Missing an outing

For the close of Child Month we had a school outing to Grand Etang Lake, Annandale Falls, and Grand Anse on Tuesday. Our school is small enough that we only needed two buses. Also, this Peace Corps volunteer didn’t go. But I am glad that the teachers and students got to relax for the day, well students relaxed anyway.

Grand Etang lake - they don't swim in the lake

Yes, the kitchen person, also a mom, with hand of face ....

Annandale Falls

Another view of the falls
There are times when Peace Corps volunteers are not treated as Federal Employees. For example, while staff gets American holidays – the volunteers are expected to be at work. However, there are also times when Peace Corps volunteers are treated as Federal Employees.

Tuesday was one such time when I was scheduled to receive the flu shot. Federal employees are required, in most cases, to get the flu shot and it makes sense in places like Baltimore, D.C., and other cities with a significant number of federal employees. Beyond the individual health benefits, giving out the flu shot provides as sort of community immunization that helps reduce the possibility of a significant outbreak.

I guess it makes sense in the Caribbean since there may be a number of American coming down to visit during flu season. Also a lot of volunteers travel home for the Christmas break when the season might be peaking. I also had to get the flu shot in Ghana, which I thought was sort of ridiculous as Ghana doesn’t have a flu season and if it did it would not be the American flu variety. And since Ghana is a lot farther away very few volunteers traveled home during service.

I got the shot in Ghana and I got mine on Tuesday. It was unfortunate that mine was scheduled at a time that I missed the outing. It would have been nice to have gone with everyone else. However, Peace Corps volunteers and their communities knows that there are times when Peace Corps will have something that takes the volunteer away for a short time. It’s not the first time I missed something, and not likely the last … But that is also life – we can’t do everything – so no real worries.

Of course Wednesday was Halloween. I explained the history of Halloween, rather than focus on how much candy the children get. I remember one year my daughter brought home something like 15 or 20 pounds of candy. I didn’t bring this fact up as the adults and teachers are concerned about losing their culture to the more alluring candy feast.

So I explained how Halloween started with the Celts Samhain festival that was adjusted by the Church about a 1000 years ago. In my research I was surprised that the “trick or treat” thing likely only became popular after a Peanuts comic strip in 1951.

The whole dressing up and collecting candy thing didn’t happen in Ghana and hasn’t taken hold in Grenada yet. November 1st, All Saints day, and the eve of All Souls day is the more celebrated day. It is common to visit family graves with candles and flowers. Unfortunately, we just have small family cemetery plots and the wind didn’t cooperate for the candles, so no pictures. The largest cemetery in Grenada is in Grenville and I understand, although I did not go, that it can be very beautiful with the flowers, candles, and festivities.

There is an election being held in Grenada this Tuesday concerning the adoption of the Caribbean Court of Justice for the final appellate court. Of course, Tuesday is also the mid-term elections. I stay out of local politics and mostly dodge conversations about the US situation. However, I did mail my ballot and hope the everyone has either already voted or will vote on Tuesday. A lot of people are waiting to see the results.


Love always,
John

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