One plane, two plane, jet plane, blue plane

Fortunately, our pilots realized there was a computer problem while we were still on the runway. Back to the gate, onto another plane, then three hours later we were off. Kudos to Jet Blue for making it as painless as possible. We were lucky to have a relatively mellow crowd on the plane, so grumping was almost non-existent.

I noticed a yellow Global Volunteer tag in an overhead bin, so I used my keen investigative skills to locate Jeanne. Knowing I would not be the only latecomer was quite comforting. I was confident that together we’d figure out a way to get to the hotel.

Luckily, our team leader Warren was kind enough to wait for us, so after clearing customs we hopped into the van and headed for JJ’s paradise. The hour and a half ride up, down and around the mountain could be described by numerous adjectives, but I’m going to stick with “memorable”. Suffice it to say that we were grateful that Warren was behind the wheel and used to driving on the opposite side of the road.

We joined the rest of the team at dinner, but Warren saved introductions for Sunday morning.  In his introductory comments, he told us that the first team, in January build a very solid base upon which we can build.

He also told us the St. Lucia project is unique in that the teams are bigger, and we are being dispersed throughout the community. In his words, “there are lots of moving parts”. The 27 of us are formed into teams for the infant school, preschool, primary school, secondary school, medical, home visits, computer education,construction and community gardens.

He left us with this thought for our first day:
“Leap and the net will appear.”

Here are some visuals of my home for the next two weeks:

My room—WAAAY up the hillside.