We took the kids for our 2^nd visit to Terre-de-Haut, and this time it was my turn to scuba dive for the 1^st time!  I opted to take the afternoon group with Rebecca, so most of us spent the morning stuck in town due to incessant rain.  Poor Claire misplaced her camera somewhere, but handled it much better than I would have.  Rebecca took a few brave munchkins to see Fort Napolean who hadn’t yet gone or wanted to again; apparently they made record time on the steep rainy hike. Luckily, the rain subsided in time for our scuba group which was unusually large.  While waiting on the boat with a couple more nervous girls who were waiting for their 1-on-1 guide, Ora (who wasn’t nervous) already in the water had a serious panic attack and had to be pulled out.  Never a dull moment!  They calmed her down significantly in the water, and I tried to keep it that way by singing silly songs to her on the boat.  Eventually, I got my turn in the water and also had a 1-on-1 guide, who pretty much did everything for me which made it nice and easy. (Possibly my only weakness, I have a bit of anxiety about breathing in water and have been scared to try scuba.)  No sea turtles like the morning group, but still a cool experience.  By the time we made it back and returned our wetsuits and gear, we barely made it on our return ferry.  Good thing they’re “friends” of ours, aka want to keep our business. On the ride back, I learned that Lindsay had proposed to James in town (though both had significant others).  This was humorous because the kids had gossiped with me early on about their love theories for J & L, calling them “the item.” They planned to marry in about 5 years.

les îles

sans pattes!

We attempted to make Sunday another workday, so I volunteered to take a group to the mural.  We didn’t make much progress due to…dun, dun, DUN…  plus de pluie-rain.  However, beautiful weather returned later for an afternoon trip to L’ancien Poterie, an old site where they used to manufacture clay pots to help in the crystallization of sugar candy (or at least that’s how I understood the French sign).  We walked there along the road to the port, and the scenery was stunning.  The site itself was pretty cool as well, right on the water of Grande Baie, with old stone ruins of different production phase buildings and varied clay and coral debris.  Little Andrew wanted to do a quick photoshoot amongst the ruins as everyone was leaving, so we made the walk back with some laggers and ended up talking and laughing about all kinds of weird things, such as signs of dinosaurs on the island.

atelier

In other news, Rose has added an all-new and fascinating medical mystery to the mix which surpasses any talents I may be known to possess: non-stop uncontrollable burping.  I mean we’re talking like every 3 seconds, could last for hours.  It was more of an uncomfortable thing though than a cool I can burp the alphabet thing (though in retrospect, I should I have suggested it).  Medicine doesn’t help, nor anything else we could think of. This night was so bad that around 1am, Rebecca moved their mattresses into the kitchen to sleep because Rose didn’t want to keep the girls up and we didn’t want to let her sleep on the ground outside (which she would have done!).   I was blessed to be off.

Jewish-Guadeloupian Wedding

My last day off was fairly low-key and disappointing.  With the kids leaving soon and local cyber café reopening again, I opted to relax instead of schlep to Terre-de-Haut.  I spent the wonderfully sunny morning on my computer playing with pictures and playing silly games.  Andrew told me I was crazy for not being at the beach, though I had every intention of going later.   I finally made my way with a great plan in mind, when I got sidetracked and decided to check the cyber.  It was open!!  I couldn’t resist.  Just a quick check I told myself.  Well the next thing I know it’s raining! BAH!  The girls were ready to close up, so I waited outside till the rain slowed so I could head to a snack shop, then soon after it was sunny and beautiful again. I went to Chez Michel to get an ice cream bar, and spontaneously decided to treat myself to a cool crisp Carib as well, which I nervously hid under my towel just in case I passed a kid on my way to Bord de Mer.  All was well again.

I took my time and many pictures along the way, then carefully set up my spot on the deserted beach.  About 2 minutes and a few Carib sips in, the grey clouds started rolling in again.  Dun dun DUN!  I ended up getting stuck under the pavilion for ~ 2 hours-taking silly pictures then falling asleep on the bench.

I awoke to find the sun had returned and thus returned myself to the beach, leaving the empty Carib bottle on the table to recycle in town.  About 2 minutes after getting situated, I heard the sound of people coming down the hill.  Darn it, private beach non plus.  Wait…is that…oh my god it’s OUR kids SKITTLES!!  [skittles was our acceptable code word for shit]  I totally forgot that it was stages day, and I saw Rebecca and James in his unmistakable hat bringing a group of kids down for fishing.  There I lay in my skimpy bikini which I would not usually wear around them.  Of course, it very soon after began to rain and I was forced to join them under the pavilion where I left my empty beer bottle.  A couple of the girls relentlessly teased me about my inappropriate bikini and what the community would think (based on the no 2-piece rule). Awkward, oops.  They eventually took off for a short fishing trip in the pouring rain.  Just as they returned the rain stopped, and I made one last attempt at the beach after they left.  I don’t even think I sat down before the sprinkles returned and I gave up and headed “home.”

I returned to learn that James had changed him and Lindsay’s wedding plans from 5 years to 5 o’clock today.  With just a few girls at kid’s camp that morning, he got them all excited about it.  They made signs to post around and even some Salako wedding rings! They came over to do lots of girls’ makeup and manicures, and were so into it that we began to worry that they thought it was actually real.  Lindsay was given a very ornate silver design on her face along with bright red lipstick, which looked great with the white sundress she was able to borrow from Casey.  James ended up in a beachy outfit borrowed from little Andrew, which was a dream come true as he had been admiring Andrew’s flowy shirts all summer.  The local and VISIONS kids served as the wedding party, with Ben giving Lindsay away.  Our kids were just as excited as the young girls because they had essentially been waiting for this all summer.  Jeffrey volunteered to serve as their Rabbi and also had makeup done haha.  He even found a blue rope to use (part of Jewish ceremony), which he announced symbolized the destination wedding in the Caribbean.  He was hilarious.  James and Lindsay exchanged French vows, hugged, then James stepped on a glass and they danced away.  It was a lovely and slightly too real ceremony.

Salako rings

That night, James and I were off and walked down to the Grande Ravine.  It began to pour before we even made it, and we ran under a pavilion where we got stuck for awhile before giving up and walking back in the rain.  Just another manic Monday!

Nausea, heartburn, indigestion, upset stomach, diarrhea!

