Da Bush

Saturday night in Hellshire was filled with bittersweet goodbyes as we all celebrated together with our host families. The community hosted a cook out in the local park to wish us luck on our future endeavors. I cant believe how fast the time is flying.

After heading to the beach one last time on Sunday morning, Group 82 gathered at the church, boarded its sector specific busses and headed off in three different directions.

The Jamaican landscape is as dichotomous as the culture itself. After about an hour of driving, we (the Green Initiative) went from the white sandy beaches of Hellshire to the luscious peaks and valleys of the Blue Mountain range. It’s like we transported to an entirely different world.

Da bush is nice. Other than its breathtaking beauty, its cooler, quiter, cleaner, smaller, and the communities seem to have a real genuine “down to earth-ness” about them.  After about a 3000 foot trek up the Blue Mountain, we unloaded from the van to meet our new host families. Each family had a representative meet us at the community center which will act as our training location for the next 5 weeks. The community center provides a place for youth to do homework and for other community members to access the web, use the library etc... The center was actually a part of a previous PC volunteers efforts. Nice to see that his work is still standing and being used today.

Everton, my new host dad, was there to pick me up and take me to my new home. As we continued up the mountain to his house he loved explaining to me how excited he was to have a host son from America. He emphasized how much he was looking forward to teaching me and learning from me about our respective cultures. He said, “Maak, I wan you to feel so comfortable at mi ome dat when you move on and do your work in Jamaica, an you eventually go bak to ya ome in da United States dat you can tell people dat you also ave a ome here. And wen yeh come bak to visit us, you can just tell people, ‘mi a go ome’ (I’m going home)”.

When we got to the house I was introduced to my new mom Maureen and my THREE little brothers, Shawayne, Shadayne, and Rashayne. Ages 14, 11, and 6 respectively. There are also countless cousins, uncles, aunts etc... that are always coming in and out of the house They are awesome and have taught me more in the last three days then I’ve learned in my entire time here. I look forward to coming home and playing dominoes with them, or throwing the football around. They are all musically gifted and could probably score a recording contract in the states. I recorded a video of them and it is currently uploading to facebook so check it out. Hopefully it works.

Believe it or not the Richardson’s are devout Seventh Day Adventists. Every morning begins with a 530-6am devotion where the family gets together to sing and pray. This morning, uncle shorty (Everton) asked for volunteers for the closing devotion prayer and of course, everyone looked at me. So I gave it my best shot, I don’t think it was a complete disaster. I do enjoy the musical outlet that religion brings to the family, but I definitely need to brush up on some hymns. My little brother Shawayne warned me that uncle shorty was going to ask me to lead an entire devotional next week... time to get my bible out and study.

Something else that the blue mountains have provided is a great place to run. There are roads and trails everywhere and because we are out in the country, I am allowed to roam farther by myself than I was able to in Hellshire.  I got a lot of funny looks and heckles on my Monday evening run, jogging is something that Jamaicans don’t really do. Most of them, especially in the country, get enough exercise in their daily routines so they stay pretty fit. However,  some of my extended family members took note of my running interests and woke me up on tuesday morning at 4:30am to join them for their routine... Why so early? well we couldn’t miss the morning devotional.  The 4:30 wake up time and jog has become a part of my routine. Its definitely a little brutal but I’m already getting used to it and I’m making some great Jamaican friends in the process.

As always, thanks for reading and thanks for your patience. Is there anything you all want to hear about? If you are curious about anything, don’t hesitate to post a question.

Much Love

there are pictures on facebook

Mi a tek way miself 

A day in the life of PST

I've been thinking that some of you might be curious as to what exactly I've been doing during Pre Service Training, so I thought i'd try to convey a snapshot...

The following schedule was taken from 7/11/2011.
7:00 -8:00: Breakfast

8:30-9:30: Processing Travel Practical (w/ Safety and Security Coordinator, Ann)
                A "practical" is like a homework assignment that involves actually going out and doing something. Over the weekend, we were instructed to complete a "Travel Practical" to the Coronation market in Kingston where Alex and I had been shopping the week before. The "practical", obviously, is the opportunity to practice the things we learn in the classroom, which in this case was public transportation and confidently shopping at a public market. After each practical, we debrief or "process" what we learned as a group. This methodology is consistent with peace corps teaching philosophy. There is a lot of "learn by doing" opportunities which, being the Cal Poly alum that I am, I get pretty stoked on. Once my team (the Green Initiative) moves out to da bush, a lot more of our training is going to be "practical" based. Rumor has it that within our first couple weeks, we'll be building some sort garden at a local school as part of a homework assignment. How cool is that?

