swimming pools. We all competed in the 10K race on Saturday, December 5th. I finished in 1 hour and 42 seconds, and our oldest student, Linda, WON the race for her age group! The whole group did really well and had a lot of fun!
In other news, the Great Peace Corps Read is still going strong. I just finished "The Geography of Bliss," by Eric Weiner, which I highly recommend and "Snow," by Orhan Pamuk, which I don't (unless you're into slow reads). Next up: "The Winemaker's Daughter," by Timothy Egan, followed by "Memoirs of a Geisha," by Arthur Golden. Read any good books lately? I'm open to suggestions, assuming we have it in the Peace Corps library.
That's all for now. If you trust me to keep my resolutions, you should hear from me again in about a month.

SVG Independence

Happy 30th Birthday, SVG!

"St. Vincent Land So Beautiful"

(Verse 1)
St. Vincent land so beautiful
With joyful hearts we pledge to thee
Our loyalty and love and vow
To keep you ever free.

(Chorus)
Whate're the future brings
Our faith will keep us through.
May peace reign from shore to shore
And God bless and keep us true.

(Verse 2)
Hairoun, our fair and blessed isle
Your mountains high so clear and green
Are home to me though I may stray
A haven, calm serene.

(Verse 3)
Our little sister islands are
Those gems the lovely Grenadines
Upon their seas and golden sands
The sunshine ever beams.

*Note* The video only plays through the first verse and chorus. If you want to try singing it yourself (you know, to get the full effect), you'll have to hit play 3 times.

Cultural Activity

The Adult and Continuing Education Office hosted a Cultural Activity today, and my music students were invited to participate. Tomorrow marks St. Vincent's 30th year of Independence, so many organizations around the island are holding events like this one, with cultural songs, dramas and poetry. My students opened the event with rousing renditions of "Hot Cross Buns," "Mary Had a Little Lamb," and "Ode to Joy." I know, those are the same songs they learned this summer, but we haven't really had much time to add to their repertoire. In class they are learning "Jingle Bells," but it's not quite up to par yet and I thought October was a bit early to start with the Christmas tunes, in spite of what Macy's may lead you to believe. At the Cultural Activity, we also heard many poems and songs, including "St. Vincent, I Love You," a personal favorite of mine. Click on the link below to listen!

http://www.imeem.com/people/-t8Eq9/music/kbCJgmwa/alston-becket-cyrus-st-vincent-i-love-you/

On a side note, I ran my second 5K yesterday. This time it was on the road - no dodging cow poo! - but in a really hilly area, so it was extremely difficult. I ran with a girl from my area and another PCV from the Leeward side of the island. We are all proud to have finished, but I am definately going to have to up my training if I expect to run a 10K in December!

Books, Books, Books

A while ago, a few friends and I were talking about the books we'd read - we read a LOT, probably because there is really nothing else to do on the weekends or during holidays or after dark, plus the Peace Corps office has a really fantastic library - and we decided to set a goal of reading 100 books during our 2 years here. At the bottom right hand corner of this blog, you'll find my current booklist. The first 30 books are in no particular order, as I read them before setting the goal. As I read more, I'll add the titles to the list and (hopefully) more than double my numbers over the next year. I am open to suggestions, but I'm more or less limited by what's in the office. Happy reading!

Fun Run

To get ready for Run Barbados, we planned to run some races locally (mostly to give the kids a feel for what it will be like), and we ran our first race today! The kids ran a 2K (they were in the under 15 category), and they all finished, so we're really proud of them! Another volunteer and I ran a 6K (19+ category), and it was quite an experience!
First of all, the race was held at St. Vincent's car racetrack, which resembles an abandoned field more than anything. There is a dirt track in some places, but mostly it's overgrown, rocky and extremely muddy, so we slogged through mud and knee-high grasses for the majority of the course. Also, there are goats and cows grazing all around the field (I arrived to the race a little early only to be chased off the field by an angry bull). The goats aren't anything, but cows equal dung piles. Lots of dung piles. Which naturally were deposited right along our running path, so there we were, slogging through mud and knee-high grasses, dodging cow poo. Except, of course, for the part of the trail that included a large, rock hill that you ran up, but had to jump from rock to rock to get down. Six times we ran this course. It was an exhausting race.
One of the more interesting parts of the day was how the water got passed out. During a 5K run in the US, the organizers would pass out cups of water at set points during the race. It's a bit different here - the organizers did pass out water, but in tied plastic bags (what a goldfish might come in). As you passed the water point, you grabbed a bag, bit a hole in it and drank/poured on your head the water. Ingenious.
My friend and I had only 3 goals for the race:
1. Don't trip on the rock hill (because you will seriously injure yourself).
2. Don't step in cow poo.
3. Finish the race.
We accomplished 2 of our goals.
At the end of it, I took second place in my category! There were only four people in my category, but I'm still a little proud. I might even be in the newspaper!

New School Year

Last Monday was the first day of school here in SVG, and I'm pretty excited about the new school year. The teacher I worked with last year is now the literacy coordinator (!) and I will be working with her to teach a literacy curriculum to students in all Forms. This is a BIG step up from last year, when we worked only with Forms 1 and 2. We are starting the year with tons and tons of reading assessments - we will be testing all students in Forms 1 and 2 (320 +), as well as several Form 3, 4 and 5 classes. Once we get through testing, we will be pulling the weaker readers from their classes and working in small groups or one on one. We will also be making recommendations to English teachers based on the classroom weaknesses. It's a lot more work than last year, but definately necessary! I have really high hopes for this year, I think that we will be able to accomplish a lot with our students.
I'm still working on more or less the same things as last year, with one new addition - I am going to be working with a running group. Another volunteer and I are working with Vincentians to form a running team to compete in the 2009 Run Barbados event in December. This is a pretty big deal, running-wise, and a HUGE deal for the kids, who might not otherwise get to travel outside of St. Vincent. We're trying to take about 15 kids, including one of my girls from the Guadalupe Home! We're really excited about this, and I will keep you posted on our progress!
This past weekend, one of our male volunteers got married to a Vincentian girl. Obviously, we all turned out to show our support in our fancy wedding attire (i.e. the one nice outfit that we own). It was a beautiful ceremony and I am really glad for the happy couple. I'll post pictures in a few days.