Seizures and Turkey and Backflips, Oh My!

In what has become somewhat of a weekly tradition, I went to the fisherman village last Friday to get a sweet breakfast of ackee/saltfish, yams, callaloo, dumpling, etc. etc. etc… The fisherman village is one of the coolest parts of my Peace Corps cultural integration experience, and will be a must-see stop for all visitors.

On this particular Friday morning, I walked into the plywood establishment/shack on the waterfront and greeted the jovial owner, Reagan. While he began preparing my meal, I took a glance to the back of the room and saw a quiet rasta guy sitting in a corner. Pretty standard, really.

Then shit got crazy. As I was paying for my meal, the rasta dude started having the biggest seizure I had ever seen in my life. My EMT brain immediately kicked in and I moved to stabilize the guy so his head wouldn’t bash into anything, but I was suddenly overwhelmed with yells from the owner saying not to touch him because ‘he is dirty’, and ‘it happens all the time’, and ‘when he wakes up he will beat you if you help him’. Essentially, I had to sit by and watch as a guy had a two-plus minute long seizure. I had to watch as he fell out of his chair and onto a trashcan, and watch as he fell off the trashcan and in the process covered himself in debris. I had to watch as foam poured from his mouth and created a rather sizeable pool on the ground. I had to watch and do nothing – the owner said not to call the ambulance or to intervene in any way. And what was I to do? In America I would have just called for help, but not here. Not in a new culture and a new place. As much as I didn’t like the idea of sitting by and watching the dude go through hell, it would have been much worse to have him come to and attack me. I left the restaurant with my meal – one warning was enough to let me know I didn’t want to be around when this guy came around. I walked away from a man seizing on the floor, and still have no idea what happened to him.

That experience really took me for a turn. I thought about what happened all weekend, and am still in a bit of shock about how differently the situation would have been handled back home. What was I to do? Ruin my relationship with the fisherman and risk getting attacked in order to provide the (minimal and useless) amount of care I could administer? Or stand by and do nothing with but the word of a local guy?

I chose the latter, and while it was probably the right move to make in the situation, it still bothers me. This guy was a seizure risk on no medication, and who knows when the next one will be too much to handle.

After that lovely affair, I headed to Negril to meet a few volunteers for the weekend and celebrate thanksgiving. We didn’t get Thursday off (Jamaicans don’t celebrate American holidays? Who would have thought?), so the weekend was the next best option. The weekend was a pleasant break from the grind – lots of cliff jumping and lazing around and tryptophan. Before the feast however, two volunteers living in Negril had coordinated an effort to help build a local guy a new house, as he currently lived in an 8x8 shack. I spent last Friday afternoon helping move limestone rocks for a foundation, and hope to return soon and help work more on the project. Flashbacks to Habitat – very nice.

Negril is beautiful. See above.

Yeah, we got a turkey in Jamaica. It was awesome. Turkey, mashed potatoes, yams, pumpkin, chicken, green beans, macaroni… all prepared from scratch by volunteers. To say it was much appreciated would certainly be an understatement. Not to mention that I spent the whole day working on my cliff jumping back flip – it was messy at first but I can now consistently do a 15-20 ft back flip without killing myself. Baby steps.

Have I mentioned how much Jamaicans love Barack Obama? He has earned his place next to Usian Bolt painted on the walls of this particular Negril bar for the rest of eternity.

12/01/2008 – World AIDS Day! The school devotion we presented awards to the top three finishers in our essay competition. Kids here rock. Though they have their challenges, their enthusiasm about simple things like essay competition awards or award giving ceremonies is so refreshing. Next year, I hope we can coordinate a bunch more activities than we got to this year, and hopefully I can coordinate some sort of art exchange with Patrick’s community in Piura, Peru. Could be good!

That’s all for now – This week I am trying to tie together my Parent Support Group (the culmination of the last three months of parenting work) and I am hoping for good turnout. Fingers crossed!

I’ll post again soon with more pictures and such… writing this now with no internet so hopefully I can get it up (oh uhh) in the next day or two.

Loving it here! Jamaican PC volunteers have their own unique challenges. On the one hand, the people you know really appreciate your help and your presence. On the other hand, almost everyone you don’t know seems to want something from you. There is no end to the harassment and the begging and it can really get you down. I feel like PC Jamaica is more of a work exchange program than in other PC countries. This is both good and bad (for obvious reasons). In spite of it all, being here is amazing. It is challenging and rewarding and refreshing and relaxing-- somehow all at the same time. Sweet!

Our Thanksgiving gathering. A very unexpected, much appreciated weekend.

