I'm starting to get back into sketching. On my free time I've been drawing from pictures I have taken while I've been out here, and I am starting to play with oil pastels. It's a cheap way to decorate my walls!

Oh, and here am I in my "office" last night. I was working hard at not working! No, I actually accomplished getting some things downloaded for my HIV/AIDS presentation.

Ahhhh... home at last! It's been a busy few days, not the busiest I've ever seen, but busy enough for me lately. All day Friday I had a Monitoring and Evaluation Workshop that was a requirement for all PC-EC posts. I found it useful but very boring as well. It continued into Saturday, which for me was a killer. After the workshop the day before I helped out at Alliance Francaise for their Wine Discovery night. I like doing it since you get to meet new people and try French wine, but I didn't get home till 1 am, and I am old now, so 1 am is VERY late for me. So I was dead tired come Saturday and then bailed on Karaoke that night. I wanted to get some work done for my presentation on Tuesday at a parents meeting here in St. Peters. It will be a talk on HIV/AIDS and I really want to focus on stigma and discrimination. So I got a little rest last night and I have never been so happy to be at home on a Saturday night!

This morning was wonderful because it rained and delayed the heat, which made it much easier to sleep in a bit. Also, I found no ants!! Those guys are always playing games with me and I have gone through so many cans of BOP that I really think it should be factored into our monthly stipend. I didn't go to church this morning though, I had an invite to join an anniversary celebration at the local Baha'i center. I was excited to go because I have heard of Baha'i but didn't know much about it. In a nutshell it is a new religion that believes all religions have it right. They believe that the suffering and adversity of man is what is needed to unite us all. It's a lot like any other christian religion, they just don't believe in the infrastructure of the church. Instead, it is all about independent worship. Living a moral life upon your own free will without the persecution of damnation. They leave it up to you. It was pretty nice. (If I have it wrong, feel free to correct me, but this is just how I interpreted it)

I did end up going to evening church though. I always try to go to one of the services because I really do love the people that go there and it is a way for me to see my host family. I haven't hung out with them much now that I am getting busier. I did stop by this last Thursday, and Betty had me try tripe (again!), I had told her once before that I didn't like it, but I thought maybe it is an acquired taste. It's not! I've counted. Four times now I have tried this stuff. First in Cali when my old neighbors would cook it, and each time I gagged. Well, this time, cooked different, it still tasted like what it was... cow stomach! I made the most horrible face and Betty just laughed! I kept making the face minutes after because the taste in my mouth just wouldn't go away, even after drinking water. Seriously, that stuff is potent! She gave me a sweetie to help it go away. Ahh... this woman knows me too well.

So now here I am on a Sunday night, drinking my own green tea latte concoction (it's really not good, but I'm learning not to be picky here) and trying to catch up and get a jump ahead on the week. I need to get some info and stats for my presentation. I will work on it tomorrow with Elizabeth, a fellow volunteer. She's also the one I will be traveling with to Trinidad in December. Oh yeah, did I mention I am going to Trini?! I told Mavis (our APCD) that I feel like a grown up now, traveling on business and all :)

Yay!! I am back online after about a week of no internet. I still was able to make it into the office to check emails and all, but there is nothing like having it at home where you can work online as long as you want. I am really glad that I ended up bringing my laptop, it is priceless out here!!

The last few weeks have been moderately busy for me. I am keeping my sanity by making sure I am preoccupied with working on projects, going to meetings, or exploring my new island home. I finished teaching the Guadalupe exchange students at the end of last month, and now am just teaching during the after-school reading project here in my community of St. Peters. I love it! It took me a while, only because the last couple of weeks had been chaos, but now we finally have the children divided into smaller, more manageable groups and so far no more bats have been flying into the rooms. Now it looks like a majority of the time I will be working with the kindergarteners, and they are just angels! I will be sure to have pictures up of them before we break for Christmas.

I am also becoming involved with a local HIV/AIDS support group, and am working with another volunteer to help them get organized and start project proposals in order to receive funding from the UN. The next 2 months should be busy with this group since World AIDS Day is on the 1st of December and of course we have carnival that month as well, so there are lots of festivities island-wide in which we will try to involve some awareness campaigns. Plus, it looks like I will have an opportunity to journey to Trinidad the first week of December for a workshop on BCC (behavior change communication) and HIV/AIDS. But before all that I will get my first experience of leading a BCC session next week at a parenting meeting here in my community. I’ve been asked to “give a talk” on HIV/AIDS, so I am really excited to set that up and answer any questions these community members have. Just like all over the world, there is a huge issue of stigma and discrimination for those who are infected and affected by the disease, so I am more than willing to be a part of anything that can tear down the false perceptions of this disease.

Aside from “work”, I’ve been doing a little more socially and starting to get out of my house on the weekends. I participated in my first Hash activities a couple of weeks ago. The Hash is an event that usually happens about once a month, where a trail/maze is created through cane fields, forests, hillsides, creek beds, etc. The trail is marked with flagging or flour depending on whether or not you are running or walking it. Then at the end you enjoy beer and hotdogs and hamburgers. Some of you might have heard of it before. It’s something they do all over the world, I remember first hearing about it over on Guam, and I think it’s an event that started over in Malaysia. A lot of expats participate and it is a great way to meet people, as well as being a lot of fun. I walked it last time because I heard the last trail had been brutal and I didn’t know if I was up for running up hills and through creeks, but it didn’t seem too bad. I actually met a returned PC volunteer who had just left the island back in March. Come to find out she is also from Columbia, Missouri!! So we had a lot to talk about, especially since our home state has been in the news a lot.

On Friday nights there is a wine and dine event that I go to and as of last week actually helped serve. It is another great opportunity to meet people that can be of great help for any work that I would want to do here in the island. I actually met a woman who is working on the Human/Environment conflict as her research out of the Ross Vet school we have here on St. Kitts. I am very interested in helping her with doing some public outreach campaigns on this matter.

Now, as far as pets, my landlord nixed any dreams I may have had of getting a cat or dog. I have recently found out though, that I have a pair of Mourning Doves that are roosting on my window only 4 feet from my bed, so I count these as pets. I've decided to call them James and Vivi, they just looked like that's what they would be called. They are now my new alarm clock, since I can't hear the rooster crowing in the distance over their cooing at 5:30 am!! They really get on my nerves sometimes, but I still like them!

Ok, and this is absolutely it.... I also tried conch for the first time, and I ate it raw. Another volunteer and I were getting a ride around town to check out some community centers, when all of a sudden our driver stopped in the middle of the road (blocking traffic as well) and backed up to talk to this guy selling fresh conch near the bay. They were all in a bucket, recently out of their shells and still squirming. The man then offered us pieces of raw conch, and you all know that I am always down for something new! I enthusiastically ate about 3 or 4 pieces. It tasted great! It had a not so slimey texture and tasted like coconut water and not seafood. I then got a free conch to take home and cook. Now I just need to get my host mom to show me how to cook it!