So…

I supposed it would be appropriate to give this blog some form of closure. I mean it’s only been a month and a half since I’ve returned to State College, and have been back at the grind. Daily life has kept me far too occupied and I am not always given the chance to reminisce about the summer spent abroad. I miss Grenada more than anything. It was the best opportunity I have ever had (maybe second to going to PSU), and I will cherish the experiences Grenada shared with me for my whole life.

I think that it’s getting easier for me as time goes by. I can look back and reflect on the whole experience with a lot more clarity now. When I first got back to the U.S. my mind was totally set on readjusting. Oh and by the way, the whole readjusting process has been grueling. In fact, I think I’m only now getting readjusted. Which is probably why I’m writing in this thing. So I guess the past month and a half I’ve been completely maladjusted. Ah, the therapy of blogging is kicking in again.

Grenada taught me how to handle life. I’ve really taken an initiative to accept things the way they are and improve on the things that I can. School has been going well, aside from my occasional Grenadian instinct to just let things happen naturally (i.e. not go to class on Mondays). But basically the whole “my life is a vacation” mentality is finally wearing off. I’m finally back in the swing of things and I can finally appreciate my summer in hindsight. Especially the lessons learned working with the ministry.

In order to give my life’s yin its yang I think I’ll work at an aluminum company next summer.

Until later…

Insert title here

Alas, I am finally here to report to you the happenings through mine eyes. I’m sure you have been anxious to find out what I will tell. I’ll have to back track to a couple weeks ago and from there until now.

Two weeks ago—beginning with Monday, the 16^th of July— we were beginning our training session with our last group. This group consisted entirely of IT Teachers of Grenada, an interesting dynamic to be thrown at us. Relatively speaking our “student” group was completely different than that which we had grown used to teaching. Suddenly the student body had become much older, much wiser, much more knowledgeable, but also much more willing and eager to learn what we had to offer. As a result of this we went through our material much faster, and in anticipation for this we added 3 chapters to our course book: more on arrays, methods, and objects. All in all the week was the greatest and most efficient week so far. One of the teachers put together a video documentary of the week which included a lot of teacher feedback. They had a lot of nice responses to our training session and it made us feel like we had really done something here.

The following week we did some work around the ministry. Wednesday the 25^th of July we had a continuation with the IT teachers. However, the topic of discussion for this day was network security, not Java. It was a nice and welcomed change but it was sad to think that it was going to be our last day of teaching/training here in Grenada. For the rest of the week we did IT help around the Ministry of Education building and a very brief introduction with a few individuals to PowerPoint.

The Friday of that week Josh, our driver, took us to his home town: Boca. Josh had coordinated a rather large event where we and a group of financial consultants (working for the Ministry) were brought to that small country town; experiencing what Grenada is like from a local perspective. While there we had the Grenadian national dish: Oil Down. Basically it’s a giant pot that is full of all kinds of stuff that I have grown accustomed to eating here, but would never have at home. Such things as dasheen (also known as taro, a big tasty root type thing) and other provisions, dumplings, salt pork and callaloo (which is kind of like spinach), all mixed up with coconut oil, curry and tons of other spices to make a delicious stew of Grenadian flavor. We also had the chance to mingle with the locals who were hanging out at the same spot; met some rastas and enjoyed the atmosphere.

This week has been unconventional in relation to our typical weeks here. All the summer workshops have ended. So this puts us in an awkward place with regard to IT unit duties. Typically during the summer the IT unit of the MoE is left without much responsibility. And now that they have an additional five employees it has been a bit of a struggle to organize enough work for all of us to carry out. So we have been doing a lot of sitting around in the office, which is both a burden and a curse. To make things more interesting we found out at dinner Tuesday night that we were being moved. Yes, we were being relocated from the University Club. So the paradise dream was over, or so we had thought. As it turns out we have been placed in the Grand Beach Hotel, a huge tourist spot. Good and bad. Basically I miss my villa but now we have two swimming pools, one of which is referred to as “The Fantasy Pool”.

Tomorrow we are going to Gouyave for dinner at Rene’s Mom’s. Since we will be in Gouyave for dinner we’ll be heading to Fish Friday following dinner, to eat more I guess. It should be a good time. I’ll talk all about it this weekend. Until then, lata.

