Home for the holidays!

Yes, that’s right! By the time most of you read this, I’ll either be en route to JFK or home already in snowy, wonderful New York! It’s been 9 months since I’ve been in the states, so to say I’m excited is a bit of an understatement. I have almost 3 weeks in the states, so plenty of time to get my fill of good old America. I’m excited for family, friends, food (lots of it!) and just being home in general. Jamaican Christmases are apparently a lot of fun, so I’ll be a little bummed to miss that. But the joy of a two year assignment is that I’ll still be here next year to experience it… and maybe I’ll even have some visitors to share it with (hint, hint!).

Nothing else too exciting to report from this end really. Happy holidays to everyone, and hopefully I’ll be seeing some of you soon!

Reggae (Half) Marathon

To continue with the trend of an exciting few weeks, I finished out this week with a half marathon on Saturday. It’s something that I had been thinking about doing since I got here and heard about it in March, something I decided on doing early in the summer, and something I wasn’t sure I’d be able to pull off. But despite a few ups and downs in my training, and with the help of a few good friends, I successfully ran 13.1 miles on Saturday!

The race itself was really cool – especially the start. Since it gets so hot in Jamaica (yes, even in December), the race started at 5:15 in the morning so that most people could be finished before it got too hot in the late morning. The sun doesn’t even come up until 6:15/6:30, so the first hour or so was spent running in the dark. The whole theme of the race was Reggae/ Rasta culture, and so there were drummers at the starting line, and the road was lined with torches for the first half mile or so. It gave the start of the run a really cool atmosphere, and it helped that it was almost a full moon, with bright stars and no clouds. It’s hard to describe exactly what it was like running with almost 1,000 people in the dark, and all I can really say is that it was really, really cool. And even after the sun came up, they had reggae playing at different points along the course to keep us all going. Luckily we finished before it got too hot out – there were some people still running at 11 and I have no idea how they managed. And they had fresh coconuts, bananas, Red Stripe and other goodies for us at the finish line that definitely helped ease the pain of the 13 miles. There were also a handful of PCVs who volunteered to hand out water, and they were pretty well spaced out along the course, which really helped. It’s amazing how much a friendly face (or, in this case 5) can to do boost your morale when you’re running for 2+ hours.

There was also a pasta party the night before and an after party the night of the race, so it was an eventful and exhausting weekend. Sadly, the headliner for the after party (reggae star Etana) double booked herself and didn’t actually end up performing, but there were a bunch of volunteers who went and we all still managed to have a good time anyway.

A few people have already been asking me if I’m going to run it again, or if I’m going to be upgrading to a full marathon anytime soon. My first reaction to that has so far been “Jesus, can’t I wait until my legs don’t feel like bricks before I think about running again?!” But next year is the 10^th anniversary of the Reggae Marathon, and so I think it would be cool to run it again. However, I don’t think I’ll be running the full marathon. I do understand why it’s appealing, but honestly, the idea of running for 4+ hours is just not something that interests me in the least.

Oh, my time? 2 hours, 25 minutes. My friend Jess and I ran together the whole time (sorry, Alicia!) and we were able to finish before any of the full marathoners did, and out of about 400 people who finished the half (men and women), we came in at about 215 and 216. Not too shabby, huh?

Jess and I approaching the finish line (I only look happy because of the endorphins...)

We did it! (Thanks to Emily for the pictures!)

A Peace Corps Thanksgiving

A few weeks ago I realized that in my 23 years, I have never spent a single Thanksgiving away from my family. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday (lots of cooking/baking + lots of eating + family – the pressure of gift giving = a very happy Melissa), and so the thought of spending it away from my family kind of had me down for a while. I knew that joining Peace Corps would mean giving up certain traditions and missing out on certain things, but this wasn’t one that I had wanted to sacrifice.

Luckily it wasn’t something that I had to sacrifice entirely. There is a married volunteer couple who live on the other side of Negril who graciously opened up their house to 30+ volunteers and community members for a Thanksgiving pot-luck this past weekend. Some people pulled out all the stops with what they brought – some highlights were a particularly memorable mac and cheese dish, a pumpkin pie made from scratch (a.k.a. no canned pumpkin), and onion pie – yup. A pie filled with onions. I was so full afterwards that it hurt to move for a few hours - no joke. Most of the volunteers were out here for the whole weekend, and it was really nice to see everyone again and catch up and hang out. You really do form a pretty unique bond with the other volunteers you serve with, but it’s pretty rare that we get to spend so much time together, and so it was a good chance to relax and catch up.

I do realize that it’s been more than two months since my last update. I’m not sure if anyone besides my mom will be reading this (hi, Mom!), but for those who are, I guess I should give you a quick update on things. And I will do my very best to try and update more frequently in the future, I promise.

Work has been going really, really well, especially in the last few weeks. It was a little slow to get started, but for some reason about 2 weeks ago, everything just sort of came together. There’s a lot of little things I’ve been working on that have been keeping me busy, but there are a few major things that I’ll outline for you.

Green Key- Green Key is an international certification program for hotels who comply with a pretty strict set of environmental standards. It’s a sister program to something that NEPT (my agency) took on a few years ago – a similar certification for beaches called Blue Flag, and is run by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE). I’ve been tasked with starting and running the program for the next year and a half, and it’s a little bit of an overwhelming process – there’s a steering committee that needs to be formed, international criteria that has to be specialized to Jamaica, hotels to recruit, an international agency that I have to liaise with and more. This is yet another example of how PC is nothing like I expected it to be. I was all ready to be living in a hut, teaching kids English on a black board in the middle of nowhere, but that’s not at all what my reality has turned out to be. This is not something that I’m at all qualified to do, but it’s something that has already taught me a whole lot, and the program is actually going really well. My goal is to have 5 – 7 hotels signed on for the program by the end of the month, and we already have 2 committed with 4 more in the works, so it looks like it won’t be a challenge for me to meet my goal at all. There’s still a lot of work to be done with the program, but I’m really proud of the progress that’s been made so far, and I’m excited to continue working towards getting these 6, and hopefully a few more, Green Key certified sometime in 2010.

Farmer education – the other main project I’m working on is something that’s totally different, but a lot more “Peace Corps-esque”. We’ve been working with farmers in a few communities in the Negril area to educate the farmers about environmentally friendly farming techniques, and although I know nothing about farming, I’ve sort of been tasked with running this project through February/March. This involves putting together a lot of workshops and organizing site visits to farmers in these areas and putting together a lot of logistics. This also involves working with a lot of different people from several different organizations in the area, and that can be a bit frustrating at times, but it always seems to work itself out in the end somehow. The farmers really seem to appreciate what we’re trying to do and are really receptive to us, and going out and spending the day in the fields or sitting and interacting with them in the workshops is always a highlight of my week.

