The Adventure Begins

Well, it’s official.  The tickets are bought, the bags are packed, and I’m even checked into Delta already.  In approximately six hours I will be on my way to Saint Lucia for 3 weeks.  This trip is organized through Des Moines University (DMU) as a three credit course called “Cultural Applications.”  I, Dr. Mary Hansen, and three other female students will be going to Saint Lucia to volunteer with the country’s Saint Jude’s hospital.  Our main goals are to learn about providing public health assistance in a different country and increasing the overall health of the people of Saint Lucia.  As to what we will actually be doing, well, that’s still sort of up in the air.  The time I received an update I was told that we will be touring in several retirement homes, or the equivalent of retirement homes in Saint Lucia, and teaching individuals with diabetes and hypertension how to manage their illnesses through diet and exercise.  This could be completely wrong.  I guess we’ll find out when we get there!  The course lasts for two weeks and then my family will be joining me at an all-inclusive resort for a week of vacation.

Over the past few days I’ve been working on gathering all the supplies I needed and packing my bags.  Packing for this trip has been especially tricky given the circumstances of this trip.  I will be working during the week in a professional capacity and, therefore, need to bring the appropriate clothing.  However, during the evening and weekends, as well as my last week, I will have free time in which I will want to be lounging around in summer clothing and swim suits.  This is all complicated by the fact that I won’t have any access to laundry facilities for the first two weeks.  Needless to say, I packed the biggest suitcase I could find in my parents’ basement and filled it to the brim.  I had to do a little rearranging to meet the weight requirement, but I managed!

Tomorrow I will be meeting my professor and my three classmates for the first time at the airport.  Dr. Hansen, myself, and the one other girl who lives in Iowa will be meeting at the Des Moines Airport at 4:30 in the morning (gross!).  We will me the other two ladies at the gate in Atlanta.  We arrive in Vieux Fort, Saint Lucia at about 4 PM local time (which is two hours ahead of CST) and hopping in a car to drive 25 miles to Castries, the capital, where we will be staying for a majority of the two weeks we are there. 

I decided that I wanted to do during this time abroad in order to keep my family and friends updated on my activities and to keep a record to help me remember what happens during the trip.  I will post as frequently as possible given my work load and internet access.  There will be pictures posted with my blog posts as well as on Facebook, most likely.  The title of the blog, for those who are wondering, means beautiful island in Saint Lucia’s creole language.  The picture is of Soufrière Bay and the Twin Pitons in the southwestern portion of the island.  Please feel free to follow along on this new adventure I’m having!

Pictures of the packing process:

Sorry, Charlie! You can't come with. :)