It will get done . . . just now

Advice any Peace Corps Volunteers will give is “slow down and rid yourself of expectations”. It’s the best advice, but also the hardest advice to practice. Advice is always best if put into context. And so, as a Peace Corps Volunteer, I will attempt to help you understand in the unlikely event you are mulling over the idea of submitting your three pound application to be considered for a job that pays roughly $720 per month.


My expectations for today could have been:

1. I will go to the supermarket today and get everything I need from one store, come home and bake a cake.

2. I will complete the work on a training package to be delivered next month.

3. I will help the little boy across the street with his homework and he will become an expert in the subject of collective nouns.

4. I will go to my 7 p.m. meeting and help the team develop a complete plan for Nobel Laureates Week. It will include specific goals and an agenda to move forward in planning a great January event.


I know I will be able to count on everyone to do their part to accomplish this list because it really is simple. Right?


But, this is the way the day went . . .


It is an adventure to hunt and gather food. I most likely will not find everything I’m looking for. I set out down the asphalt road. It is a cool 88 degrees today and the bus ride to the market is just 15 minutes. I am in search of instant chocolate pudding, chocolate cake mix, chocolate chips and sour cream, icies, cucumbers and an avocado.


Chocolate chips and cake mix – check. . . bingo! sour cream. No pudding mix of any kind, but they do have something called "custard powder". Whatever that is I bought it. They have eggs, but if I can find them in my village it’s more likely they will make the trip safely to my refrigerator. It always bothers me that the eggs aren’t refrigerated in the village market. I wonder about it. How long have they been sitting there? But I’ve never been sick because of it.


They didn't have avocado or cucumber at the market. I saw a vendor in my village before I left selling avocado's but she will likely be sold out before I get back so I went searching the streets of Vieux Fort and quickly came up with those two items.


I'm ready to return to my village. I walk over to the bus stop and board the bus. I'm the only one in it and it will not go anywhere until it's full...so I wait an hour and a half.


I am at home now and the only thing I need to search out now is eggs, but first I need to unwind. Baking this cake probably won't happen today...I'll save it for some other day when I have more energy.


I turned the computer on and worked on a training package I will deliver next month, answered some emails and continued to read an interesting blog that I’ve become engaged in. I’ve read so many books and now blogs are my new interest. As I develop the six hour training package, I learn that I have only three hours. I need to rethink the content. I will save this for tomorrow.


Koko came by and asked for help doing his homework. He is learning the concept of a collective noun. The first thing he said was “lets use the computer to learn about this”. This is progress as most of the kids in the village see computers as toys, not information highways that can help them learn. Together we completed his homework, but I think the only concept he really understood was getting it done so his teacher doesn’t beat him. Mission sort of accomplished.


At 7:00 p.m. I had a meeting with Angelina and Denise to talk about Nobel Laureate Week. The event is in January, but I’ve pushed them to begin planning now. Denise had steel pan practice and so we agreed to meet there. Angelina and I sat on the steps listening to the music and talking . . . for an hour. We decided to postpone the meeting until the next evening.


I walked over to Angelina’s house to help her make coconut fudge. She is sending it to England. It is Jounen Kweyol (Creole Days) this month and her fudge and guava cheese were requested in England.


Angelina has two dogs, Rex and Diablo. Diablo is trained and is part of her family. Rex is not. He’s an eight month old nightmare tied up in the backyard. She wants me to help her train him. It sounds like a good idea. We made the fudge and watched The Biggest Loser together while Diablo played with the cockroach on the living room floor. I'm not sure which was more entertaining.


It was ten o’clock when I left her house. As I walked through the darkened streets of my village I thought about how safe I felt and I contemplated my day. What had I accomplished? Um. Oh yes . . . no I don’t think so . . . maybe . . . no not that. I’ll get back to you on this.


So, as they say in Saint Lucia, “just now” I will think about making that cake. Just now, I will help develop an awesome plan for Nobel Laureate Week. Just now, I will complete that training package. By the way, “just now”? It means “some other time”.