Americans have proven once again that they don’t look outside their own borders. Many foreigners were watching the US elections closely, understanding the impact the results would have on their lifestyle and the state of affairs in the rest of the world. And many were disappointed with the message we sent, which basically stated that we don’t care about anyone else. We control our own destiny with our foreign policy and actions. Why is everything we do solely about improving and protecting our lot to the exclusion of others? Are we not one human race, all God’s children? Why is there an ‘us and them’? Does loving thy neighbor mean only if they look like us and speak the same language and worship the same God? I think that we are moving forward (backwards?) from a massive base of fear and retribution and protectiveness. With such a foundation to work from, our leaders have no choice but to ride the tidal wave of war, revenge, and exclusivity – to choose otherwise, that is to choose peace, would be political suicide.

We are what we know; we believe what we’ve been told to believe. As we grow, experience comes along to reinforce what we believe, or occasionally to disrupt or alter what we believe. But even then our perspectives taint our experiences. We don’t innately posses the ability to drop the filters coloring our perceptions and see events as they are, without judgment or conclusion. We have to learn to do this. An event is good or bad, wonderful or horrible, life-affirming or tragic because it either aligns or does not with what we have come to know and believe. People here are different than I am and I’m certain that before television, they were substantially even more so. They have different beliefs. They behave differently. They react to the same events in a different manner. They have different values. This is culture. What is repulsive or unethical to me is commonplace here. And yet at the same time, the typical American lifestyle often seems decadent or immoral to others.

Once in awhile someone breaks free of the chains of their inherited culture to search within and find the truth that resides inside of them, as it does in each of us. This truth doesn’t laugh at someone’s follies any more than it expresses disgust at another’s conditions or joy at anyone’s failures. And it doesn’t seek to harm or discredit another because they believe differently. This truth is compassionate, generous, loving, forgiving, and all-inclusive. It also is, unfortunately, rare. How do self-proclaimed Christians, or any other God-loving men for that matter (whatever God is called to them), justify the proliferation of hatred and revenge? Instead of opening ourselves up, we are closing ourselves in – building barriers and tightening our defenses against the so-called “enemy”. But isn’t the real enemy mankind’s own hatred and intolerance for anything different?

How do we break free on a global scale? How do we shift hatred to disfavor and move the peacemakers into the mainstream?

In my ideal world, people consider the consequences of their actions and take personal responsibility for their own lives. There are no victims. Children are taught that their own attitudes and actions determine their success or failure and at any time they can shift course by making a different choice. People respect differences of opinion and lifestyle, recognizing the value inherent in diversity. And most importantly, we choose peace. Understanding that peace will never be obtained through the use of violence and hatred, we, as world citizens, abandon the relics of war and instead adopt the precepts of love and unity.

It can be done but it will take courage, especially from those of us who have heretofore stood silent. It’s not sufficient to merely set the example; if we truly want to affect change, we have to let it be known that the status quo is no longer acceptable. Furthermore, it’s not sufficient to protest without offering a solution; we have to be leaders, we have to instruct.

I can’t remember a time when I’ve ever felt something so passionately in my heart. What seems obvious and clear to me apparently is at odds with the thinking of much of the world, including my own country. How can this be so? How do people look to God and find different answers? I believe that they can’t. I think the answers that many claim to be from God in fact are not and instead are a product of man’s interpretation and religious dogma. I would love to see religions relegated to the history books and instead transform the charter of the churches to teaching followers to connect with their indwelling Self while promoting love and harmony. This single step alone would touch such a huge portion of the world’s inhabitants that peace would be the inevitable result.

Why do grumpy old men take the job of school bus driver? Or is it that years in the profession make them like that? Either way, when they reach a level of utter intolerance, it’s time to retire. Yesterday this constant battle reached a breaking point and I had the task of writing a 2-page letter of complaint about the buses that drive us from the college out to ABIIT for class twice per week (if they show up at all, that is) and about one driver in particular after he refused to drive us because he felt that the students were too loud. We finally arrived about ½ hour late, but only after intervention by his supervisor (who jumped to the defense of the driver and scolded the students; he wasn’t interested in listening to reason either). I was not happy to do this and was left wondering afterwards if there was a better way that I could have handled things. On the bright side, I received an email later from one of my students that read, “Thanks for sticking up for us today.”

Preparing today for Mid-Service Conference and vacation in Dominica. I'm very much looking forward to the time away to regroup and clear my head.

Spent a week in beautiful Dominica this month. It is a very mountainous, lush, tropical island very different from Antigua. The capital city Roseau has a lot of character with numerous shops or restaurants built in old ruins and many New Orleans French Quarter style buildings with ornate metal railings around the second story balcony. The streets were relatively clean, the shopkeepers and restaurant workers quite courteous and the people very friendly. I would definitely recommend it for a Caribbean vacation spot.

Monday through Thursday our 32 remaining EC71’ers (out of the original 41) were up in the mountains near Eggleston at the Holy Redeemer Retreat Center for our Mid-Service conference. The place is quite secluded, with beautifully landscaped grounds surrounded by tropical forest. We had two days of meetings with Peace Corps staff reflecting on what we’ve accomplished so far and what we plan to do in the remaining year (9 months now – this conference is normally held around the 1 year mark but was postponed due to the Grenada hurricane). We got to reconnect with everyone, most of whom we haven’t seen in over a year, got to hear the stories of the hurricane and aftermath, got to hear about everyone’s assignments, what they’re doing, and where they’re living. It was really enjoyable. Anyhow, in the evenings staff took off to their hotel and we stayed at the Retreat. A few people went into town, but just like in Antigua, the streets are rolled up after dark, so there isn’t much to do. Mostly we just hung out and talked.