Sunday am post- Soufrière survival, I awoke to immediate inquiries from a staffer about constipation, followed very soon after by Rebecca about the opposite problem for a couple girls.  I told him to drink some coffee, handed Rebecca some Bismuth for the girls (our Pepto), and headed to the kitchen only to find out one after another was also afflicted with the good ol’ rhea.  In the end, we had atleast 10 kids and 2 staffers with varying degrees of stomach problems, some over and some continuing.  Good morning, Pepto commercial!  We held a meeting with Pierrette to figure out the cause, but could never come to a concrete conclusion aside from some food item.  After the initial excitement and investigating wore down, I really enjoyed doing individual interviews for the med log, asking the kids for more details including where their diarrhea rated on my melted ice cream scale.  Poor Rose was of course included in the mix, and to add to the fun, threw in a new problem: periodically losing feeling in her foot.  I can’t even express how thankful I was not to be one of the victims this day.  However, my apparent mission to take down each kid 1 by 1 seems to be progressing well…

Ironically enough, we had planned to make this Sunday and the next workdays to make up for so much lost time, splitting the kids between projects and cleaning.  The mission was quickly abandoned and massive clean half-heartedly completed.  Eventually, enough kids were well enough for an afternoon beach trip, though considering all the prior mishaps at l’Anse a dos, we decided on and the kids requested a switch to la Bord de Mer (beach we accidentally found before).  Not so fast Nurse Jackie!  You haven’t earned a break yet.  After lunch, I discovered one of the boys who had not felt well in the morning, Olivier, in bed with increasing
terrible pain between his lower ribs.  Suspecting severe indigestion or gas, I gave him more Pepto and eventually it subsided.  Later as I was putting on my swimsuit for the beach, one of the boys yelled for me, and I found Olivier again in bed in even worse agony (though he handled it rather stoically).  It was bad enough that Andrew and Vince were concerned about a possible heart attack.  Though it was certainly concerning, I doubted the likelihood due to the location of pain, but better safe than sorry!  They called the EMS for our 2^nd visit.  Naturally, by the time they arrived the pain had greatly decreased (I had given him more meds).  They did a thorough check-up and all seemed well, but he rested for the remainder of the day.  I was happy to get in 30 minutes of beach time after all the excitement.  While walking back with Casey, a large tree branch fell to the ground next to us with a strange-looking creature on it.  After a moment, we realized it was an Iguana!  Strange but humorous.  That night, Andrew decided to do bilan at the stade, which is about 10-15 minutes’ walk away.  I managed to find an old wheelbarrow left out behind a shed which became Rose’s hot new convertible for the trek.  It was a nice starry night, and our activity was 25 minutes of alone time spread out amongst the field.  25 minutes to just sit (or lay and try not to fall asleep) alone with your thoughts-refreshing and/or scary depending on the person…

wheelbarrow hotrod

*In case you haven’t noticed, I seem to have a difficult time summing up all the crazy/exciting events without writing a small novel.  I will try to slim it down, but no promises!*

3^rd work week-WOW

I returned to the mural Monday am with a different group, and we worked mostly on the 2^nd mural-an island scene.

After making  touch-ups on the 1^st mural where we could, there was little else to do with only 1 ladder and no blue paint yet, but Moss kept us entertained by reciting rather impressively and enthusiastically “The Emperor’s New Groove” nearly line-by-line.

Sassy Sarah

Language partners in the afternoon consisted of question Bingo, sharades, and more Petit bac.  It also led to some small photo shoots with little Andrew, James and some local girls, one of which is very sassy and will surely be trouble one day.  That night we had a pizza party Chez Tido, followed by a dance party courtesy of DJ Thierry.

Sassy Andrew

Now that the pervert-accuser and I are good buddies (he also loves being a model in my photos, and I mean he really could be a model) and all the kids make frequent jokes about what happened, I suppose I could further expand on the story.  I heard little Andrew approach 2 girls and say “Je voudrais menagé-trois,” or I would like a threesome.  When I questioned him, he claimed to say “Je voudrais mange-toi,” or I would like to eat you (which I thought was weird and unlikely).  Assuming a bad itch moment (young Christopher reference), I gave him my doubting eyes and walked away.  Later that night after our med interview, he confronted me about it very defensively, to which I simply said ok.  This apparently was not to his liking because he then said, “My mom always told me that perverted minds think perverted thoughts… so maybe that says more about you than it does about me.”  Fairly shocked, I could think of no other *appropriate* response than, “I think it’s time for you to go to bed.”  The kids enjoyed dropping both of these quotes throughout the summer.

As seems to be the trend, I enjoyed another somewhat complicated day off due to logistical obstacles.  The family who has been running the already limited schedule ferry to Terre-de-Haut has apparently gone bankrupt, leaving me with the only option of the 5:45 am ferry stopping at Terre-de-Haut then heading to the mainland.  The only return option was to first go to the mainland then to Terre-de-Bas (~ 1.5 hours to go 15 minutes).  Arriving at 6 am, nothing is open of course, so I made the ~ 30 minute walk straight to la plage (Pompierre again).  There were a bunch of Pelicans in the sun-glistened water, flying around and diving for fish.

I enjoyed a moment pretending I was a National Geographic photographer, then walked down to a smaller more secluded beach with less seaweed-infested beautiful water, and for awhile it was my own private paradise.  I returned to town later to catch the cyber café before sieste, grabbed a panini, and headed back to la plage, then back to town again to grab some gelato and catch the ferry.  I returned to homebase excited for another dinner-stay-kids-are-gone fest, but instead found my fellow staffers stressed, distracted, and disheartened.  Otherwise, it was a fantastic day!!

This week we added a new project-Monsieur Beaujour’s  jardin (garden).  After getting a lot of sun yesterday, I decided to sport a more gardeny look complete with my sunhat.  I got many compliments on my “color palette” that day, just another example of the humorous maturity of the kids here.   It worked well with the 4 machetes I carried there.  In the afternoon, I took a group to the Salako hats stage with a different Monsieur Beaujour.

Naomi in the finished product!

He and some helpers make traditional hats from bamboo reeds, and they showed us some of the different processes involved.  Olivier and Dylan spent the whole time chopping bamboo despite their complaints of being tired, which I didn’t take seriously since everyone complained about going.  After returning, I discovered that both of the poor boys had temps of I think 101ish and 102.8!  Dylan also revealed that he had stomach problems since yesterday morning, but didn’t find it necessary to tell us OR refrain from eating a Magnum bar and regular meals.  This turned into a fun battle for the remainder of days.

