Welcome to Bellevue

Yesterday was a very exciting day for the PC trainee group 82. After hours of conspiracy theories and analyzing hints by our project managers and staff members, we now know where we will be spending the next two years...

I'm moving to Bellevue Portland to work with a brand new farmers PMO (Production and Marketing Organization). Portland is located on the north eastern part of the island and is arguably one of the most beautiful parishes. My resources will be few and the work will be great, but from what I hear, Ill be working with some motivated, energetic individuals.

I havent actually been out to see my site yet. I move there this afternoon after spending the morning with my new supervisor.  I won't have internet for a while but as soon as I can, ill write an update with some firsthand perspective.

My site on paper....
Host Agency's Top 6 Activities
1) Protected Ag (green houses and such)
2) Improved Ag Practices (Natural Disaster Mitigations)
3) Environmental and Ag Education
4) School Gardens
5) Reforestation
6) Marketing and Record Keeping (Business management and skills for farmers)

Bellevue is rural community with an estimated population of 1200 people.
Will be living in 4 bedroom, 1 bath house with 4 other adults and a 7 year old.

The resources are few and the work is plenty. Can't wait to get started.

More to come this weekend

(never) Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Here’s an idea... Let’s invite 7 random strangers to a Caribbean island, send them out to the middle of the bush, make them learn a new language, and build compost piles and plant things with each other. If you think this sounds like an upcoming reality TV show on FOX network’s fall line up, you are wrong. This, my friends, is PCJ Green Initiative. The inevitable adventures, challenges, hardships, and successes that comes with such a scenario is starting to yield friendships that will surely last a lifetime.  Such is the story in the Blue Mountain farming community of Woodford as seven Peace Corps trainees have bonded together in environmental friendship and unity. It gives me great pleasure to introduce my readers to my new friends. We almost love each other as much as we love the trees around us.

First there’s Val. Val is great. She comes for New Hampshire and emulates some of the Peace Corps stereotypes to the T. She is ummm... peaceful, down to earth, and has a nurturing ora about her. In her spare time, Val loves making her own deodorant and shampoo, reading the latest in compost techniques, laying in human piles, and beekeeping. She is also a flash mob specialist, which allows her to channel environmental awareness through interpretive dance, poetry, music and art. Let’s say, hypothetically I really wanted to hug this tree, but try as I might, I just couldn’t wrap my arms all the way around it. I would put in a call to Val and she would be there ASAP to help me out.

Next we have Brie Burd. She is tight, brah. She comes from Hawaii and therefore is automatically super chill. She jams to some ultra rad music and I might venture to say she likes to attend shin digs, social gatherings, and “get-to-gethers”. I enjoy her laugh. She also knows some things about organic farming so she brings a lot to the table. There is a 99.7% chance that she will marry a Rasta farmer and stay here forever. I can’t wait to come back for the wedding. Brie, you want to go grab a beer after class?

Then we have Jenny. Jenny is a hipster but claims she didn’t really realize it until she got to the island. I’m not sure why because it’s pretty obvious. She wears tight fitting black jeans, has a star tattoo on her wrist, wears thick rimmed yellow glasses, and reads underground existential poetry. No, not kierkegaard, kierkegaard. was too mainstream in his time and therefore, by hipster law, cannot be truly appreciated. The irony kills me. Jenny is also an archeologist. She is straight nasty with a shovel.

Moving to the gentlemen we have John Eddy. Mr Eddy is 77 years old and therefore brings a lot of wisdom to the group. He can’t hear and is blind in one eye so while his contributions may not always be consistent with the topic on hand, they are ALWAYS funny and very valuable given the appropriate context.  Mr. Eddy always begins his presentations with a sex joke because he claims the increased endorphins allow for better learning and comprehension. I think he’s on to something... I did learn a lot about fertilizer that day.  After class, he entertains the rest of the group with stories as we hike up the mountain.

