I'm getting ready to go to lunch, but I've been quite productive today. Originally I was to have help at work getting my office things moved, set up, etc. Said help didn't have a ride, so I'm here by myself. Praise the Lord for Mr. Duffy! I got to school and he had already moved all of my things into my new office and stayed around long enough to rearrange the big furniture the way I wanted it. He's so nice. (I told him he was so kind, and he replied, "well, you may be my boss someday!") :) I've emptied about six boxes and have that many more to go...I do need to make a list of things that I need to get at Wal-Mart to set up shop (my walls are so....well, bare. That part makes me sad!) At any rate, I'm getting settled in some and will probably come back tomorrow or Thursday to try and get some more accomplished. In the mean time, I have a multi-line phone, two huge desks, and a whole cabinet full of office supplies. I am blessed.

It was a little weird today telling a parent on the phone, "I am the testing coordinator here at RCHS.".....that was the first time I've ever said that. Odd.

I think I need some live plants for in here....something green and easy to care for (I don't exactly have a green thumb.) Tracey had something or other in her office and it looked fairly low-maintenance...so I may invest.

Okay. I'm out. More to come....soon.

We’ve been here almost a week now and I finally got some time to sit down, rest my feet, and reflect on our time here. J I’ve had a blast so far, and the island and all its inhabitants (except for maybe the beggar guy at the mall) are beautiful.

Our flight was pretty uneventful. The flight from Miami to the island was beyond overbooked, so our pastor too AA up on its offer for $800 voucher and overnight accommodations to the take the flight on Wednesday. IT seemed that were the only non-newlyweds on the plane from Miami. Since there are only a few flights a day that arrive here, the customs line was PACKED (of course, we seemed to be the last ones in line.) The agent at the door advised Caleb that he needed to change clothes (note: it’s illegal to wear camouflage in St. Lucia. Just so you know.) He went and found some khakis to put on, and after he got back the same agent came back, pointed at Micah (the youngest person in our group), and said that he qualified his family for the “children and special assistance” line. I asked her…nay, begged her to let the entire group go through that line, and she smiled and said, “go ahead.” The people here are super nice. J We got through customs without incident and got our luggage. Some of the skycaps knew Bro. Nathan (it’s easy to stand out when you’re the only white inhabitant on the island.) so they were very nice.

The house we’re staying in is beautiful (my apartment almost fits in the living room, I think.—pictures to come.) Bro. Nathan has truly been blessed by a wonderful house and accommodations. The Southern Baptist missionaries that were here left last week and asked him to watch their house (across the street), and also said we could use to help house our group. Add to that the vacant apartment downstairs and we have plenty of room.

So far while we’re here we have cleaned out the gutter behind the house, passed out tracts in the village near the church, and cleaned up their church building (it used to be a bar, “Myriad’s Place.”…praise the Lord it’s now being used as a house of worship!) The landlord gave them permission to paint, so the boys are there today preparing the cement and painting (the girls got to stay home and do domestic things---laundry, etc. anti-feminist, you say? Pshaw. I’d much rather hang clothes than paint any day..at least we have fans here.)

We got to go on a scavenger hunt the other day. The hunt started at the house and ended up at The Reef, a seafood restaurant on the beach. I felt much like we were on The Amazing Race and was tempted to head to the airport to catch the next plane to Bangkok for the next clue. We were given a list of things to find, including everything from someone who knew the national anthem (we found two nice school girls to sing for us) to someone who knows what Whit Maunday is for (I think person #40 finally used a lifeline, phoned a friend, and told us—we have it on video..It’s a religious holiday, but that’s all anybody knew.)

We went to church on Sunday in Soufriere (I’m working on my spelling.)…all day long. We had morning service, ate lunch (children first, then men, then women, then drinks….odd.), then had afternoon service. I think we sang every song in the song book and the chorus book. They like to sing a lot. The fellowship was nice and everyone was so glad to have us. It was extremely humbling…and extremely hot. I slept through supper last night, woke up, took a shower, and went back to sleep until this morning.

I’ll try and post more later, but here are some things I’ve learned so far (always an educator, I suppose!)

1. If it rains too much here, they (the powers that be) cut the water off. If it doesn’t rain enough, they cut the water off. I’ve prayed more for water this week than I ever have---I’ll never take it for granted again!
2. The people in St. Lucia are really nice. They will try to teach you Patois and don’t laugh (too much) when you mess up. I’ve learned a little but everyone says I speak it with a Spanish accent (who woulda thunk?) I’ve found some kindred spirits here and it amazes me how humble and happy they are.
3. You can get a taxi from Black Bay (the neighborhood where we live) to the mall (aka the supermarket) for $1.25EC (that’s about $0.50 USD). Taxis are marked by green license plates and are usually in the form of a bus that looks like something straight from Scooby Doo. We went on our own the other day and it made Hannah and I feel accomplished and all grown up (me, from little town USA where they don’t have taxis!)
4. “It’s finished” down here means they don’t have any more. In my brain, it meant “it’s ripe” and I used it mistakenly looking for good bananas on the street. The lady looked at me funny and told me to try Julian’s.

