First time for everything.... I would say so (Part 3 of 3)

OooO Mondays... Mondays are always a little rough around the edges! My Monday was GREAT and it ended with my fourth and final “FIRST” of the long weekend! As most of you know, each Month I invite my landlord's daughter, her friend and other PCV other my house to do a Themed Dinner Night! This night was ITALIAN NIGHT!! No other way to do it up and do it up BIG was to have Lasagna! I have never made Lasagna before, I am not going to lie it was a little stressful, there was a lot going on at once and not a big enough pot of my noddles. But after a late in the game phone call to Mom, three amazing helpers, and sixty minutes in the oven, the Lasagna came out AMAZING! Room for improvement but still Delicious! I would LOVE to make it again! The girls LOVED it and we also had some garlic bread which was good! I need to put a little more sauce in it but still GREAT!

Next Month is KFC themed! We are going to have a good old fashion sleep-over party and we will be starting it will a KFC dinner while eating in on the Bay Front. Many of you may not think that is really a good deal but if you would of say the girls when I told them I would take them (after 5 minutes of trying to get out of them what they wanted to tell me)! You would of thought I told them I was taking them to Disney World, not town for some KFC! It will be fun!

Pictures from the Weekend!

First time for everything... I would say so (Part 2 of 3)

Which brings me to my THIRD First! On Sunday Morning, after walking about a third of a way to town, about 20 minutes, we made it to Roseau, to Windsor Park where they had there first every international Cricket Match. West Indies vs Bangladesh, it was West Indies “B” team, some politics were related to the “A” team not going, contract related but anyways. It starts at about 9:30AM ending around 4:30PM. Yes it is a LONG day in the HOT HOT HOT sun! Every time I learn just a little more about the game, the rules, and the scoring. I will not even try to break it down for you. If you are interested Google “Rules of Cricket.” West Indies lost by 52, which is not A LOT but it is a pretty bad lose. I would say it is about the same as if the Detroit Pistons would lost by around 15 or 20 points. It was a lot of fun! Dominica has a simply spirit to them, a local phase is “Free-Up!” It basic means, loosing up, do not take life to seriously, and enjoy yourself with no worries! Simply focus on the joys of the present, tomorrow will take care of itself. There was a little band of “Drummer Boys” in our section who were a blast and let one of the PCVs blow their horn and other PCVs was drumming for a moment! I went with all of the PCVs. We just got “Grounds” seats which is similar to “Lawn” seats at a Concert. Even with my umbrella covering me, I still got burned a little but it is healing well. Tuesday got declared a “National Holiday” because there is another Cricket game and the government wants people to attend the match. Then Monday Happened.... (See tomorrow post for the story)

Joys of 7/28

JOYS!

1. Talking to my Mother!
2. Amazing left over Lasagna (that I made) for Dinner!
3. All Day Long River Event!
4. My Best Friend!
5. Talking with my Aunt, Uncle, and Grandpa!
6. My PCVs
7. NATIONAL HOLIDAY due to the Cricket Match!
8. Being part of the event of a 16 passenger van being pulled through the middle of town by a rope and a car!
9. Hearing the excitement on someone voice when they answer the phone
10. Really Good Confetti Cake (Just for you Andrew) for the River Day!

First time for everything... I would say so! (Part 1 of 3)

This weekend/Monday was simply full of amazing first time events for me in my short 23 years of living. New adventures are also fun, they usually come with a funny but rewarding story behind them. Pictures will follow soon! Where do I begin...