Community Composting – as a tangent to that project, I’m in the early stages of planning a community compost pile with one of the farming communities we are working with. This would be a large scale compost pile, with about 15 – 20 farmers contributing their organic waste. The goal of the project is to cut costs for the farmers by providing them with an alternative to the chemical fertilizers that they use which are incredibly expensive. It will also give them a great place to dispose of their organic waste that tend to get tossed in with the rest of the trash, burned or just thrown in the bush. This project would require us building a simple structure to cover the pile, as well as several workshops and training sessions with the farmers to educate them about composting and how to do it. Again, I know nothing about composting, but I know how to facilitate something like this, which I’ve learned is almost more important. I know who to call for different aspects of the knowledge that I lack, and I’m quickly learning how to put all those pieces together, and hopefully that will be enough to make a successful project. It’ll definitely keep me busy for a little while though, and I’m really excited to keep up this relationship that I’ve built up with one of these communities that we’ve been working with.

So those are the three main things that are keeping me busy lately. I’m just about 7 months into my service, and I feel like I’m just starting to get some real traction with my projects here, and now I see why the two year commitment is so important. If I were planning on leaving in 5 months, I’m pretty certain that my projects would not be where I wanted them to be. To be honest, I’m also not sure I’d be where I’d want myself to be. Without getting too deep, I’ve been able to grow and mature a lot through the work I’ve been doing here. I’ve mentioned a few times that I’m not qualified to be doing a lot of the things I’m doing, but I’m still doing them, and I think I’m doing them pretty well for the most part. A lot the things I’ve been working on would have been really intimidating for me before this experience, but for once I’m not letting my fears and insecurities get in the way. I know that for this process to be successful, I need to really see these projects through successfully, and to tackle whatever comes after them. That’s something I’m fully committed to, but something that’s going to take me longer than 5 months. For that reason, I’m really thankful that I get the opportunity to be here for 2 years.

Well, I think that’s enough introspection for now. Again, sorry for the lack of posts in the past two months, and I promise it won’t be another two months until I post again!

"I love farming, I just love it."

I’m standing on a farm in the hills of northwestern Jamaica, and I take a minute to pause and look around. Behind me is thick bush and undoubtedly hundreds of ants waiting to eat my feet should I cross their path. To my left there is a marl road that will, with some patience and a little bit of skill on the part of the driver, take me back to the coast and the landscape I’ve become accustomed to. In front of me is a small, small farm brimming with dasheen and callaloo that look too fresh for words. I look to my right, and there is an old woman walking down the path towards us. Her back is hunched and her clothes hang loose on her body, but she walks with an air of grace and confidence that defies her age.

When she reaches us, she stops to chat. The farm we are looking at is her sister’s, and she has a farm about the same size further down the path. We ask her how long she has been farming, and she replies enthusiastically:

“I’m 83 years old, and I’ve been farming since I was a girl. I love farming, I love it. I just love farming.”

She tells us she works in her farm every day, and the well-used machete in her hands can attest to that. She repeats what seems to be her mantra, I just love farming over and over again. She says that she takes joy in her work and is proud of what she does, “without us farmers, what would we all eat?” she asks us.

Her sister is in her late 60’s, and also still farming. Her mother is over 100 years old, and although she doesn’t farm so much anymore, she’s still alive and alive and well.

We were only able to spend a few minutes with this 83 year old woman and her sister, but it was an experience that has stayed with me since. Seeing these women was truly inspiring and humbling. I can only imagine the things they have seen in their time – the joys, the hardships, the hellos and goodbyes. But they are still here, still happy, and still doing what they love.

A good day.

Once a month, NEPT (my agency) organizes beach clean-ups. This is pretty much exactly what it sounds like – a service event where we spend a few hours picking up trash from the beach. The clean up for August was scheduled for just 3 weeks after I started with them, and happened to fall on a day where my supervisor would be across the island for the entirety of the week leading up to the clean-up. This meant that I would be in charge of making sure the clean-up happened and happened smoothly. I wasn't sure if I would be able to pull it off, but knew I had to find a way to make it a success. Oh, and did I mention that we had practically no budget for the event?

The week before she left, my supervisor and I talked about what I would need to do to pull the event off. I wrote donation requests, sent emails, called people, and even Facebook-ed to advertise the event, organize the logistics and get prepared. I did all of this not knowing if it was going to be anyone but me at the beach that day cleaning up, or any need for us on that part of the beach, since I hadn’t seen the actual site yet.

The day of the event (last Friday), I was really nervous - were people going to come? Was there going to be work for them? Would we have enough supplies? Would someone pass out from the heat? But the day was fantastic. We had 20 participants - including 13 of the most motivated students I've met here, and 3 other PCVs. Together we picked up 50 huge bags of garbage - so many that we had to beg one of the nearby hotels for additional bags because we ran out of the supply we brought after only about an hour. We got a lot of "good jobs" from people on the beach, and it looked amazing when we were done. On top of all that, one of the participants was so impressed by one of the students that she hired him on the spot to work in her hotel. Everyone went home feeling productive, motivated, exhausted and even asking when they could come back and work more.

The whole day was a really great motivator. Working with an amazing group of students like that was refreshing – there’s a lot of apathy in the youth here, so it was nice to see another side. They’re a group that NEPT is going to continue to have a relationship with, so I’m hoping I’ll get to know some of them better. A lot of times with service programs like Peace Corps, the results of your work are intangible and difficult, if not impossible, to see. So a project like this one was fantastic – just take a look at the before and after pictures:

A shot of the area before

And after - what a difference, huh?

I did have a lot of help and guidance putting the clean-up together, but I was certainly the lead person for the event, and had done most of the background work myself. It felt amazing to have a successful day, and has given me the confidence to tackle an even bigger project in the near future, including our next beach clean-up in September.

The whole group with our 50 (!) bags of trash.

There are more pictures online: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=101129&id=636823325&l=bba5148742

PS - Gavin - I hope that was exciting enough for you, you jerk.

Part I - Independence?

This past weekend marked a major holiday here – Jamaica’s Independence Day. The holiday is actually August 6, but the celebrations lasted into this weekend. I’m still not sure if there’s a Jamaican equivalent to fireworks – or any major tradition to mark the holiday, but there is definitely has been a festive atmosphere here, and people are enjoying themselves and the remainder of the summer. (As a side note, how is it already the second week of August? It’s amazing how time flies...)

Jamaica gained its independence from Great Britain in 1962, 47 years ago. It’s interesting living in a country where a good portion of the population can remember such a dramatic event. The transition from colonial rule to self rule here was peaceful, and I’ve actually been surprised at how rarely the subject comes up – I’ve almost never heard a Jamaican talk about that day 47 years ago, and I’m not entirely sure why. The country has gone through a lot of ups and downs since gaining independence, and Jamaica definitely still has a long way to go. But if you think about it, 47 years after we declared our independence, we had already ratified a new constitution, fought a few wars, still had slaves and had yet to fight our own Civil War. So, in comparison, Jamaica’s really not doing too badly.

