Emancipation Concert on Brimstone Hill

About a week and a half ago, I attended the emancipation concert that is held annually up on Brimstone Hill. It is concert that features many local artists from musicians to poets, to drummers and dancers. Here are just a couple I managed to film (thanks Robin for letting me "borrow" your camera). I must remember my camera next time. It was a lot of fun though I had a tiring weekend and was drained by the end of it all. Enjoy!

*the last video has a little glimpse into the crowd and the set up there on Brimstone Hill

Also, I will be sure to put up pictures and videos from the Cry Freedom concert that will be held tomorrow night in Basseterre. This is part of the celebration of the 200th year since the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade.



Masud Sadiki-"I Wonder How"

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Okolo Dancers with Drummers

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Okolo Dancers part 2

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Okolo Tegramantine part 3

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Exciting!!!!!

I feel like I need to write something to commemorate my first year out here.... I have been very nostalgic lately since we have a new group coming in this weekend. It keeps making me think about the year and what it will be like for my last year... but I am just too damn excited/anxious/obsessed with watching the weather at the moment!! We have Tropical storm Dean playing out in the Atlantic, and all predictions so far have it hitting the Leeward Islands (that's me!) within a few days!! I guess we won't really know it's course a day or two before it passes over the Lesser Antilles, but they are for sure it will pass over these little islands.

Guess we'll see!! Then I will try and recap my experience out here so far.

Camp recap

Things have now quieted down for a while. I finally feel like I can enjoy a bit of summer before the madness begins again… whatever that madness might be! I know one thing though, it won’t be camps anymore! My whole July was filled with day camps and I finished the last one last week.

I have put some more pictures up of all the camps. In total I did three, the Environmental Day Camp, the Sea Turtle Day Camp, and Camp Abraham. I finished Camp Abraham last week. They had a variety show last Thursday night, in which I had several kids that I helped come up with skits and presentations for the event. I was so stressed out the whole time with this camp since I was the one they asked to head the drama sessions. By the time the variety show rolled I was just intent on it finishing so I could go home. I got there at 4:30 pm and didn’t see my house until after midnight!! I ended up having a lot of fun and even joined in some of the skits since a couple of kids got stage fright. I loved it!

Here are some videos of some of the singing and drumming acts. The boys used plastic bottles and wooden blocks to drum on chairs, doors, and the wall. The video doesn’t do it any justice. I was expecting a cacophony of sound, but they really did beat out a rhythm.

camp variety show

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veriety show

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Though I got home after midnight, the ladies at the camp made sure to send me on my way with a bowl full of goat water and a huge piece of bread pudding. So I got home, turned on Scrubs, and ate my bowl of goat water and took some bites of bread pudding (that goat water ended up having some liver in it… I need to tell Mrs. Simon she tricked me!!)

Kids say the darndest things

Interacting with kids is always interesting, no matter what part of the world you live in. Here's some stories from the last week:


Friday, July 27th: I was helping out with the St Kitts Sea Turtle Monitoring Network's day camp. We had crafts and games, and mini lectures set up for the kids. All of this was themed around learning about sea turtles and what the kids could do to help in the conservation effort of one of mother nature's most beautiful creatures. Come the end of the day the kids were eating popcorn and gathering their things to leave. One little boy walked right up to PCV Nate, tugged at his arm and said, "When do we get to see the elephants?"


Tuesday, July 31st: I was at Camp Abraham in the afternoon helping the kids prepare skits and performances for Thursdays talent show thing. I was working with little Levencia when 4 yr old Abby came up to me and said, "You're white"

"I know", I said chuckling.

"What happened?"

"I came out this way. When I was born"

"When you were a baby?"

"Yep."

Then she ran off down to the other room to watch the dancers

Yesterday: I am walking up the hill in my community to go to cricket practice. When I hit the corner at the main road there are always a bunch of kids playing at some tire swings there. This time there were 2 toddler-aged kids throwing what looked to be rocks at each other. As soon as they saw me one came running over, toting a rock of some sort in her hand. She was smiling and talking to me and I could tell she was wanting to launch it my way. I kept telling her "Don't throw that", but she just grinned and said something inaudible in dialect as I kept walking past. I thought I was safe as I made it past their yard, but then, to my surprise, something exploded behind me and then a stench of manure filled the air and I couldn't help but laugh. "Did she really throw a dry cow pattie at me?" I wondered. I didn't turn around, I just laughed to myself and trudged up hill and noted this as another this-is-the-peace-corps kind of moment.