"People of different religions and cultures live side-by-side in almost every part of the world, and most of us have overlapping identities which unite us in very different groups.
We can love what we are, without hating what- and who we are not. We can thrive in our own tradition, even as we learn from others, and come to respect their teachings."- Kofi Annan
I have always had this love of learning about different cultures and languages. I always want to know where people are from and the language that they speak. Being able to pick up a few phrases here and there is intriguing and extremely useful. I joined Peace Corps because I wanted to travel and be able to embrace the need that I have to learn from different people and their culture. That and to help people as well.
I'm currently training on the island of St. Lucia, but I don't know if I'll be staying on this lovely island or going to Grenada or St. Vincent and the Grenadines. In September, I move to my community of service where I'll be a teaching assistant at a school, working with children in 1st-3rd grade on reading comprehension, English literacy and writing skills. I have minimal teaching experience which is why training is so important. Although I want the school year to start so I can meet the kids that I'll be teaching for the next two years, I'm still taking it day by day.
So far, I've had two lessons on the local language of Kweyol, a language mixed with French, English and West African language. Being African-American, I am often mistaken for being St. Lucian until I start speaking and they hear my American accent. I've been trying to learn and practice the language daily to integrate into the community and culture more. I've also been enjoying the festivities on the island, including Carnival. Above, I got a lovely St. Lucian woman to take a picture with me during a break in her performance. Just watching the parade and the different groups celebrate their culture was outstanding and I was in awe.
Previously, this blog was centered around celebrity news and gossip. I may or may not be making further posts about it because I've lost interest in reporting it. Culture, to me, is something that is extremely important and should be shared and passed down from generation to generation. I'd like to document my time here in the Eastern Caribbean on the culture, the people, language and etc. I will be posting between 4-6 times a month on my journey and hope to get a Youtube channel up and running within the next month or two.
Until then, bonswa (goodnight).