Thursday I did homebase and we went to Bord de Mer in the afternoon.  Andrew decided to have our bilan there during sunset, which was a splendid idea.  We wrote letters to ourselves which will be delivered come December.  I tried to take a pic of the sunset with my mom’s poor borrowed camera whose display screen did not survive La Soufrière.

sunset bilan

My last weekday workday started out as somewhat of a clustercluck, with rain affecting all the worksites except cabana, and 3 kids needing to visit the Dr.  I suppose this morning epitomized much of our summer.  Not feeling so hot the night before, I had planned to do homebase but ended up going to the Dr. with Lindsay, Dylan, and Ora (wrist pain).   Lindsay had already warned us that this Dr. Colombani was a bit of a joke.  He diagnosed Ora with tendonitis and gave her cream; she returned home to be diagnosed with a stress fracture.  He pretty much prescribed coca-cola for Dylan and a couple other meds which did not help; in the end, Dylan ended up taking his pre-prescribed traveler’s rhea meds which Dr. C felt would hurt his stomach…and whatya know they worked! He told Lindsay to call the EMS for our final visit (thank God) to pick up Rose so he could check out her leg since her loss of feeling was moving farther up to her thigh.  The rain continued until Thierry brought his equipment that night to DJ a sweet dance party outside, which many community members came to.  I tried to get in some dancing in between checking on bed-ridden Dylan and talking to and reassuring his mom while competing with the loud music.  Andrew had his night off, and we-the staff-enjoyed dancing goofily enough together that some community members were rumored to have asked if we were drunk.  We played tag-in dance games and made dance-fight scenes.  James wore his mesh tank top and danced like he was made of rubber (I’ve never seen anything like it).  His back reminded him the next day that he is crazy and not as young as he would like to think.

Highlight purchases include: a suhweet red corset for pirate parties, the mesh tank top of James’ dreams, and a ton of sugar cane accidentally acquired by several kids. We returned to the hospital to check on statuses. Matt was mono free, but Rose remained for x-rays and later found out she did indeed have a sprained ankle, which I had begun to suspect. While waiting, some of the boys were incessantly requesting a visit to the MacDo, so I asked the bus driver to humour them, but secretly yearned to go as well.

Next, we were off to the big hike, ready to conquer the world and blissfully ignorant of our impending doom. The bus dropped us off at the bottom of a hill just as it began to sprinkle because he apparently couldn’t make it up the hill in the rain. So we had about a 45 minute uphill pre-hike to the trailhead, but this was only the start of our uphill downfall. We met up with our guide-Mandy-who briefed us in French on the low-down. Andrew stayed behind to suffer in the hot pools with 2 kids who couldn’t make the climb. Before leaving, he stressed that we stay together and stop together. Dun, dun, dun!

Shortly after starting the hurried march to the top, Jeffrey and I somehow got a little behind and reached a confusing point where we had no idea which way they went. It was a bit worrisome, but I eventually realized the initially unnoticeable path they had taken. Shortly after that, the rain began to pick up, and continued to do so the entire way up. It didn’t take long before my shorts and shoes were soaked, but on we went through the pouring rain and sulfurous fumes. After a lot of uphill climbing, I was really struggling, and the guide was moving so fast that I barely ever saw her or most of the group. I stayed in the back with the slower kids so they didn’t get left behind, and eventually we were completely separated from the rest. The terrain was very rocky and often steep, with so much rain that at some points it was as if we were walking through small creeks and waterfalls! Words truly can’t describe the absurdity of our experience. James and I could only laugh about it as we both agreed how unsafe it was, yet were ironically left behind and unable to communicate so. Nearly at the top, Jeffrey pleaded that we turn around and Meghan-our youngest-hurt her ankle so badly that she was crying, but we had to press on while I helped her walk. Finally, there was hope when someone told us about a bunker up ahead which was warm and covered. We found the rest of the group there and crammed in the small space remaining to eat our sandwiches.

You may have assumed that we were ready to return at this point, but of course not. After the break, we returned to the very cold air though the rain had died down thankfully. We were just short of the top and also still had to check out the 2 active craters.

“Did you get the scenery?”

At some point after reaching the top of the fog-covered volcano, either James or Lindsay made the casual reassuring comment, “Well at least we have that hypothermia blanket.” Please note their reactions when I replied, “uhhhhhh.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FunwrYUp2y8

 Shortly after heading to the craters, this time about half the group somehow lost the other half, but luckily Mandy came back to find us going the wrong way. After stopping to see the 1^st crater, in which very little was happening, we continued on to the next one. I stopped with one of the girls who unfortunately decided to take a quick water break in the middle of the fog. By the time I turned around again, the group was nowhere in sight. We walked the short way to the end of the straight path, and there was no clear path they could’ve taken. This time I was really pissed and worried as the rain picked up again, especially after a man warned us about several toxic gas areas. After wandering around where I thought I had seen them cross, we finally saw them across a ravine going back down where we had come from. Who knows where they went or what the 2^nd crater looked like, but FINALLY we were ready to head back down. I continued in bitter silence.

Eventually, James and I laughed and joked deliriously as we herded the last of the kids down, commenting on how unprepared we felt and once again getting left behind. Immediately after, we passed a native couple wearing only swimsuits, increasing the ridiculousness and making us feel slightly pathetic. Meanwhile, at the bottom, Andrew and his 2 kids experienced so much rain as well that the kids were freezing in the hot pools, but had no dry clothes to put on or towels and thus couldn’t get out either. In conclusion, we miraculously survived with no fatalities or hypothermia but at least 4 kids with bloody shins, and 2 more kids unable to walk back to the bus. I’ll take it.

Here is a video of the weather just as we got back to our bus later.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbhmQGbKbZE

Gwada <3 Heineken

We had language partners later, and this time more kids showed up and I actually got to participate. We played some games, the favorite seeming to be “Le petit bac”, where teams race to think of a nationality, name, job, animal, fruit/veg, and object in French and English starting with a designated letter. Intense is an understatement.

Matild et James

 Back at homebase, Chantal came over to make corossol sorbet (a spiky green fruit), which was subpar to the coco. Matild, Chantal’s very friendly young daughter, also tagged along and decided she wanted to play with my camera, which she apparently loved because she took nearly 100 pictures. Aside from awkward extreme close-ups, the highlight pics were a series of James dancing and then she made both of us dance.

