APRIL 23, 2006

Today is exactly on year since I graduated college. This has, by far, been the absolute best year of my life and I am celebrating my aniversry in Grenada on a vacation with 5 really great people.

We woke up extra early today and met Kurlean at the bus on the hill. We exchanged the routine pleasantries that have come to be an inside joke with out team.
"Goodmorning Kurlean!"
"Okay!"

"Goodnight Kurlean!"
"Alright!"

Our first stop was St. Georges's Methodist cuhrch for their 7am service. Kim gave the sermon, Scott and Ezzie read scripture and I got mawled by the children while passing out books and crayons, pencils, paper, lollipops, bubble gum, more lollipops and more bubble gum.

We were quickly bussed to Worburn Mehtodist church to do the whole thing again. At worburn the youth group sang "Oh happy day" beautifully with an out of tune ancient guitar and the rain quickly tapping on the galvenized roof. Lunch was served at Mr. Lowe's house where him and his wife fed us organic spaghetti with all the ingredients pulled from their own garden. They also fed us fresh plantains, sweet potatoes, cashew fruits, wax apples, and mangoes... ofcourse. Then they took us on a tour of their garden where we got to watch their four dogs eat dropped soft mangoes and we met May, the donkey.

Mr. Ceasar and Mr. Winston then drove us home by way of St. George university a campus on the shore with black sand beaches and to another hot sand secluded Grenadian beach. Kurlean picked us up at our sterile apartment at 3:30pm for our tour around the island where we saw waterfalls with young boys shampooing their hair and rinsing it in the shower while their buddies showed their masculine prowess by jumping off the cliff into the water in front of their lady friends. All the while my brain was screaming "NO!"

We saw the view from the highest road in all of Grenada, 1,910 feet, above sea level, and walked through the rubble of what used to be the Methodist church with the best view in all the world before Ivan picked it up and crumbled it all over the valley like feta cheese. We drove around the island and waded in the warm Atlantic water in the cove while the sun went down.

Just before devotions Miss. Karen brought us over coconut cakes and wished us safe travels. We donated the rest of our EC's to her and the church and siad our goodbyes.

today was packed and fast and productive and delicious and I am tired and sad and anxious to be home. Yesterday I bought D saffron and Cory a steel drum. My souvinere is the tea towel with an embroidered pear on it that Ms. Baine gave me. Oh, and a bottle of Ting. "Goodnight!"
"Okay!" Amen.

APRIL 22, 2006

Today we slept in a bit then rushed to get our clothes on, eat chocolate chip cookies and diet pepsi for breakfast and head out to Ms. Baine's it felt like being at home except I wasn't wearing make-up or carrying my cell phone or my sidekick.

We spent the morning finishing up our painting and carpentry then we sat down to our last lunch at the worksite. White bread slices, no butter, fresh tomatoes, chicken hotdogs, sweet bread with raisins and mangoes... of course.

We took thousands of pictures, exchanged addresses and took off in Kurleans bus to the city to wear our flip flops and clean shirts and buy gifts in the open air market. When we finished buying our saffron, curry, and fresh cocoa balls, we headed up the typical Grenadian street at a 90 degree angle towards the catholic church. The church of the immaculate conception.

All the hubub of the streets and market and cruise ship muffled away when sleepy Father Mark awoke from his nap to peel away the galvenized sheets and let us into the devastation. The blue sky was visible above as Father Mark told the horror of Ivan and how he ruined his parish. After long stories, touching grafiti and many guilty pictures we headed down the street to find the Methodist church. On our way we found the Anglican shell and the Presbyterian tower and wall.

The Angelican priest was praying in the corner of his rubble when we entered and I realized that when there is no insurance or other space all you have to worship in is rubble. I took a photo of the blown out stain glass that revealed the still gorgeous view and the cruise ship. At first the sight of the ship angered me and then I heard the priest admitt that it is tourism that nwo sustains the island and I began to love that tacky boat. Kurlean finally showed us the Methodist church as we drove to dinner, we had been walking in the wrong direction.

Dear Lord,

It is hard to see your face when we are standing on tables and bailing water out of our churches and homes but you are there in the new life weeds that grow through the concrete rubble. Help us Lord. Help us help. Help us pray. Help us thank you, praise you. Help us see you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Amen.

APRIL 20, 2006

Today I'm tired, my kneww aches and even though I don't like to admitt it, my mom was right. Red heads aren't made for heat.

I felt drained all day in our little room with no ventilation and our oil based paint. Although when I felt sick I would take a few minutes to sit and pray or talk to Ms. Baine about living through Janet, then Ivan, then Emily.