Dear Centipede,

I just came out of my bathroom and found you, a giant dead centipede, square in the middle of the bathroom floor. There are two possibilities for you getting there. One is that you crawled out from under the sink, dying naturally in the center of the bathroom, legs in the air, lying on your back as you shuddered your last breath. The other possibility is that I brought you back with me last night, drunkenly and thankful for you not biting me. If this were the case it would appear that I am the one responsible for your death, for this I would apologize. I really hope it was the former, but who knows. I’m slightly freaked out about it at the moment because even if it were the former that still means I have centipedes in my villa. Rene told me that he had been bitten by a centipede like you once. He said it was no good. Thanks for not biting me. Sorry you had to go like this.

Regards,

Augustin

Thursday…

Lately I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about this internship. Never in my life have I felt so privileged, honored to be given such a responsibility. And I feel that since beginning my duties here in Grenada, I have developed into a much more professional, humble, and genuine person. Before my arrival here on Grenada I would think often, and often not, about how the cards would unfold this summer. And I often felt that it was better to not think about it. I find myself quite pessimistic at times and am often discouraged by these feelings. My thoughts about this trip before hand were troubled, bland at best. I was excited about working here, in a neutral kind of way, but deep down inside I felt that this trip was going to be a mishap. Why? I don’t know. But that was how I felt. Maybe it was a fear or responsibility; perhaps a fear of the unexpected. Maybe it was the culture shock, or my inexperience in Java. I never felt that way again about this place.

Grenada is beautiful, in all aspects. I could rant about the ocean; I could rant about the lush forests. I could rant about the way the sunsets through my window, eclipsing out of view above the westward Caribbean Sea. I could rant for days on end about the proud, high-spirited people of Grenada, always willing to lend a hand, always willing to give an open ear. At times I feel there is so much passion running through my veins it’s almost unbearable. Passion inspired by the aforementioned. Passion inspired by my work with the Ministry of Education. I often find myself bursting out with laughter, something I have not done so much since I was a child. But, what I really want to say here is not an account of my blessings. I do that more often now than ever. Regardless, I want to talk about the future, particularly of this program.

I have become as of late contemplative about the program we are so lucky to be a part of. As a person who had absolutely no professional experience in education before, I must say I was put in my place very quickly. But the reality check we received our first week of work was strong, strong enough to keep us on track until now. Teaching requires patience, knowledge, focus, humility, and discipline, at least in my eyes. These things I have not always had, and have been improving upon since our work began. These human character developments are something that I will utilize and cherish to the end of my lifetime, and it is for this reason that I hope IST will continue this program in the future; for the benefit of the IST student and the conscience of our College.

The Ministry is a body of serious consideration and influence. They, like IST, also hold a key to the continuation of this program. I can’t simply justify the benefits to us as IST students and ignore the repayment through the Ministry. We have done good work here. We have taught four different groups of students Java, trained a group of teachers basic computer repairs, and are in the process of training another group of IT teachers Java. In order to educate these groups it was our responsibility, as the interns, to develop comprehensive lesson plans and write a manual to accompany our lessons. This was tough work, not to mention unexplored territory for all of us.

Often, due to my pessimistic nature (I consider it being careful and realistic), I feel that we are letting the Ministry down. Maybe it’s due to our inexperience, the fear of the unknown (see paragraph one for more details). But after thinking about the actual work we have done I feel better, I feel that we have done the best job we could have. This is encouraging. It is because of this that I want this program in the future to be even better. I do not necessarily expect to come back to Grenada again (at least with this program), but I want to know that I made a difference. I want to see this program is better developed. I want this partnership with the Ministry and IST to be more defined. I want the interns that are coming here to be more prepared. If these things can be done, with the help of us as interns, greater things can be accomplished in the future for the youth here in Grenada, the Ministry of Education, and IST.

Quick update (written Wednesday July 11, 2007)

It’s the middle of the week of our 6^th week here. I think that’s right? Anyway, today I got my hands on a lot of Soca (think sped up calypso, real nice) off one of the guys I work with in the Ministry. The man who gave the music to me, Rinny (spelling?), is a real interesting guy from Gouyave. And now that I’m on the topic of real cool guys we’ve met here I’m starting to think about how much I’m going to miss this place when I leave.