 After another homebase morning, we had the exciting pleasure of a visit from Gwoka, a pair of local musicians from Guadeloupe (the mainland). [Terre-de-Bas and Terre-de-Haut are part of a group of islands called Les Saintes.] Jean-Marc was like a big jolly teddy bear on the drums, and ? was also very nice and led the kids in the 7 different Gwoka beats, giving many of them turns with different natural instruments. Then Jean-Marc led everyone in a series of Gwoka dance moves, which was very entertaining. The last of the series was a bit of a finale competition between girls and boys, so we rotated groups, and I think it’s safe to say the girls won every time. We finished with a staff show-down.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CT_RAFeNIe0

Liberté!

The kids had dinner stays again tonight, and we felt like liberated parents who had left their kids with a babysitter for the night. Naturally, we celebrated this freedom with strange/nice outfits, loud music, and dancing (and maybe some other stuff). Pierrette kindly brought some extra clothes for Lindsay after she expressed her frustrations in packing so stingily. There happened to be not 1 but 2 semi-MC Hammeresque cotton pants which I felt were best worn as an outfit in itself.

hawt

Lindsay and I rocked those while the rest dressed nicely. (Claire, one of the kids, had a great photo but later lost her camera.) It happened to be Andrew’s day off, and we wondered if he would be disappointed in us when he came into the kitchen upon return to find the lights out, candles spread around (our best attempt at a discothèque), and us shamelessly dancing our hearts out. On the contrary, he joined in immediately without question. :)  The fun times brought us back to the fun of staff days, and the surprising realization that we’re already halfway through (no excitement whatsoever). A couple kids may have caught us dancing, but almost all returned thrilled from their experiences.

My next day off was rained out so I slept in and relaxed until going to Grande Anse later, where I enjoyed a brief bit of sun followed by a “piña colada” avec Luke, who owns a small restaurant and the freezer full of coveted Magnum bars. We attempted some conversation before I tried to squeeze in some cyber café time. At this point it was after 8 pm, and the likelihood of hitching a ride back was pretty slim. I walked until the last streetlight, staring at the pitch black ahead of me for about 10 minutes until giving up and going for it. The moonlight eased the darkness but about halfway back, I was able to flag down a couple guys who kindly gave me a ride. I came back in the middle of bilan, and the kids seemed fascinated that I had hitchhiked. Later, Lindsay and I went to get a drink at Tido’s, and it was nice to be able to chat for awhile. Just as we were ready to pass out, Thierry also found us and chatted for a bit, talking us into another drink to celebrate his almost birthday.

A day of fiascos

This morning was my 1^st experience working on the 2 murals at the port, which I was actually looking forward to. One of the kids, Molly, had designed both of them, but the challenge was that we were painting on a rocky surface which was often wet from constant rain. Some progress had been made on the 1^st scene which I had never seen before, so we continued that. It was a bit of a challenge having received no info from the prior staff person there and only having one ladder, but we made the best of it.

tres mignon

Likely more exciting than the painting itself was a couple of 1-month-old puppies an older man had out while waiting for his boat. He patiently let us all play with them, and word even traveled to the cabana kids. We got picked up by Tido’s wife, Muriel. Though I thought her driving was a bit scary, it turned out to be nothing compared to the surprise we found once we made it. The yellow paint can had not been closed fully and left loose on top of stuff in the back, and (yep, you guessed it) had spilled alllll over the back of the van, also spilling out onto the street. Other groups actually reported a very confusing yellow trail all the way from the port. People scurried to grab crappy clothes to throw in to soak up the paint, and then we made our best effort to clean the rest with shirts, towels, and mineral spirits. Naturally, one of the things in the back was a huge container of ice for the all-day party at l’Anse a dos which she had to rush to deliver. She returned after for more cleaning, but we never could get all the paint out before her impatience took over.

The fiascos continued during our weekly trip to l’Anse a dos. After swimming for awhile and ending up a bit farther out with a couple others, we hear Vince yelling for me and see a group of people crowded around Rose by the shore. I swim as fast as I can once again terrified that it’s the deadly Lionfish. As if breathing problems and tons of oddly huge bug bites weren’t enough, poor Rose had apparently kicked a sea urchin while trying to climb onto the pier step. With spines on top of her foot and ankle, she appeared in total agony, and a local man ended up calling the local EMS-the 1^st but sadly not the last we would see of them. Escorted by Vince, this turned out to be not as serious as we thought since she didn’t even see a Dr., he merely talked to Vince on the phone and told him they would work their way out in several days. However, it ended up being a much more serious problem which affected her for the rest of the program (and consequently me, being her primary caretaker).

And the finale…. Remember the all-day party I mentioned earlier? Well that was still going on and included dancing under the pavilion, which several of the kids (and staff of course) wanted to join. It wouldn’t have been complete without me dancing with a couple slightly creepy but nice older men, one of which taught me the local Zouk-a very close dance. Most of the group had returned for showers etc., leaving just a few of us behind. After saying ok one more song for probably the 3^rd time, we suddenly hear a commotion up the road and see everyone dashing in the same direction. Eventually, I see that a physical fight has broken out with men and women throwing blows and jumping on people, including Tido and Muriel. Madness. Initially nervous, we keep the kids with us and continue dancing haha (the fight is in our path to leave sooo). After Muriel is practically carried back to the pavilion ruffled and barely standing, we decide we better try to leave. It turned out that 2 men had started fighting, and Muriel and another woman both got punched in the head attempting to stop it. The men were ok but the other woman was unconscious and ended up being taken in an ambulance. It took possibly negative seconds for the excitement to burst out of the kids’ mouths when we returned.

That night, Rose continued to be in terrible pain, but I could barely see any spines in her foot. The worst pain was in her ankle, and after a seemingly insignificant move the agony mysteriously returned, leaving me very frustrated with how to help her. After some investigating, I began to wonder if the spine was deeper than we could see and pinching a nerve, so I got to do some more fun stuff using a splint and ace bandage to stabilize her ankle and rigging a sling to the bench to try and make her more comfortable. The next day, we stepped it up a notch by setting her up in Naomi’s hammock so I could leave for my worksite(s). I even did the unthinkable and let her use her iPod *gasp*. [All iPods and cell phones are collected upon arrival]

best nurse ever i think

all rockin' my headbands

Friday proved much less eventful doing a quick trash clean-up at the stade and only an hour of kid’s camp before the meeting and reception we were invited to at the Mayor’s office. At kid’s camp, we played some more duck, duck, goose, introduced red rover which turned dangerous, followed by the very popular tree, bridge, rock relay race.