"As the legend goes..." She starts, softly in a voice all Grenadians use. "Janet came and did her damage on the island and then got trapped in one of the houses. Later her lover Ivan came and lifted off all the roofs on the island in pursuit of his love. 10 months later Emily came through after her parents, throwing temper tantrums and breaking all the windows."

Through the stories and oil paint, the waiting two hours for supplies, and feeding fo the huge chicken bones to a tiny emaciated cat then watching her eat it whole the holy spirit was present. Present in the constant wind that arrived with the waves on wednesday and blows the knotted curtains of our apartment windows.

The beauty of the island exists in the life created from death. How appropriate for the week following Easter. All the trees and vegetation were demonlished in the hurricans and yet today we picked fresh limes, papas, mangoes; we ate plantains and plucked peas. We dug our feet into the sand on the beach and ate a meal at a local resturant with gas lanterns and the worshiping stars for light. I chose to be adventerous and I ordered Mahi-Mahi with mango chutney and it tasted delicious.

At the very end of our work day Mr. Ceasar "the poor one" he says this joking so that we know he is not Julias Ceasar, took us to his house on the top of the mountain and we were struck speechless at the site of the island and the ocean and the kytes flying in the holy spirit wind. Then we drove to Fort Frederick to see the view from another location and even at the top of the island we were baptized by the salt crystals from the Atlantic. We felt the Lord and looked down into the living rooms of mansions missing thier roos from Ivan and we enjoyed life.

Tonight before devotions I took fresh picked limes and rolled them under my palms. I cut them in two and felt the sting of the juice in my carpenter wounds then I added pure sugar cane and bottled water and we sat and talked of God and sewing seeds and drank and enjoyed the Lord. Amen.

APRIL 20, 2006

Today we woke to Joshua obnoxiously banging at our door and Kim screaming "Joshua! What do you need??" After scrunching my eyes tight to block out the hardly visible light in our dark cinder block cave, I jumped in our olympic sized shower and felt defeated as I watched the single stream of warm water curl around the shower head and lick the bathroom wall. Some of the magic of last night had worn out, but like my favorite holey jeans I continued to wear the day.

We exchanged our USA currency and I was awarded $65 for my $25 for being a good little American then we made a final stop before heading to Ms. Baine's. We drove to the super market where we purchased a $16.50 roll of pilsbury chocolate chip cookie dough mix, apparently it cost a lot to ship all of our American merchandise to a small carribbean island. $360 later for three days of snacks and breakfast food, and we were off to our destination...

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life moves slow on this island like the molases they borrow from Trinadad in order to make Rum in an old sugar factory.

We arrived late, had no tools, no contractor waiting, no plan of action. But all was well because our backpacks were filled with balloons and bazooka bubble gum. We spent the day priming a new two bedroom space for Ms. Baine and her grandson Nicholas. She and her friends built the two rooms so that she would have a place to stay when the other groups came to rebuild her house.

The heat was wet but the breeze was constant. We worked hard and took long breaks with Rum Raisin ice cream, Ms. Baine, the puppy named Billy, and the Pregnant Kitten named Sparkle. It was a blessed slow day and afterwards we showered at our apartment, to more avail than the morning, and traveled to the inner city of St. George's to eat Rotis and Sea Moss smoothies at the Nutmeg resturant.

When our bellies were full we came home and shared our "roses and thorns" of the day. We thanked God for the moon, and the rainy season, and the missions, and the love, and our beds. Amen.

APRIL 19, 2006

Today was my first day of international travel for the summer of 2006.

I started the morning standing in a church parking lot in Maryland at 4:40am with people I hardly knew and ended the day standing in a circle holding hands on the beach in Grenada with five people sharring the beautiful moments of the day together and whispering "Thank you God." while exhaling the warm spicy air.

The cool breeze of the holy spirit washed over our bodies as it was pushed from the sea with the waves and the lights from St. George glistened from the dark hills as if all the stars in the sky had grouped close to one another to worship and pray togteher as well. The Island strays had even followed us to the beach to see the lord.

On the way back we met a Grenadian man who told us to slow down, forget the invasion, and advocate for his people.

This day was poetic from the Mangos in the fridge when we arrived to the isolation and familian relationships placed on this rock, as the Grenadian man said, by the vast Atlantic. And I am small, and I thank God for sand in my new flip flops and the bruise on my arm from the Tetnus Shot. And I thank God for air conditioning and sleep. Amen.