We’ve made a lot of friends since we got here. Surprisingly enough we managed to become somewhat Grenadian ourselves and it’s something that I am proud of. Today in the IT office we got on the topic (with Rinny) [I just killed a huge mosquito] about the dialect here and how hard it is to understand the locals when they talk to each other. But we realized that we didn’t realize how much [I just killed another one] we already knew. We’ve been here for about six weeks and I really am feeling integrated into the life style here. Even though we are living in an American type community (and I use the term American loosely) we are still very experienced in the culture here. And that is something that I think has a lot of value, at least to myself.

However, there is one thing that I am most certainly not going to miss when I leave this place. Mosquitoes. I hate them.

That’s about all I have to complain about aside from being away from friends and family. And I am very used to being away from friends and family so it’s not as bad for me as it may be for others. Anyway, work has been easy this week. We have a week away from teaching in order to prepare for next week. So we’ve been hard at the type writers trying to update our manuals so they are suitable for a more experienced class; next week we are training teachers in Java (more Java, YAY). Aside from this I don’t have much else to report. Life is good but what else is new. Ciao.

Monday Retrospect

I know that it has been a long time since I have written in this journal. I’ve been careless with time and have been trying my best to enjoy as much as possible while I’m here on this island. That means spending a lot of time just relaxing and soaking up sun, which is basically all I’ve been doing. So for the supervisors reading this, I’ve been slacking. For those others, I’ve really been having a blast.

I guess I should explain what I’ve been doing, at least vaguely, maybe descriptively about some things. Last Sunday through this past Friday we (the group) were in Carriacou. An island that makes Grenada appear huge. The town we lived in briefly, Hillsborough, was a quaint main street town that stretched for about a mile. The main street lay parallel to Hillsborough bay, where we spent most of our free time sun bathing and sea bathing. Sea bathing. Locals here refer to swimming in the ocean as sea bathing; something that we all find funny. Anyway, the resort we stayed at, John’s Unique Resort, was definitely unique. Unique in almost every aspect: water regularity, odor, bed sizes, lighting, air conditioning, you name it. Everything about John’s Unique made it an adventure. Adventures such as: why don’t we have any running water and my personal favorite, what is that smell?

We were in Carriacou to teach Java to another student group and teach basic computer repairs to a teacher group. I was part of the computer repairs group, the group with the teachers. Man, Carriacou was a tough crowd. The students on the first day gave the other group enough trouble that they almost wanted to give up. Anna seemed to have had some trouble with student teacher cooperation. Meanwhile Tim and I were put under the spotlight and had to present a very vague presentation of computer repairs. Confused and stressed out, Tim and I did a pretty rough job around all the edges. A lot of the material we were teaching a lot of the students already knew, and we tried to compensate this by making our explanations a little more deep. However, this served us both positively and negatively. A portion of the group that was not there on Monday came in on Tuesday. This group of teachers turned out to be much less advanced than those that were present on Monday. So we had to compensate this by more or less holding everyone back at the consequence of everyone.

Up until Wednesday we were being supervised by Mr. Thomas, assistant of Mr. Cato. Mr. Thomas was given the responsibility of finding our meals and making sure that our accommodations were suitable, a relatively simple role. However it was met with some difficulty. Accommodations were apparently not sufficient for Mr. Thomas as he made it very clear he desired a self contained hotel. Also the food caterers were apparently not good enough for the teacher group; they did a bit of complaining. It seemed they complained about everything imaginable. On Wednesday he was replaced by Mr. Cato which came with a bit of relief and distress. Mr. Thomas is a really funny guy, but he can be a bit awkward at times. On the other hand Mr. Cato is much more personable but sits in a very authoritative position and can be a bit intimidating at times. When in the company of Mr. Cato it’s best to be at your best behavior.

When Mr. Cato finally got to Carriacou on Wednesday Tim and I had to explain to him how the teacher group had been responding to our training sessions and we essentially handed the ball over to him. By then we had expended all of our teaching resources and were desperate for his help. Kind of disappointing to depend on his assistance but it was definitely necessary. Tim and I are not exactly computer maintenance experts, and Tim is much more than I am. So in the end we both felt a little discouraged and disappointed with ourselves but it will definitely serve us as a learning tool in the future.

