America 1982-Chapter 47 - 6: Only Need Honor on Paper

The Theodore Joshua Airport on Saint Vincent Island, which only has one runway, welcomed Tommy Hawk with a backpack on his back, flanked by Ottilia, Dennis, and Pam.

"I never expected a ticket for $125 to actually get me a charter flight experience, albeit with poor service and an ancient aircraft," Ottilia said as she walked.

That one with such an outstanding temperament could voice a complaint reveals just how terrible the services of these budget flights must be.

Tommy Hawk surveyed the capital city of this nation before him, his voice somewhat weak, "I’m afraid even the oldest aircraft model is much newer than this capital city we’re looking at. I always thought it was small, but clearly, my imagination still falls short."

Pam slowly lowered the camera she had originally raised as she took in the scene before her, and said to Tommy Hawk, "I think it’s best not to include panoramic shots of this nation’s capital in our publicity, Tommy. This city isn’t even half the size of Warwick City. Panoramic photos would make it seem like we took pictures in the countryside around Warwick."

"This travel guide I have states that Kingston has a population of only twelve thousand; if I remember correctly, even Warwick, which Boston mocks as the countryside, has a population of eighty thousand," Dennis said, his voice trailing off as he looked at the Kingston right before his eyes. "I feel like the park we went to on our last outing was bigger than this place."

"You remember correctly, the entire population of this country is just under ninety thousand," Tommy Hawk said. "But this is the only UN-recognized country we could find that was willing to engage in cultural exchanges with us and at low cost. If we didn’t pick here, we’d have to go to Africa."

The airport was right next to Kingston, and the capital of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines was laid out before the four travelers like a small town encircled by mountains on three sides and facing the sea, dotted with British-style buildings made of red brick and white stone, and the blue sea was scattered with fishing boats and cargo ships.

This white city, or perhaps more accurately town, enveloped in lush greenery, when viewed from afar, looked like a pearl that had been left by the seaside.

"Excuse the interruption, may I ask if you are Miss Ottilia Farrell, Mr. Tommy Hawk, Mr. Dennis Herbs, and Mr. Pam Marvell?" a black woman in her mid-twenties approached from a distant parking lot and inquired in standard, fluent English.

Ottilia nodded and extended her hand proactively towards the woman, responding with a warm smile, "Hello, I am Ottilia Farrell, the guidance teacher for the CSLS project at Lincoln High School in Warwick, USA."

"I am Susan Ryan, principal of the Thomas Sanders Middle School, and the Chief Educational Officer of Kingston," the black woman named Susan responded with a smile, shaking hands with Ottilia and introducing herself, "We spoke on the phone previously, Miss Farrell."

"Hello, Miss Susan Ryan. Tommy Hawk, founder of the CSLS program," Tommy Hawk introduced himself proactively to her.

"I’m delighted to see students from other countries willing to come to Saint Vincent for exchange and study. This program is very good, Mr. Tommy Hawk," Susan said, shaking Tommy’s hand.

After introductions and handshakes with the four, Susan led them to the parking lot. The sparse parking lot held only a few old British and American cars. Susan opened the door of an old bright blue JEEP and signaled for the four to get in.

"This country only became independent three years ago, and many people are still not quite adapted, so development has been slow. Plus, when independence came, the British left many positions that the locals had never been in touch with before, without any guidance, and we had to fumble our way through work. For example, I was still studying in England three years ago. Suddenly, I was called back and became the principal of the only middle school in the country and the Chief Educational Officer of this city, while also teaching many courses. Truth is, I prefer studying, but there’s no helping it, the country needs us. There are fewer than thirty people in this country who have overseas education or have attended university," Susan said as she started the car and briefed them about the situation of the country.

"Ms. Ryan, about how many students does Thomas Sanders Middle School have?" Tommy Hawk, not concerned with the country’s situation, directly inquired about the school.

Susan thought for a moment, "If I remember correctly, the total number of students is one hundred and thirteen."

