Moving On

As I take down pictures and pack memorabilia that I have accumulated over the past two years, I become more aware of the reality that I am leaving. My apartment is beginning to look similar to that which I first entered.

I watch Kevin as he struggles to understand that he will not be able to stream his Sirius Radio because for some reason I can’t seem to get wifi on my wireless. I watch him on Facebook and can’t get his attention so I wire another laptop and start a Facebook Chat with him. As he sits on the porch and I sit in my living room, he chats with my sister in New Jersey and me, just five feet away. The conversation turns to phones and which type will I choose when I return. We conclude there are so many Smart Phones and so little time.

In a couple of days time technology will become my new reality. Saint Lucia is only now beginning to advertise post-paid plans with Blackberries and a gig of usage for a monthly price. They, too, will live in a world where people are tethered to a world of e-communication.

Morning Coffee

I am having my morning coffee on the balcony. It is my last week here in Saint Lucia. I may come back for a visit, but it will never be like it is now. This is my home now, but upon return I will be a visitor. I listen to the roosters crowing, the wind blowing and the dogs barking. It is my last Monday. Just one short week from now, I will be sitting on my porch, holding my dog, talking to my granddaughter and having my first cup of morning coffee while contemplating rejoining the life I left two years ago.

Dazed

And so my service comes to a close. Kevin, my youngest son, is on island and will be helping me pack and move back home. My mood is both high and low. High, knowing I will see my family, friends and dog. Low, knowing some must figure out how to accommodate yet one more person into this tiny house. High knowing I have left some good sustainable projects behind. Low knowing I must leave my home and friends. High, knowing I will get my hair cut and colored, perhaps visit my spa and stay in the mountains for a few days of rest and relaxation.

I met Kevin at the airport yesterday. I arrived a few minutes early and as I sat waiting for him, I thought about my arrival just two years ago. Everything looks so familiar now and it was so foreign then. I thought about meeting new groups of volunteers and seeing their dazed and tired faces. My thoughts turned to when I arrived in Tegucigalpa a few years ago to visit my oldest son who was Peace Corps Honduras. I wondered if he had the same thoughts as he waited for us to move through customs.

Today we took a morning walk through the village. This is a quiet time. School is closed for the summer and people are vacationing. There are many who will not be available to say goodbye. This will be easier on me, but I’m sorry I won’t see them before I leave.

We stop at a local shop and buy a few pieces of fried chicken and Kevin pours ketchup on top. That’s the way they roll here. As we continue a leisurely stroll, two children stop me and want to touch my hair. Their mother, embarrassed, encourages them to move on. I look over, “They are only curious. It is alright” and I see her relax. I make a comment on the hardships and living conditions of some and Kevin is surprised. “No, I never get use to it”, I say.

A woman sits on the sidewalk selling a few pieces of fruit and some peppers. I see them from a long distance and know they will be perfect for the spaghetti Kevin will make tonight. Ah, for a Saturday, it’s been a good day for hunting and gathering in the village.

When we returned home I made fruit smoothies and Kevin ate his chicken. We sat on the porch and I asked, “So what is the reaction at home?” He responded, “Everyone is in a daze. They all go around looking like this.” He puts a funny dazed look on his face and we both laugh.

Close of Service Conference!

How quick two years goes by!

In the beginning - August 2008
Eastern Caribbean Group #78

Eastern Caribbean Group #78, All Islands, July 2010

Two Years Later - Eastern Caribbean Group #78, Saint Lucia

Dead People

Alright, maybe the title is a little dramatic. But the two exhibits we saw were centered on people who are dead. I wanted to see the Body Exhibit when it was in Los Angeles, but it didn’t happen. There is a lot of controversy and speculation about the people and how they died. Some believe the bodies are those of Chinese prisoners. That is refuted and it is said the bodies are unclaimed people. At any rate it was a fascinating exhibit and very educational.

It was to be another long day. We drove over to the Ferry and crossed to New York, then took a bus into the city.

The bodies are plastinized. According to a Live Science article from February 2006, the technique was created by German anatomist Gunther von Hagens. With plastination, an “embalmed body is drained of its natural fluids and injected with a polymer solution. The body is posed and then cured and hardened into position,” Those in favor of plastination see it not only as an opportunity to educate the public, but also as a “technology to be used right alongside the traditional methods of dissection taught in medical classrooms.” More information is available throughout the internet.

When I walked through the door and saw the first body I was taken aback. The first body was posed throwing a football. I was not prepared for this. Then I stopped to think about what I was seeing and realized it was posed to show the muscles in the body.