Carriacou work-wise was a pretty rough situation. However, after work we had a lot of fun. We met some really great people on Carriacou. And because of this I hope to return there one day, even if it’s long after this summer ends. Carriacou was definitely an escapade from an escapade and put a lot of things in perspective for myself. The work was tougher than expected but hard work builds character and gives experience that I really want to have. I have to get going, my ride will be here soon. Until later.

Gratitude

Well this past week finished with a crescendo that I never expected. We finished our last day of teaching in St. Georges to be moved in the evening to Lance Aux Pines which is roughly two miles west of True Blue campus (where we were housed initially). Apparently True Blue’s food services department would be closed after this weekend for the summer. So, the group and I had understood we were being moved. We understood that we were being moved to an exclusive location. We did not expect the grandeur of the club we were being moved to. The University Club: a very modest name for the luxury we have been treated with.

It’s difficult to describe initial gut reactions. But mine went something like this: “Holy shit”. We had passed the gate fence, around the water fountain, down the driveway lined with tall palms and to the reception area when it struck me; we were living in an upscale resort. We unloaded our luggage and checked in. No, these were not dorms. They weren’t even average apartments. We looked to the north of the main hall and saw villas, those which we would be living in. Curved stone walkways led to each villa’s entrance. A patio diverging left and right led to each half of the villa duplex. In the center of each villa was a shared kitchen, exposed to the outdoors. We are living the dream; a living experience which is 20 feet from a gorgeous beach in the Lance Aux Pines bay. Adjacent to the bay is our swimming pool, shaded by the trees of paradise.

Dining at The University Club leaves me the most spoiled I have ever been. I love food. But the chef here is unbelievable. Yes, a chef, an Italian one at that. He is quite the master of culinary arts and has yet to disappoint. In fact I am 99.999% positive that will not happen. Last night’s dessert, a wine poached pear topped with cinnamon ice cream and a chocolate stick, coated with uniquely flavored glazes (probably prepared by the chef himself) was the most delicious treat I have ever had, hands down. I don’t have much frame of reference, but if this isn’t five star dining I can’t imagine what is.

Currently I’m sitting in my villa, picturesque view of the ocean before my window, trying my best to describe to you my surroundings. It’s really hard to portray in words so I will do my best to put up some photos. If you’re reading this and feeling sorry for yourself, don’t be. I need a reality check. We are leaving for Carriacou in an hour and ten minutes. We’re going to be there all week and by the sounds of it we are going to be living on a deserted island. Hopefully it isn’t as nice as this. I really do hope so. Because this is too good to be true and it’s distorting my perception on how life should be. At least in my opinion (and I’m not trying to sound self-righteous). Regardless, I feel nothing but gratitude.

Wed. update

It’s the middle of our third week of teaching. This week we are in St. George at a school called Westley College, although I believe it is a secondary school. This week has so far proven to be a test because the students are not as experienced as those we have been exposed to in Gouyave and Grenville. It may have something to do with the urban atmosphere; St. George is the capital province of Grenada. I am lucky enough to be somewhat patient and have been working with the students, trying to give them as much as possible, but a lot of the students don’t seem to be very interested which is a bit disheartening. This is compounded by the school’s poor facilities. On the bright side it’s definitely going to be a huge chance for me to develop my character. This entire experience really allows you to develop yourself, one day at a time.

On another note I just found out that my move out date for my apartment is 2 days after I get back from Grenada. Sweet! Not!

Never a dull moment

There is never a dull moment in Grenada. At least our first three weeks here have not given us the chance to experience one. Things that I want to talk about in this entry are really just going to be mental exercises to see how much I can remember. Maybe I should start making these entries more frequently. Anyway, we spent a lot of time this week in Grenville, a quaint town on the northeastern coast of the island. This from SGU (which is located on the south eastern coast) is about a 45 minute drive: one way. Multiply this period times 10 and you have roughly how long I’ve spent this week sitting in a bus. Let me get my calculator out. Seven and a half hours. And that’s not including Saturday’s trip when we had to travel to Mt. Caramelto visit Karen in order to help with her research. That was another hour and a half in transit. Don’t I make this all sound so terrible? No, but seriously I’ve been having the time of my life.

