At Home In Laluni

Arrival in Laluni

As training is coming to an end and our time in Laluni is running out, we reflect on the last nine weeks in our lovely training village. It all began on May 5^th when 12 hinterland trainees named Andrew, Ashley, Beth, Eben, Holly, Joe, Kathrina, Kelly, Lauren, Matt, Michelle and Rob all piled into a mini-bus that appeared to be on its last leg. We were packed tighter than a stuffed sausage with our backpacks, boxed lunches and fruit-juice-filled styro-foam cups on our laps. It was a tight squeeze and almost certainly resembled something like a circus act.

From the start, the mini-bus was working hard and painfully made its way down the bumpy dirt road toward our hinterland training site. After two or three unplanned stops to check the tires the van finally completely broke down about twenty minutes into our trip. After stumbling out of the van one by one, we giggled nervously and looked around at one another as we stood in the hot sun on a desolate dirt road. To make the best of this unexpected situation, we decided to pass the time by listening to fellow trainee Eben playing his guitar and singing some of his very own songs.

Just a short while later, we saw on the horizon a rapidly approaching vehicle trailed by a large cloud of dust. Andrew, one of the Peace Corps drivers, had heroically come to our rescue in the Peace Corps Jeep! Shortly thereafter we arrived in Laluni and twelve wide-eyed and somewhat disoriented trainees, complete with up to 100lbs of luggage each, shuffled into the small church in the center of the village where we received a warm greeting by our host families and other community members.



Holleigh is enjoying unexpected roadside entertainment given by Eben and our wonderful LCF (language and culture facilitator) Norwell.

 

Andrew, the relentlessly cheerful Peace Corps driver, who came to our rescue after the bus breakdown.

 

Our Host Family

Our small host family is made up of Sharleen and Tiger (his real name is Naresh but nobody ever calls him that). From the moment we met them they were beyond welcoming and instantly treated us like family. The two of them live on a beautiful working farm, where they grow mostly pumpkins and incredibly delicious hot peppers (which are even exported to Canada and the U.S.). Around the farm you can also find papayas, avocados, coconuts, passion fruit, bora (a vegetable somewhat resembling an abnormally lengthy green bean), eggplants and various herbs for personal consumption. Matt and I have truly been enjoying all of the freshly picked and flavorsome produce. I should also note that nothing beats drinking coconut water straight from the shell after a long day of training! We have officially been spoiled. The only potential downside to this habitual tropical indulging is that I don’t think I’ll ever again be able to appreciate another papaya in the States. But I’ll go ahead and worry about that 24 months from now.

Our two months with Sharleen and Tiger have been very enjoyable.  Sharleen is a wonderfully gifted cook and we were not the first to suggest that she should open up her own restaurant. Her smoky balange choka (a kind of eggplant puree) with roti is absolute perfection! Fortunately, she was willing to share her expertise and has taught me how to make various types of roti, bake, katahar (a delicious curry made from a very complicated vegetable) and a few other local dishes. Aside from her culinary skills, she also has many other lovely attributes. One of them is that she giggles constantly, even when she has to get up early to take care of her full-grown American children. Tiger consistently ensures that we eat enough of Sharleen’s wonderful cuisine by checking that our plates are full and we go for seconds. He also frequently teaches us new Creolese words and phrases, which I usually have to ask him to repeat numerous times before I fully understand them but he always kindly remains patient until comprehension on my part finally sets in. We will surely miss Tiger and Sharleen and hope to see them again soon!

Tiger and Sharleen on Sharleen’s 30^th Birthday.

Sharleen and I.