Saint Lucia Music

Hey everybody. Here's some real Saint Lucian music to listen to. I hear these all the time on the island.





I'm going to bring a CD back for us to listen to. That way we can remember Saint Lucia! I Hope you enjoy this.

Electricity made from water!

Well, 3D Erika, I have to tell you that now I've seen everything.

We met a real Rastafarian named Sly Joseph. He has land near Karen's village. His land has a waterfall and pools of water. There is a rope that Jay and Kevin used to swing into a very large pool of water. It was very beautiful there.





Mr. Joseph is very smart. He wrote a grant to the University of Vermont and they gave him money to build hydroelectric power on his property. I know hydroelectric is a big word and means that electricity is made by pumping water downhill. Then the water is sent back up the hill. Mr. Joseph's electricity is all made by pumping water from the waterfall. That means he doesn't have to pay an electric bill, but it also means that he is environmentally conscious.

Mr. Joseph eats mostly fruits and vegetables that are grown on his land. He shared a soursop with us and it tasted so good! It is a very sweet fruit.

Mr. Joseph also has a lot of pets. He has a donkey and a dog and fish that swim in his pond. He is a very nice man.


Mr. Joseph has an outside classroom where he brings children to teach them about sustainable living.

We learned that Mr. Joseph is far ahead of his time and we wish everyone could learn from him. He really cares about the earth and doesn't want to hurt it.

Fun times in a Real Volcano!

Hi 3D Erika and friends.

We had such a nice time yesterday. We had a very nice lunch at a very fancy restaurant between the two Pitons in Soufriere. Everyone is very proud of the Pitons. They are a national symbol here. The Pitons were considered sacred to the island's first inhabitants, the Arawaks and the Caribs. They are two huge volcanic mountains.


This is where we had lunch. Isn't it pretty? Jay didn't really want his picture taken, but Karen did it anyway. I think she is funny.

Well you will not believe what we did after lunch. We went right into a real volcano. It is right next to the Pitons in Soufriere which is on the western part of the island. You can look on the map to see where we were. The western part of the island is known for its beauty.

First we went to the Mineral Springs. It is so beautiful there. The springs are very warm because the water is heated in the volcano!! Lenny is our friend and couldn't wait to hold us for the video. Everyone had so much fun with us.

Anyway, we went right into the volcano. It is the worlds only drive-in volcano. How scary is that! Karen said not to worry because the volcano is dormant and we would likely be safe.


Anyway, we went into a stream where there are pools of very hot water and lots of mud from the ashes of the volcano.


Jay wanted to cover us with mud, but Karen said we could only watch here because she didn't want us to get dirty.


Karen, Jay and Kevin got mud all over their bodies! We all laughed very hard when we saw how silly they looked!

Passage on Fishing Boats

Hello everyone. My new friend came over yesterday. Her name is Yvette. She is eleven years old too! She lives across the street from us.

Before she got to know us, Jay and Kevin were telling her how much they love us. Yvette laughed because she doesn't know any men in the village that have flat friends. Then she got to know us and now we are good friends. So now she doesn't laugh at Kevin and Jay when they play with us!









Yvette just returned from Martinique. It is another island that is 25 miles from here. That's about the distance between where you are and Catalina island.

But here is the crazy part. You know how we take a big boat to Catalina? Well Yvette's dad is a fisherman and he takes the whole family there on his small fishing boat like the ones here!



Yvette says she likes it when her dad gets air. I think Yvette's family is very brave.Fishermen are very brave people. They go out early in the morning before the sun comes up. They travel way out to sea and fish all day long before coming home.

We had visitors today!

Hi Everyone. We had a good day today. Karen invited some people who she met on her blog to come to Micoud. They came on a big cruise ship that docked in Castries. They wanted to tour the village and eat some authentic Saint Lucian food. William and Denise and their children Rebecca and Ben came by taxi. They arrived early in the morning.


While we were walking we met Darnley. Karen works with him. Darnley is telling them the story of Sir John Compton. He is the Father of Saint Lucia. Sir John was a banana farmer from Karen's village. He stood up to the people who owned the sugar plantations. He drove them off the island in the 1970s. He worked hard for the people and showed them how to grow banana's. When Saint Lucia gained their independence from the United Kingdom, he became the first Prime Minister. He died in 2007 and everyone really misses him.










William bought everyone lunch today! Wasn't that nice? We really liked meeting his family and it's something we will remember for a long time. Their children were so nice that when we took a picture they asked if they could hold us.


After lunch William and his family had to leave. We were sad to see them go. We ate so much food that we decided to go for a walk out to the point where the sea is rough. It takes about fifteen minutes to get their from Karen's house. We saw some cute goats and there were also a lot of cactus along the way. We were surprised to see all the cactus!

We finally got the sea. It is VERY scary! There are very big waves. It is beautiful and Karen says she likes to go there often.




Listen to Jay. He's talking to the goats. Isn't he funny!

This picture is of a rock. If you look very carefully the rock resembles the shape of Saint Lucia. Everyone likes to go there and admire the beauty!

It's Special Olympics in Saint Lucia Time!

Hi everyone! We got dressed up today. I felt a little jealous because Flat Autumn had a pretty necklace and I didn't. Flat Autumn felt a little jealous because I had traditional dress and she didn't. Karen fixed that problem. She made a nice "EK" necklace for me and a new dress for Flat Autumn.

Today we went to Soufriere to help with the games that Special Ed students play on the island. While we waited for everyone to arrive we talked with other Peace Corps Volunteers. There were also volunteers from Japan! Their Volunteers are called JOVC or the Japanese Overseas Volunteer Cooperation. It is a lot like the United States Peace Corps.

The children came to Soufriere by bus and some even came by a Catamaran! Can you imagine, they took a Catamaran (a large water taxi) to their field trip!

Once every year they meet at a village or a town to play for medals. We had a wonderful time. We started with a parade!

We cheered a lot for the Vieux Fort Team because Karen is friends with the Principal of the Vieux Fort Special Needs School.






These students are from Vieux Fort, which is the town on the southern tip of the island. Vieux Fort (pronounced View Fort) It is a manufacturing town. Many companies come to Saint Lucia and the people assemble their products.

We stopped at a few places and the children cheered for their teams!





The children were very excited and had a lot of team spirit. They ran relay races, sprints, one hundred yard dashes and other sports. We had a great day.

When we got home Kevin and Jay took a nap. They get real tired when they travel. They needed their nap because The Aztecs play tonight.

Pigeon Point

Hi Everyone! We had a lot of fun at Pigeon Point. It is one of the most important spots in St Lucia if you want to learn about history.

Pigeon Point is a place where there were battles between the French and the British more than 200 years ago! It had a fort and prison. We explored the look-out point where the British watched to see if French ships were coming to Saint Lucia.

They had big cannons that they used to fight the French when they saw them. The island switched from French to English possession 14 times until the English finally won!

We had to walk up a very steep hill to see it. Look at us, we are in the underground chamber where they stored their gun powder.

There were a lot of birds eating things on the ground. Their feathers are good camoflauge. Can you find the bird in this picture? It's hard. You can click on the picture to make it bigger.