March 19, 2006
Now I can officially update on what has been going on lately. Around the end of January, I began to fall into my school routine. I am placed with 3 schools for a variety of special education needs. I have been working at one of my schools, in town, since October. I address regular and special education at that school. It's a small population of students, so I have really had the opportunity to meet and get to know many of the students. In terms of the Resource Center for the Blind, I work with two country schools. One school has a boy in grade two that is visually-impaired, and the other school has a girl in kindergarten that is both visually impaired and physically disabled. I visit both students twice a week, and I'm starting to teach my second grader Braille! He really loves it and wants to work on it always when I'm with him. Of course, he needs to also do his other subjects! He is great at Math and being that it can be very hands-on, it's great for him. It's really different being at schools that are more in the country. I am addressed more often as "Teacher Sonya", and many students are very unaccustomed to having a white teacher around. However, I find that their curiosity about me only makes them embrace my presence that much more. They often trip over each other to work with me or ask for my help. Because I have an obligation to my students with visual impairments, it is more difficult to give the other students extra attention. However, I'm sure in time, there will be a smooth balance.
In other exciting news, I had one of my two grant proposals accepted! My proposal for empowering youth will begin in the next couple months. So now I need to get more of the stakeholders involved, and meet with the other organization members to start developing this curriculum. My hope is that this can be a sort of pilot project for further work I can do in the future. I would love to work on empowerment island-wide, so hopefully this can send me on my way.
I've been actively involved in my two choirs again. Chorale is performing "Mozart's Requiem" in April for an Easter concert. I was asked to sing an alto solo in the "Tuba Mirum" piece, which I am very excited about. Crescendo is unable to have an Easter concert because many members are traveling abroad or involved in other concerts elsewhere. Instead, we have decided to put full energy into our Christmas 2006 concert. We are learning parts of "Handel's Messiah" to perform in December. I am not sure whether or not I wrote it in a past entry, but I was nominated and elected to the executive board of that group. I think it will be great to get more involved in the executive planning of the group.
I was very fortunate to have some great visitors in the last couple months. My mom was out here in the beginning of February and even was able to celebrate her birthday Grenadian style! We took an island tour thanks to my great friend, Jomo. She was here for Grenada's Independence Day, and we attended a great rally and presentation at the Tantine playing field. It was well-attended and the Prime Minister spoke. During the culture component, there were performances by steel pan, Grenadian vocalists, even a police band from China. It was an interesting occasion to see. We also went snorkeling off Aquarium beach. It was really nice, except the water can be slightly turbulent at times. All in all, it was so great to see her. It's hard not seeing your family for so long. Thanks for visiting, Mom!
A few weeks after my mom left, Meg and I went to the island of St. Vincent. I figured it was time to begin my travels to various islands, and being that Erin was here for Christmas, I thought I should pay her a visit. It was also great to have the opportunity to see our medical school friends. They finished their time in Grenada and moved to St. Vincent for four months. St. Vincent is a gorgeous island. It's very lush and green. I can only imagine that Grenada was once like that, before Hurricane Ivan. We were able to visit the "Pirates of the Caribbean" set, which was near to another PCV. I actually have not even seen the movie, but now that I've seen where it's filmed, I will rent it soon. Our last day there, we went snorkeling off Young Island, a tiny somewhat private island that is about a 3 minute ferry ride away. We snorkeled to Rock Fort, an island that has a large fort built atop it, in commemoration of Vincentian workers. We managed to somehow climb to the top in only bathing suits. It was a beautiful view, and it made me wish I had a waterproof camera. I definitely hope to return to St. Vincent soon, I had a great time.
My other very important visitor, was my brother Gabe. He was really a trooper. He took a red eye flight from California and traveled for nearly 24 hours before he arrived here. It was so great seeing him. We had a great time walking around town, climbing Fort George, visiting my schools, going to the Grand Etang National Park, and snorkeling back at Aquarium Beach. Sadly, he was only here for a short time, but hopefully he will return in the next year and a half to see more. I love having visitors because it brings me back to when I first moved here and everything seemed so exotic and new. I'm still learning new things all the time, but I have become very accustomed to my life and surroundings here. I sometimes take the beauty for granted. It helps to have new eyes to see through. I'm so lucky to live here...
March 15, 2006
Hello!
I just wanted to write a quick note and say that I have not abandoned my site.
It's crazy how things start to pile up and before I know it, there is so much to
update on. Unfortunately, I cannot update just yet. I have my great brother,
Gabe, visiting from Los Angeles! Within the past couple of months I've been
fortunate to have a few visitors: a friend/former co-worker from Northbrook, my
wonderful Mom, and my great younger brother, Gabe. I will write all about that
and more in a couple days when my job as professional entertainer is complete.
Ok, I'm not professional. However, if you come visit, I promise to show you an
amazing country and an incredible culture.
Until then...
XOXO