…. I will begin with Saturday. Saturday was an amazing day. It started off with my first, FIRST! So... myself and 3 other PCVs and one of the PCV's friend who is interning at a Law Office in Dominica. Her dad and step mom were born in Dominica but she grow up in the States because her Dad moved to the States when he was a child but now lives in Dominica. As my feet were hanging on in the Hotel Pool (NO I did not stay in a hotel) but we did meet there to go WHALE WATCHING!! I have never really been on a boat before so that was a First and then I have not been WHALE WATCHING so it was killing a bird with two stones. There is about a 90% chase that you will see a Whale. For use we were in that 10%, we did not see a Whale but man did we see lots of Dolphins, I would say around fifty of them. They are extremely fun, energetic, good spirit animals, playing with the boat, jumping around, and splashing the boat. They were fun to watch. Most of you know, that know me, know I can make friends with almost anyone, young, old, middle, boy, girl, it does not matter. There was this very nice man from Bangladesh on the boat with me. He was an amazing man and complimented me on the work I was doing which is always reassuring to hear it from a stranger. Anyways, as we were talking, I was like “Why are you here” and he said “I do commentary for the Cricket Game!” More about the Cricket game in tomorrow post....

Joys of 6/19

Joys of July 19, 2009
1. Seeing All My Little Ones at Church This Morning
2. Sitting Next to Mema
3. A Little One That A Few Weeks Ago Did Not Want Anything to do With Me Came Running Over To Me After Church!
4. French Toast on My HOMEMADE Wheat Bread!
5. The Fresh Cool Breeze Blowing Through My Home
6. Making Peanut Butter and Almond Cookies for the PC Training Next Week!
7. A Solid Walk To My Old Village and Company for the Afternoon
8. Random Trip to Town (Also good to get out of the house for a minute)
9. Falling Asleep to the Rain!

365 Rivers!

A random little fact for all of you is, Dominica has 365 Rivers (I am Determined To Count Each and Everyone!), enough for, one for each day of the Calender Year! On Friday Dominica Added Three New Rivers to the Count!



Like mentioned previously, I had a Bi-Annual Meeting to attended in a village called Castle Bruce which is in the Southeast of the Island. On our way there it started to rain, I would say a moderate rain, while we were there it was raining moderately on and off the whole afternoon (more on then off) and when we were leaving it was raining once again. So needless to say, it pretty much rained all late morning into early evening! Our faithful, safe, reminds me a little of a driver in Western Civilization (which is a good thing), is driving the 45 minute to an hour drive back to town. We are driving, it is raining no problem, then we reach about 6 miles outside of town and we STOP! Side Note (how the island is, you can see town from where we are) OoO My... there is a TRAFFIC JAM in Dominica! This is one is bad- it reminds me of 696 (or 95 (I hope that made you Smile Mom and Dad), when they shut down all lines but one and it is 8:00AM in the Morning! People are not moving and cars are PARKED on the Side! After inquiring with individuals who are walking around we find out there is a Large and In charge 'River' who has over taken the road. Well, our faithful driver with his Western Civilization style, cuts off the people that are just hanging out so we can go through the FIRST of THREE 'Rivers'! The Pond is about 50 Yards Long and the water comes up to our Bumper! Success! 'River' One CONQUERED! Then We Wait in Yet another Line, to Take on 'River' Number Two- 'River Number Two- not So Long, and Not So Deep! Our Jeep and our great driver- went right through it like it was nothing! Then There is 'River' Number THREE- This I would say was the Deepest- about the same length as the second one- We are Driving through then traffic STOPS! So We are Hanging out in middle of the 'River' for I would say about 5 Minutes! After our little delay, River THREE SUCCESS! We are on solid ground- heading back to town with no other slow downs! After about 2 hours I was at my bus stop on my way up to my home!

Joys of 6/20 and 6/21

Two Days With of Joys in One Blog!

1. Hearing the excitement of my Mom's voice when I called
2. Eating by Candle Dinner (By Myself- Due to the fact we did not have power)
3. Watching the Today Show!- Learning that Skinny Jeans could cause Nerve Damage!
4. Writing Letters and Sending them Off
5. Seeing a New Born New Born Baby- About two Days Old! A Beautiful and Healthy Baby Girl!
6. Random Trip to Town which allowed me to go Grocery Shopping
7. Reading some of my book via Flashlight
8. Juice Man!
9. An AMAZING Hug from the APCD of Dominica! He is the "Go to Guy" on the Island for ALL Volunteers
10. A ride to my work site because it was Raining Cats and Dogs!
11. Not getting my White Skirt Dirty
12. Lunch Company and running to two people I knew at the restaurant!