While I’m writing all of this, I can’t help but think of a conversation I had in a taxi a little over a week ago. (A quick note about Jamaican taxis – they run just like buses do in the states, only with compact cars – there are set routes and prices, and passengers get in or out wherever they want to along the route.) I got into a taxi, and the driver and passenger were having a conversation about the current state of Jamaican politics and what can and should be done about it. At one point, the driver made a comment about how Jamaica has been independent for almost 50 years, and its government officers should know how to behave by now. A valid point, indeed, but I did consider comforting him with the fact that 233 years after our own independence, American officials are still working out a lot of those same kinks. I held my tongue though, and am glad I did, as the other passenger made what I think to be a more interesting point. He said that although Jamaica is independent on paper, he really doesn’t consider it to be an independent nation - it’s not a country that can stand on its own two feet, and really never has. There has been so much aid poured into this country in so many different ways, and I can’t even imagine where the country would be without it. Perhaps if things had been different from the start, this would not be the case. But after almost 5 decades, such a culture of dependency has evolved that even now, there is a deeply held feeling among many Jamaicans that instead of just doing work themselves, they should just wait for someone else to come along and do it for them – politicians, missionaries, aid workers, etc.

It would be unfair to lay the blame for this attitude fully on the shoulders of Jamaicans. Development work is a tricky thing. The whole idea of development is (or should be) that a “development professional” work for a period of time on a specific problem in a specific area, and work towards making themselves obsolete. If a project is successful, it should eventually be run entirely by nationals of the developing country, with no outside help needed to keep it running. But there’s a problem with this for the development professional – true success would mean that she or he would no longer have a job. And yes, they could just move on after the project is successful and sustainable, but that would mean starting a whole new project in a whole new country – a whole lot of work. And a lot of development workers work on a contract – once a project is done, they need to find a new contract. So in a lot of ways, it actually doesn’t pay for development workers to be too efficient. Modern development work started almost 60 years ago, after World War II, and I can’t help but think that if people had really tried to make development sustainable from the start, I wouldn’t need to be here right now, and the world would be a different place. When you think about how far we’ve come in other aspects of life in the past 60 years, it boggles the mind to think that we can’t assist in making a country like Jamaica independent in the truest sense of the word. This cycle of dependency that has been created and is still being encouraged is no accident.

I know this is a somewhat controversial and cynical position to hold, and one that does not shed a very good light on development as a whole. But it’s a side of the truth that’s important to know, and important to see – especially as a Peace Corps Volunteer. It’s so easy to get fed up with the “give-me” attitude that so many Jamaicans have, but when that attitude is put into perspective, it helps. And Jamaica is by no means alone in any of this. Developing counties around the world are remarkably similar in this way. So many countries that started out as colonies have never grown out of the colonial mind-set that their problems are someone else’s responsibility to fix.

Granted, development and its history are a lot more complicated than what I’ve explained here. There’s a lot more to it, and there are an endless amount of books on the subject. And there are a huge number of development projects have been sustainable on a large scale and over a long time, so development can work, and it can be sustainable and successful. But that’s easy to forget sometimes.

So it’s tough to say whether Jamaica is really independent or not. In some terms, there really isn’t any country that’s fully independent, is there? As the recent economic downturn has shown, we are all connected a lot more than we thought. Jamaica is in a lot of financial trouble, and starting next month, will be borrowing from International Monetary Fund (IMF) again to help get itself through the next year. Many Jamaicans don’t think this is the best plan, and I am inclined to agree with them. There’s a lot more to say on this topic, but I’m going to save that for a post a little later in the week – this one is already long enough.

I’m not sure what would make a country fully independent, or if Jamaica is there yet. But it has been an interesting point to think about it this past holiday weekend.

"No experience is ever wasted"

As if getting hit by a car wouldn’t make for an exciting enough month, there has been a lot more going on in the past few weeks. Most notably, as of this week, I am now longer working with WHROMP in Ocho Rios. Tomorrow I will move out to Negril to start a new job with a new agency.

There are a lot of reasons that things didn’t work out with my old agency, but in the end, what it came down to were a series of unspoken expectations, miscommunications and frustrations on both sides. There was a lack of communication, and in the end, it just wasn’t really a good match, so the decision was made to move me to another site. I am upset that things didn’t work out with WHROMP, and that I didn’t get more of a chance to work with them, but this move really is the best for both parties.

On a more positive note, I’m really excited for my new placement. I’ll be working with NEPT – the Negril Environmental Protection Trust. They’re an environmental NGO that work with a lot of different groups – farmers, hotels, schools, etc. They are also in charge of managing the Royal Palm Reserve – a protected area on the outskirts of Negril that is pretty much a 300+ acre forest.

I’m not 100% sure what I’ll be working on yet, but I do have something of an idea, and the work is pretty varied. One of my projects will be to work on their Clean Fields Campaign, which works to promote best practice farming techniques within the Parish. I’ll also be working to promote the Royal Palm Reserve to the local communities as well as tourists in the area. My other major project will be to implement a program through the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE), either with hotels in the area or with schools (the decision about which program we will implement has yet to be made). And I’m sure there will be a lot of other things that pop up for me to work on as well, as there always are in Peace Corps.

Each of those three major projects could all be full time projects, and yes, it is a little overwhelming. But I’ve learned a lot over the past 2 months, and I feel a lot more confident about this placement than my last one. The way my experience at WHROMP played out has taught me a lot about what it takes to be a volunteer. Mainly, it takes the courage to just jump in and work through a project. It doesn’t matter if you’ve ever done it before, if you think you are qualified, or if you think you know what you’re doing. The trick is to seek guidance where you can and be willing to go it alone if you don’t get that guidance. Either way, you do the absolute best that you can do with the resources you have at hand and work from there. One of the many reasons that things didn’t work out with WHROMP was that I was too scared to just jump in and get things moving - I was far too afraid of failure. And while that fear does still linger on my shoulder, it’s not something that I will let dictate my actions in this new placement. I’ve been given another chance to prove myself at NEPT, and it’s not something that I intend to waste.

Like I said before, it does upset me that things didn’t work out with WHROMP. I think they are a great organization and they do a lot of much needed work in the area. I spent a few days really analyzing why things went the way they did, and was able to take a lot of good lessons from it. But now I am ready to take those lessons, move on and start work in Negril at NEPT. I think this is a much better placement for me and I now feel a lot more confident that I’ll be able to handle whatever challenges the next 22 months might bring.

It's always something in Jamaica

I actually debated for several days whether or not I should share this story with all of you, but ultimately, I decided in favor of sharing it. My reason for this is twofold – for one, it is one of the more exciting things that has happened to me in the past few weeks, but it is also something that will define at least part of my experience here for a number of reasons, and as such, I figured it’s something that I should be sharing. So, here it goes.

