A Reason to Celebrate

Last week Tuesday when I came home from work I was greeted, as I usually am, by the young neighbourhood children.  After changing out of my work clothes, I came back and sat with the older boys as we watched the kids play cricket in the street.   A little while later, one of the kids, Kevon (pronounced 'Kee-von'), came over and whispered to me, "Tiffany, it's my birthday today". I asked him how old he was turning and he said 10.  Now, I spend a lot of time with these kids. Sometimes we go to the park to play football (soccer), sometimes I'll take them to the little convenient store down the street, and sometimes we just chill back in the street together.   However, amongst our play we don't spend a whole lot of time talking, so when Kevon came over to tell me about his birthday I thought to myself, this must be a special day for him.   Afterall, I was 10 once. I remember getting excited for my birthday party, opening presents and eating birthday cake with all my friends and family.  These were times to celebrate. So I asked him if he was going to have a birthday party.  He said no.  I asked why not.  He shrugged.  I asked if he was having birthday cake and again he said no.  Well that just wouldn't do, I thought to myself.  It was too late that day to make a cake, but by the weekend I would bake one and we were going to have a party!  To be completely honest, I cannot remember the last time I baked a cake that wasn't out of a box, but fortunately for me, the woman I'm staying with does a lot of baking so she gave me a few pointers and I actually had a lot of fun with the decorating. I admit, the perfectionist in me got a little frustrated when the 2 year old grandchild of the woman I stay with stuck her chubby little fingers in my artistic masterpiece (hahaha) but then the woman said something that dawned on me.  "It doesn't matter if it's not perfect," she said, "because these kids never get a cake like this anyway".  I still did my best to clean it up, and it didn't turn out too shabby either, if I do say so myself!

Initially I wanted it to be a surprise, but by the time the weekend rolled around, Kevon knew I was up to something.  There's not much I am able to hide from these kids; they're pretty intuitive.  Either way it still TOUCHED MY HEART to see his face light up and to see all the kids, parents, and grandparents gather around together.  There have been so many shootings and deaths of young people due to gang violence, here in St. Kitts (which has also sobered my outlook on life a little) that it just feels good to take a moment to celebrate life with someone.

One thing's for sure; I am really going to miss my neighbours when I leave. We've had some fun times, whether I'm running around with the kids, sitting down to talk with a couple of the grandmothers, or having some random in-depth conversations with the older guys while I drag them out to walk with me whenever I want to grab something to eat or venture off. Oh and I cannot forget about my newfound friend Tensy too, the only other girl around my age in the neighbourhood. When I'm not careful we end up staying up half the night talking! Truly everyone looks out for me, and I respect and appreciate them for that. They look out for one other too despite their ins and outs. The neighbourhood is a bit of a family, and I definitely feel fortunate that I get to be a part of that even in a small way while I'm here. I think the biggest compliment that I have received since I've been here is that they say I have the ability to get along and vibe well with pretty much everyone. I'm just happy people take a liking to me because I don't know what I'd be doing without all of them!

When things don't go according to plan/ Hike up Mt. Liamuiga

Good morning 5:00am!

Yesterday morning at 3:30am, an hour of the day I am more often used to seeing at the close rather than the opening (weekends, that is), I somehow willed myself to roll out of bed and into a cold shower to start my day.  My pick-up came around 4:00am.  By 5:00am I was in St. Paul's at the base of Mt. Liamuiga, also known as 'The Crater', which is a 3,792 foot volcano and the highest point on the island of St. Kitts. 

With me was my trusty crew - the wonderful Probations/Child and Youth Workers/Child Protection Workers who also work for the Ministry of Social Services in the building adjacent to where I work at BNTF.  Let me take a second to say something about these guys.  They have made my experience here a lot more fun than I could've done for myself.  They're always coming over to BNTF to harrass me at work (soooooooooooo many inappropiate inside jokes), or taking me out limin' at the Strip, the beach, Sprat Net (another local club/bar/hot spot), and yes, even though it took a lot of constant reminding and coaxing and puppy eyes to get this not-so-into-hiking group to come out yesterday morning, we finally made the treck up Mt. Liamuiga too.  So a couple things have made me feel pretty good: 1) I feel very special to have people go out of their way to do things solely for my benefit to ensure that I am enjoying myself and 2) A lot of the activities and places we've gone, they themselves have never done before, (which makes me think of all the things in Toronto I haven't seen nor done) so I feel pretty special to be knocking off some 'firsts' with these guys. 

Statia Island 

Anyway, back to the hike...So before we headed up, we paused to take a look at the gorgeous view of the valley, and in the far off distance I managed to capture a shot of Stacia, another small island in the Caribbean.  Then just before we began, one of the women said a quick prayer to bless the hike.  As we began our ascension to The Crater, the sweet smell of mangoes were everywhere and the greenery and vegetation was breathtaking. CHECK IT OUT!

About half hour into the hike the groans began, but all in good fun (did I mention this wasn't a hiking bunch? Hahahaha).  It didn't help that the rain began to fall making the terrain muddy and slippery, and a large cloud of fog came down, which made it almost appear as if it were nightfall.  We took a bit of a break - check that - several breaks to grab some water and snacks before picking up again.

 Unfortunately, I hate to admit, we didn't make it much farther than this point, which was somewhere close to the top, but somehow along the way we had made a wrong turn and the rain was coming down hard now, and the group's initial sense of adventure had deflated and everyone's stomachs were eagerly awaiting the bread and saltfish that had been prepared for our post-hike breakfast.  I think I was the only one disappointed that we didn't reach the top to see the crater and the view, but eh, what can you do?  So with that, we began our descension and headed back.  We were cracking jokes and laughing at (or as Kittitians say, 'laughing after') our 'guide', one of the guys who was supposed to be leading us but who turned out not to know much about where to go at all...  LESSON LEARNED:  If you're planning to go hiking in St. Kitts, check the weather, check your guide (twice), and check any attitude that will hold you back from reaching the top.