After seeing the first body and as I proceeded through the exhibit, it became increasingly interesting. There were exhibits of bone structure, muscles, and circulatory systems. They had a human heart with a by-pass valve and a knee that had been replaced and a spine with pins in it.

The exhibit included the brain and a vertical dissection of a body. There were lungs of smokers and lungs with emphysema and cancer. The body looks so fragile when viewed in small segments. It was an amazing experience to think this is how I look on the inside.

I was overwhelmed with information. There was so much that I became a little bored. But then I walked into a room that had a pregnant mother with the baby in the womb, fetuses at all stages of development. It was amazing, educational and I am fortunate to have this opportunity.

The next stop was the King Tut (Tutankhamun) Exhibit. All the years this has been around, and I had never seen it. Another thing I meant to do, but it just never happened.

The exhibit focuses on a 100 year history of the Egyption 18th Dynasty. King Tut ruled between 1341 BC – 1323 BC, A fascinating piece of history, the exhibit was organized in a timeline maze beginning with King Tut’s ancestors and ending in his death.

Discovered by Howard Carter in 1922, it is difficult to imagine what it must have been like to be one of the first people in thousands of years to enter the tomb. There was a film of people taking artifacts out of the tomb and placing them into trucks. As I watched the film, I silently wondered if maybe it would have been better undiscovered. Some things are sacred. A four minute video documents his discovery and excavation.

A few more hours of sightseeing we were off to Newark for Puerto Rican food. Another packed and long day!

I miss things like this. Going to the Getty during my last visit was so relaxing. Living in Saint Lucia has been amazing, but living without museums and amazing exhibits such as these has been difficult.

As I walked through the city I thought of the children. Imagine never being able to see the immense bones of a dinosaur recreated and standing in the middle of a hall. Imagine never being able to see masterpiece paintings or a sculpture of David. Is it a hardship to them? Maybe not.

Foods

There are so many foods missed while in Peace Corps, so naturally when on vacation there is an obsession and pictures are a must. There was so much to eat and drink that many times we would buy something, split it, take a couple of bites and not finish it because we needed to leave room for the next anticipated delectable bite of something else.

New Packaging for my favorite drink!

So many breakfast choices.

Pizza my way.

A favorite of mine.





Puerto Rican food and Sangria.

I do miss the dessert selection in the United States!





And, finally, although I don't eat hot dogs, the smells from the street carts are amazing.

Invisible

The temperature is well into the 90s. He wears his jacket inside out. Traces of fleece lining are seen but most of it has long ago disappeared from his weathered dirty jacket. A t-shirt hangs around his neck; he neglected to put his arms through it. It doesn’t matter because he has another t-shirt under that one. His hair is long and the matted dreads are caked with years of New York grime.

The world goes on around him oblivious to the person sitting atop an old plastic paint can. He fidgets and he inspects. He opens one of the four shopping bags that surround his paint can. He pulls out several coffee cups which he likely collected from the Starbucks trash can just outside the door. He carefully opens each container and pours left over coffee from one cup to another until he comes up with a half full container. He puts the lid back on each of the cups and returns them to his bag.

I sit on my barstool, sip my cold iced green tea and gaze out the large floor to ceiling window at a Starbucks in New York City. Van Morrison’s Bright Side of the Road plays in the background. The city is dense with buildings, cars and people.

A woman walks by with a cigarette in one hand and a cell phone in another. Another woman pushes a stroller while men in business suits hold containers of food and walk purposefully through the city.

An air-conditioning repair man parks his truck in the red and hurriedly leaves passing the man perched on the paint can. The parking patrol quickly swoops down on the air-conditioning truck left behind and gains a few dollars for the city.

Vendors move hot lunch carts about the city streets. A a city worker with a broom and dust pan sweeps a circle around him. The city hustles while the man fidgets. Here is yet another homeless person in this land of opportunity.

A familiar odor comes from the hot dog cart on one corner and on the opposite corner is an outdoor café jammed with customers eating sandwiches while intensely gazing into their IPhones and Blackberrys.

The homeless man pulls an old dirty Styrofoam container from a plastic bag, opens it and takes a bite of someones discarded lunch, then closes it and puts it back in the bag. The woman next to me finishes her latte and Panini, picks up her IPhone, throws it into her designer bag and walks out of the building and down the street.

An hour later the man sitting on the plastic paint bucket begins packing his things into his shopping bags after a final inspection. He stands up, puts on a larger dirty coat and wears it on over the dilapidated inside out fleece coat. He gathers up his bags and paint can and walks down the street and out of sight.

He never asked anyone for money or food. He fidgets. How does it come to this? Wall Street is within walking distance. The only living creatures that take notice are the pigeons who, oblivious to his dire situation, beg for a handout. There but for the grace of God, go I.