About two weeks ago, I was traveling through a town about 45 minutes south of Ocho Rios (where I live) called Brown’s Town. I was on my way to a meeting and after paying my taxi fare I decided to ask for directions at a shop across the way instead of just wandering around to look for the building. What I remember is this: crossing halfway onto a median/island and waving good morning to some men who were on the sidewalk. I was heading across the next street to the shops, and the next thing I remember is being in the back of a police car holding a handkerchief to my forehead and talking to the police men who were sitting in the front seat, where I was told that I had been hit by a car. (Now, let me pause here to save you all the suspense: I am fine. I was more or less fine from the beginning. I have a cut on my forehead and a few bruises, but nothing major – I actually got really lucky.) I still don’t remember the accident, so I can’t really be sure what happened. What I’ve been able to put together from what the cops told me is that I was hit by a car, who drove off before anyone was able to get his plate number. I’m not sure how I was hit, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t head on – I think I just got bumped hard enough to knock me down. A taxi man in the area took me to the police station, where I was moved into a police car and driven to the closest hospital (about 25 miles away). I’m still not sure how long I was out, or if I was fully unconscious or just blacked out during this time, but I think it was about 20 – 30 minutes. It was a little weird to wake up in the back of a police car, but I was still so out of it that it didn’t really phase me at the time. I was trying to piece it all together while trying to answer the officer’s questions, which was a difficult task at that point.

Once I got to the hospital, I was taken care of really fast. I guess that’s one perk of an open head wound – doctors tend to pay attention to you pretty quick. I was cleaned up, stitched up, given facial x-rays, prescribed pain killers and antibiotics and sent on my way. Overall, I wasn’t too impressed with the hospital, and I am a little concerned that they let me go without more of a neurological check-up (they didn’t even talk to me about symptoms of a concussion or what to do if I have one), and they were definitely doing the bare minimum they had to before they could let me go…my doctor didn’t even tell me when I could get the stitches out or how often to change the dressing. I am really lucky that I was able to rely on Peace Corps for more thorough medical care, and am a little uncomfortable with their standard of care for the general public. I was lucky – I didn’t have any internal bleeding or a bad concussion. But I very easily could have, and if I had been suffering from either of these things, the hospital would have let me walk out their doors with no one the wiser. A scary thought indeed. But once again, I had Peace Corps to fall back on, and this is where the story takes a much needed positive turn.

While waiting at the hospital I called the PCMO (Peace Corps Medical Officer…we love acronyms in PC) to let her know what had happened. There are 2 PCMOs on staff and they are in charge of making sure that the 75 volunteers on the island stay healthy. We go to them with any medical issues, and they take care of us – either by seeing and treating us themselves or by setting us up with a doctor in our areas to see. In my case, there wasn’t any time to consult with them before seeing a doctor, so I called afterwards. The PCMO decided that she wanted to see me in person, and informed me that she would be coming up to Ocho Rios later that afternoon to check me out. I was a little floored by this – it meant an extra 3 hours of travelling tacked onto the end of her day for just a 10 minute visit. But I know by now not to question Peace Corps staff when it comes to medical or safety issues. So I made my way home and waited for her to arrive. I was still a little out of it, and I remember walking around my house unsure as to what to do. I knew what I had to do – clean up myself and my house a little, take a shower, call my mother, unpack my bag from the day, etc. But actually sitting down to do these things was another story. Except for calling my mother, of course. That I did right when I got home, and for the record, she took it well. There was a little bit of freaking out on her side, but that’s to be expected and she did a good job of keeping a calm front for me, which was helpful. I’m sure Courtney could tell you a different story about how she reacted, but I was glad that she was more or less calm when she talked to me.

When the PCMO got to my house, she decided to take me back down to Kingston, for two main reasons. The first being that I live by myself and the other being that I had lost consciousness and probably had a concussion. So I packed for a few days, took a quick shower and rode back down to Kingston with her to stay at the Country Director’s (CD) house – more on this to come a little later. I saw a private doctor the next day, and got a CAT scan, both of which confirmed that am healthy and that my brain is in tip-top shape (despite what some of you may think…) I spent the next day and a half in the Peace Corps Office, which was really nice. The office staff is great and volunteers are constantly coming and going, so I got to see a lot of people (and had to relive my story countless times, thanks to a very unambiguous band-aid on my forehead). There’s also internet, books and TV, so I had plenty to keep myself busy when there weren’t volunteers around. The PC office is a really nice and homey place, and somewhere I feel really comfortable spending time so it was a good place for me to be. I was in a good amount of pain the 2 days after the accident, but nothing that was unexpected – some headaches and body aches. On the third day, I was feeling relatively good, and day by day I’ve gotten a lot better. I still have a few bruises left over, and I got the stitches out this past Monday, which was almost more painful than getting them in. I have a nice scar on my forehead, but luckily my hair covers most of it, and I’m hoping it’ll fade over the next few months.

I know it’s a weird thing to say, but I do feel like I got really lucky. Thankfully, I didn’t have any broken bones – I can’t even imagine what being in cast in the middle of the summer would be like here. I’d much rather a cut on my head and a few days worth of a headache. And I had a lot of valuable items in my bag – ipod, camera, phone and cash to name a few, and all of those things made it with me to the hospital. In a country known for pick-pockets and petty theft, that is a miracle in and of itself. Even my sunglasses which must have come off my head made it home with me. And Peace Corps took amazing care of me, so that’s definitely comforting to know.

As a side note, there is one funny anecdote from the situation. The accident happened on the Monday after July 4^th. I had spent the weekend with other volunteers in a house on the south coast of the island grilling and just hanging out. The meeting I had was on the way back from there to my town, so I had my backpack with all my stuff from the weekend still with me. And besides clothes and a camera, this also included a bottle of rum that I hadn’t finished (because this is Jamaica after all)…a glass bottle. As it turns out, glass isn’t the strongest material in the world, and at some point the bottle broke in my bag, soaking everything and causing my bag (and by extension me) to reek of rum for the rest of the day. And it didn’t help that I was so out of it from hitting my head that I was talking, walking and acting like I was drunk. For the record, this all happened at 10:30 on a Monday...and yes, the police did ask me if I had been drinking. I wasn’t really sure why they asked that at first, but once I started smelling the rum, it all made sense.

Oh, and just a small note on our Country Director (CD) – she is phenomenal. I stayed at her house (which is a really, really nice house), for 2 nights and she was so warm and welcoming. We had a long conversation about PC and concerns I have been having about my site and she gave me a lot of fantastic advice and is just so patient. I felt comfortable being entirely open and honest with her despite the fact that she is technically my boss. Apparently the last two country directors have not been so fantastic, so I feel really lucky to have her around and to have gotten the chance to talk to her on an individual level, despite the reason for that opportunity.

I’ll end it on that positive note. Let me say once again that I am fine and healthy and the only lasting effect of the accident will be a small scar on my forehead. Peace Corps took amazing care of me, and I don’t feel unsafe here…it’s something that could have happened anywhere. It wasn’t the best experience to have had here, but hey, at least I get a good story out of it, right?

Oopps...

I realize that I’ve been delinquent in updating my blog, but I didn’t realize it had been almost a month. My apologies. There are a few reasons I’ve not written in a couple weeks, and it mostly boils down to feeling like I don’t have a lot to write. Work has still been going really slow, but like I said last time, I have faith it will change soon. But until then, I’ll spare you any more stories about work…they would all pretty much be me sitting in an office anyway, so not too different from what I did back in the states.

