A Tour of Saint Lucia – Karen Style

Sometimes I get requests for contents to add to my blog. I’m glad people make requests. It makes blogging more fun. This request was from my son, Jay. He wrote, “could you pleeeeease post some photos of downtown, the harbor, training center, peace corps office, the buses, the people. I'm dying to see what Saint Lucia looks like.” So, I’ve spent some a little time with this request. I’ll give you a tour of Castries and some of the sights I see each day. Then I will give you a short tour of things you may not have seen yet in my village.

Cruise ships can be seen in the harbor quite often. There are duty free stores where tourists shop. Most do not venture into the downtown Castries area. Sometimes I see them walking along the parameters of the city.

This is the main road into and out of Castries. It is directly across from the Super J and very close to the outdoor fruit and vegetable market.

Fresh fruit, fish, and vegetables, are sold here. There is also an indoor craft faire here, but I haven’t had time to do much more than pass through it. According to my research, Choiseul pottery makers sell their traditional ceramics here. The process used to make the pottery has been handed down from the early Amerindians. The potters, mostly women, use special clay to make the pottery. They spend days smoothing, polishing and drying their pieces. Then they heap the pieces in a large pile of wood and kindling and set it ablaze to go through the firing and baking process. This is the Peace Corps Training Facility. This is the place where fourteen of us spent three days a week in training.
Hermina, on the left, is the Administrative Assistant and Agnes, on the right, is the Administrative Attendant. The guy in the middle of this picture is the most popular guy in Peace Corps. He delivers our mail. Hermina greets us in the morning when we come through the door. Agnes helps keep the facility clean.
Sharmon is the APCD, Associate Peace Corps Director. She, as well as those above, are HCNs, Host Country Nationals – meaning their permanent home is in Saint Lucia. Do take notice that there are pictures of our Commander-In-Chief and his Vice President on the wall. We are very excited that they will be replaced by Obama/Biden in January. At least that’s what we are hoping.

The back room with the table is where we attended training. It is air conditioned but many of the chairs are really uncomfortable. Consequently, getting to the center a little early and claiming a chair that offered more comfort, created an opportunity for a small success. The bookshelves in the back are books that we are free to take and then return. We can also leave books that we brought here adding to the collection. That’s how this library was started. I have a couple of books that won’t be coming home with me and will add them to this growing library. The computer is hidden in the corner behind the small refrigerator and laser printer on the left. If you look closely you can just make out Mary Ellen who is using it. That is where I updated my blog during training. There is one computer for all of us and always a waiting list for time. Wireless is not available in the office. In fact, wireless isn’t something that is easily found on the island. It does exist, but it’s not widely available. At night I would write entries on my computer, move them to my flash drive and then quickly copy and paste. We tried not to be computer hogs, which was hard because there are many of us who obviously have an internet addiction – me included

I pass through busy streets, packed with people – some playing cards, some drinking, others listening to music and talking with friends. As I walk through the streets in Castries there are many shops. Outside the shops are vendors who have set up small tables to sell fruits and vegetables. Some set up a small rum bar where drinks are sold on the streets.

This is the bakery I stop at most mornings to buy a coconut pastry. It’s been a challenge trying to figure out how to replace my nutrition bars. The coconut pastry is one option and local bread is another. Not a very healthy choice. On days when I don’t go to the city, PB&J on whole wheat toast which is purchased from the local bakery, is my breakfast of choice. Not optimal, but somewhat healthy.
A coconut pastry and a banana from my favorite banana vendor take care of my appetite for quite awhile. I usually buy two bananas’ which cost $.25 EC each. I’ve heard that people who eat bananas are more prone to mosquito bites. I don’t think it matters. I tell people, “stand by me and you will have a natural repellent – mosquitoes love me, and given a choice, will always head in my direction”. Actually, it’s taken me two months, but I am getting the hang of “managing” mosquito bites. I know the places where these annoying biting and buzzing critters hang out; I use the mosquito net Peace Corps gave me; they are no match for the wind produced by a fan; and finally, mosquito repellent is like the American Express Card: never leave home without it. My legs are healing and I no longer want to resign from Peace Corps because I have one hundred and fifty three bites on the ankle of one leg.
Here’s a picture of the Cable and Wireless Store. I’ve spent a lot of time here trying to get internet at my house. It’s not as easy as making a phone call, in fact, making a phone call would get you nowhere. They require the customer to be there, in person. It took me three visits before I fulfilled all their requirements. The first visit was futile because I didn’t have the information they needed; the second visit was used placing the order; the third visit was to pick up the DSL box that was not in stock when I was there for the previous visit. Bernard, my customer service representative, was great. The waiting time was tolerable once I recognized I wasn’t in a hurry; the store is air conditioned; there were comfortable chairs to sit in; it’s an opportunity to watch people going about their daily lives in Saint Lucia; and it was a time I could use to meet people who were also waiting.
There are several KFCs and Burger Kings in Castries and Vieux Fort. I haven’t seen any other American Chain Restaurants – no McDonalds, Starbucks. I did meet a man who said he owns a subway up north and that he is planning on opening another in Castries. One day, while in training, I needed something for lunch and walked to the KFC that is close to the training center. I bought Mac and Cheese. It was tasty, but not the KFC recipe – it was a local recipe. So much for consistency.

