School has been in session for 3 weeks now, and last week we started practice after school for football, basketball and netball. This was a huge success in my mind, the kids seem excited to play, the teachers/coach seem into it and it overall seems like a good time. Of course this success came with some obstacles. Two weeks ago as we went to print the permission slips for the kids to stay after school the printer was out of black ink and the copy machine was out of ink all together, the computer that had the document on it does not have internet so you can't email the document elsewhere to print, and you can't put a thumb drive in the computer cause it has some kind of virus. The following monday, a day I try to work from home so that I can get planning type work done, I went up to the school to make sure that the consent forms had been printed and given out to the students, neither had been done. So I spent the next two hours getting the forms printed due to ink and other issues. Thankfully the kids got them before they went home for the day.
As I get home that evening tired and hungry because I was running around all afternoon and hadn't eaten lunch, I go to put my vegetable lentil soup on the stove using a packet of vegetable soup flavoring sent from the states. I am really hoping the lentils won't take long to cook, after about 15 mins I go to check on the soup and the flame gets all bajigity on me and then goes out. My gas ran out and no one with a vehicle is around at that moment, so no soup for me. Thankfully I had just bought bread and had a can of tuna for just in case situations so I had dinner still.
Tuesday the football team practices and it seems like its a good group, we just have to figure out transportation for the kids that normally take a special bus to get to school. I of course forget to ask my friends with vehicles to help me get gas, its a BBQ grill gas cylinder that you buy from the gas station so I kinda can't just walk to pick it up. That means pb and j for dinner.
Wednesday is my big day to start coaching, I'm the boys basketball team coach. A few of my boys come to check me at the school and tell me that they wouldn't be there that first day, so I ended up only have 3 guys come of, which is no big deal cause basketball isn't big here and anything is a start. After school ends we get a ride down to the court, and when we get there the one hoop that we have is bent upwards. Of course this is st lucia, so it doesn't mean that there won't be practice, we instead tip the hoop down and attempt to fix it. Its isn't completely fixable so the rim, but we try to play on it anyways. Now my main focus is trying to figure out how we can get the hoop fix or get a new rim. It becomes a goose chase of who is actually in charge of maintaining the courts, then finding out it they are actually going to do anything about it, which of course I won't be flat out told, and then if they won't find money to get a new rim. It happens to be convient timing however because I'm already working on a grant proposal for the sports program, so that can just get added to the list, if whoever is in charge of the courts isn't going to fix it or doesn't have the money and are ok with it being taken care of my a third party.
These are the bizarre things that keep life interesting in the Peace Corps, here they have kind of become normal, and don't really faze me anymore. It amazes me at how patient and willing to wait for things I've become. The other day I waited for over an hour just sitting on the side of the road waiting for friends to pick me up, when I looked at my watch and saw how long I had been waiting I couldn't believe that it had been that long. I'm just on island time now I guess.
My kids still come check me regularly, next week we are supposed to make cookies which should be a lot of fun. Life is good in general, its still hot and my fan is my best friend, but its better than being cold. Miss everyone at home.
