Friendly People, Fighters and Cannibals

Bonjou! Kouman ou ye? Mwen byen mesi. That means “Hello! How are you? I am well thank you.

Well, since it’s Saint Lucia’s 30^th Anniversary of their Independence from Great Britain, I thought I would start to tell you a little bit about their history. A lot of children came to the Micoud Library to learn about Saint Lucia. The picture is of some of the students. They wear uniforms to school. Even students in the community college wear uniforms! They call Karen "Miss". This is to show respect. The teacher in the picture is also called "Miss".

So let me tell you a very exciting story.

Hundreds of years ago the first known people on this island were the Arawaks. They were very peaceful people. This fished and hunted and also farmed the land. Did you know they had flat heads? When a baby was born they tied two boards on the baby’s head; one in front and one in back. After awhile they took them off and the baby's head was flattened. They thought that was beautiful. I wanted to laugh when I heard that, but I had to remember how bad I felt when people looked at me for being flat, so I didn’t.

Anyway, they were living a good life on a very beautiful island when another tribe came from Venezuela. They were called the Caribs. They thought the island was beautiful and they wanted it. They were very different from the Arawaks. They were fierce fighters. They killed all the Arawak men. They took the women and children and made them slaves! But, there’s more. Do you know what they did with the Arawak men? They ate them!!! But don't worry about me 3D Erika, they aren't around anymore, so I won't be on anyone's dinner plate while I'm here!

Then the French discovered the island and they decided they wanted this paradise for themselves. So they fought the Caribs. The Caribs won three times, but the forth time they lost and now the island belonged to the French!

Karen said her village was a place where many of the Caribs and Arawaks lived and they found pottery and other things right near her house! These things were made hundreds of years ago.

Karen and I helped Egbert, the Micoud Village Librarian put up an exhibit to teach the children about history. Here I am next to the part that tells them about early Saint Lucian Life.

Next I'm going to tell you the next part of their story! It's about more fighting for the island and slavery!

Welcome Peace Corps EC79!

Well, this has been a busy day. Karen and I got up early and went to the Library to help set up an exhibit for Independence day. There is so much to tell you. I’m going to tell you stories about cannibals and slaves, and heroes and freedom! But you have to wait and keep checking my posts to find out about these things!

After we were done at the Library we went to the Hewanorra Airport. We went there to welcome the new Peace Corps Volunteers. They are going to be here for over two years! Karen’s been here for six months and will be here until October 2010. The Peace Corps Volunteers come to help people who have ask for help. Peace Corps Volunteers help start small businesses, they help people learn how to eat properly and take care of themselves and they are teachers and sports coaches.

Karen is helping her village to start tours for people who are staying on ships and in hotels. This will bring money into her village. There are a lot of people who don’t have jobs here. If tourists come here there will be more jobs. Karen said that when Jay was in Honduras he helped farmers learn how to plant different things to eat. Maybe he will comment on my blog and tell you about it!

We are living just like the people in her village live. I will tell you a lot more about that later. Well I guess that’s all for now.

Look! I'm in college!

Karen and I went to Castries where Karen teaches a business course.

The people on the streets stared at me because I’m different. I'm flat. No one else in Saint Lucia is flat and I felt bad. Karen made me feel better. She told me that people are just curious. Karen is different too and people stare at her. Karen says that there are a lot of differences when you visit another country and being flat is just one of them. It's really alright to feel different.

The students in Karen's class loved me. We are throwing the PEACE sign to show friendship.

A Little Bit about my Island Paradise

Do you know how to pronounce Saint Lucia? Well, I didn’t know either until I got here. Saint Lucia is pronounced “Saint Loosha”.

It is an island in the Eastern Caribbean and we are very close to the equator. Look at the map. I am living on the eastern side of the island in the village of Micoud. Can you find it? You can click on the map to make it easier to see.

Being close to the equator means it is very hot here. You can find the temperature in Saint Lucia anytime by just looking here on my blog. Do you see it? Don’t worry about it being hot, the island breeze keeps me very cool.

Did you know that where I am is four hours ahead of your time? So, when you are starting school at 8:30, I’m having lunch because it’s 12:30 here!

The island is very small. Los Angeles is 4,061 square miles and Saint Lucia is only 231 square miles! Karen said that when Jay and Kevin get here we are going to hike across the island.

The population of their whole country is just a little bit more than the people who live in Torrance! There are only 160,000 people on this whole island. There are 138,000 people living in Torrance.

Oh, and one more thing. English is the official language. The people also speak a kind of French Patois which they call Kreywol (pronounced creole).

I'm Here in Saint Lucia!

Hey Everybody, I'm here. This was a long trip. My trip began at the United States Post Office in Torrance on January 24, 2009. I arrived in Saint Lucia on February 18, 2009.

I have been waiting for two days for Karen to pick me up from the Peace Corps Volunteer Office in Castries. I've been well taken care of by Hermina who is the Administrative Assistant. She was very gentle with me when she put me into Karen’s mail slot. Karen had to get on a bus and travel to the capitol which took about an hour. I was very excited to see her! She got her camera out right away to document my trip.

I will be mostly resting until Jay and Kevin arrive on March 19. That’s when the real fun will begin. In the meantime this is Saint Lucia’s thirty year anniversary of their independence and there are a lot of celebrations on the island. Next week, I will be attending the Micoud Village Library exhibit that Karen helped create. I will tell you about what I learn.

We listened to a lot of Raggae music on the bus back to the village.

You can follow my adventure. I will post something once a week. You and your friends and teacher can become a follower of my blog. Everyone can make comments or ask questions and I will answer you! I hope this blog will allow you to be part of my adventure.