After a brisk thirty minute walk, I’m at the bus stop that takes me back to my village. The busses are large vans that carry fourteen passengers, plus the driver. I have found the drivers to be compassionate and caring as well as helpful. I was in the front seat last week when a cat crossed in front of us – we narrowly missed it, but a car going in the opposite direction hit it. There were awful and memorable sounds and the whole thing was terribly upsetting. I didn’t say anything, but the driver must have felt my distress. He gently patted my knee and said “I’m so sorry”. Rarely do I take a bus from Castries to Peace Corps. I’d rather walk the 20-30 minutes. One reason is exercise, but the other is that when they drop me off I must walk across a four lane busy highway that has no crosswalk. I find it frightening and think of John every time I do it. When I get out of the bus, I pay the driver, and many times I hear the driver quietly say, “be very careful crossing the street”.
After a long bus ride, I arrive home. This is a typical road in my village. The “business” area of the village – the village council, the Multi-Purpose building, Library, Credit Union, and Post Office – are in previous posts, so I won’t repeat. It is a short walk to my two-bedroom apartment.
Children wear uniforms to school. They are dressed in crisp freshly ironed uniforms. The girls wear barrettes and bows. The classrooms are hot and I wonder if they ever wish they could wear tank tops and shorts. I know there are some studies in the United States that show more learning takes place when children wear uniforms, but I wonder if that same statistic could apply in a hot and humid climate like this one.

As I walk down the street a large imposing building is in full view. It is the biggest building in the village – as are all Catholic Churches. The bells are run each morning at 5:00 a.m. and in the evening at 6:00 p.m. On Sunday mornings I can hear the church choir. I enjoy it.
My landlady, Elizabeth, showed me around. This is the bakery where fresh bread can be purchased. They are open every day but Saturday as they are Seventh Day Adventists.) Here is the village supermarket. It’s nice. It doesn’t smell like others I’ve been in. The next door down is the bookstore. This is the most popular restaurant in town. I’ve been advised that this is the place to go if I don’t want to cook. Me Cook? Strange thought. I had a vegetable sandwich for dinner tonight. Peanut Butter and jelly is a staple. My fridge houses Coke Lite, peanuts, an avocado, a tomato, apples and my coffee. I also keep my Guava Cheese there. It’s not cheese, rather it is candy made from the pulp of the guava and very good.

My cupboard has a lot of Top Ramon in it. I can use the hot water in the electric tea kettle to make it. I don’t use the oven or stove. The gas is in the propane tank sitting next to it. I don’t understand how to use it – and I’m not sure I want to know. If I become dependent on it, I will need more. That means I have to figure out how to disconnect it and then drag it to one of the places that sells the stuff and then figure out how to get it back to my apartment. Right now this thought puts my stress level over the top. If I can find a cookie sheet, I may decide to learn how to work the oven. But for now, I haven’t found a reason good enough to deal with it. As I write about this, I think about the fridge contents in my son’s college apartment. One of his staples was a baked potato with BBQ sauce. I’m not that desperate . . . yet.

I’m lucky that Peace Corps invited me to be a part of this wonderful island. I’m receiving so much. I’m worried that I’ll never be able to give them enough in return.