That Road March comes with one nasty cough...

In the last few months, I have had a bad case of VAT and then suffered through a case of Road March. 
Read: two bouts of the flu.

I have no idea why, but Kittians give their colds and flu viruses names, and the name is always based on whatever is the most popular local topic at the time.  In November the government implemented a highly contested 17% Value Added Tax (VAT) on all goods in the country – it was the topic on everyone’s lips and accordingly became the name attributed to the flu that was spreading at the time.  I made sense of this given that both things were annoying and unwanted, but in January, the flu that was making its rounds was named Road March after the exceedingly popular event held during Carnival in the first week of that month. 

Now, this isn’t a cutesy little thing or joke that kids and young people use – oh no, it is THE way.  You do not say you have the flu, you say you have the Road March.  Why?  I don’t know (or as they would say here, “me no know”).  Perhaps they though since we give hurricanes and tropical storms random names, why not name other things that cause physical damage?

As an amendment to my last post, I would like to add some new information on the sudden influx of seat-belt wearers.  It wasn’t that there was a crackdown, as I had assumed; oh no – it JUST became law!  Before last Monday, seatbelts were simply “encouraged.”  

Re-Affirmations

It has been two months since I last added any of my insights and experiences in St. Kitts.  I think it’s largely because after a few months here everything has become so “normal” that I fail to note the differences; nothing is really new or shocking or amusing to me anymore.  There are, however, continued instances that support my previous observations.  The depth of religiosity for example.  I am used to the pervasiveness of religion by now and respect their commitment to it, but still am sometimes caught unawares by how deeply their faith shapes their other beliefs.  A discussion I recently had with one of my supervisors is a good example ...

Within the context of a larger discussion, my supervisor was telling me about all the different animal themes you could employ for preschool curriculums and began listing examples to illustrate her point:
“Two-footed animals, four-footed animals, aquatic animals, African animals...” she said, counting them off on her fingers.
“Farm animals..." I added helpfully, "- or dinosaurs"    
“Yes, yes,” she replied, “a fictional animal theme!”

Or there was the conversation between my two co-workers who were discussing their disgust at how a science teacher at one of the local high-schools refused to use the term “God” but would only acquiesce to there being a “Higher Being”?  .....A science teacher. 
“Thankfully the Good Lord Jesus has patience and forgives people of such ignorance!” was the concluding statement of the discussion.

It causes a few hurdles for me in my work.  Yesterday I was trying to edit a newsletter written by my boss to be distributed to education workers, but wasn't sure what was a bible passage and what wasn't.  I did have the insight to leave the leading sentence alone:  "Thanks be to the Soveriegn God of the universe...."

My boss recently invited me to attend church with her on some unspecified Sunday.  What happened to networking over lunch?  Or golf?  I could learn golf! 
Actually, I would not mind attending a service but regretted my acceptance of her offer when she added, “We will have to do it soon, so you can come back every Sunday if you like”  Oh...... great.  Now I have to find an excuse for every Sunday from now till the end of April.  (Suggestions are welcome).  

As people continue to praise Jesus at every turn, crime, sadly and ironically, continues unabated.  Shootings are commonplace.  Last week it was an old man who was shot in the face because he didn’t get down on the floor fast enough when some guys were robbing a grocery store.  But that isn’t too major of an occurrence here - I can gauge by the level of gossip in the office and buses.  The biggest crime story of the year was a couple months ago, when 17 tourists on their way to visit the UNESCO fortress on a Sunday afternoon were held at gun point and robbed.  As a result, cruise ships refused to come to St. Kitts for days.  The town went into an uproar.  Cruise ships are the life line of this country.  Every morning at work it is the first topic discussed:
 “How many ships did God grant us today?”...  “Three! Oh, God is good!  I tell ya! Thank you Lord Jesus!”
The public opinion seemed to be that tar and feathering would have been too good for these thieves, had it been an option.  Though there is still time to reinstate it.  They reinstated death by hanging a couple years back to deter criminals.  An odd choice, I thought, given that this is an island of people whose great grandparents were slaves...

You would think that given all the crime, you would see a strong police presence, but it’s rare to see a patrol car.  I'd say I have seen four in as many months.  Although, in a country this tiny (population of this island is less than 35,000 and you can drive around it in about an hour) and this full of gossip, a cruiser would likely serve only to delay a crime.  The other day the driver of one of the van-buses asked the person sitting in the front passenger seat to put on her seatbelt.  It struck me as odd (seatbelts are not used here), until we passed a patrol car on the shoulder of the main road then suddenly every passenger had their cells out, calling friends and family to tell them to put on their seatbelts if they were driving and given the location of the cop car.  I heard yesterday that most cops are plain-clothed officers.  Makes sense...  


Next week: the Taiwanese commitment to St.Kitts....