Joys of 6/18

Joys of Saturday July 18, 2009

1. Taking A Transport (Not A Bus) To Castle Bruce For A Meeting
2. Going to A Meeting for the National Youth Council Where They Go Over What They Have Done in the Past Two Years!
3. Congrats to the New Executive Board!!- To Delroy (Link) and Caryln Who Have Been Re-Elected for President and 1st Vice President Respectively
4. Having An Amazing Driver that Got Use Through The Three 'River' (See Future Blog/Pictures for Further Story) Safely So We Could All Get Back To Our Homes!
5. Coming Home To Water That Was Not Brown (Other PCV that lives Close Text Me To Tell Me How Brown Her Water Was) and A Telephone and Internet that was NOT Ruined (It was Sitting In front of the OPENED Window After A day FILLED With Rain!)
6. Homemade Wheat Bread that Turned Out Amazing!
7. A Low Key Night of Making Bread and Laying on My Couch
8. A New Show on TLC called RN I Think With Will Smith Wife In It (Even Though I Cannot Think of the Name It Was Really Good!)
9. Going To Bed EARLY
10. Waking Up With An Alarm Clock!

Camp!

The Two Week of Camp is DONE! It makes me really sad actually because Summer in my Eyes is ALL about about SUMMER DAY CAMP! It has a lot to do with the last three summers I have been working at the YCMA Day Camp (Miss You Guys!)! I was honored and thrilled knowing I would be Co-Director a Summer Day Camp for the Children of Dominica. After all of the hard work by myself, the Director (Link), the Administrative Assistant, and the Tutors! It is all worth it when a four year old says “I will miss you” as you are walking away after handing her over to her father. When I see the children faces when they are singing a long to Hannah Montana or Triple K (A Local Band in Dominica) or when the children are running around, laughing, enjoying themselves. To see the Tutors jump in the Rounders Game and their faces light up when their team is doing well! Those little moments are the moments that make me forget the times I was ready to pull out my hair! :o) Which I really never got to that point but you all understand what I am saying!



A brief description of the camp goes as following! Our Goal was 45 students and the camp graduated 75 students on Friday! It was amazing to have such an amazing response from parents and guardians to send their children to camp with us. Our focus was on “Arts and Expressions; Changing Lives.” As a team wanted to focus on arts and crafts, poems, drama, and other other way the children could expression what was going on in their heads.

Arts We Did!
 Made Paper Plate Tambourines
 Nature Frames (From Items we went on a Scavenger Hunt for the day before in the Gardens)
 Candle Holders onto of Glass Bottles,Tissue Paper, Magazine Clippings
 As a camp we all collected CLEAN trash such as Cereal boxes, Plastic Bottles, Egg Cartons, Bottle Taps, other Boxes, Shampoo Containers, etc- we used all of those items plus a little glue, tap and paint to make craft projects
 We colored our souls away and drew enough pictures to cover all of the fridges in Dominica!
 TIE-DYE!
 Tornadoes out of Plastic Bottles

Presentations We Had!
 One all about the WILD LIFE of Dominica
 We Learned About The Fish and other Animals in the Deep Blue Sea
 Conflict Resolutions
 French and Spanish
 Poetry Presentation by Students from Blackburn College in England!

