September 2011
1 post
One month later
I am taking the plunge. Blogging again…
April 2010
7 posts
Closing this chapter.
This blog was intended to be a travel blog. Its purpose was to document a 6 months internship in St. Lucia. I shared my joys, frustrations, photos, travels and lessons learned at both home and in the several new places I visited in the last 7 months….I gave my self an extension! My experiences were shared with new and old friends who I remain indebted to. Thank you. I received numerous...
"Indigenous have smaller ecological footprint on... →
A new study in the journal Conservation Biology shows that indigenous people in the northern Ecuadorian Amazon have a lower impact on the rainforest than the colonists who have moved into the area.
SUR- flippin-PRISE!
“MAYBE I SHOULD RENAME MY BLOG!!
(ALWAYS)Jamaican citizen.
(STILL)Reluctant...”
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On being "home"
As soon as I walked into the swarm of people bustling to find their appropriate lines at Miami International Airport, I knew. The lines had the labels and accompanying rights, Citizen, Resident, Visitor. “US passport holder over here”, she shouted. ” The others need to be printed and photographed. This line is faster”. And when the ‘Americans’ did not respond to...
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Cover girl....Derek and I.
So I walked into a gas station last week end in rural SLU, the attendants says ” a she!, glancing at me and comparing the paper she was reading”. I had no idea i made the front page of the St. Lucian Star. Sir Derek Walcott and I…..I told you I was having dinner with him. I guess I got more.
Literary Festival off to good start with Derek Walcott
Written By: Toni Nicholas on Mar...
March 2010
19 posts
MISSED MY FLIGHT. STILL HERE
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last of fridays in this place...random thoughts
today was rough. 9am - 3pm interviews. I AM CHIEF PROCRASTINATOR! why was there a fire drill while i was at my former internship office? so much for trying to hide. they thought i left the country. well most of them. good conversation with the head huncho. i thought hated me. well not really. he’s human.
guess who owns a signed copy of Sir Derek Walcott’s new book of poetry? uh huh....
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And that was Antigua...
The island boast 365 beaches. Skeptics suggest that not all are actual beaches, but for marketing reasons the country sticks to the claim. After all, they have no rivers, no real mountain ranges. Beaches, white and or pink sand (that left like carpet under my feet) and natural harbours makes the country a seaman’s paradise. Not just now, but since those colonial bastards ruled the...
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Preamble to Antigua
Outside of the third degree interrogation and near strip search at the V.C Bird Aiport for carrying a Jamaican passport and acting non-chalant about my return dates, I enjoyed Antigua. They gave me only 4 days in the country, the exact number of days on the return ticket. The ticket I couldn’t produce when first asked. So much for Caribbean integration huh? CARICOM? CSME? Free movement?
On...
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I'm having dinner with Nobel Laureate Derek...
My last Thursday in SLU. I should be “writing” but Derek Walcott will be launching his new collection of poems less than 10 minutes from my apt……
“The WORD ALIVE International Literary Festival will serve as a special tribute to St Lucian Nobel Laureate, Derek Walcott who celebrated his 80th birthday January 23 this year. Walcott has given the event his blessing and...
WatchClaudius Lousien lives in a corrugated lean-to, without electricity or water, but has turned down an offer of $60m for his land.
His bed is a rackety ‘lounger’, upon which a rich tourist once sunbathed by a five-star pool; the mattress has long since lost its linen cover and the foam padding all but disintegrated.
His lifestyle is organic in the extreme - dinner consists of the fish he catches...
Developed or Developing? Dividing The World Into...
Third World - Developing Countries - LDC
Mar 14 2010The world is divided into those countries that are industrialized, have political and economic stability, and have high levels of human health, and those countries that do not. The way we identify these countries has changed and evolved over the years as we have moved through the Cold War-era and into the modern age; however, it remains...
“Back in St. Lucia.
Thank you to my peeps in Dominica, Antigua and St. Vincent....”
– love
t
Antigua
The country has 365 beaches…….yup.. One for everyday. Ofcourse, the full post will come soon.
In St. Vincent…….
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after much delay....Dominica
ok in Antigua and realized I still hadnt posted all the pictures from Dominica….so here goes.
PIWI coconut and coffee ice cream. A truly Dominican ice cream company…..yum!
I dont have any photos, but I want to tell you that markets open all night on Friday in case you feel like buying ripe bananas at 1am. We bought pumpkin around 11:00pm for Amonia’s soup next day. Yum, yum...
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Montserrat's St. Patrick's Day →
Despite being able to see the island from Antigua, I cant go…I have a J’can passport. It would be like Boston all over again.
bonesarecoralmade:
In most of the world, Thursday is an Irish holiday, commemorating the patron Saint of Ireland, St. Patrick, who converted the Irish to Christianity. But in the small island nation of Montserrat, the Emerald Isle of the Caribbean,...
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@ Antigua
note to self: write a note on the blessing and curse of being jamaican. I learned that the hard way when I was treated like a crap (most articulate word available) at the Lester Bird International Airport last night. …..I have 4 days in the country…..4 days…..because i am jamaican.
Write.Right.Re-write.
this cannot be so hard. i am over thinking. perfectionist they say. hardly. is two months too long for 10 pages? can i write the conclusion now. objectivity? really? who made the guy in the Journal of Geography and Journal of Development Studies experts? I can bet he is wears glasses. Oh , yeah me too. am i an expert?
pretty necklaces make it easier. Dominica jewelry find….tres chic!
...
