I went to Rick's Pizza Cafe tonight with my homestay family and was delightfully pleased. When i think pizza in the Caribbean i think of veggies and pineapple and not so pizza like. But i was pleasantly surprised to find pepperoni and ham pizza, which is my FAV! After a wonderful afternoon at the beach with my fellow volunteers it was nice to finally have some American food. For a week (tomorrow) that i have been on this island i have been trying to transition to Caribbean food, but have found myself craving my home style cooking. Food is a big part of integration, because if you are constantly trying to prepare and eat American food, what good is that for becoming a Grenadian? So after a week of "food integration" i deserved to see American pizza. THANKS host family!!!!
On to the Mennonite idea. As we were sitting at Rick's Cafe a young woman, maybe 18 years old comes thru the eating area and she is dressed in the full length skirt, hair dress and vail type thingy and was with three other girls, one of who was a native Grenadian. I knew in an instant she was Mennonite, but i found myself staring at her as if she wasn't "one of us." I began to ask my homestay family how the Mennonites got to Grenada, why the chose Grenada, etc. And my two parents were very insightful on the issue. They told me that the Mennonites migrated here from America so they could "recruit" new members. But i found something particularly interesting. She said that they will recruit Grenadians to their religion, but its against their rules to marry them. yes, i said it...against the rules to marry them because of their skin color, but they can recruit them to their strict, not so Grenada ways of life? I was pounding the questions after this finding and found that the Mennonite community isn't accepted in Grenada for a reason i found to directly relate to the Peace Corps mission. My homestay mom said the reason they aren't accepted around the island is because "they refuse to accept our culture and way of life, yet still like to force their American ways on us." BING BANG BOOM!!!!
To bring your culture into another place is ok, but to try to say its wrong? not ok! especially to very outspoken Grenada natives. This is exactly the stereotype that American Peace Corps volunteers are trying to break. We are trying to prove to Grenadians that we are open to learning new cultures, living new lifestyles, and even becoming one of them. We as volunteers are not here to force American ways on the people of Grenada. We are here to bring about change through culture understanding and integration.
So after dinner and a nice ride home i found it necessary to write this blog and explain just some things I'm noticing around Grenada. Between our American TV stations they receive (yes they get MTV, TLC, CNN, etc) and our own people trying to invade and force their ways on Grenada, its no wonder our work as volunteers seems to be never-ending. This is a challenge to you and all the rest of America, to look outside your box, and maybe for just a day, realize we aren't the only ones on this Earth.
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