Post 1

To my great surprise, when I stepped off the plane onto the island of St. Lucia to begin my two years as a Peace Corps Volunteer I didn’t immediately join Princess Jasmine in a devastatingly touching rendition of “A Whole New World” and Lisa Ling didn’t pop out from behind a tree for a tarmac interview. I just stepped off the plane. And now here I am. I still haven’t had the big Peace Corps Freak-out Meltdown Panic Extravaganza of Anxiety I was told to expect.
In the month since my arrival I’ve been living with a host mother in a town on the Southwest coast called Soufriere (pronounced “Sue – fray”) where I’ll be living until October of 2010. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays I take an offensively long, gut-wrenchingly windy 1.5 hour bus ride of death (and I use the term “bus” loosely here) into Castries, the country’s crowded capitol, where I punch people and elbow little children in the kidneys to get onto another bus that takes me to the Peace Corps Regional Office. I leave my house at 6:40 to get there by 9 a.m. when training begins, and when I get there I’ve traveled a distance of less than 20 miles. It’s a fab way to start the day.
My training group is full of fun and interesting people (seriously – I like them) and together we study things like Fundamentals of Teaching, Safety and Security, Youth Development Strategies, Cultural Sensitivity and the Creole Language. If you know me at all you have already guessed how I feel about these classes and can imagine my obscene level of excitement at the prospect of training’s end. Four weeks down, three to go.
On Tuesdays I have a “School Internship” with the third grade classes at Soufriere Primary School just a short, nausea-free walk from my house. I spend the morning there observing and aiding the teachers and getting to know the students. Before I leave I always remind the kids that my name is Miss Dyer, I’m new to Soufriere and they should say hello whenever they see me outside of school. Now I hear at least one “Hello, Miss Dyer!” every time I go into town.
Thursdays are for “Shadowing” local community members and current volunteers. So far I’ve spent a day with a member of the St. Lucia Youth and Sports Council and another at The C.A.R.E. School (The Center for Adolescent Renewal and Education – it’s like an alternative school in the states but not exclusively for children with behavioral problems) with about 25 students ages 11 to 16.
Soufriere is the perfect size – small enough that I already know people on the street by name and can get around easily but large enough that I have a bank, grocery store, post office and cell company (no one on the planet needs more than that as far as I’m concerned) and can pay all my bills in town (not the case for lots of other volunteers on other parts of the island.) When training ends in three weeks (!!!!!!!!!) I’ll move just a few blocks down the road from my current home into the first floor of a two story house underneath someone called “Miss Lucy.” We’ll see how it goes. Soon after that I’ll start work for the Ministry of Education at my district’s office to improve their Language Arts Program and possibly implement other programs as well (read: ART. Also read: RIBBON.) The job description is still a little vague and I imagine it will take months to get a real idea of what needs to be done, but this is much more information than the two-word description of “Community Development” I’ve been living with for the past months.
I LOVE hearing from you, so email me at hallie.dyer@gmail.com or better yet, send me a real letter at:

Hallie Dyer
U.S. Peace Corps
P.O. Box 123
Barnard Hill, Sans Soucis Area
Castries
St. Lucia, West Indies

If I haven’t written you by now it’s because I don’t have your address. I want an update on your life, I don’t care who you are. I probably miss you.