At the mayor’s, we got some snacks and soda, and they spoke the whole time in French. Always trying to set a good example, I could NOT stay awake! Though I hoped I was discreet, several kids called me out immediately after. A tv news crew actually came and did some interviews afterwards which I did not partake in. That afternoon we had bilan, which Andrew decided to have at the Grande Ravine. Alas, what to do with Rose? After a couple other failed attempts, Andrew and I took turns giving piggy back rides. We did a self-reflection activity within a small group where you write alone for 5 minutes while the group also writes observations about you. Mine had very nice things to say and also thought my own thoughts were rather “deep” and told me I should share, but alas I’ve presently lost the card.

Juliet churning the sorbet

  That afternoon, we had our first stages or internships, where the kids work on 1 of 4 projects: making coco(nut) sorbet, fishing, making bokits, and making salako hats (a local tradition).  I got to take my group to coco sorbet, which was actually loaded with milk but delicious.  That night we had a surprise visitor-the adorable dog from Grande Anse, which is a pretty good hike away.  It turns out another group had already met him on a previous day and named him Mr. Bananas, and everyone was thrilled.  James, apparently feeling rebellious, attempted to rename him Dr. Dog.  Dr. Bananas ended up hanging out with us on homebase for a few days, becoming our tick and flea-ridden mascot.  Eventually, Andrew pointed out that not only was he potentially unsanitary to our already vulnerable health, but that it wasn’t fair to make him dependant on us then leave.  Adventures of Dr. Dog to be continued….

Dr. Dog!

 I had my first experience doing homebase crew, which is supervising 3 kids designated to stay on homebase and help with food prep as well as cleaning everything.  After ordering the kids around and getting their hands dirty with toilet grunge, we went into town to run a couple errands, such as buying 50 yogurts Chez Michel (small store owned by a guy named Michel).  This resulted in us getting free broken ice cream bars which was of course exciting.  We had a less eventful trip to l’Anse a dos in the afternoon, aside from the usual scratches caused by the barnacled pier steps. 

Canard, Canard, Oie!

The next day, I had my first experience running Kid’s camp, a morning program we do for local children à la bibliothèque.   We worked on teaching them les animeaux en anglais, and then played animeaux-related games.  They had already learned Duck, Duck, Goose, but frenchified to other names.  Now they could play with their new words and loved it.  We took our kids to the stade (stadium) in the afternoon, but most were wiped from a long 1^st week and didn’t want to do anything in the heat.  I played on the swings while the kids tried to gossip with me, then played basketball with myself for awhile-everyone’s a winner that way.  I eventually rallied some more to play knockout, where I dominated naturally, or at least once. 

Swimming in seaweed and sewage

pas une mauvaise vue!

We had a fun weekend with our first group trip to Terre-de-Haut Saturday and the postponed big hike to Grande Anse Sunday.   We will all get an opportunity for a quickly taught scuba diving session, with half going today and half going in 2 weeks, which includes me. 

Kestrel eating un lezard

Those who weren’t doing scuba in the am made the trek up to Fort Napolean, which is a cool old historic stone structure with lots of history and amazing views.  We tried to find the historic video the woman mentioned, but instead found a weird marine life video for which James provided some hilarious commentary.

Ft. Napolean

Afterwards, we gave the kids some free time to wonder around the more touristic town than they’re used to on Terre-de-Bas.  James found me wandering the streets and asked me to grab a soda in a slightly shady but intriguing little spot.  We were quickly invited to join a curly-haired old man named Marco who was celebrating his birthday with a lot of rum and his girlfriend, who was very patient while he continued to say things like beautiful woman, you are a bush (??), and something about the sky. 

Marco Polo <3

It was quite humorous but cut short so we could reconvene with the group.  As we kept trying to leave, he told me one more time to wait, grabbed me and got right in my face, then said in drunken English “I love you.”  James was dying, while still trying to hurry us away.   We took the kids to la Plage de Pompierre for awhile where the beach and water were filled with seaweed, but some found great snorkeling by a small coral reef.  Having skipped lunch, I decided to get a basil, tomato, & mozz panini and coco & vanille milkshake before getting back on the ferry, and it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made-so amazing.

Ben-the silent ninja assassin

After our Sunday massive clean, we began the ~ 3-hour trek to Grande Anse.  It started with a rather hellacious uphill climb, but the rest was more level rocky forest terrain.  I ended up being the caboose with the “back of the pack pack.”  All was going well until one of the smaller hills did Rose in and she had a somewhat scary breathing problem-not asthma but similar.  James, Jeffrey, and I stayed with her until she had enough steroidal inhaler puffs to turn into The Hulk (or so we joked).  We were very confused to climb the hill and find Lucy sitting alone with an extra backpack nearby.   She had been waiting there for at least 15 minutes, and said the backpack was Ben’s.  Having already grabbed Rose’s bag, I told James he gets to carry another when we heard a familiar but far away voice say “I can take it.”  Very confused, we looked all around until someone spotted Ben about 20 ft in a tree above us! 

We made our way to the end, enjoying a gorgeous view, just before it started to pour.  We were soaked by the time we joined the rest of the group, who cheered our arrival.  Some of the kids were already swimming despite the rain and we joined them, dominating in some chicken.  After lunch the rain continued stronger, but James really wanted to go swimming for some reason, and somehow talked Lindsay and I into it despite the kids’ warnings.  We ran into the brown water and it didn’t take long to highly regret our decision as we waded through smelly grossness and saw the runoff from the street going into the ocean.  It felt like we were swimming in sewage.  Later, we all enjoyed the usual Magnum bars, some card games, and the sun returned for a little bit.

To continue the saga, the ever-faithful Dr. Bananas followed us the entire hike from homebase to Grande Anse.  He hung out with us our entire stay, but per Andrew’s prior concerns, we left him at his original home when we departed.  However, stay tuned because the adventure is far from over!