On Thursday morning we parted and everyone went their own ways. George and I had reservations at the Anchorage Hotel near Roseau, so we spent the afternoon touring the town then caught a bus for the short ride south and checked into the hotel. Friday morning we booked a scuba trip through the dive center at the hotel and went diving. The first location, Danglebens Pinnacles, was absolutely gorgeous with clear, warm (84ºF) waters and colorful corals, sponges and sea life. The second spot did not have the spectacular marine life that the first did, but it had it’s own attraction. Named Champagne, it has a an area of rock with bubbles that constantly rise up, resembling Champagne, as well as underwater hot water vents in the rocks. Overall the day went well and we also got a nice view of the southern shoreline of the island as our boat drove to and from the dive sites.

Friday night we went to Happy Hour and dinner with a couple that we met on the dive boat (there were only 4 of us on the boat that morning, plus the captain and divemaster – a refreshing change of pace to what I’m used to). Later that night we went to Jazz club in town that we’d been told about for some not-so-good jazz, then headed back to the hotel.

My neighbor Julia’s mom has a home in Dominica and Saturday we met her and she took us around the public market. Afterwards we caught the bus up to her house a short ways up the coast in Mahaut. We stayed only for a short visit as we had previously made plans to take a riverboat tour of the Indian River with Paul, the captain from the Anchorage dive boat. So around noon we said our goodbyes to Julia’s mom and caught the bus north to Portsmouth where Paul was waiting for us. The boat is just a wooden shell with plank seats and oars that he uses to row us about a mile up the river. He was very personable, talking about the area and plants and life along the shoreline. I especially liked his story about why Dominicans are so friendly – as a little kid, if you didn’t say hello and greet everyone you saw, one of the old ladies in the group would take off her belt and swat you with it! Well, it was hilarious when he told it. At the top of the river you reach the Bush Bar where they have a variety of local drinks that you can purchase. We bought a few drinks, ate snacks that we had brought along, and relaxed for a while before heading back down.

Sunday morning we had plans with Julia’s mom and sister to go to the sulfer springs and to see some of the other attractions, but it was raining that morning, so she called to cancel. I explained that we had umbrellas and still wanted to go, so she then offered to take us to Trafalgar Falls, which was a bit closer. Then at 7:41am as we were eating breakfast in the hotel restaurant, the first earthquake hit. It was magnitude 6.0 centered 10km north of Dominica (or about 35 miles north of where we were in Roseau) and 18km deep. Several more aftershocks hit within the next hour or so after that. It was still raining, and Julia’s mom called back to say that because of the earthquakes and all the rain, she was concerned about landslides and so she cancelled. I’ve been through plenty of earthquakes having lived most of my life in southern California, and felt that the severity of that morning’s quake was not that great, but she was too uneasy to attempt it, so I didn’t press the issue. What I forgot was that I had been through those earthquakes IN southern California, where they have modern homes and roads and building codes. As we began to hear the radio reports later, we learned that the Portsmouth hospital (up north and closer to the epicenter) was being evacuated due to damage, that the façade of one of the churches had fallen off, and that there were indeed many road closures around the island due to landslides and rocks on the roads. (Photo courtesy of Kristin, a PCV on Dominica)

Our taxi driver (who during the week also happens to be the Peace Corps driver for Dominica) showed up 2 hours early, concerned about the weather since it was still raining heavily. We quickly gathered our things, checked out and headed for the airport, despite reports on the radio that the airport was closed. As we were driving the main route to the airport through the center of the island, cars and taxis stopped to tell us to turn back, that the road was closed due to landslides. We did and came to an area where several other drivers had pulled over. Our driver got out and they stood around discussing their options. Our driver lived near the airport and was now as equally concerned that he wouldn’t be able to make it home that night. Eventually someone came by that said that they had gotten through on an alternate route via the village of Castle Bruce and the Carib Territory. So off we went. We have two volunteers who live and work in the Carib Territory, so we stopped to make alternate arrangements to stay with them if we couldn’t get out on a flight that day. No problem, they both had plenty of room and food. When we arrived at the airport nearly 2 1/2 hours after leaving Roseau (normally a 1 hour drive) the parking area was full of mud as the river had overflowed its banks earlier and flooded the airport. Since then the waters had receded and a single Caribbean Star airplane was sitting fueling on the airfield. As luck would have it, it was headed to Antigua. We weren’t scheduled to leave for about 2 more hours, but since the gate attendant couldn’t assure us that our plane would actually show up or that the airport would still be open by the time it did, he opened up the plane and let us on, getting us back to Antigua ahead of schedule.

So I didn’t get to see quite as much of the island as I had hoped to, had a little excitement there in the end, but enjoyed the time away and made it back safely.

For Thanksgiving this year the Antigua volunteers went for the traditional feast at the US Air Base. While the all-you-can-eat selection of turkey, roast beef, ham, lobster, and shrimp is probably a little more enjoyable for those volunteers who eat meat, I still found plenty of good food to fill my plate and belly and went away stuffed. None of us ever turns down an opportunity to eat at the Air Base as it’s usually the best food that we’ve had in a long while and at Thanksgiving time, they really outdo themselves.