9:30-10:30: Safety and Security Exam Prep and Project Manager Interviews
                As you may have heard, Jamaica isn't exactly the safest place in the world. Let's face it, most developing countries aren't. Much of the focus of our training to date has been centered around how to stay safe in Jamaica.  Beyond the obvious common sense things like, "lock your doors" and "don't go out at night alone", there is a lot to be learned in the cultural context about understanding your surroundings and the potential threats associated with where you are. It is more complex than you might think. We literally have a plan A, B, C, D for just about every safety and security threat you can think of from burglary to a natural disaster. Tomorrow, we sit for a test to demonstrate that we know what to do when these situations arise. We are all expected to get perfect scores, or we don't pass.
                 While some people were studying for their tests, others were going through interviews with their project managers. Dan is the project manager for the Green Initiative and is in charge of developing volunteer sites. He has spent countless hours going out into communities, meeting with different environmental agencies and farming groups, and finding projects where each of us are going to be most effective. Our interview was pretty informal because, well, thats how Dan roles. We spent some time on my resume and talking about my various work and school experiences and how they can best be used to help Jamaica.  Beyond that, we talked about personal stuff like friends and family back home. I believe that he really has the volunteers best interest in mind. He understand the importance we play in development but he seems to balance it out by also understanding that we are here for an experience and I really think he's going to do everything in his power to make sure we get it. We even spent some time today about what my goals are after the peace corps so that he can place me in a project that will help me pursue those goals.  I introduced him to Alex when we ran into him in Kingston the other night and when I introduced him as my boss (because he kind of is my peace corps boss) he quickly corrected me and explained to Alex that he actually works for me... he's pretty adamant about that. Regardless, I'm glad he's on my team.

10:30-10:45: Break
10:45 - 12:00: More Safety and Security Exam Prep and PM interviews
12:00-1:00: Lunch

1:00-3:00: Sector Room Discussion
                 SRD's are probably my favorite part of training. This is the only time we have had during PST's to spend as a project group. As I think Ive mentioned  in previous blogs, The Green Initiative has only 7 trainees (out of the 31 total). Because of our size we are becoming a pretty close knit group. It is during SRD's that we actually get to train on topics related to the work we will be doing in the field. Because we are still early on in the training process the scope of these trainings is still broad but it is very helpful. We are getting caught up to speed on the Jamaica's development goals and how they relate to the environment and agriculture, the political framework in which we will be working and the type of agencies we are/will be partnering with to meet those goals. My only complaint is that by about the time the wheels in my head really start to turn and I get all these ideas pumping, our discussion ends. SRD's always seem to go the quickest. I'm not too worried though.  Starting Sunday, Ill be living with these 6 other people in a very rural community... we'll have plenty of time to talk about Jamaican agriculture and environment

3:00-3:15 Break
3:15- 4:30: Coping with unwanted attention and harassment, pt.1
                 Not going to go too much into this. It's just like it sounds. The PC is very concerned with our physical, mental, and emotional well being. It's a good thing, too. This culture can be pretty abrasive from an American perspective.

There you have it... a day in the life of PST. Each day the schedule and topics are a little bit different. What this day is missing is a decent chunk of language and cross cultural training. We spend a couple hours on this stuff most days. Below is a picture of me dancing with our Language and Cross Cultural Coordinator, Joan Andrea Hutchinson. She is a public figure here in Jamaica. She is a TV/pop culture personality and a Jamaican history/culture guru. The PC locked down some serious talent. You can find her on google. She's awesome... and as you can tell, she really enjoys dancing with me

             A few random things:

WiFi party at Alex's place AKA the bachelor pad. Last night we had some fellow trainees over to study and use the internet...

A jamaican sunset from the balcony:

A couple street shots:

A few pictures from the party we kept last friday night. Alex was gracious enough to host all of the trainees and even some of their host families... We all got to relax together for the first time. It was much needed... Alex is on the far left

And lastly, when asked to make American food for his host family, Mark 2 (above) made tacos... I was enlisted to help... his host parents had never had tacos before. Everything was great except the rice... we'll work on it for next time.

This is me on garnish duty... killin it

Cultural Exchange

Wa guh dung??
Wanted to share some cultural exchange highlights with ya'll...

Greetings: Jamaicans are ALLLL about their greetings, and if you don't follow suit, you are seen as disrespectful. Everyone you see on the street during your morning/afternoon/or evening routine must be  acknowledged. In the U.S. its a little bit different. We, myself included, will sometimes go out of our way to avoid people until we get that first cup of coffee or have our morning workout. That doesn't fly here. If you pass someone in the street, you look up, and give them the appropriate patois greeting. In the U.S. we spend more time on departures. It has been a fun change of pace.

