Carnival Camp, Canine Calamities and Chickungunya

 I'm not even sure where to begin this post. After I published my last post I thought, "Well, there's nothing exciting coming up so it will probably be awhile till I write something again." (Actually, I think that every time I publish another one.) As usual, I was wrong.

  I guess I'll start at the beginning, which is Carnival Camp. I mentioned the Carnival holidays in a previous post. Hundreds of tourists and people from other islands come for the festivities, which includes lots of partying, drinking, nakedness, dirty dancing in the streets, calypso and other musical competitions, parades and much more. It is time when just about ANYTHING goes, things you would get arrested for if you did it any other time of the year. There are people who smear themselves up with motor oil and try to stop your vehicle if you are out driving and demand money. We try to stay close to home during these holidays, which begin Sunday and go till Tuesday. In an effort to keep our youth away from the party atmosphere, our church hosts what we call Carnival Camp. The men and boys leave Sunday afternoon to go camping. They usually come back Tuesday evening. The girls came to our house for Sunday evening and Monday. The older ladies came just for Sunday evening. We had a wonderful time hanging out and getting to know each other better.

  Night time was somewhat of a challenge, with a certain girl deciding she's not going to sleep, even if everyone else is trying to! After awhile the rest of the bunch got tired of her antics and locked themselves in another room so they could try to get some sleep. That brought this certain someone to my door in tears. I found it hard to drum up any pity and told her she needs to deal with the consequences of her actions...which is, sleeping by herself. That lead up to her knocking on  my door numerous times at about 15 minute intervals, coincidentally each time when I had just dozed off. After I told her she is not allowed to knock on my door one more time, she dissolved in a puddle of snot and tears outside my door. Needless to say, I didn't get a whole lot of sleep that night. Added to that, was a major thunder storm which is a rare occasion down here. It lasted almost all night. I lay in bed alternating between gratefulness to God for showing His power to the many nightly party goers and pitying the menfolk camping and trying to stay dry. 

 The next day Ginger and I tried to keep the girls entertained with our "lack-of-sleep induced" foggy brains. We did have a good day.

                          Hanging out Sunday evening with the ladies and girls from church

                                                  We made pizza for supper Sunday evening

                            Keeping the crew entertained the next day. We baked cookies,
                             painted T-shirts, played gamed and did some craft projects

                                                      Decorating cut out cookies

                         Some of the strange characters that walked past our house on Monday...
                         (thankful for my zoom lens:)

             This guy was pulling an empty kettle...I guess he liked the clinkety-clankety noise:)

 Now for the men...They had a good time hiking, playing games and hanging out with the boys...until...

 Monday afternoon, some people showed up at the area where they were camping and proceeded to set up light towers, a tent and mobile bar. They assured our men that the party wouldn't start till the next afternoon. Unfortunately, that was not quite accurate and the next morning the people started rolling in along with a truck pulling a trailer with huge speakers on. They quickly started taking down the tents and packing up. The music was pounding so loudly it vibrated their insides and they had to shout to each other to be heard. After they finally had their stuff packed up, they hopped in the truck to leave....which, unfortunately, had a dead battery and didn't start. They borrowed a battery charger from the party goers and finally got it started and were on their way. 

Some pics of their camp site...

                                                            Hanging out with the boys

                                                                   Their camp site

                                                                    Playing games

            They attached a tarp between this old building and the truck for a make shift camp site

And then the ride home...something I wish with all my heart I could erase from my young boys minds. 

 Unfortunately, (I know I'm using this word alot but it just fits) they had to drive through numerous areas where there were Carnival parties on the streets. Masses of painted, oily people thronging around the truck, climbing on the truck, brushing their oily bodies against the boys on the back of the truck, beer flowing, music pounding, men and ladies grinding against each other, ladies with everything "hanging out,"....everything we were trying to shield them from, now being thrust right before their eyes. They had no option but to keep going. Chris could hardly drive because of the masses on the streets. He would go a few inches, then stop, then go a few more inches. He came home exhausted hoping to recuperate in his quiet house. Unfortunately, (this will be the last time I use this word:) our neighbors were having a party and blasting music from 8' high speakers. I was so glad when these days were over!

            Some pictures from the online Grenadian news...I edited out  the worst parts...this is what     the men and boys had to drive through. I pray those images will be erased from their minds

                                Pounding drums, oily bodies and horned hats...the evil spirit could be felt

      Partying hard with anything they could find. The one man had a toilet seat ring around his head as he danced. They danced with wheelchairs, shopping carts and other odd things. 