Sports We Played!
 Capture the Flag
 Rounders
 Cricket
 Rabbit in the Hole
 Tag!
 Skipping (Jumping Rope)
 Made up the games the Children Discovered on their own!
 Hot Potato



Field Trips!
 The library
 DBS Radio- Where the students were on the Radio! (Dominica Broadcasting Station)
 SAT Television- I Do not know what SAT Stands for (A little help from anyone that knows would be helpful) but it is the Local News Stations Like ABC, NBS and Fox!
 Benjoy Seamoss (It is a local bottle and drink distribution center where we got FREE SAMPLS- A lot of their drinks are made with Milk so they are Nice)

Others Things We Did!
 Made Rice Crispy Treats
 Sang Songs
 Ran, Jumped and Played!
 Went on a Scavenger and Trivia Hunt in the Gardens
 We Had SNACK! (Every day at 10:30 was Snack Time and Man if we were a minute or two late I had some not so happy students!)
 We Finished the Week of by Showing off our TALENTS!

Joys of 06/17

Joys of Friday July 17, 2009

1. Through Camp I Learned The True Meaning Of the Following: “It Will Be OK” and “It All Works Out In The End”- Even When There Is A Back Up Plan For The Back Up Plan Things Don't Always Fall Into Place How I Wanted Them To But At The End of The Day Because of the Amazing Individuals Working With Me- It All Beautifully and Magically Fell Right Where It Should
2. A Successful Talent Show!
3. Seeing the Power of Hannah Montana- The Room Roared when Someone Would Do A Dance Or A Song of Hers
4. Getting A Package! (Thank You Aunt Nancy and Uncle Al- I have Already Used the Pens and the Pictures Are On The Fridge!!)
5. Getting E-Mails from My Nearest and Dearest- When I Can Just Picture Them Writing JUST How They Would of Told Me In Person (THANK YOU MOM!- The Students Will Be ABOVE “Top of Line”)
6. Finally Cleaning My HOUSE! I Mean REALLY CLEANING It!! It Needed A Little Love!
7. BBQ For Dinner and An Amazing Evening of Chic-Chatting With the PCV that is Leaving!

Joys of 6/16

Joys of Thursday July 16, 2009

1. Simply Fantastic Joys of Summer Camp!
2. Getting Dropped Off Right at the Site So I DID NOT Have to Carry My FAR To Heavy Items All Of Them!
3. Having The Bus Driver Go Out of His Way So I Could Pick Up Something For Camp!
4. Randomly Running Into A PCV that Lives in The North (That I Do Not See Enough) at the Grocery Store- I Was Able To Hang Out With Her For A Minute!
5. After A Stressful Evening Getting A Random Phone Call/Invite About A Going Away Party for the Other PCV in My Village!
6. Having Some Relaxing Moments and Really GOOD Creole Food While I Was There
7. Making A Cake For Graduation!
8. Getting Everyday Done Last Minute For Graduation While Listening/Watching Drumline!
9. Passion Fruit Juice- I Cannot Seem to Make It Good So I LOVE When People Offer To Give Me Some They Have Made! :o)

Joys of 6/15

Joys of 6/15

1. TWO Free Rides to Town Today!
2. Teaching the Little Ones 'Hot Potato' and them LOVING it!
3. Watching the Older Ones Play Rounders!
4. Lots of HUGS at Camp!
5. Pretty Simply and Easy Going Day at Camp!
6. A Bite of A Subway Sandwich
7. Free Evening/Night!
8. Talking to My Sister, Austin, and Mom
9. Getting Good Sales at the G.Store Today!
10. Sitting by my precious little one that was SOO EXCITED to see me!

Joys of 6/14

1. Getting Free Samples at the Field Trip we went on
2. Watching Law and Order SVU while I was at work
3. Having a little one hang out with me at the Field Trip
4. Having another little way sit on my lap during Break Time!
5. The Tutors enjoying the Cookies/Bread I made
6. Checking my Old Village Students
7. Ice Pop Treat!
8. An Easy going day at Camp
9. Playing Domino's with some the Campers
10. Seeing My Island Mom!

Joys of 6/13

Joys of 6/13

1. Laying on My Floor Listening to Drumline while putting together a SlideShow of Camp
2. Lots of Hugs from Campers!
3. A Smooth Day of Camp
4. Chick Pea Burgers for Dinner! First time making them and they turned out REALLY Good! I recommend them to all!
5. A Nice Walk and Chat through my village!
6. Having a bus full of people I know
7. Doing the Heal Toe Dance with a 5 Year Old!