Love,

Me

5 Months In... Happy Holidays!

How time flies. I have been in country for five months now, and have been serving for three. My programs are developing (albeit sloooowly), and I am starting to see how the first few months are really an adjustment period. Five months. I am twenty percent done with my time in Jamaica. How odd, right?

I really do suck at updating this thing. Last week I was out of town at my Early Service Conference and a Damage Assessment Training (I get to go into communities and assess damage post-hurricanes). All in all, very decent. The meetings were well organized, and it was a needed break from the norm.

One thing in particular I realized during ESC was that I can be doing better with community outreach. Trelawny parish is notoriously bad about parent involvement in the school system, so I have my job cut out for me. While I have had some amount of success calling parents and telling them to come meet with me at the school, I have realized that a better approach would be for me to get out in the community and meet with parents in their comfort zone. So many parents have to wake up early, prepare for the day, go to work, pick up children, prepare dinner, and repeat that they never really have time to stop by the school for a silly meeting. I guess I have started to realize that my time is better suited for outreach work than for office work. Not to mention how good this approach would be for my mental health.

With that in mind, I have started to consider moving closer into town. I don't live in the community where I work, and I don't live in the community where I shop/socialize. It doesn't really help me much to know the people in my neighborhood (beyond the pleasantries, of course). What lacks in my current experience is community engagement, and a move would help me get better integrated. If I lived in the school community, I wouldn't have to force parents to come to meetings at the school - I could hold meetings on the side of the road, or in a shop, or at a farm, etc etc etc. Essentially, a move would make me safer, more mobile, and more involved.

Still, I love where I live. Most of the pictures I have posted on this blog have been of my neighborhood. If I didn't have community mobilization to worry about, I would be totally fine staying where I am for two years. I just fear that my staying will ultimately hinder my ability to accomplish my primary project goals. More to come in the next few months -- nothing will happen quickly but who knows... maybe sometime in the new year I will live closer to Falmouth.

That was my quick update -- now time for some pictures.

This is the Green Park Great House. It is about a two minute walk from where I live, and absolutely beautiful (or at least used to be). Green Park was a thriving sugar estate about 100 years ago, and this great house must have been something else. It is so sad to see it in ruins -- it is easy to tell that if restored this would be one of the most beautiful historic sites in the parish. This picture is actually taken from the inside of its central courtyard of the great house. The ground is so uneven because all the dirt was taken out of the courtyard leaving only limestone.

This is a picture of the front door of the great house. It is hard to capture scale here, but look at the stone work. Imagine if this thing was running properly and upkept. It would be absolutely beautiful.

Ugh. Yeah. Green Park is sweet. I love the peace and quiet. Last night there was no electricity so my MCAT studying was done by candlelight to the sound of goats and crickets. It was quite pleasant. Sadly, I cannot justify staying where I am when my work would be aided being elsewhere.

Happy holidays! I wish I could see my friends and family, but that will have to wait. Feel free to visit! (Please?)

Love,

Me

Pictures!

Moods fluctuate like the wind down here, and though things are generally decent, today I am particularly motivated. Maybe it was the two eggs and piece of bread I had for lunch, but probably not. Whatever the reason, I thought I would try to catch up on sharing some pictures with whoever cares to see them...

Here is me in my backyard with a shaved head. I don't really have many pictures with me in them -- I had to dig deep for this one. You are welcome!

This is the view from the top of my roof looking at my host family's yard. Since this picture was taken, all the high grass has been plowed down and we have started planting corn and banana trees. I stupidly never took a picture of the part of the yard that is already planted with stuff... I'll get on that soon.

This is Falmouth on a decently crowded day. I think this picture was taken on the day Usain Bolt was coming into town, but not positive. Anyways, yes. Old-ish buildings and wan oul eep of di yaadi dem. (Patwa for lots of Jamaicans)

Yeah, not too much to share, but something is better than nothing right? I'll work on getting pictures that actually show how beautiful this place is... it truly is worth seeing. Shameless plug for anyone who wants to come to the Caribbean anytime soon -- free housing and tour guide!

Love,

Me

Cockpit Country (Metaphorically Speaking)

Now this might be the worst metaphor in the history of metaphors, but just go with it.Wikipedia has a quasi-blurb on the cockpits of Trelawny:

 

The southern section of Trelawny is part of the Cockpit Country, and is uninhabitable. It is therefore a natural reserve for flora and fauna; most of Jamaica's 27 endemic birdspecies can be found there, along with the yellow snakes, and the giant swallowtail butterfly, the largest butterfly in the western hemisphere. Most of the parish has the typical limestone features of cockpits, sinkholes, caves and underground passages.

