Crazy and Fun JOVCs!

A few weeks ago I attended a beach party to welcome our newest Peace Corps Volunteers affectionately known as EC79; the 79^th group of volunteers on the Eastern Caribbean. It was a casual part at Choc Beach complete with volleyball and a coal pot. Hot dogs were roasted, homemade cookies and potato chips were set on tables with hot dog buns, mustard and relish. A closer look uncovered a plastic container filled with homemade sushi. Ah, the JOVCs are here (the Japanese Volunteers).

Days at Choc Beach are great. It’s a typical setting of tropical Caribbean blue clear water and white sandy beaches. Conversation is always good among the volunteers. It’s a break from routine and a welcome break from saying, “huh? What?” Although I say huh and what less these days because I’m getting more used to the island accent, I still must listen carefully.

Cheico, one of the Japanese Volunteers, asks me where I’m living. I tell her. She explains her plans for the weekend. She and another volunteer with a local Saint Lucian are planning to walk around the island. She asks me if I would like to join them. Although I am in search of new adventures in life, the thought of walking around the island on the main highway and in the hot sun just doesn’t seem like something I want to do. I politely decline. Then she asks if I would be willing to let them stay at my house on Sunday night. Of course! Now here is something that sounds like fun.

So Sunday morning came and they are due in mid-afternoon. Mid-afternoon turned into 8:30 that evening. They had walked half way across the island that day. They were exhausted. I had a salad and garlic bread ready for them as well as local juice and they brought pizza and rice. An interesting combination for dinner, but one that was pleasantly wonderful.

They got up before the church bells rang at five the next morning. I had breakfast prepared for them. We ate toast and eggs, nuts and fruit and drank coffee, tea and juice. We took pictures and then they were gone. It was six o’clock in the morning. They would finish their trek today. I wondered if they would phone me when they arrived on the other side of the island at Pigeon Point. They did. Excited and feeling accomplished, it was 11:30 at night.