Caribbean Peel Out

Last day at the stadium!

Last day in St. Lucia :( We can't believe how quickly the past two weeks have gone by. We had most of our things packed and re-packed (for those of us weighing in at greater than fifty pounds)! Steph had the heaviest carry-on, weighing 30 pounds, as her checked bag was 49.5 pounds! Barb's checked bag was the heaviest, coming in at 52 pounds! They were nice and didn't charge the $100 overweight fee...probably because she told them that she had one suitcase inside of the other!

Almost every day we saw coins on the ground. So often we would try to pick them up but they were frequently stuck in the asphalt. We learned that they don't operate by the US phrase "find a penny, pick it up, all day long, you'll have good luck." In St Lucia it is quite the opposite as picking up coins is actually bad luck. So Barb added some US coins to the local ground change to see if she could even out her luck.


We spent the morning at the hospital treating patients, since we didn't have to be at the airport until 1:30pm. We saw some outpatient and some inpatient. Steph and Fran got to use their chest PT skills learned in Dr. Kelly's class!! The doctors were very thankful when we educated them on head elevation when the patient has a nasal-gastric tube. Barb had the opportunity to interview two more St. Lucian's about the culture. Becca worked her butt off in outpatient treating pretty much all back injuries! 

Runway All Clear for Peel Out

Fresh Creole Bread in the Makin'

Overall, it has been such a wonderful experience! It is great to hear the patients thank us and tell us how much they appreciate our help. One thing that we were very impressed with, was the fact that most of the patients were very compliant with their home exercise programs. One woman told Steph, "I will do anything to get better and be healthy."




The goodbyes with the staff were bitter-sweet. We are all excited to go home, yet sad to be leaving, as we feel that we have been a great help and have helped make differences in the lives of many St. Lucian's. As we said our good-byes, so many people's asked if we could stay or come back soon. The St Lucian's are a loving and welcoming people! To paraphrase one gentleman who touched our lives, "I wish you blessings, I thank you for all you have done for our people, and will see you again on the other side."

On the way to the airport we stopped at the clay-oven bakery where all the creole bread is made that we by out of the car that beeps his way up and down the streets everyday.  Talk about bread at its freshest!! Our flight back to the States had a gorgeous view of countless Caribbean islands speckled in bright blue seas. No one was bumped to first class is trip...bummer...but most of us got to sit by each other. We met some wonderful people on the plane, one of which even graduated from Slippery Rock! The other people were staying at Coconut Beach Resort, right in Vieux Fort, and the daughter goes to East Stroudsburg University! Now, we get ready to go our separate ways...Steph and Becca to Newark and Barb and Fran to Pittsburgh. It has been great!

Caribbean Islands at Sunset

Look forward to our next blog which will include some cultural tidbits and awesome recipes for you all to try!