 

Now, I have never actually been to cockpit country, but that’s not the point. The cockpits are quickly rising, quickly falling mountains. Now, the metaphor part is that my emotions/general state of mind has been a lot like cockpit country for the last month. Highs one day were replaced by lows the next. There was one week I recall actually having three really awesome days spread apart by two pretty horrible ones. You get the point. I would go into all of this in detail, but I really prefer not to relive bad memories, and the blog isn’t really a place to do that. And yeah, everything is generally chill.

 

I haven’t posted since October 3^rd. While I said a long time back I would try to post every week, I guess I have come to terms with the fact that I was just plain wrong. I would be more motivated to post if I got more than one comment every two months though, cough cough… Regardless, since I haven’t posted in forever, this one will include pictures, and fun ones at that!

 

 

This is a picture of Water Square, Falmouth, with about 10,000 people in it. Very hard to capture the ridiculousness of this scene. Usain Bolt is from my parish, so there was a giant rally where all the Jamaican Olympic athletes came through town on floats, and people (myself included) waited for hours to see them. There are normally about 50-100 people in Water Square at any one time – mostly taxi drivers and conductors. So yeah, we waited a few hours, and finally saw the dudes…

 

Usain Bolt came into town on a float all of his own (the other athletes shared one). He was dancing and singing and riling up the crowd – it was pretty sweet. I got up super close to him (see above) and a friend of mine got this picture. The ties on his head are from William Knibb high, the high school he attended. Incidentally, Knibb is about two minutes from my worksite.

 

I got to Negril two weekends ago, where I did a lot of cliff jumping, chilled with friends, and got attacked by a baby nurse shark (sort of). It really went for a friend of mine a lot more than me, but it was definitely a 12” shark. Very strange. It didn’t really have teeth – it was trying to gum us.

I got to Kingston last weekend for the Peace Corps Quarterly meetings – it was great to get out of town. I am now on the executive board of the Health Across Sector Lines volunteer subcommittee and am trying to get a national registry of HIV/AIDS testing centers and other fun stuff made available to all volunteers in Jamaica.

 

I assume you notice I really don’t have many stories about my site. That is sort of true, and sort of explains the mood I have been in lately. To sum it up, I am not entirely thrilled with my job. I love my counterpart and supervisor, but working in a school guidance department isn’t really for me. Nonetheless, I have busied myself with my parenting programs and peer education programs and tried to keep things interesting. I am also looking into secondary projects – might be getting involved with the Jamaica Red Cross or the Jamaica Family Planning organizations and their HIV/AIDS testing programs.

 

The first workshop I am putting together with my peer educators is on Substance Abuse. I asked around the campus, and from what I can figure out the main problems facing my students are Ganja and Skin Bleaching. Ganja is obvious – that part of the presentation hasn’t been too hard to put together. Skin bleaching however is something I had never heard of before arriving in Jamaica. Essentially, skin bleaching is when kids rub chemicals on their face to make their skin lighter, with the belief that a lighter complexion will lead to higher paying jobs and more social success. Besides the obvious social implications of such an undertaking, there are serious health implications as well. Bleaching mechanisms vary from hydroquinone creams (the most safe) to toothpaste/bleach/curry homemade mixes (the least safe). Regardless, all of these mechanisms have potential carcinogenic side-effects, and I am doing my best (with the help of a few of you from back home) to put together a decent presentation on the issue.

Besides work, I have been spending about three hours a day studying MCAT material for the last month. I have registered for a test on March 28^th in NYC and will be flying back. It will be my first time back to the states in about nine months at that point, so it should be interesting. I think the studying is taking a toll on my mood, but I need to get it done and need to do it well. Yeah.

 

That’s about all I have to say for right now… hit me back with comments or emails or whatever. It gets lonely out here, and as much as this blog is a good way for me to chronicle stuff for myself, comments would be nice every now and then.

 

Miss you all,

TG

Ramblings and Nothings

Well I made it through my first month of service – now just 23 to go. Hah. Holland has been an interesting place to work (albeit only sort of in my area of interest). The people are all very attentive, and they all respect my opinion (sometimes maybe too much?). The one qualm I have with the situation here is that 90% of the day I am left to my own devices while the guidance counselors are teaching their classes. This means a lot of down time or more so, a lot of busy work. The guidance program we (I) wrote was submitted to the ministry of education on wednesday, and we are praying for good things. Oh look, I said praying. This culture is taking a toll on me. We are hoping for good things.