Wednesday was a lot of last-minute prep and planning (like me finishing the med inventory I had slightly avoided and Vince’s staff carpentry orientation), keeping us up nice and late before taking another 5:45 am ferry Thursday to meet the kids at the airport.  Lindsay and Rebecca stayed behind to clean and prepare food, while I joined the boys.  Since we had many hours to kill before their 2 pm arrival, we did some much less rushed shopping.  We dropped Vince off to get more carpentry stuff then went to several other stores.   James was embarrassed by our slight twinsieness, and we had fun trying on strange glasses in attempt to find some decent ones to replace those he lost at the beach.

hi-larious

After shopping, we found out that one of the boys coming-we’ll call him A- left his passport on the plane ride to San Juan, and was therefore stuck there.  (This turns out to be the 1^st of many….spacey events with him.)  Since the next flight wasn’t until the same time the next day, James had the privilege of staying on the main land at Pierrette’s to wait for him.  We all hated him tremendously when we found out that he basically slept for ~ 15 hours amidst being fed and having small convo.

Otherwise, all the kids arrived safely pouring out of customs together.  Several kids felt ill on the return ferry despite generous warnings about the rough waves and offers for motion sickness medicine!  They agreed to heed my infinite wisdom in the future.  As luck would have it, just before docking, the torrential downpours began.  Until today, the only rain we had experienced was fleeting and short-lived.  This is clearly a sign that the kids are evil.  That night we worked on setting up despite the continuing rain, I did med interviews, we gave some intro info and played icebreakers.   The rules VISIONS stresses the most are called “airplane rules,” named because they’ll land kids on the next airplane home if broken. They include no alcohol, no drugs, no cigarettes, and no sex.  VISIONS stresses the concept of making choices as opposed to breaking rules, so I shared mom’s infamous phrase “Make Good Choices!”  The kids have a 9:45 lights out bedtime, then we stayed up late as usual discussing shenanigans.  We seemed to face near hurricane rain and wind throughout the night, sending kids and us scrambling to shut windows (which requires going outside).

The rain’s putting a real damper on things…HA get it??

"Mademoiselle Jolie"

The next couple days’ plans were greatly hindered by the fluke rainstorms the evil spawn brought with them.  We had to cram 31 people into the kitchen to do our long-winded orientation, trying to get outside during rain breaks.  Vince could only do a carpentry intro Friday instead of the full orientation and practice which we did Saturday instead of our 1^st work day.  The kids practiced using all the tools to make various “totems,” shifting from outside stations into the toolshed since it seemed to rain a bit every hour.  We managed to get the kids to l’Anse a dos in the afternoon without a hurricane, though my visit was very short-lived.  One of the boys almost immediately got stung in his foot, and I walked him back since I was paranoid it could be the fatal Lionfish and he may die.  Coincidentally, this was the same boy who the night before indirectly and rudely called me a pervert due to a French misunderstanding.  It was a bit awkward at first, but he apologized and we worked it out and he lived.  It’s a good thing because he’s actually pretty hilarious and shared his shimmer effect sunscreen with me later.

On Sunday, we started the Sunday morning ritual of “sleeping in” till 8 then doing a massive clean.  We  opted out of the 3-hour hike to Grande Anse (big bay, a more beachy beach) due to all the rain and made a 1-hour trek along the road instead which had beautiful views.  It was a lovely day catching some rays, playing in the waves, and enjoying delicious Magnum ice cream bars sold there.  It also happened to be the pervert accuser’s birthday, so we celebrated that with a cheap plastic hat we found, further craftily decorated by James, as well as some amazing brownies.  He thanked us for the best birthday ever.

Fête de l’ Independence! 

Got seaweed?

Monday officially began our workday projects, which currently include the carpentry cabana worksite at the port, a mural near the port, Grande Anse beach clean-up, and kids’ camp.  I started with beach clean-up, which isn’t picking up trash as you might think, but piling wheelbarrows with endless seaweed and hauling it up the street to dump.  If that doesn’t sound like fun, I don’t know what does!  I had a team of 6 girls who worked pretty hard (some more than others) for a couple hours, then we got sidetracked by some guys who were cutting down coconuts and draining the coconut water.  The looks on our faces must not have been very subtle since they eventually gave us a bunch to try and also chopped them to try the coconut “meat” inside.  Then a nice enthusiastic older man talked the girls’ ears off about his travels, allowing them to practice their French.  I had very little idea what was going on.

patriotic prom

We went to la grande place (town park) for language partners in the afternoon, which was a bit sad with only 5 local girls showing up.  I ended up having to take 2 kids back to homebase for ailments (each separately) and missed most of it.  We tried to do a somewhat American dinner for the kids, followed by our debut community party.  Many community people came to homebase to meet the kids and socialize, including lots of local young kids.  Lindsay and I accidentally dressed patriotically and somehow ended up taking prom-like pics in the kitchen to document it.

Tomorrow is my 1^st solo day off, so James and I were off together for the night.  We found out from locals during the party that the few places to go all closed by 9 and Tido’s doesn’t stay open late until Wednesday (next week!)  One of the party guests happened to give us a gift of cerises/cherry liqueur, so we took it to the Grand Ravine to drink in hiding, giggle, and appreciate the stars/les etoiles.

Soleil, sable, et solitude

My day off alone was peaceful but also a tad lonely.  As recommended by Andrew, I decided to pop over to the closest more populated island Terre de Haut (pronounced d’oh).  I pulled a classic Jackie this morning…  sleeping in until 7ish and grabbing breakfast, then realizing there was no way I would make the 8:15 ferry and could aim for the possibly 10:00 (ferry schedules here are shady at best & not easy to access).  I organized pics and typed away for much of the morning, moving my goal from 10 to the 11, until of course the last minute.  I began the potentially 1-hour walk to the ferry at about 10:50, praying to hitch a ride.  Just after starting up the hill, I saw a van pull into homebase and ran back just in case.  Sure enough, it was Dominique-one of our drivers-dropping kids off, and he agreed to give me a ride.  He dropped me off at the intersection still ~ 5 mins away just after 11.  Right after getting out, another of our drivers Ronald drove by me and then stopped to see if I wanted a ride to the port.  I ran from where he left me, and as my luck continued, the ferry left late.  I got there with enough time to run into Andrew and the kids at the mural, find the empty ferry, worry if it was even going to leave, and then see the captain and sidekick head to their boat and jump on.  I brought my laptop to type more but in the panic to leave forgot an adaptor and had to schlep it around all day for nothing.