But I have been able to keep myself busy during non-work hours, which has been good for my sanity. I’ve been doing a lot of yoga and a lot of running. I’m training for a half-marathon in December, so I have to stay fit! It’s in Negril, and a bunch of volunteers are either running in it or volunteering, so I’m really looking forward to it.

I’ve also been getting a lot of visitors lately (one of the perks of being in Ocho Rios). This weekend a handful of people came up for the Ocho Rios Jazz Festival… which, despite the name, was not really a festival, and not really in Ocho Rios. There was a free concert on Friday afternoon, as well as a concert we were able to get into for free on Sunday (thanks to some smooth talking by Craig, a fellow volunteer). But we managed to keep ourselves busy for the rest of the weekend. Saturday was a full day – Dunn’s River Falls in the morning, and Blue Hole in the afternoon. Blue Hole is one of the most beautiful/ fun spots I’ve been to in Jamaica yet (see link to pictures below), and luckily, it’s only about 30 minutes from where I live. So I feel as though I’ll be going up there a whole lot this summer. And, since it’s a spot on the White River (the same river my organization works to protect), I can count trips up there as research trips, right?

That’s about all I have for today. Like I said, not much to update on right now. Hopefully I’ll have some exciting stories to tell you all in the next few weeks, so stay tuned…

More pictures for those who are interested:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2258074&id=5301199&l=b22a586126

Work soon come

As I am quickly learning, patience is one of the most important skills a Peace Corps Volunteer can have. Unfortunately for me, patience is not one of my stronger qualities. Something I’ve been told by countless Volunteers, both here and around the world, is that things can take a few months to get started once you actually get to site. There are a lot of reasons for this – adjusting to any new job is difficult, people may be skeptical of you, people are sometimes too busy to help you out or aren’t too sure what to make of you. But no matter what the reason, it can be pretty frustrating. There’s a really fine line between being pro-active enough to ensure that you’re not bored and being pushy and turning people off. So you end up just biding your time until things start to slowly roll your way. Then, with a little initiative, some hard work and a bit of luck, you can start to get things done.

The odd thing is that I know there’s a lot for me to do. I just don’t know where to start or how to get things going. I’m definitely still in an adjustment period, and am still learning how things work here – both within my organization and in Jamaica in general. And you have to start out slowly, and start out with something you know you can do well, and finding that is hard sometimes. There seems to be a lot of projects in the works, so it’s just a matter of me figuring out where I can fit in and be most useful. Some of the things I’m excited about working on in the near future include:

-          Working with coastal fishermen and hotels to create a fish sanctuary

-         Sponsoring a beach clean-up day as part of the International Coastal Cleanup in September

-          Starting/strengthening local school environmental clubs and school gardens

-          Partnering with government ministries to alleviate the squatter problem in Ocho Rios

-          Starting a bird-watching tour in the area

-          Working with a particular farmer’s group in the hills on environmental education

 So it’s not that there’s a lack of work for me to be doing. Just a lack of direction. And I’m still so new that I don’t feel like I even know where to start by myself. But I do feel like things will pick up a little bit soon, and I’ve talked to a few volunteers who were able to give me some solid advice on where to start and how to make sure things are successful. All in all, I’m optimistic that things will start happening, one way or the other.

And it’s not just my organization that moves so slowly. In Jamaica, as well as in many developing countries around the world, things move a little slower. Most people here have what’s called the “soon come” attitude. The phrase soon come can be used in any number of situations, and can either be a handy tool or an incredibly frustrating thing to hear depending on the context. When someone says, “I’ll soon come back,” that person could be back in 5 minutes or 5 hours. Or, when someone says “The meeting soon finish”, or “Me soon call you”, you really have no idea what time frame they are talking about. And trying to get Jamaicans to set a solid time is like trying to catch a fish with your bare hands – you might think you’re getting close, but it’s really never going to happen. Trying to get things done in a culture like this is difficult, especially from an American perspective. I’ve already sat in several meetings where it was decided that a certain action should be taken, and instead of hammering out the things that need to be done and delegating these tasks, people talk about setting up another meeting to find a good time for people to meet to talk about what needs to be done. It seems like a very inefficient system at times, but things do get done here, just a little differently then I’m used to.  

I’ve had a few other things going on to keep my busy though. I moved into a new housing situation this weekend - I now have my own flat on an older couple’s property and it’s been so nice. I have my own kitchen, and there’s a bathroom, bedroom and little living room – more than enough space for me. I’m closer to work, closer to Ocho Rios, and really happy there. I’ve also been seeing other volunteers a lot lately – there was a birthday party last weekend, a 2 day Peace Corps conference this weekend, and a lot of other events coming up in the next few months. There are a lot of concerts and music festivals in Jamaica in the summer, and a lot of festivals in general. They are a great reason to travel, see more of the island and see friends in different parts of the island.  

So there’s a lot to look forward to in the coming months, both with work and personal things. I’m still a little overwhelmed at the idea of living here for 2 years, but I’m trying to take it one week at a time. And I have a feeling that 2 years will be over before I know it, so I’m doing my best to enjoy it while I’m here!

"Never look back"

How many times have we all heard this? Growing up in America, I was taught not to look behind me, but ahead. Why do you need to look back anyway, what’s done is done and that’s all there is to it, right? But I’ve started to realize more and more that looking to the past can be useful. Your past experiences, and the lessons that you’ve learned throughout your life are what keeps you grounded. And now more than ever, I need all the help I can get in staying grounded.

As of Friday, May 15^th, my Peace Corps Training came to an end, and my work as a Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV) officially began. After a week in Kingston spent doing some final reviews and evaluations, myself and the other 32 members of my training class were sworn in as volunteers at an official ceremony at the US embassy here in Kingston. Unfortunately, since it was at the embassy, we weren’t allowed to take cameras inside, so I have no pictures of the actual ceremony. A PC staff member did take some official pictures, but I haven’t gotten them yet (as they say in Jamaica, they will soon come…but that could mean anytime between tomorrow and next year). I do have some pictures of the rest of my two months here, and I’ll post a link to my facebook album at the bottom (and yes, you can use this link if you aren’t a member of facebook). But the ceremony was very official, and our oath (the same one they take in the military) was administered by the acting ambassador.

Being done with training is actually a little overwhelming. Since arriving here, finishing training has been a milestone I’ve been looking forward to, and something tangible. I had tasks to complete, a time frame to complete them in and in two months I would be done. Two months is an amount of time that I can wrap my head around – it’s something that isn’t too overwhelming and something that I can see the end of. Now, I’m looking at two years, and not too many milestones laid out for me. I am still very excited about my work here, and not regretting my decision to join in the least, but it’s just a lot to take in all at once, and it’s a feeling that has kind of caught me by surprise. I’ve never really liked to think about time in large chunks like this, and now I’m kind of forced to do so. But maybe that’s good for me, maybe it’ll teach me a new life skill.

