Success

-Our Turkey -

Thanksgiving was a HUGE Success!! There was little to no hiccups in the day and it was very relaxed! I had to go to work in the morning to do my reading program and some office work and when I came up about an hour or so before dinner… the house was calm, filled with laughter and lots of helping hands making some last minute preparations!

The Menu:
Turkey
Mashed Potatoes
Sweet Potatoes with Marshmallows
Green Bean Casserole
Rolls
Cranberry Sauce
Baked Mac and Cheese
Fig Pie (Which is Green Bananas, Tuna, Cheese and some other stuff all mixed together then baked like a Casserole)
Veggie Plate
Cheese and Crackers
Corn
Pumpkin Pie
Pound Cake
Peanut Butter/Chocolate Bars


- This is at the PCVs House Who Hosted Turkey Day... We Had the Turkey Hands and Colored The Pictures That Day -


It was a very filling menu and all of the food was DELIOUS!! I could not have asked a more amazing group of individuals to spend the day with and to start new traditions with. I am holding onto the old traditions but grateful and excited to start some new traditions here in Dominica!


- The Group with Their Turkey Hands... Minus One-

I hope you all enjoyed your Turkey Day!

Turkey!

Yes... You are all correct I am about to write a whole blog about Turkey!!

As you all know, Thursday is Thanksgiving, one of my favorite Holidays and a Holiday Dominica does not celebrate understandable. The Peace Corps and a few neighbors have decided to Celebrate Thanksgiving with a little Dominican twist to it all! Yes we will have the normals such as, Turkey, Mash Potatoes, Yams, Pumpkin Pie, Rolls, Green Bean Casserole. But we will also have some special treats such as Mac and Cheese, local juices and Fruit Cake!

Another PCV, Alicia and I are in charge of the Turkey. Man has it taken over our lives! There is only one place in town who sells turkey large enough for the amount of people we are serving. I go over to the place to my check out the scene of the Turkey and what not. As I get there I am at basically a MEAT MARKET! There is just frozen meat everywhere... WAY out of my eliminate! As I have asked numerous times for a Turkey someone finally pulls out a Turkey... but not any Turkey rather a BUTTERBALL! :o) HaHa! I call Alicia as I am leaving the store before I say 'Hello, How are you' and what not... All I say is 'LET'S TALK TURKEYS!' That is when our worlds started to reveal around this Turkey!

After many chats with Alicia's Mother.... many debatable text message back and forth from myself and Alicia we have decided to get the Turkey on Thursday. Do a natural fridge defrost and if need then we will do a rapid defrost. All of this Thanksgiving and Turkey talking makes me smile and laugh out loud! For all of the PCVs have never really planned a Thanksgiving Dinner before but it will ALL come together in true Thanksgiving with a little Dominican Twist Fashion! :o)

HAPPY TURKEY DAY ALL!!!

Normalacy!

Inspired by reading a Blog from another PCV in St. Lucia I am going to go on a little ramble about "Normal!"

I have always had a struggle of defining what Normal truly is and now in my life I cannot even begin to try to express what normal is. As I am sitting her listening to DMB on my lap top in my basketball shorts and t-shirt drinking some tea life seem remotely Normal. Until I look alittle closer. It is currently DOWN POURING outside... I know my bathroom will have a puddle in it because the ceiling is linking... the cloths that I washed in the rain are hanging on the line OUTSIDE (I hope they do not blow away or get even more wet!)... I converse with my parents via computer screen... I have not heared the sound of my BEST Friend voice in over 7 months and I killed a MASSIVE moth without even blinking an eye. Normal... Yes! I relay on someone else to get me to work, town, grocery shopping, and anything else I need that I can walk to. My life is not complete without hearing little voices yelling "Miss Miss"... hugs and little ones playing with my hair. Everyone seems to be extremely interested in my life even though it is not that interesting!

And then there comes to the simple task of life that become a lot more difficult. The task of sweeping the office I work in at 8:30AM in the morning leaves me Dripping in Sweat. The simple task of going to Town could turn into an hour bus ride!

I am not complaining.... It may sound like it but honestly I am not, simply describing the life I live here. The thing is, I have almost forgotten the 'simple/convenient' life I had in Michigan! I enjoy the moments that are not as 'simple' as I am use to because during the moments of waiting amazingness always happens... I have become a lot more relaxed and I do not have as many nervous tummy days! Life truly is good!!

A Day of First and Homemade Canons…

Yesterday was an amazing and interesting day to say the least. It was filled with First Time Events, Surprises, and Random Acts of Kindness

Let me break it down for you! The Morning started with me heading to the office just for me to leave moments later. The driver came by to pick me and the books up to bring them to the Primary School. Those books are the ones from ALL of YOU and also a program called Kiera’s Book Club. After I spent the afternoon in the office doing computer/paper work it was off to town to be a Post Women for the day! I had to delivery paperwork then I went and pick up the Peace Corps Mail. The office staff are at a week long training off island so I am in charge of the mailbox key for the week. A responsibility I am taking very seriously and it was great to put the cards and packages slips in the mailbox because I KNEW how much joy I was bringing to my fellow PCVs. I just got a bill but that is OK because my mailbox is filled with Joy A LOT!!

Anyways… on to more important things. Today was the first day of my practice. I am coaching High School girls (13-16) volleyball. It was a lot of fun today! There was a total of six girls but a few others said they will show up next week which I am excited about. There skill level is very low which was expected because volleyball is not as popular as it is in the United States of America. We kept it low key and easy today just working on passing and then ended the day with a Relay Race. We have a lot of work to do but I am excited and I hope the girls share my excitement.