Second to lastly theres Kyle K. Kyle fits in the doesnt-have-a stereotype, stereotype. He’s from the midwest, likes fish and the outdoors. My favorite thing about Kyle is that when I need a hit of testosterone we can chat about the latest in NFL news (testosterone is seriously hard to come by in PCJ group 82. Of the 29 left, 6 of us are men).

Hmmmmm... who’s left? Oh yea, Sarah Marshall. Let me tell you a little something about Sarah Marshall. She is a redneck from Kentucky and therefore is the only person in Jamaica that not only owns flannel, but wears it on a regular basis.  You would think that  this fact alone would make Sarah Marshall very easy to spot in a crowd but the truth is you can actually hear her before you’d be able to see her. Sarah Marshall loves to talk... loudly.  I remember vividly within the first week of us living in Woodford some of the locals asking me about other members of the group. An older gentlemen asked “who’s di loud girl dat lives pon di hill with Auntie Peggy?” Who else could it be? “Sarah Marshall” I replied.

Sarah Marshall’s obsession isn’t what it seems.  As perfect as she is, Sarah Marshall used to smoke cigarettes :(  As we were attending a behavior change workshop early on in our training, Sarah Marshall got up and explained to the whole group the challenges she had kicking the bad habit. In vivid detail, complete with hand motions, Sarah explained that the behavior she needed to change had nothing to do with the addiction to nicotine, it was actually a problem stemming from her oral fixation.  The constant need of having things in and around her mouth eventually resulted in the surgical removal of her uvula... it was a tragic incident...

Sarah Marshall is very intelligent. She has two degrees: A BS and a MA in Agriculture Education.  She was actually the student body president for the college of agriculture at the University of Kentucky. She was so popular and good at everything she did that she was asked to speak at her college graduation. She has a recording of it on her external hard drive if you’d ever like to see it.  Anyway, in the heat of her graduation speech she was speaking so passionately that her uvula actually tore in half.  Don’t worry though, Sarah Marshall, in true Sarah Marshall fashion, finished the speech without anyone knowing of her discomfort.  After the closing line of the speech, Sarah was rushed to the UK medical center where the emergency room doctor was forced to amputate.

One would think that that this rare type of surgery would actually hinder one’s ability to communicate.  Believe it or not, the absence of the uvula increases the spacial volume under the soft palate, thus allowing vocal waves to reverberate at an increased level of 17%. It’s amazing, and you literally have to see it to believe it.

As if it doesn’t get any better, Sarah Marshall has a tattoo of Kentucky on her wrist, is a 4H expert and is Strengths Quest certified. Strengths Quest is a contemporary personality analysis program.  As if you couldn’t already guess, Sarah Marshall’s top strengths are communication, empathy, leadership, and facilitating. This is Sarah Marshall laying pipe, another favorite pastime of hers.

Sarah Marshall and I are great friends. We kick it on the reg and as a result much of the community of Woodford actually believes we share mangoes. This however, is not true. She is the closest thing to a frat bro that I have on this island, and for that I am incredibly grateful.

As you can see, the Green Initiative group is close. And not close like that good friend you had in high school type of close. Close like the there is no room in our relationships for discomfort as we talk about our digestive irregularities type of close. Close like the tell me about the love you did (or did not) leave in the states type of close. Or close like the lets be best friends for the next two years because we have no choice, type of close. 

Love you guys...

Small up Yuhself

First of all, I’m glad to have finally gotten the opportunity to blog again. As most of you know I’ve been living in a rural community in the Blue Mountain range for the last 3 weeks and haven’t had much internet. I finally found some time this morning to shoot ya an update... (Disclaimer: After reading this I realize it is very long and that you probably don’t want to read it all. I would suggest breaking it up in pieces. Think about it like 4 blog posts for the price of 1)