When we reached back to where we started, breakfast was hot and ready to go. (We had each brought something, and the family members of one of the guys had graciously warmed it up for us so that it was ready as soon as we got back). One of their cultural dishes, bread and saltfish, was the highlight of the meal.  All-in-all the morning was awesome. It had really become about the people I was spending time with more than the hike itself. It's funny the kinds of conversations and jokes that evolve when you're in different elements.  But after a long morning of hiking topped off by a delicious breakfast, there was really just one thing left to do... Catch up on some much needed rest!

Adventures at Brimstone Hill

 

 

 

On the weekend I headed up with a couple of friends to one of St. Kitts' historical sites - the Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park.  Located in Sandy Point, St. Kitts, it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site of historical, cultural and architectural significance: a monument to the ingenuity of the British military engineers who designed it and to the skill, strength and endurance of the African slaves who built and maintained it.  It is also known for being one of the best preserved historical fortifications in the Americas. 
The afternoon was cloudy, which didn't help the view, but the fortress is located in an area that overlooks the country side, which was beautiful to take in.  Side note: for those who are not aware, St. Kitts is actually called St. Christopher after Christopher Columbus who claimed to have first arrived and established himself on the island. However, hieroglyphs from the first inhabitants can be found throughout the island.

We speak the same language, I think

I was recently inspired by a post from Robin Johnston's blog in South Africa, entitled English-English Translation, which highlights some of the interesting local jargon (check it out!)http://adventureinjoburg.blogspot.com/2011/06/english-english-translation.html  Anyone who has been to St. Kitts will know that people here speak fast and share a dialect and accent that is quite unique to the other countries in the Caribbean.  I can't count the number of times when I've been listening to someone speak and by the time they finish I have this blank stare on my face, and have to kindly ask them to repeat themselves.  This has proven to be a bit of an obstacle for me, as a large part of the research that I do here at the Basic Needs Trust Fund (BNTF) requires me to go into villages and converse with residents, lead community meetings and discussions, and speak with key individuals to aquire information on the social, economic, and environmental conditions that people living in poverty face.  Nevertheless, I'm learning, and Lord knows I get a good laugh out of the folks here whenever I try to slip in some of their colloquial expressions into my own speech. 

So here's a few of the terms and phrases that I hear most often:

Lime/Limin' - Chillin' with friends. "We're limin' with the guys"
Cook-up (aka Pelau in Trinidad) - A dish consisting of different meats thrown into a pot of rice and peas and whatever else...basically one big pot of leftovers.
Me n no - I don't know
Relish - meats
Trans - a ride (stems from transportation). "You got trans tonight?"
Everything bless? - How are you? Is everything good?
Everything bless/ Everything chris - In response to the greeting, it means everything's good
Wine up/ Wuk up - to dance, usually very sexually explicitly
Plait - (pronounced 'plat'] to braid. "Let me plait your hair."
Meet you at 6:00 - Generally means meet you around 7:00 or later!
Don't study that - Forget about it; don't worry about it
Me fathers (pronounced 'me fah-ders') - a common expression of exclamation, or exhalation. Originally meant that you're putting all your struggles on your father

Now I'm Really at Home...

I think I mentioned earlier that I joined a couple basketball teams (one female, one co-ed). This has definitely been a highlight for me, and a nice way to spend my evenings during the week, rather than be couped up in my little room all alone. It keeps me connected and occupied, and more than that, it is the closest I get to feeling like I'm at home. I'm still very much an outsider in a very culturally different place. It's true, everyone laughs at me for not being able to keep up with the fast-paced Kittitian dialect; I still haven't grown accustomed to being woken up by roosters every morning (please I'm begging you, just thirty more minutes of rest); the generally assumed, unquestioned, and implied Christian religious belief is a little unnerving but simultaneously fascinating to see; and the racial diversity, or lack thereof, is quite the opposite to what I'm familiar with (having grown up in a predominantly white city in BC and then moving to multicultural Toronto).  

But if 'home' is a place where your surroundings can emanate something familiar and safe, making you feel connected, comfortable, and accepted as if you belong; a space that can identify who you are, and allow you to move and express yourself freely (or as free as possible) then truly the basketball court has been the only place that I can remember evoking anything close to that.  Although I don't play competitively anymore, the sport still manages to follow me wherever I go.  Whether its across the country or around the world, basketball finds a way of staying in my life in some facet. 

Looking at some other interns' blogs, I see I'm not the only one who has taken part in the world of sports while away. Check out Ardavan in Barbados playing and reffing basketball! Awesome! http://journey2barbados.wordpress.com/2011/06/05/a-life-time-memorable-experience/

Child Month March

I forgot to add this last Friday, June 24, which was the day of the Child Month March.  June is the month designated to openly celebrate and bring awareness to the children of St. Kitts.  There are a lot of young kids and a lot of very young parents.  It was shocking for me to hear my friend Khisma (who is the one in the picture holding her son Kimoni) tell me how when she had her son at 23, she felt old because the rest of the new mothers in the maternity ward were about 17-18yrs. old.  I was thinking that if that's considered old, then I'm going to be ancient by the time I have a child!

The Child Month March started around 9 in the morning and didn't end until around mid-afternoon.  There was music and dancing as we walked through the streets in the hot hot sun.  It almost felt like a statutory holiday the way people left their jobs to come watch - even I got to be part of the fun!  Not a bad way to end a long week.