Then after coaching practice it was time for me to go and play some Volleyball. Luckily as I was walking to the bus stop (running a little late) a fellow teammate of me yelled “Get in the Car!” Man was I Thankful for the ride because if not I would have been late (or should I say latER). Today, I was suppose to practice with the National Team. They had asked me to play on their team which I felt very honored about. The Coach was not there so me and the boys once again played! Then the coach showed up and my FIRST NATIONAL PRACTICE began! It was just three us so we did lots of setting and hitting so the women could get us to me. Now some of you may be wondering if I can play on the National Team not being a Dominica Citizen. I had the same question but the answer is Yes (Kinda). I can play in the Eastern Caribbean Tournament but WHEN we win that I do not think I can go on because I am not a Citizen and they start to check passports. Even to play in the first round would be amazing! The women practice twice a week so I am excited. It just feel normal, again Kinda, I am outside on a sport court playing volleyball until the sunset! The Coach is very knowledgeable and nice. We were chatting as he was driving me to town to get a bus and he ended up just taking me up all the way which I was very grateful for!

While I was playing volleyball I see these boys (when I say boys I would say between the age of 10-13). They were starting a fire but when I looked closely I saw they had a little set-up going on. They had two concrete bricks and two thick pieces of bigger bamboo. They one bamboo on each brick and the bamboo had a hole on each end. Then the boys put plastic/plastic cups in them and set the end of the bamboo on fire and plastic shot out of the other end. Basically it was a homemade Canon. Many of you made be thinking, that is really dangerous and yes you are correct. It was more dangerous for the boys then us. The canons were pointing away from us but I was wondering they may burn off their eyebrows. Everyone lived through the fun!

I am flipping through the channels trying to watch some TV before bed and have back round noise while I am typing. You know what I find… the CMU vs Ball State Football Game! When I left them in the 2nd CMU was up 7-0! I will have to check online to see who won! For you CMU fans… who is the Browne (Number 27) cat? He is all over the field and his name was said like 15 times in 5 minutes...

Off to Bed I Go...

Time Change!

This Time Change is Killing Me. As everyone in MI pushed their clocks back one hour... DA has stayed the same. I simply cannot wrapped my fingers around the time change!

I am at the airport a little bored... So I decided to call my Mother. It is 7:15AM DA time, my thought process was "Mom will be up getting ready for work." As I called it rang about three times when a quiet, sleepy voices says Hello?!? On the other end is Me... UP for Three House... cup of coffee in the blood and bubbly as can be. Mom was a little confused but the minute she realized it was the Princess (Me) and not the Queen (Jennifer) (even though she would of had the same reaction for Jennifer), her voiced changed. It was now the voice I always know when my I call my mother... up-beat and full of joy! She was simply thrilled to hear me. One of the many reason why I love her.

Another reason why I love her is because when I asked her if she had the day off (still thinking it is 7:15AM in MI), she so calmy says No Michelle it is 6:30AM. After I said I am sorry a few times, her sweet joyful voice saids 'It's Ok'

I am back!

-A Beach in S. Lucia-

It is good to back in DA! Where it is ALWAYS raining... the mountains fill the sky... people know me by name... and I feel at home!

This is a 'Journal Entry' I wrote while in the Airport of St. Lucia coming back home!

I find myself sitting here- crossed legged in a comfy lever couch at the Airport in a Coffee House. As I am sitting her it is makes me miss the coffee houses back at home where the vibe is rich- the coffee is strong and the conversation is hot. I am sitting in Rituals which is the Caribbean 'Starbucks' (Black and Green) where is the coffee is over priced, the crowd is stiff and the drinks are weak. Around me are couples… new and old… conversing about travel times as they make their way home to the States- Jealous? Nah... I am going back to my Dominica where the sun is bright... the vibe is alive… and the food has soul behind it. After a great work vacation I am ready to go back to see my little... visit the shop... and catch up!


- Peace Corps Re-United-

Anyways... I spent one week in St. Lucia- 3 days on Vacation... 2 Days of Meetings… and 2 Days of Travel. At the moment I am running on two hours of sleep and hoping I make it through security with my bag that I should have checked in! (I made it through with no problems!)

When I arrived in St. Lucia... I directly headed to the beach that borders the airport. I sat there drinking my Lime and Passion Fruit Juice. I was lucky enough to have a PCV and her friend pick me up and take me to lunch. It was great to be greeted by a familiar face and to eat pesto pasta! I walk around the capital... making friends… looking at shoes... St. Lucia is a lot more developed and tourist centered then DA. I will not bore you will all of the details but rather my three days went something like this: days of endless chic chat- lazy days on the beach- THREE days with NO water- FIRST bucket bathe- sand volleyball- HOMEMADE corndogs- fish fries- and visits by children!


- The View of The Dominican Stadium from the Airplane -

After an amazing three days it was time for the VAC meeting. It was great to catch-up with the VACs of the other islands! In a nutshell the meeting was extremely productive and lots of topics discussed… problems solved... and laughter exchanged!

The weekend ended with friends getting together- stories exchanged- and Chocolate Chip Pancakes!

Independence

Independence Day for Dominica is November 3 but the week prior to the actual day is filled with Music Festivals, Parades, and Matches. Also, during the time you will find Dominicans wearing National Wear. The picture above is me and another PCV in our National Wear Skirts!

If you want to see check little students (My Pre-K Students I read to for the Big Readers Little Listener Program) Click HERE!

In the Album you will find Heritage Day Photos, My Pre-K Students in their National Wear, The Primary School Students during their Independence Day Celebration, and Pictures from Creole Festival!

ENJOY!