Terre-de-Haut is rather different, especially at the port where you are welcomed by a slew of cute pastel-colored houses and shops.  My 1^st stop was the cyber café which was only open for 30 minutes before sieste, so I returned later.  Then my mission was to find some good pizza I had been craving and maybe a drink.  I finally settled on a tiny place called Blue Pizza, where I had a giant cheese pizza by myself and tried a cheap drink called Ti’ Punch, which turned out to taste somewhat like Caribbean moonshine.  Not quite the refreshing beverage I had in mind, but I countered it with a coco popsicle.  Then I made the short hike to la Plage de Pompierre, a beach that Rebecca recommended which was a somewhat secluded large cove with lots of palm and other trees.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUc7vYCs1eo

After taking the evening ferry back, I made the decision to go for the 1-hour walk back instead of hitching a ride, something I soon regretted but survived after what felt like forever.  Lindsay was off with me that night, so we went to get a beer Chez Michel and hang out in the park with some local guys who taught us some Creole.  After just having discussed A (the boy who lost his passport) with the guys and our concerns about his bizarre behaviors, we returned to find out that James caught him smoking a cigarette behind the bathrooms.  This was after Lindsay had talked to him the same day about trying to purchase them from a local boy.  He had to leave on the earliest flight the next day, which was another fiasco and a bit of a damper on the night.  It was very sad because his parents were devastated and he clearly has something more going on.  Luckily the VISIONS director talked to his mom about Autism and Asperger’s, which I had also suspected, but the mom seemed to know nothing about.

le grenouille alien

There are 5 other staff that I am working with here, and we each have a “honcho” role assigned to us per our skills.  Andrew is our Director, and we are all very thankful for his laid-back and humorous attitude.  Vincent isn’t a honcho but our official carpenter, who will be focusing on a building project at the port.  Lindsay is our goddess of a food honcho who got to deal with the daunting task of planning meals for us (including 1 vegetarian and 1 vegan) for 1.5 weeks then plus 25 kids for 4 days until Pierrette arrived, with the closest real grocery store an hour ferry ride away and no oven.  She continues to help with the food “logistics.”  Rebecca is our cross-cultural honcho, planning out activities such as language partners-our kids practice French with local kids who practice English-and dinner stays, where a couple kids get to have dinner with a local family.  James is our recreation honcho, and he plans many of the more fun activities with plenty of humor and zeal, such as one called Big Booty (no it’s totally appropriate).  I have been deemed the 1^st Aid honcho due to having the highest certification *gulp*.  I get to organize all the medical supplies and info, keep track of and hand out daily meds, and nurse the kids through any other ailments.  Basically, I hand out lots of band-aids, but they’ve nicknamed me Nurse Jackie (TV show).  Some of the kids told me that James apparently made the bold statement that I’m practically a doctor….and they certainly treat me like so-no pressure.

We have about a week before the kids actually arrive to whip homebase into shape and cover a plethora of planning.  I’m thinking back on that rap song “Everyday I’m Hustlin” as we average 16-hour workdays, waking around 8ish and working through bedtime.  Once the kids get here, most of our days will begin at 6 because everything on the island starts so early.  We have 1 day off per week, which is alone except for the overlap starting the night before after kids go to bed.   It’s a cultural tradition for everyone to take a sieste or rest/naptime from about noon to 3 or 4 and everyone disappears and most everything closes, but of course we Americans push through it instead.

Our 1^st full day was rather productive.  James and I spent awhile competing (well at least I turned it into that) to build some rusty shelves while intermittently showing off our sweet dance moves to the tune of my much appreciated iTunes jams.  The rest worked on organizing the kitchen and tool shed.  We had lunch Chez Chantal et Girard Petit nearby neighbors who are very generously involved with VISIONS; they also provided dinner when we arrived.   We went to Tido’s small “restaurant” for dinner because they do pizza on Wednesdays.  I’m pretty sure it’s the only one in Petite Anse, but they’re all very nice and invited us for a celebration Saturday night.  Afterward, Andrew showed us a cool secluded spot near homebase by the water called the Grande Ravine to see the stars and share a beverage.

The next day consisted of James and me moving a TON of beds, tables, mattresses, etc. for much of the day, as well as setting up a sweet makeshift shelving system in our room.  We somehow made some fun of it despite his periodic declarations of hatred towards me (in a frustrated but sarcastic manner of course).  Lindsay made our 1^st meal at homebase which was wonderful.  We had our 1^st staff circle ce soir, sharing our initial “thoughts and emotions,” followed by an activity called 5×5.  Each person talks about themselves for 5 whooole minutes…dun dun dun!

humble abode

Friday I finally began sorting through all the med supplies and taking inventory, which was rather confusing and overwhelming.  Andrew and Lindsay headed to what I call “the mainland” in the afternoon for a shopping trip, which due to the stupid ferry schedule required them to stay overnight.  The rest of us went into town to check out what we named the crêpe mobile for a hopeful dinner.   A local lady parks a small trailer off the street every wed and Friday to make these fried dough sandwiches called bokits, as well as crêpes.  It only took about an hour wait, but they were pretty good, washed down with chocolate crêpes and a Heineken courtesy of our new ami Thierry.

Here’s a video of our rather wavy ferry ride over from the mainland

Community socialization est tres importante

We continued organizing and preparing until Andrew let us “kids” go play in the afternoon.  Our goal was to head to l’Anse a dos-the back bay -to meet Thierry and others who invited us, finally some beach time!  We compared and laughed at our conservative “mom” bathing suits.  Along the way, some people drinking champagne on their porch invited us to stop for a drink (yes champagne at 4pm).  When we arrived, it did not seem quite like what Andrew had described.  It also did not have a pier which we were meant to do test jumps off of, strictly for safety’s sake.  We did indeed go to a different place entirely somehow, but it was still very much enjoyed even if short.  We did some more work before heading to the celebration Chez Tido we were invited to.  They immediately popped open a bottle of champagne or “la poof(?)” which they apparently enjoy for more than just special occasions.  We also enjoyed some chilled red wine and making new friends while we waited for our amazing dinner, which included French fries   I managed to win over an adorable little boy “Axel(?)” despite my poor french, who I enjoyed playing flirtzy games with.   At one point, a local guy yelled from the other end of the table “Jacquelyn! Question in French??”  I was so excited to understand the question, and (after several drinks) rather confidently responded vingt-six (26)!  They all laughed hysterically and someone corrected me, noo como que pasa (like what’s happenin).   We had a great time amidst the usual sweat-inducing humidity.