That’s all for now—I’ll post more later (possibly not till I get back to the states!) I miss you guys; leave me a comment so I feel loved! J

Beck

In 48 hours we'll be in St. Lucia.

I've been too busy to be excited just yet....it might help if I actually packed something!

Yesterday I decided I was going to try and get some errands run. My day went something like this:

• Left the house at 11:45. Stopped a couple of times on the way to the post office.
• Arrived at the post office to mail some MK at 12:15. Post office closes at 12.
• Went to Target. (If you're from Conyers, you'll understand the geographical frustration of the next five or six bullets.)
• Called Mrs. Lisa. Oddly, I don't have service in the middle of Hwy. 138. My phone has officially given up the ghost.
• Went to Circuit City. They tell me I'm within my warranty (1 yr) and I'm not eligible to upgrade my phone until the year is up (June 16). The lady tells me I have to take my phone to the Verizon store by Stonecrest.
• Went to Wal-Mart. I have a list of about 12 things I'm supposed to get for the Brock's. Wal-Mart has...um, about 5.
• Tried to call Mrs. Lisa back on phone. Doesn't work. Hung up on Mrs. Monica by mistake.
• Stopped to fill up my tank. Stitched my left shoulder and hip up from having to pay an arm and a leg at the Shell station. Kate Webb used to say that we should ride cows because they're cheaper. At $4 a gallon, Bessie is looking better and better.
• Went to the Dollar Tree.
• Almost went back to Target; decided instead to go to the Target at Stonecrest (I'll drop off my phone!)
• Went to the Verizon store. They tell me it'll be 4:15 when it's ready (it's 3:00 at this time.)
• Went to Target. Found a couple more things I needed on the aforementioned list.
• Went to Marshall's. Lots of people. Shopping for clothes for other people is not my favorite thing in the world. Will they like it? Will it fit? Will it be "too"...anything? The cash registers at Marshall's beckon the waiting customers...didn't realize this. "Register 3 is now available. Next customer, please proceed to register 3." Interesting.
• I've been up since 8:30 this morning with nothing to eat. At this point I'm not hungry but it's approximately 104 degrees. An ice cream and sweet tea from McDonald's sounds good. It is not until I get in the drive-through line at Mickey D's that the hunger kicks in. I added a burger to the list and parked for a minute.
  
• Back to Verizon. They tell me they can't fix my phone and they'll replace it. Because it's not under warranty (did you catch that?) I'll have to pay $50. The man says that technically I got the phone in May. Since I've had it for more than a year, I ask if I can go ahead and upgrade (the Voyager...that's what I really want!). No, they say, because even though I've had the phone for over a year the upgrade date goes one year from the last contract change (in July.) I look at him calmly and say, "I'm so confused. I've gotten four different dates from four different people." He replies, "I'm going to go ahead and take care of the $50 charge as a courtesy." Courtesy? Good thing--I was ready to cry all over his credit card machine.
• Back to Conyers to Bath and Body Works. They don't have everything that I need, but...I got a bunch of stuff for the Brock's and stuff for me as well (this made me feel a little better, at least.)
• Went to Staples looking for Epson printer cartridges. (This is the third place I've looked.) Nothing.
• Called Marie for directions to John's softball game. She says, "has Casey called you?" Long story short, he's working at the church and wanted to know if I could pick up some food for the kids. I was headed that way anyway so I stopped in. We talked and commiserated together for a bit (this made me feel a tad better as well.) I find out John's game is postponed so we went to Cozumel to grab dinner.
• Cozumel is closed...apparently there's some holiday I missed.
• We go to Red Lobster. Yum.
• John's game started at 7:30. I get to the field about 8:15 (how long do most softball games last?) I pull in to Marie's phone call. "Where are you?" "I'm walking toward the field; I just parked." "There's 14 seconds left." I tried to get there, I really did...oh well. I hope he knows it's the thought that counts.
• Katy's game started right after I got there. I stayed until the 6th inning when they called mercy (the score was like 9 to 22 or something)...at least Katy's team won. :)
• Home...shower....nice. :) I finally got in the bed around midnight.

Wow. Long day. Today has been some better...church was good and I have been productive today. More to come later!

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