The evening ritual: EVERY NIGHT most of the town comes out to their front porch, or "verandah", and just hangs out. Some people choose to people watch and others venture out to the street for a walk. As a result, everybody knows, or knows of, everybody else. Evening walks are the way everybody checks in with everybody else to ensure that all is truly good in the hood. Back at home, we would never take the time for this. Most households are playing dance hall, reggae, pop, hip hop, or church music very loudly... this will last into the night. Im sad to say, I have no idea the names of our neighbors back in Angwin... except for Sean. Again, that wouldnt fly here.

The movies: Alex and I went into kingston a couple nights ago to see transformers 3 in 3D. The movie began with the audience standing together and singing the national anthem. AWESOME. This is one of the many displays of patriotism I've seen here.  Jamaican theaters still have intermission midway through the movie so patrons can use the restroom, get more snacks etc... Another cool thing is that Jamaicans treat the movies more like a sporting event. There was a lot of screaming and yelling for the good guys, and many boooooo!'s for the bad guys. It was a lot of fun.

Something else ive been wanting to share (has nothing to do with cultural exchange). Our trainee group is incredibly diverse. The age range is 22 to 77! John and Wanda Eddy are our representatives from the high end of that scale and are serving as some inspiration to the rest of the group. They are just as energetic and "with it" as anybody else here. They kinda remind me of grandpa in a way.
Anyway, their story is funny. The peace corps thing was John's idea and he had originally planned to apply and join on his own. The way I understand it Wanda was just fine with the idea. She liked the thought of having a peaceful clean house for a couple years while John went off to the Peace Corps because he was getting "bored with retirement"... Turns out, the Peace Corps wouldnt let him do it alone so Wanda rose to the occasion.
It was the first day in Miami when everyone was meeting each other for the first time. The facilitators had a name game set up for us and it came time to meet the Eddys. John stood up first and gave a little bit of his background and so on and so forth, then came Wanda's turn. She got up and said in her Arkansas accent "Hi, I'm Wanda, and we have lost our mind". The whole place busted up. They are a tough couple.

In other news, training is going well. I continue to be impressed with how organized and professional everything is. The patois language is tough but every day i get a little bit better. Chances are good I will use it a lot in my probable rural placement so I'm really working at it. I will give you guys a more detailed explanation of what I'm up to in my next blog.

Hellshire, Beaches and my "Host Family"

I have spent the weekend moving in to a community called greater Hellshire, where I will spend my next two weeks of PST.  Friday was an exciting day, full of anticipation as we were anxiously awaiting the introduction of our respective host families. We spent the greater part of the afternoon with our Cross Cultural Coordinator reviewing and understanding cultural differences, do's and don'ts of a Jamaican household, like wear to hang your "unmentionables" after washing, and walking through a variety of situations that could potentially arise.  Finally, at about 5 o clock in the evening it was time to depart from Powell Plaza (named after Collin Powell, who is of Jamaican decent and is the place where many embassy workers live and meet) to go meet our new families.

Upon arrival in Hellshire we were instructed to gather on a cement pad that had some sort of frame structure around it. It looked eerily reminiscent of a cage.  Our host families were instructed to gather across the road next to one of the many community churches (fun fact, Jamaica has more churches per square mile than any other country). The scene looked like this...

All of us in the cage:                             

All of our families across the street by the church:

After each side had some time to check the other out, somebody from the cross culture team came over and handed us a strip of paper. Mine said "beenie man". Of course I had no idea who he was. The CC team explained that our host family had a strip of paper that included the other half of the pair. Some pairs were american (i.e., Bagels and Cream Cheese, Beyonce and Jay Z, PB and J etc). And others, like mine, were Jamaican. At the signal of the cross culture coordinator, we were to go mingle with the families and try to and find our other half. So we did. Within seconds, a young man approached me and said "what your's say?" I showed him my strip and he instantly started laughing. He said "ah mon! I knew it!"

Turns out my host family isn't really a family at all. Its a 26 year old biology teacher who lives alone. As you could imagine, we were both stoked.  We load up my stuff and he takes me back to his bachelor pad to get me all moved in.  Turns out, twenty-something year old men in the caribbean are concerned with a lot of the same things I am so there really wasn't a lack of discussion topics. I feel fortunate to get the opportunity to see Jamaica from the perspective of one of my peers for my first couple of weeks. Other trainees have been placed with more traditional families with rules, curfews, and 5 hour long church services. There are merits to both I suppose but I am happy to be in my situation.

