My Time in St. Lucia

I know I'm late with the blog posts, but a lot has happened in the past month and has taken me some time to get adjusted. I am currently in St. Vincent, but this post will be about my time in St. Lucia.

My time here in the eastern Caribbean has been outstanding. I found a certain peace in St. Lucia that I have never known.

During the first five weeks of Peace Corps training, I'd start my day by going to the food stand where you can buy fried bakes, fruit, snacks and soft drinks.

"Bonjou Stephanie."
"Bonjou Brooke."
"Mwen vle de fig me."

The standard greeting or how to say "good morning" is bonjou. "Mwen vle de fig me" means "I want two ripe bananas." Because mangos were in season, I'd buy one or two as well. I ate two or more a day because I learned how the locals eat mangos: just bite into it, peel the skin and eat it. After training was over, I'd fill up my water bottle for my journey to my homestay. It's a 45 minute walk of beautiful scenery. I took this walk home about three times a week for two and a half weeks.

On the weekend, I'd wake up late and eat breakfast. I'm used to eating cereal, oatmeal or pancakes  for breakfast in America. My host mom would cook a chicken patty, cut up a mango, shred a cucumber with added garlic, fried plantains and ginger tea. Or I may get porridge or a fruit smoothie with two bananas or an apple.

My host mom likes to leave the door open to get a nice breeze into the house. After I got done with breakfast, I liked going outside and enjoying the view.

My host mom is a Seventh Day Adventist and goes to church on Saturday. After Church, her family would come over for a big lunch and to spend time together. I always looked forward to Saturday for the family visits. I was able to integrate into the family and community by spending time with them. My host mom's sister-in-law actually carved my name out of wood and painted the St. Lucian flag on the first letter as a gift for me (1st pic).

I got to try new food while in St. Lucia. My host mom's neighbor planted a lot of fruit and vegetables in her yard. I got to try starfruit for the first time after picking it from a tree. It's not too sweet and make a great afternoon snack.

 

Guavas are yellow and green with a pink flesh and you can eat the skin. It makes a great juice. Sugar cane is good to chew on as well. I got to drink water from a coconut for the first time and that was amazing. The provisions they have are dasheen, breadfruit, green fig or green banana, yellow, red and purple yams. The national dish in St. Lucia is green fig. I am officially and whole-heartedly obsessed with lentils. And if served with rice? Will put me in a good mood for an entire day.

A common dish is a roti (top right pic) which is a tortilla stuffed with chicken or beef with potatoes. Sometimes chick peas are added to the tortilla. Here are a few pics of the meals I got to eat.

 

  

I also learned how to make fried and roast bakes and cocoa tea or in Kweyol, di te cacoa. Dinner tends to be small and light, so these two are served together (although bakes are eaten at anytime of day). Some times the roast bakes are served with cheese or can be stuffed with salt fish. I ate it on my second night in St. Lucia and learned how to make it three weeks afterwards.

St. Lucia is the first country I got to go to and live in outside of America. The people I met, food I ate and partaking in the culture was an outstanding experience I will never forget. I can't wait to go back and visit someday.