This past week in Grenville has been an incredible learning experience for me. In retrospect, basically everything here in Grenada is a vast opportunity to learn. The Grenville Group was much more capable than we expected. They picked up the course material incredibly fast, at least in comparison to the majority of the students from Gouyave. I don’t mean to speak critically, but just an observation. The students from Gouyave seemed to be much more personable and fun. I miss them. The weeks just seem to be flying by faster as time goes on. I don’t know what that is supposed to mean but I wish it would slow down some times. I’ve been finding myself taking naps after work. I think it’s because of the long car ride, maybe it’s because we are working hard. I don’t know what to believe. Work here is a breeze and rewarding as well.

Coming up soon is our trip to Carricou. Before we do that we have to write another manual on network security and basic computer repairs. Something I’m not exactly looking forward to. But I guess it’s part of the job.

On Friday we were lucky enough to be driven around the island and basically party it up. We started from Grenville after work and headed north, stopping shortly after in a town called “Conference”. I think that’s what it’s called. Anyway, we stopped at this local bar/restaurant and had more than enough drinks to get me feeling very happy. I had a great time. And right behind the restaurant was the owner’s fruit garden which consisted of gobs of fruits I was so eager to try. Oh so fun. After we sobered ourselves up a bit we continued on our quest around the island, stopping at the Rivers distillery and bathway beach. After we passed the northern most peak, we were on the western coast heading south. Conveniently it was Friday and that means Fish Friday. Gouyave was just 10 miles away. I love fried fish!

Friday ended with me staying in a getting some well deserved rest. It was a long week.

Yesterday the group and I, excluding Anna, went to visit Karen at Mt. Caramel. There we had lunch and walked down to the Mt. Caramel Falls. It was gorgeous there. While we were there we got the chance to meet some of the locals from that area. A kindergarten teacher named Abigail and a student named Osborne. Both were around 20 years old, like us, and we seemed to hit it off fairly well. We hopefully will be heading back to Mt. Caramel falls soon, it was a blast. After the falls we had an interview with Karen to help her with her research. That went surprisingly well and afterward took the bus home.

Now it’s Sunday and I’m sitting here still wet with sea water pounding this entry out. Hope you learned something about my latest adventures. Until later!

Student Interactions and Fish Friday (YUM)

Time here in the Caribbean is an interesting thing. It moves slowly, but before you know it so much has gone by. It’s about 10 AM on a Saturday and I’m still feeling groggy, waking up, sipping some water to refresh my body and jog my memory. It has been a very long week. This week has proven to be the most challenging yet (although it doesn’t have much competition). Significant things that we had to do this week and the weekend prior included writing a comprehensive Java manual. This was no easy task to coordinate, research, write and edit. Fortunately for us we have a significant bit of experience divvying and delegating work to one another.

The past weekend consisted largely of working on the manual. Aside from that we spent that Saturday at Grand Anse beach, something I would like to be doing today (although today’s weather may not approve of this activity). That was a glorious day, in-between work, enjoying an unparalleled beauty on many different levels. At the end of that day my back was quite crisp, I neglected to apply sun screen. The following day we had completed a first draft of our manual and were prepared to teach with it. We would soon realize that we had not given the students enough material to work with. They were sharper than we expected.

The week began with our ride being 45 minutes late. Being late for your first day of work is highly frowned upon and made us quite nervous. Fortunately for us our transportation was being supplied by the Ministry, leaving the responsibility in other hands than our own. We didn’t get to Gouyave (our first teaching site) until roughly 11:30, two hours late. Despite our extreme tardiness, we managed to cover material we expected to last both Monday and Tuesday. To compensate for the students abilities and prior programming experience we had to develop new material which we did by Wednesday.

Interactions with the students are hard to report. A lot of the time I did not understand what they were saying, at least initially. But as you hold more and more discussions with them they begin to either speak in a less confounded version of English, or your ear develops the ability to listen better; perhaps it is a bit of both. But either way my interpretation of our relations is not limited to verbal communication. Hungry from spending the entire day teach java followed by wiring all the computers in the lab to the internet (which all together took about 11 hours) we went to Fish Friday. The whole experience was a journey of the senses. The smells, the sites, sounds, views were all fantastic. I tried so many different types of fish I am getting hungry thinking about it. And I was delighted to see a percussion ensemble consisting largely of steel pan drums! At this point it really struck me that I was truly in the Caribbean.

Overall this past week has presented me with a new perspective. I’m really starting to feel at home on the island and am getting in the swing of things. Our driver was late for a cumulative total of roughly 5 hours. And he still has his job. Good people here on Grenada. Until later!