We decided before bed on Friday that we were going to get up early on Saturday to hit the market back in kingston or "town" as it is referred to here. This way, I could get familiar with the taxi/bus system and experience my first market all in one shot. Wake up time was 5am and off we went.

The taxi system here is, well, nuts. They have no problem loading 6 people into a cab and it would appear to me that all lines painted on the road are considered optional. You see, Jamaica's infrastructure is suffering and as a result there are a lot of pot holes in the roads. In order to keep their vehicles operational, motorists will swerve into oncoming traffic to avoid the smallest holes. Not gonna lie, its a little scary at first but after a couple rides you get used to it. Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE drives this way.

We made it safely to the market by 6am. By this time the temperature had passed 83 degrees and the humidity was in full effect (it is always hot and humid here, but its getting easier to cope with each day. I actually think I'm starting to like it). Jamaican markets are a crazy scene!  Alex showed me the ropes in bargaining and picking out the best produce.  All prices are verbally communicated and Alex explained to me that most vendors will try to hike up the price when they see me come through as an American. We spent some time discussing fair prices and practicing retorts in Patois when somebody tries to rip me off. 

The way I see it we did well. Looks like we have enough groceries to get us through the week. After navigating through the loud market crowds for about an hour we made our way over to a coconut stand and bought a couple coconuts for $50 JD a piece (about $.60 US). The guy at the stand cut a hole in the coconut so we could get to the water. It was a great way to refresh and replenish. 

With two full bags we boarded the bus again and headed back to Hellshire. Upon our return (about 9am) I noticed a lot of other trainees getting outside and starting their mornings with their new fams. 

The rest of the day for Alex and me was busy. We hung around the house for a while and cooked some food, then we headed to Spanish Town to meet his grandmother and cousins. We spent a few hours playing jamaican board games, drinking some beers and listening to the latest in dance hall and reggae music. After that we went to his aunt's for the evening. They were all so welcoming and on a few occasions even thanked me for being here. Her husband, Collin, and I chatted for a while and he said he's going to take me out one night while I'm here.  With the exception of having a rock thrown at me in Kingston, everybody has been very nice.

Today has been my first relaxing day since a left home a week ago. Alex and I decided to opt out of church when a girl he's been talking to invited us to the beach.... Why not? I'm sure we'll do church next weekend. Tamara came over around 9am and we all spent some time in the kitchen teaching me how to cook the national dish, Ackee and Salt Fish with bread fruit.  As krock would say, it was bomb.com!

We took our brunch down to the beach and spent most of the day there. I took a swim in the caribbean for the first time, and have a real nice sun burn to show for it.  Some of the other trainees were able to get away from their host families to join us. It was nice to catch up with them since moving in with the fams. We shared stories and enjoyed the view (Alex's place is a mile from here):

You can tell that this community is a very proud and hard working one. I like it here.  There's no doubt though that the Peace Corps is slowly weening us off our American lifestyles. We are no longer in the comforts of hotels and among our volunteer group ALL the time. We are training to be active, contributing, and gradually integrated members of Hellshire, living as the locals do.  Although we are away from some creature comforts, the living situation here isn't bad at all. We have electricity, running water (most of the time, it shut off for a couple hours today but we really didn't need it because we were at the beach), and Alex is one of the few "host families" with internet, let alone, wifi! Talk about living large right?! Peace Corps? how about Posh Corps? (thanks rik dog). In all seriousness though, we have been led to believe that our next town will be more rural with a living situation to match.  Good thing, cuz I am dying to use those solar panels that Lisa got me! Myself, along with the 6 other ag/environment volunteers will be moving to Woodford in two weeks which is about an hour away from Hellshire. I haven't met a person yet that's even heard of Woodford, which has me a little nervous. I'll be there for 7 weeks before being sworn in at the US embassy on September 2nd.

After a couple days in "real" Jamaica I'm understanding a little bit better about what the Peace Corps calls the "fish bowl" effect. People stare at me wherever I go, wondering what I'm doing outside of the gated resorts.  Its a curious stare more than anything else, nothing malicious or ill intended by any means, but I am a foreigner to the full extend of the word.

It's time to press my clothes and pack my man purse for training tomorrow (backpacks are for tourists). If the Gallo folks would please send me some pictures of the 4th of July tomorrow I would really appreciate it, especially if you were in them! Also, please say hi to the Graysons (they are coming right?) Miss you all.... thanks for reading