As the school year moves forward, I have started arriving at Holland closer and closer to 7:55. During the first week, I was arriving here at 7:30 or earlier, and since then I have pushed it back. Or rather, pushed the snooze button on my phone alarm more and more times. This means that as opposed to leaving my house a little after 7:00, I am leaving more generally around 7:20. And what a difference that time makes. When leaving at 7:00, I don’t ever really see anyone on the walk from my house to the main road. When I leave at 7:20, I consistently see two pre-teen kids taking bucket baths outside right next to the road I walk down. And just to clarify, they are completely butt-naked. Like, wiener flopping about and such. Incidentally, these are the same kids that I go running with, and the same ones who followed me that day back in July. And they aren’t shy either. The little boy and little girl both scream, “Hi Tom!” as I walk by, and I say something like “Morning, morning!” (I have deduced that this is an acceptable thing to say, though I feel silly saying it). I try to avert my eyes, but really? I guess that is just a culture thing – people aren’t that worried about public exposure.

After I got dropped off in Martha Brae (near my school) this morning, I was (thankfully) given a ride down the dirt road to my school. I have a feeling like my shoes (the loafers I wore a lot in the snow at Williams) aren’t going to last much longer. Anyways, while I was mid-ride to the school, “We are the Champions” came on the radio. But Queen wasn’t performing it. Imagine a reggae remix. Now imagine putting one of those irritating, never-ending base lines on it. Think Collie Buddz style – B flat, B flat, B flat, B flat… repeats till infinity. It was comical. They do a lot of that sort of thing here – the best ones are the Celine Dion-esque remixes with gunshot sounds or laser noises in the background of an otherwise powerful and heartfelt mid-90’s ballad.

The past two Thursdays, I have been privy to a ‘Welcome Ceremony’ in my honor and a PTA meeting at which I was a guest speaker. The former was awesome. Essentially, the faculty at Holland hazed me by making me run around campus looking for things. But it gets worse. They made me try to do Jamaican dancing (Nuh Linga! Except not Nuh Linga). I had to try the Gully Creeper. I should have done some daggarin’. Well, o.k. the food was amazing. Eskovich fish, curry chicken, ackee and saltfish, mackerel rundown, bammy, yam, rice and peas. I think that was the meal. It was awesome. The PTA meeting was a little less interesting, but full of interesting lessons to learn about Jamaican parents. One parent complained that the lines her child were told to write were too much, and that the teachers should implement punishments that the children want to perform. I don’t think she really got the point. That one started a huge debate over what is an effective and what is an ineffective form of punishment. General conclusion? Don’t hit kids, but lines are fair game.

So yeah. I have started MCAT studying -- that consumes a fair chunk of my time and will until the end of March. I am also trying to buy a guitar here, but the task has proven difficult. Yeah. Mood goes up and down these days, but the chill idea of Jordan and Will visiting sometime early in 2009 is a good cheer-me-up. It would be plain out silly.

Sort of spacing out this morning so not that much more to report. Happy weekend! Oh, I am writing this from an internet connection in my office. Very very cool. Though I won't really have it for too long. Not so cool.

-TG

The Youth. Empowered. I build self-esteem, what of it?

Well I haven’t posted on the blog for almost a month, which is partly understandable as school has started and I have been working full days. Who would have thought? Those of you who knew me in college will never believe when I say that I now go to be around 8:00 p.m., and wake up around 5:30 a.m. Very odd huh? I am happy to report that the whole shaved head debacle is also turning out o.k., and that I haven’t been jooked (patwa for stabbed, or murdered) yet.

A few stories from the past few weeks – I will try to say as much as I can before my peer counselor meeting in 45 minutes…

I had a really really really great work experience two weeks ago- on the first day of the week, an 8^th grader came into my office and posed the question, “Sir, what is the difference between HIV and STI?” Immediately jumping at the opportunity, I explained in detail how HIV is a type of STI, and further explained how there is no cure, and symptoms don’t always express themselves, etc. After acceptably explaining these concepts, the student asked, “Sir, what is the 10 minute test?” Catching on, I explained how the test works, and further explained that it is an easy test that can be done in one day if necessary. I inquired if it was him or a friend that wanted to be tested, and was surprised when he answered that it was indeed he who wanted to be tested. I guess he was willing to be honest with me, a while outsider, while not necessarily wanting to talk to the other guidance counselors about the issue. Anyways, I told him I would research his options for getting tested and talk to him soon about a way to move forward.