Joys of 6/10

JOYS!

1. Week one of Camp Done (It actually makes me a little sad- not really a Joy)
2. Week One of Camp being a SUCCESS!
3. Watching the Students make Nature Frames!
4. A Smooth Day at Camp because of my GREAT Tutors
5. Playing Volleyball!
6. Having one of my Students out of no where ask me for a Hug (You all know I love Hugs)
7. Playing Simon Says with the Kids!
8. Teaching them a YMCA Camp Song
9. Receiving Books in the Mail (THANK YOU JENNIFER)
10. Catching up with one of my PCVs after too long

Joys of 6/9

JOYS of 6/9

1. The Students from BlackBurn College Simpling Rocking it out!
2. Successful day of Camp- Little to NO Bumps a long the way!
3. Trivia and Treasure Hunt through the Gardens
4. The Sun Shine!
5. Ice Pop Treat!
6. Good Local Creole Food!
7. Taking to my Mom in the Morning!
8. Being greeted with running child and lots of Hugs!
9. My Cool Village- So Refreshing after being in Town ALL Day!
10. Blowing up an Imagine Balloon with a little girl who was missing her Mom!

Joys of 6/8

JOYS OF 6/8

1. TIE DYE At Camp!
2. My PCV being there to help with Tie Dye!
3. The Sun Shining and Drying the Shirts ASAP!
4. All the Students being able to Enjoy the Rice Krispy Treat
5. A Free Ride Down!
6. One of the little boys almost losing it as I was tinkling him to death
7. Watching a little Home Alone Two
8. The AMAZING, SAVE THE DAY, ENJOY THE MOMENT Tutors I have for Camp!

The Happenings of Camp!

As most of you know- I just completed the first week of camp with about 13 other AMAZING volunteer tutors that are either going to the State College, have just graduated from Secondary School (High School)or are finishing up Secondary School. We were hoping for 45 students ranging from the age of 5-13 but there is about 70 students and I had to turn down about 20 parents/guardians due to the lack of space and funding. Picture style I will give you the story of the week.


-We made Frames out of what we found in the Gardens-


-We Did a Scavenger Hunt and Trivia Hunt Through the Gardens-


-We Read Poems to Eachother-


-We Colored Outside with Students from England-


-We Ran Around the Gardens-


-We Tie Dyed Shirts-

Joys of 6/7

1. Seeing the Faces of Students that have never made Rice Krispy Treats Before!
2. The Child that did NOT have ANY FUN on Monday had Fun Today!
3. Seeing my Island Mom, when I needed a hug the most!
4. More time in the Gardens!
5. PLAYING VOLLEYBALL!!!
6. Sleep- Over with one of my Peace Corps!
7. My PCV being at Camp and saving the day!

Joys of 6/6

The Joys are a week late but I have had a busy but FANTASTIC week! Pictures will follow soon (not sure when)

Joys 6/6 (Monday)
1. First Day of Camp!
2. Having MORE Children then we EXPECTED!
3. Running Around the Gardens ALL DAY!!
4. The Simply everyday Joys of being at CAMP!

Distraction...

...or the power of GREAT company!

We can just say there is never a dull moment in my life without a little disaster here or there. Today is no different.

I was preparing a pizza to take with me to the River and was boiling a hot dog to put on the pizza. I thought I heard my Landlord ask me something- we both tend to yell from outside to each other homes. So I went outside to Check if she was speaking to me, she was not but as I went outside I saw one of my dear friends from the Village. (Remember about the Hot Dog). It was his birthday yesterday, again yelling from my house to him on the road (about 75 yards). He comes up to Chat. We are sitting outside on the bench just enjoying each other company chatting about life. It is about 30 minutes that has passed, he makes numerous comments about how he needs to go and make some lunch. I tell him go make some food and I get up to go to my house.