Training is going great. The magnificent seven, as we humbly refer to ourselves in the small hub group of the Green Initiative, are becoming really close. I will formally introduce all of them in an upcoming blog post but they are pretty rad people and I’m lucky to have them around. As anticipated, the training we’ve focused on in hub has been narrowed down to applicable information and skills we will be using in our environmental and agriculture work in the field. The average day of training has the usual dose of language and cross culture coupled with various sessions ranging from environmental perceptions in Jamaica to common farming practices. Anika (who develops and implements most of our programming. She works closely with Dan who spends his time developing our sites) has done a good job of mixing in field trips and practical assignments to prevent the headache that comes from information overload. Pretty much, the PC training has continued to impress. I think a lot of it has to do with the size of our group. Because we are so small, most sessions have more of a discussion feel as opposed to a lecture feel. And of course, Dan and Anika have to get a lot of credit as well for putting on a good show. 

The group successfully completed its first practical this week with the planning and implementation of an “Eco Camp” at a local elementary school. We invited about 14 students in the local and neighboring communities to spend a few hours with us Monday morning to partake in environmental awareness activities. Given the religious training I’m getting at home (more on that to come) I was asked by the fellow trainees to lead the group in the devotional, as is customary for just about every gathering/meeting here in JA. It was short and sweet but I ended it with ... “and dear lord, we ask that by the end of this day together, you will have made us better stewards of this earth, that you have so graciously given unto us”. It was a crowd pleaser for sure. At the end of it we broke off into teams and planted trees around the school. I know, I know, that sounds like a real hippie Peace Corps thing to do but let me tell you, the kids loved it, and they got the message. Deforestation is a bid deal here.

As of Wednesday we are focusing our training less on the environment and more on the agricultural climate of Jamaica. The day was spent discussing farm structure, supply chains, marketing etc... It was like being back in an AGB class at Cal Poly except not one of the boring ones. The difference here is that in less than a month a will be sent out on my own to deal with these issues/opportunities face to face. The thought is both nerve racking and thrilling. Each one of the trainees has to do “viewpoint” presentation during training where we present on a topic of our choice within the realm of our development goals. I presented mine on Cooperative structure and the Cooperative movement in Jamaica. I can’t take credit for the timing but it seemed to fit in pretty well with the other stuff we were talking about.

Starting today and going through next week we will be implementing a school garden at another school here in the community in cooperation with 4H, which is really active here. School gardens have been a big push by the government here as part of their “eat what you grow, grow what you eat” campaign. Jamaica has a ridiculous, and I mean RIDICULOUS import bill. What makes matters more frustrating is that a large portion of this bill consists of food products that could easily be grown at home.  Another highlight of ag training so far was a panel discussion we had with some local farmers. We invited them down the the community center where we train and just chatted with them for a couple hours about the life of a farmer. 

One of the highlights of hub training was the opportunity last week to go spend a couple days with a currently serving volunteer. The assignment served two purposes: 1. A travel test, where for the first time we were sent out on our own to navigate the island and 2. To see first hand the daily life of a PC volunteer in Jamaica. When I got my assignment to go visit Patrick Marti all the way in Westmoreland (one of the westernmost parishes, I’m now on the southeast part of the island) I was stoked.  Traveling alone has been a source of anxiety for a number of trainees so I was happy to get a great opportunity to practice. I got up around 4am on Monday morning and started on my first leg of the journey down the mountain. The plan was to take a series of busses and taxis down into Kingston where I could catch a straight shot out to Westmoreland on a Coaster or mini bus. I made it down to the country bus stop without any problems. The country bus stop is the central transportation hub for Kingston. There, I happened to run into a few trainees who I hadn’t seen in a couple weeks who were on their way out to shadow some volunteers as well. Turns out, they were headed to Santa Cruz which was on the way to my final destination so I adjusted my itinerary. It was good to catch up with them and to hear about how their hub training was going. From Santa Cruz I caught another bus to my final destination where Patrick was waiting to receive me. The whole trip took my about 6.5 hours.

