HAPPY BIRTHDAY FLAT ERIKA AND 3D ERIKA!

Hi 3D Erika. I hope your birthday is as good as mine. Karen had a cake for me with eight candles - well, they were sort of like candles. She sang Happy Birthday to me. You can see it on the video.

We had a nice day today. The cable stopped working and there is no water so we went to the Library and helped Egbert, the Librarian with his homework. He is very nice and really likes to see me.

I hope your day was as fun as mine. Write and let me know what you did. I love you!

Hi Mrs. Schneider's Class!!!

Bonjou! Sa Ka Fet! That means "Hello, what's up?" I heard that Mrs. Schneider is going to let the class visit my blog. I think Mrs. Schneider is very nice. I’d love to hear from you. I miss all of you. You can send a comment at the bottom of the post. Just click on “comment” and ask me a question or tell me what you think. I’ll write you back! At the end of each post you can tell me if you think I’m having a “Good Time” and if you “Wish you were here”. Just check the box.

Well, Karen and I had a big day today. We went to Castries, the capitol of Saint Lucia. As we left our house, Karen told me how happy she is because the men were here to finish making screens for her windows. She says she’s happy because she won’t have so many mosquito bites now. The man is making her screens at the house across the street.

We met with a lot of the volunteers at the Peace Corps Office. They put me right in the center of things as they discussed Peace Corps business. They are all so nice and were so happy to see me. They loved my new Kweyol clothes.

You can click on the pictures to make it bigger so you can see me better.

I thought you might want to know a little bit about how I live. One thing you might find strange is that we don’t have hot water here. No one does. We take cold showers and Karen heats the water in her electric kettle to wash the dishes.

Karen says she doesn’t worry too much about hot water – she just wants water. Many times, the water system breaks and we don’t have any. We have buckets in the shower filled with water. We use them when there is no water. Karen says that sometimes they don’t have water for two or three days at a time!

There are a lot of people without much money here. Most of the people in the village make money by fishing or growing bananas. Some people don’t have indoor plumbing or electricity. They have public facilities where people go to get water and take a shower or use the bathroom.

The man in the picture is a fisherman. He is cutting up his catch and will sell them to the local people here. Fisherman are very brave because they go way out to sea in very small boats to catch their fish.

Junior Achievement

Karen and I went to a conference last week in Castries. That’s the capitol of Saint Lucia. We brought seven girls with us. They were very excited and lots of fun. The conference was at a very nice hotel called Sandal’s. None of the girls had ever been there and so we all explored the pool and beach area. It was really very beautiful.

The girls are the officers in a Junior Achievement Project at the Secondary School. Junior Achievement teaches students how to create a business, make a product and sell it. They are making dog tags and key chains and have sold a lot of them. They are very popular.

Junior Achievement is in schools all over the world! Karen said she was in Junior Achievement when she was in high school. She said that it was so much fun that’s why she wanted to work in the business field! She said that when we get to high school it is likely that we will have the opportunity to be part of Junior Achievement. I can hardly wait!

I've gone native!

Hi everyone! Well, Karen and I have been very busy lately.

I learned about the people and their traditions during Independence Day. Do you remember the video of the children dancing in their traditional clothes? Well, Karen and I went to Castries yesterday and she bought some traditional material at one of the stores. Today, she made me a new outfit.

Karen says that it looks like I'm going "native". That's what they say when you change and become more like the people in the country you are visiting. Do you like my new outfit?

Slaves and Traditions

Boujour! So, here is the next part of the story. After the French took the island from the Caribs, the the English came and decided they wanted it! They fought for years and the island went from French to English seven times. The English finally won and they ruled the island until 1979!

In the meantime business men came to produce sugar cane. They needed people to work in the fields.

So, do you know what they did? Men with ships went to Africa and caught African men and women. They put them in chains and forced them in their boats. They brought them to Saint Lucia and made them slaves. They were forced to work in the fields and beat them if they didn’t work. Slavery lasted for over one-hundred years!

Many of the traditions they have come from the days of slavery. They have traditional dance. They wear special dresses. Here’s a video Karen took of children dancing in their traditional clothes.

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.