It’s very easy for me to get overwhelmed with the prospect of living here for two years, with my job, and with this life that I have chosen for the near future. But that’s where I’ve learned to look back and reflect on the experiences that have brought me here. I’ve done difficult things before, and I’ve made it through. Like everyone else, I’ve been overwhelmed by life before, but if I’ve figured it out in the past, why should now be any different, right? I just need to remind myself to breathe, and remind myself of the things that have brought me here, and what they’ve taught me. I think a healthy dose of reflection on the past is a very good thing. To throw out another old cliché, the past is prologue, and so without looking to the back, you won’t really have a very good idea of where you’re going or why you’re going there.

All that being said, I’ve also been trying to focus on the future, specifically the very near future, and on my work here with WHROMP. We had a long meeting today that was surprisingly productive. There were a few projects proposed that I will be helping out with, and I think that I will be a lot busier in the near future (meaning I’ll have less time to gchat…sorry guys). The projects cover a pretty big range – mangrove re-planting, re-introducing sail fishing (as opposed to using gas engines), working with schools, beach clean-ups, bird watching tours, and more. I’m by no means an expert in any of these things, so it’ll be interesting to see what I can bring to the table. But those are the details that will only work themselves out with time. Until then, I’m going to keep learning whatever I can and finding ways to make myself useful here. And most importantly, I’m going to remind myself to breathe. 

As promised, some pictures: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2249473&id=5301199&l=3ae318f61b

On Jamaican food*

By far, one of the best things about learning about a new culture is getting to try all the new foods. Jamaica has no shortage of unique foods, and trust me, I’ve done my fair share of sampling in the past 6 weeks. So I thought it would be fun to give you all an idea of what I’ve been eating lately.

Jerk – Probably the most famous Jamaican dish and it’s usually chicken or pork (though the pork probably isn’t the best idea right now…). To be perfectly honest, I was a little disappointed by this one. Not because it’s not delicious, because trust me, it is. It’s just not that different then other slow cooked, smoked chicken I’ve had. But, like I said, it is tasty. The spice level really varies with the cook – sometimes it’s not hot at all, and other times it is smokin’ hot. What makes it jerk is the spices, and that’s where the variation comes in. Serious jerk chefs usually make their own blend and use that to season the meat. After the meat is spiced, it is slow cooked in a grill and becomes really tender. It’s usually served with festival – little sweet breadsticks that go really well with the chicken, especially if it’s a little spicy. The most interesting thing about jerk is where you usually find it. Besides the “jerk centers” around towns, there are usually a few people in each neighborhood who cook jerk chicken and pork on weekend nights at the end of their driveway. In Hellshire, this became a community event, with people eating and chatting with their neighbors. It’s not as much of an event in my community here, although I did meet Colin this past weekend, who sold me some delicious jerk chicken and festival – a huge portion that I had trouble finishing for only J$290! (That would be just over US$3.00)

Ackee and Salt-fish – This would be the national dish of Jamaica. (Yeah, I didn’t know countries had national dishes either. I guess America’s would be a bacon cheeseburger, fries and a coke?) Ackee is a red fruit that grows all over the place in Jamaica – on the tree it looks a little like a red pepper. It is poisonous until it opens on its own on the tree, when the middle can be taken out and cooked. It looks a lot like scrambled eggs when it is all cooked up, but doesn’t really taste at all like eggs. I’m not actually sure what it tastes like… the salt fish I had it with was so amazingly salty and fishy that I really couldn’t taste anything else. I think salt fish is cod, although I’m not really sure. Like I said, it is really, really salty. So much so that it actually doesn’t have to be refrigerated or kept cold. The whole dish just tastes salty and fishy and is obviously not my favorite. Apparently salt fish grows on you, but in order for that to happen, I’ll have to eat it a few more times…something that I don’t really see happening.  But when I try the ackee sans salt fish, I’ll let you know what I think.

Rice & Peas – can accompany pretty much any Jamaican dish, and I’ve already found myself craving it lately. The rice is usually prepared with a little coconut milk, giving it a slightly sweet taste. And mixed in are beans (beans are known as peas here) – usually red kidney beans, but sometimes a few other varieties. Like I said, this is a side with almost every meal, and the portion of rice is usually about the size of my head. I have no idea how Jamaicans eat so much rice and aren’t all 300 lbs., but they can seriously put it away. It’s impressive.

Stewed chicken – I think this is my favorite dish so far. The chicken is stewed in a pot for a while with just a slightly sweet sauce and its own juices – no oil or anything needed. As a result, the flavor of the sauce really comes out, but doesn’t overpower the flavor of the chicken. I feel like when people in America cook with sauces, we tend to just throw the sauce on there and that is kind of all you can taste. But when you can actually taste the meat, it’s just delicious. Jamaicans eat any part of the chicken, and the breast is actually most people’s least favorite part. People think I’m a little weird when I ask for it, but I can deal with that. It is usually served with a heaping side of rice & peas and/or what Jamaicans call food…

Food – a general term for starchy vegetables served as sides. This usually consist of yam (there are over a dozen different kinds of yams here…), potatoes (sweet, Irish, etc), and boiled green bananas. That’s right – unripened bananas are boiled and eaten here. They are surprisingly tasteless and turn an unappetizing grey color when cooked. They’re not exactly my favorite. There are also dumplings – little pods of water and flour that are not near as tasty as what I know of as dumplings. All of these items are usually placed in one pot and boiled, usually with no spices or anything added. For a culture that puts so much flavor into their meat, it’s shocking that they wouldn’t think to add even a little salt to this mix. It would definitely go a long way. But alas, no culture is perfect, right? And yes, food is used both in context, as well as in the way we would use the word. And yes, this does get really confusing. I never thought I would hear someone ask, “You want some food with your chicken?” 

As a side note, Usain Bolt, the current fastest man in the world, is from the parish bordering mine, Trelawney. That parish is actually also home to several other of Jamaica’s best sprinters. Trelawney is also where most of the yam in Jamaica is grown, and it’s said that all the yam is what makes them so fast. Personally, I’d say it’s the combination of luck and hard work, but you know, that’s just me. 

Patties – These are similar to a calzone or an empanada. It’s pretty much just ground up meat in a fried dough. The most common type is beef, although you can also get chicken, fish, veggie, and beef & cheese. They are surprisingly good, and pretty cheap. They are awful for you, and I’m pretty sure the meat would be somewhere around grade D in the states, but it’s best not to think about this when you’re eating them. They make a really good fast, cheap lunch and like most things that will give you a heart attack, are pretty tasty.

Bun & Cheese – definitely the most processed meal on this list. Thankfully, it’s usually only eaten around Easter – it’s definitely one of those things you can only eat a few times a year. The bun in this combo is a spiced muffin type of thing that’s sweet and a little sticky. It’s cut in half and served sandwich style with Tastee Cheese inside. The best way to describe Tastee Cheese is to think of a solid version of cheez-whiz – the “cheese” that comes in a can like whipped cream. The cheese comes in a can and doesn’t need to be refrigerated until it’s opened. I was a little hesitant of the combination at first, but it’s actually surprisingly delicious. But, like I said, something you really only want once or twice a year. I think eating it any more often than that would kill you.  

