John's Next Step

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas... Christmas lights in my subdivision I’ve traveled home for the holidays. My children are moving out of the house and on to other places and I’ve come back to see them off and to enjoy the holidays at home. As a Peace Corps volunteer you do miss family and it is nice to be able to take a break from service to spend time a home. I was able to spend Christmas with my kids and grand kids and to see my mom and my two brothers in Arkansas. My daughter and I took the 5.5 hour trip from St. Louis to mom’s for an overnight visit and then back to St. Louis. My short time in the states means that I’ve not been able to see nearly everyone that I wanted to see. Missy, Libby, and Andy Andy and pappa John (no relation to pizza) With Samantha and Mom Daniel and the bridge he build for the prayer garden some years ago Of course life goes on while a volunteer is away. For older volunteers this also means taking care o

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas... Some of the buses have tinsel and I’ve seen strings of Christmas lights decorating a few stores, but none of the houses. I’ve seen some fake Christmas trees in stores, but not in homes. Christmas in Grenada is not about lights and dazzling decorations. I had heard a lot of Christmas music in the stores and on the buses in early November, but less now. Still there is nothing like listening to tropical children singing about a one horse open sleigh as part of the Christmas program. Christmas in Grenada is traditionally a holiday to have people over for a big meal and conversation. People move from house to house throughout the day to enjoy food and friends. Last year I was here for just a few short weeks and one of the neighbors invited me over because “you can’t be alone for Christmas”. And if people are visiting you need fresh paint inside and out and everything cleaned. Scrapping paint in early November “Beginning to

This past week was the last one for the term before a three week break for the holidays. I was able to get one last math exam in on Tuesday. I can’t even tell you how much the kids were thrilled about that. The issues between the government and the teachers resulted in some schools skipping a celebration. We decided to have a Christmas party for the kids. This required some planning and preparation of course. The setting area is ready Getting a little phonics in before the program.  They asked, I didn't push it. Making up the bags And making ice cream. We had the party on Wednesday. Each class had a song, skit, or dance. And I was surprised to find out the teachers also had a song to sign. I can’t even tell you how much I was thrilled about that. Get to your seats! Not sure why the white man needs to do a tongue check.  But I guess he does. Yep, your tongue is there. Children watch you teacher for the actions, not Mr. John with

The normal end to Peace Corps is close of service (COS) at about 24 months after being sworn in. However, there are other ways to get out. We serve as volunteers and can early terminate (ET) anytime. I’ve heard about people who get off the plane in some third world airport and see, hear, or smell something and realize it’s not for them even before training starts. Peace Corps does not make anyone stay if they want to leave. If a volunteer violates a major rule or something Peace Corps may decide to administratively separate (ad sep) a volunteer. Nobody wants this black mark. A medical issue that cannot be supported in the country brings a medical evacuation back to the states. If the condition cannot be resolved with 45 days of care it automatically turns into medical separation. I had to leave Ghana under medical evacuation for a lung issue but I was cleared to return to service before the end of the 45 days. However, I didn’t have enough time left in my service so I coul

The issue is not yet settled between the teachers and the administration, but with some better negotiations, we got back to school on Tuesday. So almost a week of school. Back to teaching, lesson plans, and progress. Nice to have a nearly full school assembly again I’m still mainly focused on math. I had 5/6 of my class on Tuesday and Wednesday and everyone on Thursday and Friday. This week we talked about fractions. I described what they are, how to think about and draw diagrams, along with addition and subtraction methods. Most of the students picked up on the topic after some practice. I will give another exam to check in on the understanding and then turn to division as the final topic of the term. We are supposed to have two weeks left. Technically the temporary agreement to teach goes until this coming Friday. However, I think we can presume that we will be able to finish up the term. The last week will be a review and then end of term and holiday activities r

Another holiday away from family, part of Peace Corps. This Thanksgiving I was among friends celebrating the American Holiday with a rather typical Thanksgiving meal. The Principal Officer and Chargé D’affaries in Grenada, Mr. Frahm and his wife hosted a Thanksgiving dinner for the Peace Corps volunteers on Grenada. And there are a lot of volunteers on the island. Sorry for the picture quality, but liked the picture anyway Sitting eating and chatting.  You can just see me in the far back sort of middle... The turkey, stuffing, gravy and all the food was very nice. The Peace Corps volunteers brought side dishes to go with the sides provided. I brought a roasted sweet potato and pumpkin dish seasoned with cinnamon and nutmeg syrup. (The nutmeg syrup is made from the nutmeg pericarp, the fleshy part that covers the part of the nutmeg that is used for the spice.) No recipe, just using things grown and produced on the island. The sweet potatoes were grown in my backyard.

I was really looking forward to help with the school move so I passed on an offer to travel to St. Lucia for a meeting. However, accents and my ears being as they are Friday was not “moving” day with a movie for the students to keep them occupied, it was actually just a “movie” day in the afternoon. So I had a PC video conference Fridays morning instead. The meeting was good, but my attendance in person might have been better for me. Still, it was good enough, and perhaps one less passenger on four short turbo-prop flights cut down in a very small part of the greenhouse gases emitted. (I was called “Mr. Climate Change” yesterday for refusing plastic bags for the pumpkin and plantains I was buying.) Regardless of the Friday meeting I would not have been teaching in the morning. My classroom was taken over for student medical exams and so we didn’t have classes anyway. We didn’t have classes due to continued contract issues on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Thursday half of t

This was an interesting week. Of course the elections in the states. I hope my absentee vote was counted. Thanks to everyone for voting. Even if your candidates didn’t win – informed voting and otherwise supporting democracy remains critically important to our future. Stick with it – the only way our country will improve is with active and intelligent participation from people who care about everyone. The second goal of Peace Corps is to show American culture to citizens abroad. As Grenada has more personal exchanges with the states than Ghana I don’t get questions like “Does everyone own a big house in America?” I have recently been asked about the elections, press conferences, mass shootings, military troops on the Mexican border and such. Like other volunteers I try to give short answers about such questions without getting into political discussions. A lot of “I don’t understand either”, “People are divided like they are here”, “Good and bad in all countries”, and “Peop