Hello All! Sorry for the long delay in blog updates. I have been procrastinating on this post because I'm still trying to accept the fact that 2 of my close friends completed their service and are back living the American dream. Katherine and Nicole both departed Grenada last week, completing their 27 months of service successfully. Followed close behind them are Lizzie (next week), Alyssa (July) and Karla (July), the three other members that make up the 79th class of Peace Corps Volunteers here in Grenada.
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| left to right: Karla, Katherine, Lizzie, Alyssa, and Nicole |
This group have been great mentors to our class of volunteers, guiding us through the first days of being here, continued support with work issues and always a good group to drink a few beers with. To conclude their amazing service we decided to throw them a going away party, camping style. After weeks of planning (its not always easy to get 25 opinionated volunteers to agree) we decided to camp at the most beautiful Mt. Rodney beach in St. Patricks. Mt. Rodney is about an hour bus ride up the gorgeous west coast from the capital of St. George's.
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| Slicing onions with a butter knife and swiss army knife. |
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| Teamwork! |
We pitched our tents and everyone dove in to help slice, dice and assembly the national dish of oildown. My favorite part of oildown is the teamwork it takes to prepare the dish, as it has to be layered correctly, then cooked for 2-3 hours over an open fire. Thankfully, we have boys in the 83 group that were eager to use their newly bought cutlass' and create a boyscout approved fire.
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| The Camp |
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| Oildown before cooking it. Notice the layers. |
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| Matt and some men working on the bonfire. |
After starting to prepare the oildown around 2 p.m., we FINALLY ate around 9 p.m., which gives you an indication of just how much work goes into this dish. But it was totalllllly worth it in the end, as we devoured the entire pot by the end of the night.
To EC 79, thank you for your awesomeness in the last year of knowing you guys. Your constant support and guidance has made this journey a bit easier. You never fall short of lending valuable advice in whatever areas we need them. Good luck in America and I hope to see you all again soon!!!
