April 17, 2006
Today is Easter Monday, and sadly, my 2 week vacation for Easter is coming to a close. The past month has been a busy one. I celebrated my 25th birthday, which was exciting in and of itself. Meg came over bright and early and decorated outside my apartment with balloons, streamers, horoscopes and quotes. She also left me freshly baked blueberry muffins and biscuits. She also made me a photo-collaged memory box to put my Peace Corps keepsakes and photos in. It was very clever! She's the greatest. We waited until the weekend to actually celebrate, though, since we all had to work during the week.
I also had my first visit at the Bel Air Orphanage weeks ago. It's a home for children that have been abused or neglected and currently has children from ages 3 months to about 17 years old. A teacher that works at one of my primary schools also works there, and invited me to visit and volunteer. I spent the day mainly with a small group of boys, reading stories and drawing pictures. However, I'm hoping to primarily work with the adolescent girls. This week I will be meeting with them and maybe learn a little about their interests and ideas for a weekly group.
In other exciting news, I had my Dad and Linda visiting for a week this past week. It was a great relaxing trip and they were able to see some great sites on island. We took an island tour and visited the Douglaston Plantation, Gouyave Nutmeg Receiving Station, Concord Waterfall, and the Grand Etang National Park. The Douglaston Spice Plantation has been around since 1899 and they still grow nutmeg and cocoa, but since the hurricane, it is on a much smaller scale. During training, I was able to visit the Gouyave Nutmeg "Pool" but it was great to take some pictures this time. I had never been to the Concord Waterfall, which was beautiful. It is different than some of the other falls. The water travels down the cliff at much less of an incline. My Dad and I went on a deep-sea fishing excursion, but unfortunately (like always), we didn't catch anything. I had been hoping for some fresh tuna or kingfish to be able to cook this week, but oh well. Luckily, I have the fish market! I was also fortunate to have them visiting for Passover. We had a Seder and I invited some friends over. I tried to give the matzo ball soup a little flare by adding fresh pumpkin. It was actually very good, and I highly recommend it! However, for all my family back home, it just wasn't the same as being home...
By the way, I added a guest book to this site. It's still a bit finicky, but please check it out, feel free to leave a comment or message. I also am in the process of updating more pictures. I find that I get so busy and totally forget!
Hope all is well...is it spring in the States yet?