"Write this down, Dennis," Tommy whispered from the back seat before continuing to ask, "What sports are your students good at?"

"Cricket, British-style cricket is very popular in the Caribbean, as well as track and field events, such as sprints and middle-distance running. Your American students could spar with them," Susan said to Tommy Hawk with a smile, "Given the current situation and facilities, it’s not feasible for our school to encourage other sports that have too complicated rules."

Tommy continued to whisper to Dennis, who was writing furiously, "OK, take note, Dennis, eliminate these competitive sports from the summer camp activities and replace them with others like table tennis, fencing, and so on."

Ottelia, sitting in the passenger seat and overhearing Tommy’s words, turned her head and gave him a displeased frown, whispering a reminder, "Tommy? What you said was quite rude."

Tommy Hawk made an apologetic face and continued to ask, "Are chess activities popular here, Principal Ryan?"

"We have a severe shortage of teaching staff, so of course there’s no time to foster other interests," Susan responded with a smile, seemingly not hearing the sotto voce exchange between Tommy and Dennis in the backseat.

"Add different kinds of competitions like chess, checkers, Ludo, etc., where American students excel, and ensure they can all achieve high rankings," Tommy Hawk reminded Dennis, his eyes shining with anticipation.

"However, the country strives to provide the best resources to schools because we understand that knowledge and youth are what can make this nation better. We now provide a clean and neat campus, uniforms for the children, clean drinking water... Here we are, that’s our campus. We could have walked from the airport in fifteen minutes if it wasn’t out of respect," Susan Ryan said, nodding towards a building to the left as she spoke.

Following her gesture, all eyes in the car turned to a three-story building that stood out among a collection of single-story structures.

Susan parked the car at the roadside and led her guests towards the high school. It was not only smaller than Lincoln High School, but the environment was even more diminutive than the Sinclair Elementary School where Tommy’s Aunt Melanie worked.

A patch of flattened earth served as the sports field, a row of bungalows housed the principal’s office, and all the classrooms and activity rooms were concentrated inside that three-story building.

At that moment, a group of high-school students with joy beaming from their faces were enjoying a cricket match on the dusty field. Surprised by the appearance of the group of white people, they stopped in their tracks but didn’t approach rudely to stare. Instead, they stood their ground, responding with polite smiles.

Susan Ryan, accompanied by Ottelia, continued towards her office, while Tommy and the other two stayed behind to observe the school.

"I don’t think anyone would want to spend their summer camp in a place like this, Tommy. It’s terrible here," Pam said, hugging the camera she hadn’t used since landing.

Tommy Hawk took a deep breath: "The high-school students who pay need shiny credentials on paper to get into prestigious colleges, to brighten their resumes. They will have to accept this reality. I guarantee that no university in the whole of the United States has ever heard of this country, and won’t know how bad the high schools here can be. So just stick to the plan, Dennis, go to the capital of this country... go to this village’s best hotels to get an understanding of the best group rates. Pam, take some beautiful photos of this country for promotional materials. I’ll check the campus here for the necessary chess and sports equipment, and then after taking inventory, I’ll call back to Lincoln High School to see if it’s possible to borrow some for free for a while. Speed up, we’ve only got two days here, and there’s still a lot of prep work to be done after getting a rough idea."

"The news in the United States always mentions armed riots in black countries. Are you sure it’s safe here?" Dennis looked around at the peaceful mini city filled with black people, swallowed nervously, and said, "To be honest, this is the first time I’ve been in a place with so many black people, and being watched by so many of them doesn’t feel too good."

Tommy nodded: ​"Of course, I assure you it’s very safe here. Saint Vincent has a much lower crime rate than England, its former ruling country. This place isn’t famine-stricken Africa or high-crime America. This country doesn’t have an army; the strongest armed force here is the one hundred seventy police officers, plus two hundred reservists who are only mobilized during major crises. Let’s put it this way, if our summer camp goes ahead, just by bringing weapons and ammunition from any gun store in the United States to Saint Vincent, we could easily take over this country."