There are a few Jamaican delicacies I have yet to try including oxtail, pig tail, chicken foot (usually cooked in a soup), conch, fish head and manish water (goat head soup...). 

Gah. Two pages in and I haven’t even touched on all the fruit yet! Well, that’ll have to be another entry on another day. I could keep talking for days about food, but I think I’ll spare you all. 

*this entry is dedicated to Lindsay Giesen, mostly because she’s probably already trying to figure out how to make all of these things back in DC.  

23 days to go...

I only have 23 days until I am sworn in and officially start my service as a Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV)! Some days it feels as though I’ve only been here a few days, and others it feels like I’ve been here a year already. Things are still going really well, but the days can be pretty jam packed, and I have been taking in a whole lot of information lately. Training is definitely exhausting – that’s something that other PCVs have told me before, and while I didn’t doubt in the least, I also didn’t fully understand how true it is until now. But it is all important stuff, so I'm willing to push through it.

I spent the last two weeks in Ochi with WHROMP (pronounced wee-romp), and am now back in Hellshire for this week with the rest of the group to process the experience and get some more training as a larger group. By far the best thing about this week is seeing the rest of my training class. I really like my group, and it’s really nice to hear about everyone’s site and what everyone will be doing while they’re here. In general, people seem really happy with everything. Everyone has their own unique challenges, and no one’s site is anywhere close to perfect, myself included. But people seem to be adjusting well, and I think once we get through training, start doing some work and get a little more freedom, people will be a lot happier.

We’ll all be going back to our sites this weekend, and will be there for another two weeks. Then we’ll have one final week of training in Kingston, complete with an official swearing in ceremony.
After that, it’s back to our sites to start our two year journey as Peace Corps Volunteers.

I don't really have too much else to say now, and need to get going anyway. But some people have been asking me what types of things I would appreciate being sent to me, and so I’ve decided to put together a little list, should you feel so inclined. No pressure, but who doesn't love a care package??

- Letters!
- Books (fiction, non-fiction, political, I'll really read anything at this point)
- Movies or music
- Magazines (Food magazines or current events/political ones are personal favorites)
- Food (non-perishable or non-melty stuff is probably best.)
- Yoga DVDs (A fellow trainee taught us some this morning and I really liked it!)
- Things to do in my room/house that don’t involve going outside after dark
- Really, anything else you can think of!

A new home, A new job

Expectations are a funny thing. As much as I tried to come into this experience with none at all, a few had slipped in – some that I was conscious of and others that I was not. When I decided to join Peace Corps, and even when I got invited to serve in Jamaica, I was preparing myself for any situation – living with no running water or power, being the only American for a hundred miles, working in a school, working in an office, not having access to internet, eating food I was entirely unfamiliar with, etc. I had no idea what I was getting myself into, so I had no idea what to expect. As it turns out, my situation is not at all what I had prepared myself for – not at all what I expected.

I’m living and working in a small city on the north coast of the island called Ocho Rios (Ochi for short). My house here is really nice – running water, electricity, a washing machine and very close to a supermarket that sells Ben & Jerry’s, good wheat bread, cheerios, peanut butter and a selection of beer that includes more than just Red Stripe and Heineken (and yes, that is about all it takes to make me happy). There are about 4 produce stands between my house and office and I’ve already gotten the low down on who has the best prices. Within the next few weeks, I will have hot water and internet at my house on top of all the other amenities. I’m living with a married couple – a Jamaican man and a Canadian woman who has been here for about 20 years. They are both really nice, and the woman has been giving me all sorts of tips and tricks for living in Jamaica (especially as a white woman) and in Ochi. And she cooked me a great Jamaican meal my first night – curry chicken, rice and beans, and stewed beef.

I’m working with an organization called the White River Watershed and Ocho Rios Marine Park Association (WHROMP). The White River runs for 15 miles from the mountains into the ocean, and dumps right into the Ocho Rios Marine Park. Activities in the White River’s watershed range from agriculture to tourism to mining to fishing and much more. WHROMP is working all over the watershed in 9 different “clusters” of communities over 25,000 acres to promote responsible use of the watershed. The watershed supports countless communities all over Jamaica, either directly or indirectly. And as I said, the river dumps directly into the marine park, with its beaches and coral reefs. So any negative effect on the watershed will have the same effect in the coastal communities and in the ocean.

From what I have gathered from Alex, my supervisor at WHROMP, the organization (or disorganization as he calls it) is still in the very early stages and needs a lot of work on the organizational/management side of things. And that’s where I come in. They have a lot of interest and a lot of motivated people, but need some focus and someone with an outsider’s view to come in and sort things out. So it’s a very exciting time in the organization, and a very important time as well. I was placed with WHROMP because of the watershed work that I did with the SCA a few summers ago in California, but I think that the work I did with GW Students for Fair Trade/United Students for Fair Trade (GWSFT/USFT) will be even more useful, and I’m excited to get to use and expand those skills. I’ll be working with a lot of different communities in a lot of different areas – anything from hotels here in Ochi to rural farmers in the hills. It’s going to be a lot of really hard work, and I can already see how frustrating it’s going to be at times, but I can’t even express how excited I am. The opportunity to help shape an organization from the beginning is more than I ever expected and something I feel confident I can make a difference with. It’s going to be a slow process, but I guess that’s why I have 2 years, right?

Alex took me around a small section of the river the other day, and it’s absolutely beautiful. The water is crystal clear with a sandy bed that looks almost like the sea. Just this one small section of the river supports so many different activities: fishing, agriculture, tourism, hydro-electric power, livestock, and more I’m sure I missed. Here’s a picture of the river under a bridge that was built by the Spaniards, probably in the early 1600’s – now it’s mainly a tourist attraction with companies offering tube rides starting from the bridge.

On a side note, Alex has a really interesting back story. He’s of British and Irish descent and has done everything from farming to metal work to environmental consulting, and often times it’s a mix of those 3 things and more. He has 4 children, 2 of whom I met and seem really nice as well. It’s funny, I actually look more like I could be his daughter then the two I met – his wife is Indian and they both look a lot like her. We already had one woman ask if I was Alex's wife or his daughter (yes, both of these from the same woman). For now, we’re going with the latter. But growing up as a white Jamaican, he’s had a lot of unique experiences relating to biases some black Jamaicans have against white Jamaicans. He’s already shared a lot of his story with me, and he’s had some really interesting and varied experiences that I’m excited to hear more about over the next 2 years.

So there are parts of my placement that were very unexpected. Namely living in an urban area, working and living so closely with other white people and being so close to other volunteers – there are at least 10 others within an hour of me. I guess I just have to adjust my expectations a bit and take everything for what it is, not what I thought it might be. I am very excited about everything, and can really see myself being happy in the whole situation for the next two years. I’m sure there will be challenges along the way and I’m sure there will be times I’ll want to throw my hands up and go home, but for now I’m really looking forward to this whole experience and can’t wait to see where it takes me.

Greetings from Hellshire!

