St. Lucia Service Trip

As I made my transition back to the United States, I found myself missing a lot more aspects of Saint Lucia that I thought I would.

The pace of life and the type of relationships you can have with people you hardly have met and the trust you can have with mutual acquaintances is something astounding that I feel can be lost in the United States. I feel that this is due to the type of communities that exist in Saint Lucia.  They are close knit communities were all family members are aware of your safety and where you are at all times.  I miss all my fellow RC and LC friends that I have made and I am glad that this group of students surpassed my expectation of how college aged students would handle this type of experience. 

I am glad to be home, but I see a bit of my own Venezuelan culture that is intwined with the Caribbean culture.  I realized as I was there how at home I felt and comfortable, yet now that I am back in the United States this contrast of cultures seem even more apparent.

 The more lasting effects of the trip will be in weeks to come when I have digested all of the trip, and as I continue to keep in contact with all the students from Anse Le Ray, CARE in Odsan and with other people I have met throughout the trip.  The current state of the island culturally, politically and the lifestyle all will still be imbedded in my memory as only first hand service learning can help us to see.

Although this may not seem like the typical blog entry, it is certainly worth noting

I know I may have shared this with some of you…it was a very shocking event.

 I was at Elena’s ice cream in the Rodney Bay Beach area (which is a popular spot to get ice cream especially later at night) and I was with Diana and Nicole.  Me and Diana were laughing about something as I walked past a table and I accidentally stubbed his toe.  He looked shocked because he thought that i was laughing at him although I was merely laughing at Diana’s jokes.  I assured him that i was not laughing at him and I apologized.  He did not seem to take this lightly.  Me and Diana then went to another area, near the playground and he followed me and confronted Diana and asked why she was laughing at her and she said she wasn’t.  He then proceeded to scream at me, as I was terrified that in his anger he could do anything.  He then proceeded to ask me why it was so funny and if I liked getting my toe stubbed.  He stepped on my toe and went away. 

This experience made me realize how as being use to the American culture, we tend to laugh freely which is something that I would have never thought of altering until that day. 

 This is indicative of many of my experiences in Saint Lucia, in the sense of self-awareness that it brings you. I was never aware that i laughed so much, and that it would make it seem as if you were laughing at the other person.  I felt that this brought my understanding of how the cultures were different to another level.  Although at the time the experience was not very delightful, and although me and that particular man did not leave with having a good interaction between us, I felt that it still created a learning experience that I need to be careful of how much culture and every day behaviors can be taken as offense and as being a typical tourist infringing on a lifestyle of a country. 

 My experiences with the locals, although limited, were the most challenging yet rewarding experiences.  I felt that I definitely understood the culture more and more as time went bye due to the continued interactions with some locals.  Being able to talk about values, morals, expectations in all aspects of life helps you to see how you are similar and different.  Discussing political issues with the locals also gives you a new sense of world view of just how the country runs.  All of this I feel is valuable and I feel very lucky that most tourists intentionally avoid all of these experiences just because of the convenience of not wanting to stretch their horizons and be confronted with any situation which may make them feel uncomfortable.  Yet how can you ever become aware of yourself and your culture without being uncomfortable and learning why you feel that way in certain social spheres?

As I have reflected on the trip shared with our students and partners, I feel a sense of loss that is likely inevitable: it’s done; could we have done more, done it better?  I miss the people we have connected with in a profound way, bound by our common work and experiences.  They may not believe it, but I really miss my students (I include here my LC students)! 

Yet, I also feel a sense of pride in the effort and the undeniable good work we accomplished together with the people of St. Lucia in a small but significant corner of this vast globe. No one could make such a trip with an open heart and mind and not be changed by it. And no one can view the photos on this site and miss the mutual joy created in a world that needs it sorely. Our students and faculty represented a different face to St. Lucians than the one that has predominated of late (or the one that has predominated historically in the Caribbean, one might easily argue).

Finally I feel a great debt of thanks to all those that made this project possible, including decisions makers at both colleges. This is the way to do study abroad.

          Good news coach Porterfield, on our first full day in St. Lucia I started my summer training, kind-of. We were at Merigot Bay on Thursday, May 23 to spend the afternoon at the beach. There was a group pf young local men playing football (soccer as it is known in the US). Me being in love with the sport found a way to get in on the fun and play. All I had to do was start a conversation with one of the guys and ask if I could play some football. It was not a problem. When I took the field, or in this case the beach, I was happy to experience that gender was not an issue. No one said, you can’t play with us, your a girl or anything along those lines. I was the only female that was playing. To these guys I was just another person out there having fun playing a sport we love and that was all that mattered when we steped on the pitch.             The ball skills these guys had were incredible. I would even consider some of them to be the St. Lucian version of Cristiano Ronaldo. The made it look so easy. We were playing in sand, which made it insanely hard to get footing and makes one work extra hard to gain speed. On top of that there were obstacles in the way such as planters and palm trees that had to be maneuvered around with the ball. The goals were a trash can placed a food from a tree. There were 3 to a team and who ever scores first stays on while 3 other stepped on to play. 2 forwards and 1 defense / keep who could not use his hands because the goal was so small.

            Later on in the day Peter and John from LC also jumped in and played some football. Photos of them playing will be posted shortley.

            Despite the differences of gender, race, nationality and ball skills we were out there playing football to have fun, period. For that reason, I believe this was the sport at its purest. That was the best part of my day, even though I ended up cutting my foot in the middle of play and had to quit. This is one of the experiences that I value the most from this trip. When I return to college in the fall for intense soccer training to start my last season of college ball, I will remember this experience when I am waking up at 5:45am, sore from practice the day before. This experience has also encouraged me pursue the idea of athletics as form of building community and conflict resolution in my studies.

As I mentioned in my initial reflections, this was my first time traveling outside of the United States and because of this trip, I am finding it more and more difficult to be at home.  In St. Lucia, everything was just….closer, and I mean more by that term than just proximity (although that was an important part of my experience on the island).  I mean that the people were so down to earth and willing to help.  I mean that I built relationships with people that I probably would not have had under normal circumstances.  I mean that I grew to love St. Lucia in 17 days and I wish that I could be there now.

Not only did I have a great time with my friends, enjoying the day and nightlife of the northern tip of the island, I also enjoyed working with the RC Boys’ School and the people from Anse La Raye.  The facilities at the Boys’ School broke my heart a bit, but it seemed to me that the boys were not even bothered; they were just happy to be.  Their reactions to our cameras were priceless and it seems that they are both models and photographers because they are just as enthusiastic about being in front of the camera as behind it.  I really do hope that they are able to use the things we worked on with them and I hope that they will remember us because I know that I will never forget this experience.

The only thing that I regret about the trip is the fact that I did not assert myself more.  It was great as it was, but I feel that had I put myself out there more with the people we worked with, I would have even better memories of the trip.