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Rustic Roseau, Dominica
This is the first of three posts about my hop over to Dominica….the island is easy. It felt like a rural town that was familiar yet unknown. Each street, corner, mountain, river and face…..good conversations. Good lime. Laid back.
Bakes(fried dough) and cheese from a street vendor for breakfast. Cost $1EC( US0.37)
Basket weaving is a popular art passed on by the Caribs.
...
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On Christopher...
hilarious!!!
I told you museums were fun…..and funny
iSlAnD HoPPiNg
starts today…..
…..interview with the project staff I’ve been working with via phone and email….
…catch up with Heller School Alum
…seeing another World Heritage Site.
So this is what ex-pats do...
No work….
No internet at home….lost my photo transfer cord (again) lost my cell phone charger (clumsy is me)
Bank errands, other errands, loose ends…
Working from the “american style cafe” in town
Sipping on fake chai latte
Watching the “locals” bustle by on theor to and from work…
My only agenda to take it easy, write down the lesson learned,...
February 2010
38 posts
Day 180: moving day
The lease on my work afforded apartment with the divine view ends today. I am in the process of moving. How did I accumulate so much in six months? Doing laundry, cleaning new apt…..preparing an interview script, then to a food festival this evening……photos from Friday’s send off coming soon. I need an assistant!!
I have been reflecting on the past 6...
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Day 177: Last day as the intern (UPDATE)
Last day of internship. Beers and barbeque in our honor……
For six months, Judy checked my trash can, amazed by how many snacks I eat each day!
Raise a glass to the “interns”
I said thank you…I’m shy.
Passing the pork around!
on feb 26th: to be completed…….but i know what i’ll be wearing.
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Watch
Ever in SLU on a Sunday? Please go to Debbie’s in the south…cant remember which town for Sunday Buffet Brunch. $50 EC per person( 20US). I had lunch there a few months ago with friends…..impressive!! And the music……
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and the surprise is...was....
Mr. Husband Person surprised yours truly and turned up outside my apartment on Friday. Hence my being missing in action. SURPRISE INDEED!!! With only a week to go on my internship assignment, he couldn’t miss out on the experiencing the goodness that is St. Lucia. Garcons( used in kweyol to address friends) I went into tour guide mode…..after all I do know this little island quite well...
Surprise!!
It’s happening, thanks to sore muscles and then falling down stairs and bruising my hip. I’m home. Writing.
I am, well right after i finish this post.
reblogged from http://lmnp.tumblr.com/
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Journey to the the top- climbing the Gros Pitons
The Pitons were the first feature I noticed on arrival in SLU back in August last year. I snapped her from the plane. In September I got a little closer the the majestic twin peaks , by November my obsession grew even deeper and I jetted past them in power boat on a rainy day. On Saturday, I stopped being a spectator and embarked on my journey to hike the 2,619 ft of forest to the top of Gros...
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No Ash Wednesday
St. Lucia, 70% Roman Catholic + Jamaica, 59% Christian( mainly Protestant) = So why is today a public holiday, Ash Wednesday in Jamaica and not SLU? Ahhmmm. I wanted a day off.
“In pain. Pitons hike photos coming soon. If it has a muscle, it hurts.”
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“I’ve admired her for so long, but today I climb…..
Trail: Gros...”
– http://www.naturalbornhikers.com/GrosPiton/GrosPiton.htm
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Winter Issue of SHE
Why is it called winter issue? It is a Caribbean publication eh? oh wells.
Why did you wear that skirt to work? Cuz I can!!?!
Our clothes are too much a part of us for most of us ever to be entirely indifferent to their condition: it is as though the fabric were indeed a natural extension of the body, or even of the soul. ~Quentin Bell
I miss my big sister. I stole this shirt from her. My sisters, biological and through friendship, you hold me together.
I miss Jamaica, I bought this skirt in Montego Bay in 2004,...
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MacArthur Foundation reading my mind huh? They...
Remember I told you I decided to look at capacity building for my final paper, mainly because of my frustrations with my internship but also because at the end of the day it is us ” humans/conservation workers” who are charged with the responsibility of conserving/managing natural resources. The fish, birds, trees can take care of themselves with or without us! And today i Found this...
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WatchWent in doubt watch THE LUNATIC….based on a novel by my favourite Jamaican author ANTHONY C. WINKLER.
The story of a village madman, Aloysious, who has the amazing ability to talk to anything, including trees, cows and cricket balls. Portrayed from a Jamaican prospective with an acute eye for the authentic dialect of the land. Aloysious meets Inga, a German nymphomaniac, who uses her...
Dear friends and family, I am fine.
To my friends and big cuz (you know who you are), yesterday was a low day. I am well. I know I cannot save the world by feeling defeated. I know I cannot save all of it either.
Les, I believe you. Skinny, I understand. Sean, I do not want you to call and knock sense into my head. And everyone else. To my threesome girls who are also bothered, we can do it. Thanks for the love…here’s...
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“I like being in a place where Black History Month happens on the TV. In a...”
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Month 5.2: Pleasantries
Did I tell you that they say exchange pleasantries on the bus in SLU. Yes. Every time the bus stops to pick up someone. He or she says good day/afternoon etc upon entering the bus. I am used to it now. At first I was shy. I felt weird. Good manners felt weird. Go figure.
I’ll try it when I get back to Boston. In the dead of winter, dressed in all black. Ears covered. I’ll smile and...
“4:45pm
So I bought fabric in town to make a new skirt and chinese food…...”
– tammyanka
