The Pride of the People

Yesterday was a joyous day in Grenada as one of its own represented the country proudly on the international scale. Eighteen year old Kirani James, from the small fishing village of Gouyave, won the IAAF World Championship in the 400m, bringing the first ever gold medal home to Grenada. Pride.

To truly understand the magnitude of this accomplishment for our small island of just 100,000 people, you first have to step foot into school play yards, village community centers, road side rum shops and island wide track meets. If kids aren't competing in cricket or football, they are running track races. Barefoot, running is in the countries blood, bringing crowds of people together around April to watch school compete against one another, often taking all day to complete. When children reach secondary school, they train daily for the day of competition that makes their school stand out amongst the rest. Pride.

Young Kirani was a favorite for years through primary and secondary school competitions. Friends, supporters and coaches knew he was destined for fame. That fame was given a chance when he signed with the University of Alabama, giving him the chance to not only compete in track on the national level, but also get an American education. Pride.

As of lately, news outlets and sports magazines have started comparing Kirani to Usain Bolt. Humbly so, Kirani simply replies, “Usain is special in his own way, but I just want to be Kirani James from Grenada.” He doesn't want compared, he just wants to make his country proud. “But whatever happens, I am just happy to be representing my country and putting Grenada on the map. That’s the most important thing.” Pride.

The country stood still for the less than one minute it took him to round the track, pass the American and claim victory for this small nation of loyal fans. At small rum shops, dozens gathered around the small 13" tv set in the corner, screaming his name and waving flags. As soon as victory was Grenada's, fans and supporters flooded the streets of Gouyave chanting his name, waving Grenadian flags, some wiping tears away. Pride.

No one can know the impact a single gold medal can have on a nation of proud people. A nation that wants the world to know its here, its thriving, and its proud of its own. Pride.

Congrats Kirani James, I wish you could be here to see the pride you are bringing to the faces of your countrymen. Grenada to d world!!!!!

Today I Am Mad...

At Peace Corps. Many times throughout my service have I felt that maybe working for the U.S. Government wasn't the greatest idea ever, but today I have been reassured of that thought. Am I just being cynical? maybe. Am I just upset? of course. Totally frustrated with life? yup!

When PC decides to jump the bandwagon on becoming completely reliant on technology to pay its volunteers, problems happen. When problems happen, PCV's get angry that they changed a perfectly working system in the first place, leaving us to hitch rides to town, beg our landlords for vegetables, stay at home when we could be working in the community and eat bread sandwiches.

So today, I will eat my bread and butter sandwich (for the third day in a row) and curse some person sitting at some fancy desk in some fancy office, situated in some comfortable air conditioned building in some first world country that has failed to pay its little worker bees at the bottom of the food chain.

Mack

Wordless Wednesday

SpiceMas 2k11

I know Carnival was like 3 weeks ago, but I have been fighting the post-Carnival cold (locally named the Tsunami) and haven't got a chance to post pictures. This was my second, and final, Grenada Carnival and it was one to truly remember. No one knows how to party like Grenadians. Enjoy!

J'ouvert morning, we saw the sun rise...with a mohawk on!

Street dancing at night? okkkkk

I mean, what's the issue?

McArthur enjoying Pretty Mas

The tin men

Jab all ova

I have no idea...

Soca Monarch night.

Angel Harps Steel Pan Champions!!!!

Sunsets Say it All

These pictures are courtesy of Grenada Explorer on Facebook, but I could NOT resist in sharing them with the world. I remember this particular night and remember thinking how incredibly gorgeous the sky looked. Life is beautiful and the best sunsets are in the Caribbean. Hands down...

I'm on House Arrest

Yup, you read that title right. I'm currently on house arrest, not allowed to leave my comfy little one bedroom apartment. No, I didn't pull a Lindsey Lohan, we are currently experiencing our first tropical storm of the hurricane season. I was awoken by 3 consecutive text messages at 4:30 a.m. Sunday morning informing me of the approaching storm. Luckily, we have this awesome Safety and Security Office (Hey Simone!) through the Peace Corps who ensures that while we are sleeping/working/living that no weather creeps up on us. So, while I was in snoozeland, the weather lady was preparing to put me on house arrest. How nice of her!