(For a bit of context, this was written on March 23^rd)

Greetings from Hellshire, Jamaica! I’ve been in country for just under a week, and I am still really, really liking it here. I feel like I really lucked out with this placement – the staff seems pretty on top of their game, the people in my training class are great, and on a whole, Jamaicans are really warm and friendly. And, they cook a mean baked chicken.

We’ve spent the past 4 days in a community called Hellshire, about 45 minutes west of Kingston. The group of 36 of us sort of took over this neighborhood...there are at least 2 of us on every block and no one is more than 5 minutes away from anyone else. It’s a really nice way to ease into Jamaican culture and to prep for the home stays we have coming up in April, where we’ll most likely be the only American in our community. The whole town has really embraced us, and we all feel safe and comfortable here. Although it’s barely been a week since I left the states, I feel like I already have so much to talk about! For now, I’ll stick to the highlights, and I think I’ll start with my family.

I have a mom and dad, and a sister. There are a few more children, but they no longer live at home. My mom is really sweet and has definitely made me feel welcome- from day one she was introducing me to people as her new daughter. She’s really easy to talk to, and seems really happy.  She’s always singing something – usually connected to whatever she’s doing/thinking at the moment, i.e. – “I have to wash the pot”, “I need to buy some carrots”. I don’t know what it is, but there’s just something about hearing someone singing for no particular reason that makes me smile.

I also really like my sister - she’s 14, and is really sweet as well. She wants to be a pediatrician when she grows up, and she spends a lot of time studying. She gets up at 4:30 every morning to get to school on time and seems really dedicated. She also loves Miley Cirus, so we bonded over that a few nights ago. She bakes and cooks a lot as well, so I think we’re going to plan a night to bake something together, which will be a lot of fun. 

My dad is definitely the quietest of the 3, but I really like him too. He’s a deacon at the church that we go to as well (yes, I did go to church yesterday…) and works night shifts as a security guard in Kingston. I haven’t gotten a chance to talk to him too much, but I’m hoping that will change in the next few days.

We’ve spent the past few days in class learning Patois (it’s a really cool language to listen to, and fascinating from a linguistics viewpoint), learning about Jamaica, about PC policies and about our particular sectors – mine being environment. The classes are pretty boring, and the lectures are really long and usually run over. Classes are from 8 am – 6 pm, so we are all pretty exhausted at the end of the day. But our pace will slow down a lot once we are done with training, which will be really nice. But from stories I’ve heard from other volunteers, it sounds like our training is pretty painless over all, so I’m trying to focus on that. And I really like my host family and training class, so that makes it easy as well.

In about 10 days, we are going to be getting our site assignments, so I’ll be finding out exactly what I’ll be doing and where. I’m really anxious about that – there’s a lot riding on it, and they really didn’t consult us as much as I thought they would. They pretty much had all the sites planned out before we got to Jamaica, and are using the first few weeks to make sure their placements are right. It’s a little frustrating that they aren’t telling us, but I guess that’s where flexibility and patience comes in, huh? Until we find out, I’m just trying to enjoy the time with my family and fellow trainees.

There are a couple things I don’t have space to get into here, so look for another post soon! I do want to tell you all about my first Jamaican church service, as well as a little more about Patois and Jamaican culture. Oh – and I have had so much delicious food to talk about too! But, it’s getting a little late for me, so I’m going to save all of those things for another entry. Until then… 

Nothing but smiles (phone # and revised address too!)

I know I've only been in Jamaica for about 36 hours, but I'm absolutely loving it so far. They've kept us pretty busy so far, and there's been a whole lot of information thrown at us in the past few days. I won't bore you all with the details of safety and security, medical stuff and PC policies, but there's a whole lot of information to take in. If only for the policies and paperwork alone, there is absolutely no doubt that PC is a government agency. 

On the bright side, the policy lectures have been the only boring part so far. My training class is great, and the staff all seem really excited and really positive. I'm sure I'll have frustrations with some of the people around me soon enough, but for now I'm just enjoying all the excitement floating around on all sides. There's nothing too substantive to update on now, seeing as I've only been here for a day or two. But yes, I am safe and I am enjoying myself. Thank you all so much for the messages of good luck and all the terribly nice emails and letters. They really have meant a lot to me. 

Tomorrow night we are heading into our first home-stay, and will be there for the next 2 weeks. The Internet connection there will be spotty, so I won't be too quick in responding, but feel free to keep the emails coming! 

And as promised, I have some updated contact information. The old address will still work, so no worries if you sent something to the old one, it will just take a lot longer. So use this one in the future:

Melissa Dentch

c/o Peace Corps Country Director, 

Leila Webster

8 Worthington Ave

Kingston 5

Jamaica, West Indies 

Phone Number: 876-488-0542

876 is the country code, and I will post more information on the best ways to call after I test out some methods with people back in the states. 

I'll try to update again soon, but I miss you all and hope you are all doing well!

Some pre-departure thoughts

As most of you know, I will be leaving for for Jamacia on Tuesday (3/17) to join the Peace Corps. I'm flying to Miami, where I'll meet the rest of my training class and have a bit of an orientation about Peace Corps. On Wednesday (3/18), I will fly to Jamaica with my training class - about 30 or so people. From there, we'll have about 2 months of training in the language (Patios - a creole), technical skills and Jamaican culture. Then, on May 16th, I will be officially sworn in as a Peace Corps volunteer (PCV) and begin my two years of service. I won't know my exact placement or job until a few weeks into training, and I'll be sure to keep you updated on all of those details. 

A lot of people have been asking me lately how I'm feeling - excited? nervous? scared? anxious? The answer is all of the above, and more. The best way that I can describe it is that I feel like I'm about to jump of a cliff. Now, keep in mind I like that sort of thing - cliff jumping, roller coasters, etc - I'm one of those people who likes the rush that it brings. But it's an action that is simultaneously exhilarating and terrifying, an action that is fun precisely because it is so scary. For the past few weeks, with all the goodbyes, and packing and what not, I feel like I've been getting a running start on the jump - and there definitely has been a small part of me screaming to stop and turn around. But as with any leap, you just have to let your momentum push you forward, and commit to it, knowing you will be happy you did in the end. And once you do jump, you can start to relax - there's nothing you can do to change course now, so you might as well enjoy the ride, right? Eventually, you land in the water, swim to the surface and enjoy the afterglow that comes when you push yourself despite all of your fears and doubts.  

I know that the next few years, and specifically the next few months, will be a huge challenge, but it's one that I know I'm up to and one that I have been looking forward to for a long, long time. It definitely helps to know that I have an amazing support network in the states. I have some amazing friends and family, and you all have been so supportive and so wonderful - especially lately. I am very lucky to have you all, and I owe you all a huge thank you.  

And finally, for those of you who have asked, some contact information. My address is below - it's the address for the main Peace Corps office in Jamaica. I will have a more specific address when I get to my site in a few months, and I'll be sure to send that along when I get it as well. But for now, feel free to send letters or packages to:

Melissa Dentch

Peace Corps

8 Worthington Ave

Kingston 5

Jamaica 

Email: mdentch@gmail.com