Before I continue, let me tell you a little something about Jamaican public transportation. Lets assume that a vehicle was designed to carry, say, 5 people including the driver. It’s a fair rule in Jamaica to take the maximum occupancy of that motor vehicle and double it. Only then, is it full enough to drive. A common phrase you hear around the transportation hubs is “Small up yaself!” If a taxi man is yelling at you to do this you need to prop yourself up and allow another 1-3 people to sit in the back seat/bus row. At the beginning of the trip the occupants of the vehicle all tend to sit on eachother but after you go over a few pot holes everyone kind of shimmies down somewhat comfortably. Most taxi’s and busses here operate on a flat rate system so there’s no such thing really as “splitting a cab ride” with someone. Everyone pays the same price so it is most beneficial to the driver to fill up his vehicle as much as possible. As a result, you will spend up to an hour, or more, waiting for the driver to fill up his car/bus before you move anywhere. Thus, a trip that would only take 2.5 hour tops in your own car, took about 6.5 on public transit.  This is one of the many charming things about this place... ya just have to go with the flow.

Anyways, my boy Patrick has a ridiculously awesome set up. He lives in what I would call a coastal farming community which to me sounds like utopia. From his dwelling you can practically see Bluefields bay where he spends half of his time working with the largest fish sanctuary on the island. Patrick has had his hands in a number of projects there including the installation of an artificial reef as well as creating a deal with a local resort to serve lion fish to their guests. Lion fish are an invasive species that up until recently have served as a headache to most fisherman. Before, they would just kill them, now they are making good money off of them. It was nice to see a success story in action. When Patrick isn’t at the fish sanctuary he is spending time at a local Rasta’s farm helping him convert his operation into an organic one.  Patricks living situation is semi rural but very comfortable. He doesn’t really have running water but his catch system is pretty complex. He has a sink and a shower and a toilet that runs off a pump so you can hardly tell the difference. He lives in his own little shack on a plot of land with a number of other host family members. I would be very lucky to anything close to this. I will get my site placement on August 22nd.

On the current home front though life has been great. I’ve really integrated well into my family and I have the Richardson’s to thank for that. I have a feeling I will be coming back here often to visit for holidays  and to get a good meal. Auntie Maureen LOVES to feed me. A standard breakfast for me includes 3-5 pieces of festival (google it) a couple of dumplings, some type of meat left over from the night before, steamed callaloo (its a leafy green) a couple pieces of fruit and some type of non caffeinated tea (because caffeine is forbidden in the household per the SDA religion. If you are wondering, I have stashed all of my coffee supplies including my hand grinder and french press at the training site where I try to show up early every morning to get my fix. The first couple hours of the day are rough though). Breakfast usually gets me through most of the day with a couple snacks and then when I get home for dinner, its another feast. They are way too kind.

My first SDA church service was a marathon. We started at about 9:30am and didn't get home til about 10:30pm. It was exhausting but it also wasn’t so bad. It was more interactive than church back at home. On a couple occasions we broke off into small groups and discussed bible verses.

Speaking of church, I actually need to go there now. Sorry for the abrupt ending but sabbath is calling and I’m probably not supposed to even be on my computer... 

Here are some pics...

The Green Initiative fieldtrip to Holywell. It's like a state park with hiking trails and cabins. From left to right you have John, Sarah, Brie Burd, Jenny, Kyle, Me and Val is the one laying in our arms.

This is me learning how to do laundry Jamaica style. Auntie Maureen was very patient. When word got out that the white boy was doing his laundry in the front yard people made it a point to stop by and see it for themselves. I don't know what was so funny but they ate it up.

Uncle Shorty... AKA The Man

The ladies on our hike over the mountain last weekend

The Man giving me a trim. Turns out he's a trained barber. I got hooked up!

Hangin with some kids at Jamaica Day, The local emancipation celebration.

Sarah Marhall singing amazing grace at Jamaica Day. Sarah is a really cool person and will get her very own introductory blog post very soon. Please read her blog @ keepingupwithsarahmarshall.wordpress.com

The Kingston lights from the main road in our community. Shutter speed: extra slow

The crew on our hike

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