The Honeymoon is Over

At Cuso they taught us about culture shock, the disorientation you feel when you are in a new environment. It has four distinct phases Honeymoon, Frustration, Adjustment and Mastery.

In the honeymoon phase, everything is new and exciting. In Grenada who wouldn't be in a honeymoon phase? You are on a gorgeous tropical island where people pay thousands of dollars just to visit for a week! But then like all honeymoons they come to an end.

My end was on Friday. It was a school holiday so I was off. A Cuso volunteer had asked me to lead a session with her team. It was held in a gorgeous recreation centre- with no teenagers in it, at all. On a PD day!! Weird but OK.

The session was great, lots of energy, lots of learning and they really enjoyed the session. Then a talking head got up, grabbed a podium, which I guffawed at, and began deriding these young workers! He actually called people out by name as to who was late! Then on to dress code, then where they had to be; when they had to be; with whom they had to be! It was unbelievable. He said he knew they would rather be liming- which is like hanging out doing nothing, and implied that they were liars. I actually retook the floor to try to rebalance the energy but to little avail. People were angry, frustrated and cursing (which is illegal here- so a very bold statement).

My co-worker was furious. We went for a drink afterwards. She is so frustrated, things keep changing, people are undermining her work, and you are fighting against ingrained mentalities that are very difficult to budge. I could totally relate. We agreed to meet up later to go listen to a band at Le Phare Blue with our Cuso Manager and another Cuso staff officer from Ottawa.

We were meeting at 8:30 out in Egmont and I decided to bring the boys for the experience. We got there on time- none of our party was there... which in the Caribbean is not a huge surprise. After about 5 minutes we got a text they weren't coming, the transportation had fallen through. This however left us a lone in a lovely restaurant with gorgeous music and the best cappuccino I had ever tasted.

So then you get frustrated. Why is everything so hard? Why can't people be where they say they are going to be? Why can I have a great cup of coffee but can't get people to set up an infocus machine ahead of a presentation? Luckily the music was divine and my frustrations melted away on a comfy couch with my family around me.

The second phase of culture shock is frustration. And there is lots to get frustrated about. Our sofa & chairs are so rough I have to lay a scarf on them to sit "comfortably", our fridge leaks so much cold air you would think it was an A/C unit, you can only pay bills in person at the utility or internet stores. Poor Brent hasn't even got out once to kiteboard because there is so much minutia to deal with.

Hopefully this phase washes over us like the waves at Magazine Beach and we just roll with it. I don't feel stuck in this space, but just very aware that you can't do things the same way you do back home.

The next phase is adjustment and then mastery. A Peace Corps volunteer is at mastery. He can tell me what number bus goes where and how to tell if a certain fruit is ripe. But his two years here ends in December. I'll get to adjustment for sure.

Yup sipping a tea, overlooking the lagoon and getting ready for pancakes and bacon- I'll move on. No sense worrying about what you can't change, focus on the work, the trainees and the girls and maybe getting some cheesecake with my cappuccino for my birthday when we go back to Le Phare Blue!