After a rather late night, we slept in till 9ish!   Some of us figured out how to do laundry and worked on other stuff before heading to l’Anse a dos in the afternoon, fo real this time.  It seems to be a community tradition to party it up there on Sundays, and we were immediately served some rather potent passionfruit liqueur in tiny cups when we arrived.  The kids loved playing with the Frisbee Vince brought, and we got to do some safety check jumps off the pier to assure it’s safe for the kids.

My lack of French conversation ability came a bit in handy when a man named “Lion,” likely in his 70’s,  was I’m pretty sure legitimately trying to make me his girlfriend as we left.  Some guys stopped us to offer some more of la poof, and a couple took interest (after having been drinking all day, though not to discredit myself).  This man kept asking if I had a boyfriend and making James translate for me while I played dumb.  Poor James got tired of translating beautiful woman and other such things and began creating his own.  Lion made a hand gesture to probably represent a child, and James translated it as “He likes to collect midgets.”  He also translated “He wants to know which bed you’re sleeping in so he can come visit you tonight.” and other sassy remarks.  Ironically enough, we passed a Guadeloupian midget on the way home….

Shopping extravaganza et coco sorbet

This morning, all staff took the ferry to the mainland bright and early at 5:45 AM!  We had about 10 minutes to rush out since the alarm didn’t go off.  It was an unusually long 2-hour trip, then we rented a car to do tons of shopping for the next week – food etc. before Pierrette arrives, and supplies for carpentry and in general.  We dropped Vincent off, then the rest went to Carrefour for what felt like forever and ended with 4 extra large shopping carts full of stuff.  We somehow crammed everything and the 5 of us into the Berlingo and made the uncomfortably long drive to Saint Anne.  A local friend kindly booked us a “gite” there for a great deal.  After cramming into such a tight space, we enjoyed a dip in the pool while Andrew went to retrieve Vince.   We had a little pre-game and card sesh then went for a nice dinner on the beach at Americano Café, really trying to branch out and enjoy the culture.  Then we returned for more drinks and laughter on our makeshift kitchen porch couch overlooking the stars.

pas de problème!

The next day, we took an all-staff day off together (the only one we’ll have).  After sleeping in till 9ish (noticing a trend??), Andrew took us to a real beach nearby, which was a much-needed treat, in addition to some much-needed internet time.  I got some pain de chocolat (chocolate croissant) at a boulangerie and later some super delicious coco sorbet on the beach!  We reluctantly went back to homebase to unload our teenage boy’s dream’s worth of food and continue working

Outdoor baggage claim!

Monday morning began our slightly epic and less than slightly ridiculous 2-day journey to Guadeloupe!  Due to  Bozeman’s small airport, about half of the programs drove 4 hours to Idaho Fall’s possibly smaller airport in 4 vans to fly to Long Beach, CA at bright and early 8 am.  We got a shuttle to LAX where we had a long layover, of which we took full advantage.  Vincent’s brother is working in Venice Beach for the summer so we went to visit him at Baja Cantina and enjoyed much-needed margaritas.  Then an overnight flight to Miami.

Dulles à Denver à Bozeman à Idaho Falls à Long Beach à LAX à Miami à San Juan à Point-a-Petre

9 airports later, I have finally arrived in beautiful Guadeloupe!!  It’s hot as Hades but brings back memories of Ecuador. :)  There are a plethora of goats (chevre/cabri), chickens, lizards, crabs, and frogs (which like to find themselves in the bathrooms and surprise you).

We are staying at l’Ancien College, an old middle school, in Petite Anse (Small Bay).  The “living quarters” were best related by a reference to the kids’ book Madeleine, a long “room” with twin beds lined up side by side, not unlike a rustic orphanage.  Unlike Madeleine, we plan to torture our children.  We have a staff room, girls’ room, boys’ room, kitchen, and a small house for the head chef-Pierrette.

"Homebase"

The showers are such that I’ve already accidentally seen James’ bum on only the 2^nd night, to which he informed me he felt slightly violated (he is staff, not a child!).  They are highly communal with small walls between and no doors but a string of shower curtains and/or tablecloths.  Note: need to fix that shower curtain.  It has led to some fun group shower-singing sessions though.  Once again, no toilet paper etc in the toilets, but thank the lord the water is safe to drink!!!

The community is wonderfully welcoming and generous.  The policeman Laurent visits occasionally to check in on us and joked that VISIONS coming is like a season…you have the rainy season and the American season, etc.  He also warned us about the very dangerous giant millipedes and scorpions we may encounter…

Bozeman

I arrived in Bozeman Friday June 17 to find a small airport decorated with stone and western animals.  While waiting in baggage claim, I saw a pretty girl wandering around with long wavy hair and wearing a red flannel shirt, and I had a sneaking suspicion that it might be my pick-up person.  Yep, Abby found me and greeted me with a big smile and hug.  She’s the director for the Mississippi program, but I then also met my first “teammate” Rebecca from Boston waiting in the van.  Then we waited for Dave, who is from Atlanta, but has been living in Costa Rica briefly as part of his lengthy travels through Central America (maybe more?), where he left his crappy car, and is headed to the Alaska program….and my family thinks I’m a gypsy.  Abby took us first to the church where about 60 staff took shelter for the weekend, followed by the bar “Eagles” where our training would be held (ironic I know).

Our 2-day training consisted of predictable information about safety and dealing with teens, along with some more visual humorous skits.  A BIG part of VISIONS programs is a concept called “Circle,” where everyone sits around in a (you guessed it) circle in an open communication forum to discuss “business” issues but more importantly share your thoughts, feelings, emotions, concerns, etc.  Yes, quite possibly the definition of torture for the average Hokamp.  Not to mention we spent a significant amount of time during training sitting on the wooden floor.  Good thing I opted not to bring the seemingly unnecessary “Crazy Creek.”  We practiced several full group and small/program group circles during training, and will be doing them frequently throughout the program.  Should be interesting…

During some free time, one of the staff who is from Bozeman took a few of us to Pete’s Hill (I think) which had beautiful views.  I met an old man who happened to have a daughter who worked in Leesburg for a few years.   I also accidentally bought almost $12 worth of fill-a-bag bulk candy in a moment of excitement/panic, which went like wildfire.  Though I wasn’t sure what the “partay” scene would be like, people went out to a local bar every night, which despite my best efforts I couldn’t resist.  One night I was actually trick-guilted into going by the 60-yr old prior executive director.  The last night before our early departure was open mic and some of the staff shared their impressive and unique musical talents.