There is a funny smell coming from the Stove. The beautiful light blub of “You have forgotten something” is shinning brighter then the Sun. Needless to say, the hot dog was FRIED, the water GONE, the sauce pan is RUINED, and my house was foggy and smelling for a few house! Was it worth- YEA!

Life....

… Explained by the hike I took

There is no concrete start or finish. We walk through it not always knowing the where we are going, how we are going to get there, or even if we are going to get there. At moments, we stop to look at the view, take some visual pictures, and have a snack. As we continue through life, we may get stuck and have a kind voice inquire if we are OK and take the load off our backs. Still blinding walking through life we get by with a little help from our friends, a hand to hold through a struggle and a conversation to share. It rains at times as well as the sun is shining bright. There is always some cool and refreshing event to enjoy. At end of the end of it all, we have laughed until we cry, get a little confused, learn something fun, we make a fifteen mess, enjoy each others company, and finished it all off with a KFC Mug Full of Cocoa Tea....

My Sweet Mema

There is this sweet lady, that I am going to call Mema. Mema is somewhere in her early 80s. She is not sure what month or date she is born but she knows she was born in 1906. I met my Mema at Church one lovely Sunday. She is a beautiful lady that walks with a stick and lives off the kind souls of random individuals, a small amount from the government, and the faith she has in God who will supply all needs to her. She lives in a small one room house, that is lite by candle light, no fridge, a small table top stove, two “bag” chairs as furniture, and a beautiful alter she prays at.

I went and saw her the other day and she simply brightens my day. She always grabs my hand and places it to her cheek. She was in high spirits when I saw her, he face light up as I walked up to her home. As she invited me in to her home, she said “I have been praying for you, your mom, your dad, and your whole family.” Before I am sitting she offers me Coffee as she always does, but I kindly declined, as I always do. I have a seat and we start chatting. I could spend all day with her, simply chatting about topics of nothing to important but the moments shared are greater then any topic of conversation. She tells me because I work for the government, I need to call them and tell them about Ms. Mema and when I tell them about her they will listen. I try to calming and patiently tell her just because I work for the government does not mean I have any connections that may help her. Instead, I humor the idea for her.

She does not have much if anything but she as this strong powerful faith in God and how he will provide every need she has. Her trust in God is amazing to witness, she is not looking for much, just some company. To hear from a women that has nothing to say “God is Good” makes you believe again. It makes an individual want to have faith that happiness does not just come from what money can buy but happiness comes from that 'something' an individual believes in.

I Challenge You...

… are you up for the Challenge? Last Sunday I was randomly talking about how Simply Acts can help to Make a BIG Difference. I believe in that from the bottom of my heart. I believe individuals strive for human contact and touch. Free 'gifts' are better then anything money could buy. One never knows what other individual is struggling with at the time so be kind.

My Challenge to all of my amazing readers is to simply greet a stranger with a 'Good Morning,' 'Good Day', ask the cashier how she/he, say extra Pleases and Thank Yous to your server or give a simply smile to a child. Take note of their reactions to your kindness. But do not forgot to take note of how you as an individual feels after a day of simplifying greeting strangers, smiling at children, or taking a moment to small talk.

My biggest joy (which I find I say that a lot), is how when someone enters a room, a building, the bus, or a store, they make a general greeting to everyone. It is amazing. My favorite is one an individual has a 'vexed' faced and I simply give a greeting directed at them full eye contacted and all and their face changes. It softens, they smile, and give me a greeting back.

Don't you worry, I will partake in the Challenge as well. I hope you are up for the challenge and share with me your amazing stories...

Pictures of the Party!

Words are great and all but for this Event we will just use Pictures to show the wonders of a Fourth of July Party- Dominica Style!

Joys from the Weekend!

I am still going to do a LONG list of Joys! They all happened this weekend, some run into each other, some I am not sure what day they happened, and it does not really matter when they happened. All that matters is that they caused me JOY!

