Official Peace Corps volunteer post

Wow!

I am really terrible at updating this thing. I’ve never had a blog before so I’m going to be a little slow with remembering to be consistent. It is also feels a little strange writing all of my experiences and emotions online, but hopefully I’ll get used to it. I still feel this is the easiest way to keep you all updated and I want you to know what I’m doing while I’m down here without feeling obligated to send me e-mails all the time (although those are whole-heartedly encouraged).

So I survived my first ever hurricane!! It was really not as exciting as I expected, especially after seeing how all of St. Kitts basically shuts down in preparation for storm. This makes a lot of sense considering the fragility of this tiny island. Many of the houses are susceptible to damage and the population relies entirely upon exports from places like the United States and Canada. Also, these people have experienced some pretty tragic storms that have taken many lives and left homes irreparably destroyed. On Wednesday, during our training session, we were moved from the Gender Affairs office where our training usually takes place to the NEMA headquarters. NEMA is the St. Kitts equivalent of FEMA, except that they are actually efficient. They told us to go to the stores and get whatever we may need for a few days, and then go into consolidation at our safe houses. Peace Corps assigns one safe house for every 5 volunteers that is adequately built for storms as well as stocked with non-perishables. Of course this sent us into an excited flurry because we were already experiencing safety protocol before we had even sworn in. I spent the night playing cards with my safe house until we lost power. We then stayed up until 2:00 a.m. waiting for the storm, until we heard the forceful gusts of winds and sporadic torrential downpours of rain. That was Hurricane Omar. And then it went away.

The actual damage has fortunately been quite sparse. A few roads were washed out, and we have spoken to some people whose houses were “mashed up”, as they say here. We’re hoping to get volunteers together and help some people clean out broken glass from their yards and clear any debris. The main road here runs along the waterfront and there is a blanket of garbage littering the shore. Most of the garbage is plastic-plastic water bottles to be specific-which has most likely traveled quite a distance. A few boats were washed ashore and benches were overturned, but other than that, St. Kitts remains well intact.

Friday, October 17^th we were officially sworn into service, over the phone, because our Director was unable to fly in. Most of the volunteers are moving into their housing today, but my house isn’t finished yet. It is a brand new house that is being built, which is exciting, yet simultaneously disconcerting. I feel that I will be uncomfortably comfortable in my home. There are just so many conveniences in this developing country that I did not expect to be confronted with. Not to say that I wish anything else upon St. Kitts; I think the amount of technological advancements this country has made is incredibly noteworthy. The volunteers and I have just had many discussions about how our Peace Corps service is going to be nothing like what we had envisioned. For me personally, I had hoped to be living in a mud hut with no running water or electricity. I have now realized that I shouldn’t weigh the value of my service on the basis of how much suffering I go through. There are parts of the United States that need volunteer service just as much as the places that have Peace Corps posts, and they wouldn’t require me to go to the local watering hole for my drinking water either.

Our contributions, on a person-to-person basis, are universally precious, and we have the power to make a positive change wherever we go, whether it may be New York or New Guinea. The image I had conjured up in my mind for so long may be an experience that would change my life forever, but I can already predict that I will undergo the same internal realignment even though I have a microwave and running water. As long as I exert myself in the most progressive and sustainable way, in my mind I will have completed a successful service, regardless of whether I contracted malaria or not. I can’t wait to see what adventures I will experience during my stay here and I will try my best to keep you all updated every step of the way. I am continually missing you and I hope that everyday you are all intoxicated by the beauties this world has to offer.

Paz,

Alisa