The Peace Corps has a fairly effective Emergency Action Plan for the Eastern Caribbean countries we serve. This plan provides a series of steps to be taken in the event of a hurricane, the first being Steadfast (aka house arrest), then consolidation to hotel/safe house (free air conditioning!) and finally evacuation (oh shit). Our S & S officer put us in category 1 early Sunday morning, informing us that we should gather a bag of clothes and important documents while remaining in our homes until further notice. The slowly approaching tropical storm was gaining momentum, but the tricky part of tropical storms/hurricanes is that you never know what route the storm is going to take. I don't like that feeling of uncertainty. My bag was packed quickly.

What to do while the U.S. Government puts you on house arrest? Make a bucket list, read an entire book on the Kindle, wash your clothes only to find out your spinner is broke, clean out your fridge, experiment in the kitchen, experiment again because the first time failed, pace around the house, and finally give up and take a nap. THIS IS FALSE IMPRISONMENT OBAMA!!!

Thankfully, the tropical storm spared Grenada and the other islands of the Eastern Caribbean, waiting to turn into Hurricane Emily until 50 miles to the west of us. We did receive some wicked thunderstorms though, lightning like I have never seen before. Have you ever heard thunder roll off of mountains? CRAZYYYYY sound, something I have never heard before. It reminded me of a bowling alley when the lanes are booked full. First tropical storm/hurricane of the season complete, I'm sure more to come. Stay tuned.

Also, Happy Emancipation Day to Grenada!!!!

I Love Books!!!

I'm sure my mother never imagined that her oldest daughter would eventually love to read. She would starve me of dinner until I read my required daily books for school. Ok, maybe that was an exaggeration, but as a young child I wanted NOTHING to do with reading. I had a bad experience in second grade. Newly the product of divorced parents, we had moved towns, homes and lives, making reading the last thing on my 8 year old mind. After a short time in my new classroom, my teacher informed me (to my face), that I couldn't read and I should be reading by now. Crushed. My little heart was crushed. I made a promise to myself that day I would never read again. ha!

I can remember my mom reading sappy romance novels as a kid and swore I would never be one of "those" old people. I can thankfully say, I have not yet fully become my mother, although others would argue that statement. I instead have found myself obsessed with nonfiction books the last 5 years, consuming any real life story into this brain of mine. I love making the connections to real people, real events, real places. Biographies, documentaries, memoirs, autobiographies...they are mine for the reading.

In the last year and some of service I have read more books than the last 10 years of my existence. That sounds bad, but its true. Maybe its because I'm on a beautiful island, one that doesn't have a need for time management. Or maybe because I have found myself avoiding housework and bored with Facebook. Or maybe just because I enjoy it.

I decided to compile a list of the books I have read since serving in Grenada. If you find a need to hear my review on the book, feel free to message me, email me, or Facebook me.

• Like Me- Chely Wright
• ME- Ricky Martin
• Unbearable Lightness- Portia de Rossi
• Reefer Madness-
• High on Arrival- Mackenzie Phillips
• Three Cups of Tea- Greg Mortenson
• Stones Into Schools- Greg Mortenson
• The Secret Life of Bees- Sue Monk Kidd
• The Next Thing On My List- Jill Smolinski
• You Don't Look Like Anyone I Know- Heather Sellers
• Bringing Adam Home- Les Standiford with Det. Sgt. Joe Matthews
• Orange is the New Black, My Year in Women's Prison- Piper Kerman
• Love Ellen- Betty Degeneres
• Portrait of an Addict as a Young Man- Bill Clegg
• Are You There Vodka? It's Me Chelsea- Chelsea Handler
• The Sportsman- Dhani Jones
• A Stolen Life- Jaycee Dugard
• Allah, Liberty and Love- Irshad Manji
• Times Two- Sarah Ellis and Kristen Henderson
• No Biking in the House- Melissa Fay
• The Real Girl Next Door- Denise Richards (reading this one now)

I'm sure there are some I'm missing, but these are the ones I remember. Any other suggestions for good nonfiction books? My wish list on Amazon is continually growing and I like that. :)

--Mack