1. An amazing view as I was hiking down to the river
2. A GREAT friend who held my backpack during the hike so I would have more balance
3. Seeing the Mist of the Rain in the Valley on the way down to he Hike!
4. Being in My Village
5. The Amazing Children that make me laugh until I cry in my Village
6. A Group of 4 Cousin (They are all kind boys, best friends with each other, and show the power of family)
7. Hanging out in the Cool river after the Hike Down
8. A Natural Cold Water Jacuzzi
9. Making Pizza and Cake with two fantastic Girls!
10. Fourth of July Party!
11. Laying on the Floor
12. Fresh,Hot,Homemade (by Me) "Creole Bread"- It is a sweeter, wheat and normal flour bread- really good!
13. Ice cream treat Surprise!
14. Doing Laundry in a Mini-Tropical Storm (My washing Machine is outside)
15. Meeting some PCVs in Town for Lunch!
16. The ability to Laugh!
17. One of the cats that went Hiking with us calming says "Are you stuck?" as my foot is SLIGHTLY wedge between two rocks (it was totally fine and no part of my foot/ankle was harmed)
18. The Power of Good Company!
19. Post Secret Sunday!(Two of my favorites are here from this week!)
20. Suprise Seeing of Austin Tonight- I Skyped my Mom only to HAPPILY see Austin and Jennifer!!

This Is Life....

Everyday life in Dominica is full of amazing, funny and unexpected moments that make me laugh out loud and just look at my life and smile. These moments remind me that I am on an island and I cannot run to Meijer when an issues comes up. I have found the longer I am in Dominica, the more I take a moment to smile at situations. There is no sense of panic because issues/concerns cannot be fixed as quickly as they can in the States, it is just a fact of life.

Let me paint you a beautiful picture of the event that made me smile from ear to ear. Today I had a Fourth of July Party (See Pictures on tomorrow Blog), it went FANASTIC! It was not as amazing as the days of going up north, fighting for candy at the parade, Dad yelling “Get it in the Hat” and Grandma giving us all bags to decorate to hold the candy. Or the Moments of two males (that will remain nameless- but I KNOW you know who you are) that would throw snappers that the walking by individuals while we were all waiting for the fireworks to start and the amazing ice cream we would fill ourselves up with. It went well- the girls enjoyed the food and the S mores we made.

Anyways, I am going to the river on Saturday so these girls were going to check me to make the pizza and the cake. But before they came over this thirteen year old boy came over and he simply CRACKED me up! He should be a stand up comedian. He has just a simply honesty to his voice, facial expressions to die for, and voices to make you smile ear to ear. We will hanging out on my porch simply enjoying life.

Then the girls come over, we first make an amazing cake and then we made a pizza. The cake finished, I took it out and replaced it with the pizza to cook for tomorrow. I am just hanging out and go to check on the pizza. When I check on the pizza I notice that the flame is no longer on. I was first checking, “I just ran out of Gas at 10:30PM at night- there is nothing I can do about this one.” I check the top burner just to find out the flame is not going on either- MY GAS IS OUT! Without even thinking, I take my half finished pizza upstairs (on top of all of this it is raining) to my Landlord in hopes she would finish cooking it for me. Her Gas is also about to finish, so as I am typing this there is a half finished pizza in my fridge that may get cooked tomorrow. I called one of my bus driver friends who told me, he will help me in the morning and get me gas tomorrow in Town. I am Thankful for my amazing bus drivers who are always looking out for me and the other individuals of my village.


This is life, the lovely life I live and enjoy. I find each day little things change about me and I notice things about my self I enjoy and other characteristics I need to improve on. There was no panic in the situation, no stress, no urgency. There are less times I have to say to myself "Every will work out or it will be OK" This situation is simply, but it is truly out of my hands, at 10:30PM at night that is not a single things I could do. Tomorrow, there might not be any Gas in town (was there Gas in town- that is the question?) but why worry because we will cross that bridge when I get there. I am working on taking a more relaxed view on life and situations. Do not get me wrong, I still worry my little self but it is getting better. A dear friend of mine in Dominica told me something simply, “We will just take one day at a time.” I have been told that on numerous different occasions but it holds another meaning in Dominica. I truly have to take one day, one hour, one minute at a time. Things change too quickly and are too random to plan to far in advance. It is one amazing, unexpected, random, and beautiful journey I am on at the moment. I am learning the true meaning of rolling with the punches, taking a day at a time, and smiling when God is teaching his lessons.