Love thy neighbor...

Finally. After living here for over half a year, we finally met our neighbors. Now before you chalk us up as horrible missionaries, let me assure you, we tried! I frequently encouraged (I like that word better than nagging) my husband to go with me to see them. Usually I was met with a noncommittal grunt, as he stared at the computer screen with glazed eyes, and continued his attempt to unravel the mystery of the unbalancing budget.
 Oh, I had my assumptions about them alright. They were a noisy family, that's for sure! (I'm sure they could have said the same about us.) I perceived them to be rather rude. Anti-sociable. I like to think we did our part in attempting to meet them. We did try, but if they saw us coming they would head the other direction. I am guessing they were as much annoyed at this noisy family moving into the neighborhood as we were with their noisy family.
 They were the type of neighbors that liked to party during the night into the wee hours of the morning. Daytime hours were not used to work, but as a way to catch up on sleep for more nightly shindigs.
  We probably would have gave up ever meeting them at this point, if they would have not continued to get bolder and bolder. Sorry to say, but they were not very respectful of our property and many times I ended up cleaning up their garbage and other debris they would let lay around. Added to that, was the whole sound issue. Who does like being kept awake at night by loud, annoying noise, all the while wondering if they would ever get so bold as to force their way in while we are home.
 We tried ignoring them. Bribing them. Tolerating them. Nothing worked...and they only continued to get bolder. Then came the morning I was rudely jerked awake after a loud thump, coming from atop our roof. Yes, it was them. Something had to be done.
  Here is where our pooch went from household hound to hailed hero. Early one morning, in the predawn darkness, Dusty kept incessantly barking. On and on she barked. Chris put his cup of coffee on hold and went outside to investigate. Sure enough! There they were, up in a tree behind our house. The nerve! As soon as they saw Chris, they made a frantic effort to escape. Out of sheer shock one of them lost his grip on the branch and landed with a sickening thud on the pavement below. After regaining his senses, he and his partner in crime took off into the bush as fast as their hairy legs could take them. But not before Chris got a good look at them.
 So now we knew for sure it was them. Those unexplained nightly noises. Those dark bodies disappearing into the bush as quick as a wink when they saw us. Those annoying thumps on the roof as they looked for a way in.
 The dirt and debris falling from the ceiling onto the counter-tops was proof that they had already gained partial access to our abode.
  Those black eyes staring back at us from the murky darkness, when we unexpectedly rounded the corner behind our house. Big eyes, just watching. Waiting. For that perfect moment...
 And then came the day that  Dusty rose a notch higher in our already adoring eyes. Just when we thought she couldn't get any better, she pulled off a feat that left our mouths agape and our eyes as big as coconuts. Pulling in the drive after an afternoon out, we spied the would-have-been villain lying prostrate on our lawn.
 With unseeing eyes staring up at the midday sun, his entrails left a bloody trail behind him. The assassin hurried out with tail a-wagging so hard her whole body shook. She was so proud. We were so happy. And that rat? He was so dead.

                     "Yes, I take my responsibility very seriously to protect the High family..."

                                   Here I lie in sweet repose, toward the sun I turn my nose,
                                                  No more to steal, plod and plunder,
                                       Now the inhabitants will have peaceful slumber....

               Ok, in case you're beginning to think I have nothing better to do than make
                up long winded stories about rats, here is a glimpse of what we've been up to....

I have been taking care of this gentleman, once a week, for the last few weeks.

Unfortunately, his health has continued to deteriorate, leading to the decision to put him in a nursing home. This was the last day I was there. They are such a sweet couple!

 

He went to the nursing home the very week our church was planning to sing there on Sunday. Was nice to visit with him again!

                             The home we sang at. Nothing modern, but clean and well kept.

                                                   Greeting the residents after singing

School is over and the hot days of summer have begun. I made clay for them one day, which they made in to all kinds of objects to be dried and then painted.

                                                                 Drying in the sun

Mission accomplished...formed, dried, painted & now a nice "large car" hangs from the boys ceiling:)

We are excited to have Marv & Jen Lapp and their 5 children join us down here!
 They brought along Debbie, a family friend to help with the settling in process.

