Week 27

Reunion is over. It feels a bit anti-climatic as it has been my only project since the end of June but I also feel incredibly relieved. Last night I woke up in a Reunion Event panic, feeling certain that there was an event about to happen that I had not yet prepared for. It was actually an earthquake, just a little tremor. Nothing to worry about according to my neighbors. We are sitting on 9 active volcanoes which makes it a bit scarier. I’d like a statue of me in a Bills t-shirt on the site if I die in an earthquake.

Describing Reunion is almost impossible. Hundreds of people from Salisbury, or whose parents were from Salisbury, came down from the rest of the Caribbean, the US, and the UK. Salisbury is a village of 1,800 so the 300 – 400 people who visited made a huge impact on the community. I loved meeting the Salisburians living abroad and it was fascinating to think about them having the opposite experiences I am having. Realizing all the cultural adjustments they face, without 2 months of training, was very humbling.

Friday night (July 29^th) we hosted a Calypso show in our community- the show started around 10 pm and I left early at 3:30 am before it was done. As Wilmina (a Peace Corps visiting me) and I headed home we passed dozens of people heading down the road to get ready for Jouvert (a parade starting at 4:30 am that is a big moving party that follows a truck playing music). Around 5:00 am we woke up to hear Jouvert passing up the hill and at 6:00 am woke again to hear them passing back down the hill. We left my apartment around 6:30 am to head down to the Market Day event, which showcased the agriculture in the community. It was a hilarious experience. People had been up and drinking for 12 hours were dancing in the road alongside pious farmers who had set up booths to sell produce. After Market Day I headed into town to shop for the next three events (Saturday night’s jam, Sunday night’s jam and Monday’s beach day) as stores are closed on Sunday and Monday was a holiday. I was put in charge of buying 600 pounds of chicken thighs and wings, 15 pounds of goat, several rabbits and 2 gallons of local rum, which is bought in containers that we use for gas in the US. I didn’t realize that the next logical step would be skinning and cleaning the 400 pounds of chicken. Meg, Kelly and Jenna will remember when I moved in and asked how to cook boneless, skinless chicken breasts. That was about 2 years ago. Until Saturday I had still never cooked chicken that was not boneless, skinless chicken breasts. It was trial by fire as 4 of us cleaned and seasoned hundreds of pounds of chicken (please note that I was the slowest and least useful so I should not be complaining). Once everything smelled like raw chicken I returned home to shower and prepare myself for the party. Another Peace Corps, Jeff, had come to help and we headed to the party at around 9:30 pm with no idea that we would not be returning home until 7:30 am. At 9:00 am we were woken by a text message from the Peace Corps that a storm was headed right for Dominica and we should prepare ourselves to consolidate (gather all of our important possessions and head to a hotel in town). Jeff headed home and I prayed for consolidation to avoid an afternoon of cleaning chicken and a night of serving drinks in the bar. My wish was not granted but I had a wonderful night and made sure to “free myself up” that evening.

Luckily the rest of Reunion was a bit less hectic.

Dominican Phrase Book: “Making noise”

“Noise” is a complaint or an argument. “We have noise” means we have a disagreement or “I’m angry with you about something”. Men are always telling me they have “noise” with me, generally because I don’t chat with them enough or dance with them. I’ve taken my Outward Bound training and now respond with “thanks for your feedback” which is confusing to everyone. “Making noise” is complaining loudly and angrily. During the first 4 days of Reunion we ran out of food at every event. People were always making noise at me about it.

Usage:

The Chairman of the Reunion Committee and I were walking down to the last celebration of Reunion, a Block-o (block party) and the music truck had still not arrived. It was 9:30 pm and the party was scheduled to begin at 4 pm.

Mr. Chairman: “Air-een, I’m not going down until the truck arrives, everyone’s going to be making too much noise.”

Erin: “Wi, I’m not taking any noise. I’m going to tell them I didn’t know Block-os had music.”

I’m walking home from a meeting and the man I had yelled at months ago for trying to sell me fruit late at night stops me on the road.

Angry man: “Air-een, I have noise with you!”

Erin: “Yes?”

Angry man: “You saying hi to me but never stopping and you never say my name, you say good afternoon, you making me vex (angry).”

Erin: “Thanks for the feedback.”