Activity: "Arts and Expressions; Changing Lives"

Here is some information about my First BIG Activity! I love Summer Time and one of the BIGGEST reasons beside the sunshine is for SUMMER CAMP! So I was thrilled to find out that I was going to assist in the planning and running of the two week long Summer Camp! Below is details regarding the camp! Thank You to Delroy (the Director) who posted this on his blog and I just copy and pasted the information!



My Worksite is putting together a two-week summer camp for children between the ages of 5 and 13. The camp is expected to develop their creative juices and assist in the holistic development and social interaction of the kids.
The children will be exposed to a wide range of activities and programs including arts and craft, music, dancing, drama and some educational programs (spelling bee, reading, presentations, etc). We will also be going to the Gardens to do Sports and Rec, a Scavenger/Trivia Hunt,and have an English Group come in to do reading activities with the younger students. In addition to my self I will have 6 amazing young adults (College and Older High School Students) working with me to ensure the camp is fun and runs as smoothly as a camp can. We are hoping for 45 Children.

Faces of Dominica!

Joys of 6/30

Happy Last Day of JUNE! Man time is sure flying by when you are having FUN! I still cannot believe tomorrow will be JULY! Sorry to my Michigan People but JULY use to mean that there was only ONE more month of SUMMER and WARMTH but NOW it Means that there will be SUNSHINE SUNSHINE SUNSHINE but Hurricane Season is more strong in Middle of July to Early September. You take the good with the bad I guess!

Joys 6/30
1. TALKING To My Sister and AUSTIN! Lots of Smile, Giggles, and Chatter from Mr. Austin himself! My Lovely but Sassy sister thought I forgot about her, but I just did not get to today's JOYS yet! My sister is an amazing women though, she is strong, smart, lovely, organized, task focused and GREAT at whatever she does. She gives straight forward advice (which I needed at many moments of my life), has been there to calming help me out of many situation (ex: First person I called when I got into a car accident- 3 hours away from her- but before I knew it everything was taken care because of her). Most importantly she is there with me to celebrate my JOYS and comfort me in my stressors!
2. EATING FISH! Yes- I use to NOT touch fish with a Ten Foot Pole (and would agree with Dad when Mom wanted to order Fish but he claimed it would smell up the house and car), but today I went to a Fishing Village and had a piece of my friends steam fish and it was really good. I think I might get my own next time. This is a BIG Step for me! The restaurant we went to was very unique. Its structure is a Shack made out of Bamboo, with a Bar and a Restaurant, seating for about 10 inside and 5 outside. With standing for about another 8. It is located about 7 feet away from the Caribbean Sea. What happens is you go to the bar, you say you want Fish, the guy pulls out a bowl of cleaned and cut fish (from the Caribbean Sea you are looking at), you pick what one you want, they put it on a plate for you then you walk about 5steps go to the window where the cook is- she is this amazing women and she will cook the fish just how you want it. Talk about FRESH and Cooking to Order!
3. Since I did not have fish- it was late and no where was really open any more so I had Ice Cream For Dinner!
4. Seeing the Passion Parents have for their children. I went to a PTA meeting at the School I am attached to and it was amazing to see (almost sent goose bump throughout my body) the passion and love these Parents had for their Children. The Parents were the voices of the Children and they were voicing their opinions loud and strongly!
5. Finding a new place to buy Delicious Ice Pops (Even though I think they may of given me a tummy ache)
6. Cannot forget about talking to my Mom and Dad!