                                Birthdays are alot of fun when you turn a big 8 years old!
Carter gets so hungry for peaches. Almost every time we would pass the aisle with canned fruit in the grocery store, he would beg for some. Canned fruit is expensive, so we rarely buy it. I couldn't resist getting him a can for his birthday though. You would have thought we gave him $100!!

 I say it every birthday, with every child, so I better not break my tradition..."where does time goooo? Was it really over 8 years ago that I gasped in shock over that positive pregnant test? Bug eyed, I called my dear husband to come see if I was seeing correctly. Eying the indeed positive pregnancy test, he wrapped me in his arms and said, "Oh honey! That's so exciting and wonderful!".....Well, actually not. Not right away, anyway. The first words out of his mouth were, "And how are we gonna afford this?!" It took a few minutes for it to sink in and then we DID get very excited. Ironically, due to an injury, we were told we may never be able to have children.
  My dear mother, with the thought of precious cute grand babies to cuddle, stoutly announced, "Well, I'm gonna pray hard God blesses you with children."
  Finding out I was pregnant again, with our oldest child only 3 years old and the twins not even a year old, I wailed in the phone to my mom...Pleeeeeease! You can quit praying now!!!!".......and that was our last child:) lol.....Seriously, I don't know what we'd do without this boy! As a baby we nick named him "Sunshine" because he was always so happy....and he still is....usually..:)

                                                                     Oh, the bliss.....

We had John & Rachel Brubaker and Conhi & Andrea over for Carter's birthday party. Excuse the upside down cake, but you probably couldn't even read what it says if it was the right way:)

And then the Limes Church dilemma...probably couldn't have happened at a worse time. We knew it would be a busy summer with the teachers and some families leaving for home, and having to get houses cleaned out and ready for the next people. What we didn't anticipate was the tiles popping up and getting loose on the church floor. They used a jackhammer to get the broken ones out and clean off all the old concrete so they could lay fresh ones. Hard, dusty work! (Or so he told me, I wasn't helping:))

                                           The children play while the adults work.....

                             Finally the floor project at Limes was completed and now the ladies
                                       did have work to do....it was VERY dusty and dirty!

                                 Marv & Jen Lapp didn't have a whole lot of time to get settled in
                                   because the very next day we tore into the cleaning the church

                                       Debbie and Kaylah wiping the benches for the church

                          Kaylah and Nicki stop their work long enough to pose for a picture

Working at cleaning the floor. This took many buckets of water and many moppings

                                                                        A beautiful sunset

Thaddeus surprised us one morning by showing up and doing our outside work! It looked like a different place till he was done! He wanted to do something to repay all the help he received...he couldn't have picked anything better to do! I didn't realize how bad it looked till he had it all cleaned up:)

My new favorite dish...everything we have in abundance here right now. I couldn't believe when I came across this recipe...1 mango, 1 avocado. sliced red onion and juice from 2 limes...delish! Sweet and tangy!

Celina...or Anne of Green Gables, as I like to call her because of her spunky, inquisitive personality! There will only be one like her!

                        We took the children out to the beach to fish one evening. We didn't
                                  catch any fish but had fun and saw a lovely sunset!

        Oh, the fights we moms don't settle!
        Kaylah: "Mom!! Make Christi take off the dumb helmet!"
        Christi: "But, Mom, the sun is shining in too bright and I can't see right without it..."

We took the church people to some different spots around the island on Emancipation Day. That is the day set aside to celebrate their freedom from slavery. This is a mineral springs, and the mud and water is good for whatever ails you....even if it does just look like a pig's slop hole.

                                          Carter sucking a mango the Grenadian way

               The lady at the springs demonstrating the healing power of "mud" on Kaylah's arm

Kaylah!! Take this sign down now!!!....posted on our wall along the road

                       And Kaylah's been tapping into her artistic side...Bill Coutain gave
                   her a DVD to watch on painting tips and now she's having fun experimenting.

                        Only one life, will soon be past...only what's done for Christ will last.

Again, thank you SO much for your prayers! We are in the middle of the Carnival holidays right now...I'll blog more on that next time. I'm sitting here in my quiet house...the men are camping with the church boys and music is pounding outside. My girls are in bed after hardly getting any sleep last night, thanks to a severe thunderstorm which lasted almost all night and a sleepover here for the girls from church. It's time I head to bed too, because, yes, I hardly got any sleep either!:) Good bye till next time!