John's Next Step

Last week Peace Corps brought together the volunteers on Grenada and their counterparts for additional training in teaching literacy to primary students. It was a three day and three night event at a hotel. We arrived Tuesday night so we could get started Wednesday morning, returning to our sites Friday night. The workshop will be also held on St. Vincent and St. Lucia. The volunteers on Dominica will travel to St. Lucia. The hotel was nice – the Grenadian by Rex Resorts. It was a three star hotel, so the venue was rather upscale for Peace Corps volunteers. Of course it was still Peace Corps so we all had roommates. My roommate was a male teacher I first met during check-in who is the counterpart of a female volunteer. (Peace Corps is a very effective agency from a money perspective – its total annual worldwide budget is on par with the cost of one of our new fighter aircraft. I’m hoping the rounding error of a rounding error in the federal budget does not get cut – it is...

OK, OK. With medical issues, sports week(s), Peace Corps stuff, and life I don’t really know what a “normal week” is. I’ve not had two weeks the same. However, if I generalize I can imagine a “normal” week. Of course school is Monday to Friday. I typically get up by 6. If I got a good night sleep earlier – 4:30 to 5:00 is not uncommon. I’ll work on a couple of language apps (Memrise and Doulingo) on my phone for French. Je ne connais toujours qu’un peu de français. (I still only know a little bit of French). After French and possibly a game or two if I have time I’ll get up for coffee and breakfast. After breakfast I have a simple exercise routine in the morning and then a shower. I’m out the door (hopefully) not later than 8 to get to school early. School starts at 8:30. I have class with the 4th graders and then the 1st and 2nd graders in the morning – Monday through Thursday. In the afternoons those days I also have library hours . I might go into Grenville to pay...

Munich beautification for independence day Nutmeg seed displayed on the flag The flag of Grenada has the same colors as the flag of Ghana – but for this flag the red is for courage, yellow for wisdom, and green for vegetation. In Ghana the colors were red for those who died for independence, gold for mineral wealth (Ghana was called the gold coast) and green for the agricultural wealth. Independence and Sports week Wednesday was independence day for Grenada - 44 years. The church had a party on Tuesday and I was able to help with some of the set up and concessions as I arrived 30 minutes after the scheduled start time. I didn’t do much on Wednesday, although some of the kids and teachers went to go to the national stadium for a celebration. I also didn’t do much in school in the literacy department because this was sports week. The kids and teachers were getting ready for the track competitions. There were practices and preparation. I didn’t realize how much w...

School celebration Skits and singing Friday was the school’s independence celebration. Next Tuesday will be the celebration for the Church and Wednesday is Independence Day. The celebration at school had two major components. First, a program for and with the children. Everyone dressed in the national colors of green, yellow, and red. The program was in the morning and involved skits and songs from the children and a speech from a former student. The skits and songs were very nice. I really enjoyed the program. Green, gold, and red - the colors of the flags of Grenada and Ghana Having a camera out can be a distraction Oil down – National dish Some of the foods to be prepared - breadfruit, okra, green figs (bananas) Hours of preparation Oil down is the national dish of Grenada and the second part of the day was a competition cook-off of oil down. There are three “houses” (teams) in school and every year former students come to compete for...