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