An Uncommon Weekend – Part I

It’s Friday. I just got off the phone with Elaine. We agreed to meet in Castries between 3:30 and 4:00 this afternoon. I finish putting a few things into the red backpack Brendan recently mailed to me. My nightgown, a brush, my toothbrush, swimsuit, a couple of bags of almonds and a nutrition bar, a dress, and a pair of nice shoes. All this for one day, but everything is needed. I wanted to bring a book to read, but I don’t want the extra weight to carry. I compromise and bring my IPod which has a few books I recently loaded onto it. I put on a pair of jeans a t-shirt and my sandals, grab my purse, check to ensure I have money, my camera, the IPod and cell phone, put on my backpack and I’m out the door…just in time to connect eyes with “smoochie man” across the street making ridiculous smoochie noises at me with his lips. I say hello and move quickly down the street to catch a bus to Castries, a one hour ride.

I arrive in Castries and make my way over to the next bus, which will transform my world. I’m headed to Rituals Coffee Shop where Lois, Elaine and I agreed to meet. Rituals is next door to the only movie theater on the island, affectionately known as the Cinema. It’s a perfect landmark. I’ve been there a couple of times, but never gone there by myself, so when I get on the bus, I greet everyone and ask “Will this bus take me to the Cinema?” The woman I sit next to shakes her head yes. Then she says, “I’ll tell you when to get off”. Perfect, I immediately like this woman. A few minutes into the ride, I see the bus stop ahead and hear the woman next to me shout, “Stopping Driver”. This is the signal passengers give to the driver when their stop is ahead. As promised, she’s taken care of me.

I cross the street and look past the cars in the parking lot. There are a few people sitting on chairs at tables with large green umbrellas. They are drinking coffee while staring at the screens of their laptops carefully placed on the tables. There are big green letters on the building. Any serious coffee drinker would expect to see the letters spell “Starbucks”, but not here; not on this island. The letters spell “Rituals”. I’m in awe. There is nothing like this in my village. A movie theater and Rituals! Could this be a dream?

I open the door and the air conditioning rushes past me and immediately cools my body. Lois and Elaine are at the table just past the door. Lois is totally wired – no, not on coffee. She has her laptop on the table with one hand on the mouse and the other on her cell phone. She is checking her email while engaged in a conversation with her daughter. Elaine is holding a paper cup with the familiar words “Burger King”. I think this may be a dream.

I put my purse down, take off my backpack and sat in a chair where we spend the next couple of hours chatting, checking email and blogs, and generally having a good time. The time went fast and I found myself surprised at how comfortable I feel with these two amazing women. Lois husband, Scott, and two more volunteers, Ashley and Melaney joined us. After we finished the Rituals sandwiches we ordered for dinner, we set out in search of a dessert. We didn’t have to go far. We walked past the movie theater and a Dominoes Pizza Restaurant, and into a gelato parlor. That settles it, this is a dream!

It’s 8:00 at night, the ice cream has been eaten, the email’s have been checked and re-checked, it’s cooled and the air conditioning feels too cold to continue in this dream. We’re tired and it’s time to go home and get some rest so we can get up early tomorrow morning. All of the volunteers are gathering tomorrow to do something that has not been done before. We say our goodbyes. Elaine, Ashley, Scott and Lois all live nearby. Melaney is staying with Ashley. I’ll be staying with Lois and Scott tonight.

We move past the dream and back into reality as the bus gets closer to our destination. Their house is cute. It’s very “sixties” and what one might expect a Saint Lucia Peace Corps house to look like. It’s attached to other apartments, has wonderful fruit trees and areas where they can garden. They are composting in back of their house. There are two amazing features about this house. The first can be found before the front door is opened. They have a screen door. This is extremely uncommon. Lois had Dengue Fever during training and so this isn’t a nice thing to have, this is important. They explained what they wanted, and a carpenter built it for them. This isn’t something that is easily found on the shelf. They can leave the font door opened and let the fresh air in while keeping the buzzing biting Dengue carriers out.

The front door opens into a small, but well-equipped kitchen. There are bookshelves in the adjoining living room that store books and a television. There are two bedrooms and the house is comfortable. That night before I go to bed, Lois and Scott told me about the second feature in their home. In the morning, I will have a new experience; one I have enjoyed only once since coming to this island. Stay tuned . . .