Feeling that the student didn’t want to have a parent involved in the whole affair (he is thirteen afterall), I spent the afternoon walking around Falmouth looking for clinics that would take a child of his age without a parent present. Both the local hospital and Mobay Hope said they would do the test, but required a doctor consultation and a parent present. With these findings in hand, I went home for the night.

At school the next day, I called the student back to my office to explain the findings of my search. I also inquired into why the student wanted to be tested, to judge risk and real need for the test. Apparently, the child had sex with a girl when both parties were eleven years old, and he found out a year later that she was HIV positive. For the past year, he has been bothered about whether to get tested or not, and though healthy and though he did use a condom, he was quite worried and didn’t necessarily want to get a parent involved. I then proceeded to talk the kid though the whole issue, and explained that if he was worried, and because of the risk factor, I highly recommended he talk to his dad and get tested. He doesn’t have a mom, and his siblings are not as close to him as the father. I explained that how he approach the issue is of importance, and that if done properly it shouldn’t be an issue. All said and done, the child agreed to get tested and talk to his dad that night.

The next day, the child came back to my office, reporting that he had talked to his dad after school the previous afternoon and had gone with him to get tested for HIV. The father took the news well, and even got tested himself. The results back, both father and son were negative for HIV, and I felt on top of the world.

Yeah, that was pretty cool. Besides that, I have written a 45-page guidance program for the school year, with timeframes and budgets and the works. The program is being submitted to the National Ministry of Education, and has a decent chance to be named the best guidance program in Jamaica (not just being cocky, my school was a finalist last year, and this year the program is a lot better).

What else…

On Saturday (the one a few days ago), there was a party three miles from my house featuring Usain Bolt, Shaggy, and Beenie Man! I was totally there, and dancing, and being marry. O.K. well that part is a lie. I didn’t go, but the party did happen. Pretty sweet. And I would have gone, but it is sort of dangerous to walk around my neighborhood at night (down an unlit dirt road where people often get jooked for about ¾ of a mile).

Last weekend, about 30 volunteers were in my town for a reunion. There was a beach volleyball tournament on Saturday that was awesome, and at night we went swimming in the Bioluminescent lagoon, which was arguably even more awesome. You pay a Rasta dude $750 (just over $10 US), and he takes you out on a boat singing Bob Marley the whole way and explaining how the scientist “Johns Hopkins” did research there in the 60s. Interesting. Anyways, the lagoon is awesome, and I will take anyone who ever visits me there for sure. It is the brightest bioluminescent lagoon in the world (actually true), meaning that when you jump off the boat, the water around you (you are doing this at night, remember) instantly turns bright blue. You swim around and leave a trail… you get the picture. It was sweet.

Besides that, life has been up and down. Sort of lonely over here (I love emails and such!), but I like the people I am working with and the job will be decent. I have been doing a lot of running to clear my head, and as always exploring the food culture as earnestly as I am able. I had chicken chow mein the other day, and it rocked. Hard.

Anyways, yes. I miss you all very much!

Patrick and Mira and James, I think you should write blogs to chronicle your overseas experiences. Just do it. Something like themetswillmisstheplayoffsagain.blogspot.com should work. Yeah? Yeah! mynameisnemo.blogspot.com? Yeah! blowjaculate.blogspot.com? You know it!

O.K. Bye bye,

Waak Gud,

TG

Also, I will be in NYC on March 28^th. And probably about three or four days on either side. Make plans to come hang out with me!

Oh yeah, I told a few of you (Jon, Catie and others) that I would send a picture of me in my shaved head glory. So here it is... actually just go look on the ones on facebook, as a. you are more likely to do that than read this blog, and b. i am lazy and don't really want to upload a picture (it would take forever).

Gustav and all of his friends...

In reference to August 28^th, 2008 -- Written on the 29th

I went to bed in the middle of Tropical Storm Gustav, which had been building all day long. The sky was dark and pensive, and the rain was about as bad as I had ever seen (except perhaps the time my mountain got destroyed and a landslide closed my road for two years). In addition to the often-torrential downfalls, winds were inconsistently up to 70 or so miles an hour, but consistently above 30 miles per hour. Now here is the Christmas part. I went to bed around 10:30 with heavy rain falling and moderate winds and expected Gustav to be gone by morning. When I woke up however, the tree in the center courtyard of our consolidation hotel (Peace Corps required that volunteers stay together during the hurricane) was about half the size it had been then night before. The hotel is a bunch of cottages and two-story buildings with one central area near the pool. I have been in the second floor of one of these buildings overlooking the pool and general outdoor social area. The bar is the only thing on the first floor. Anyways, it is quite odd to wake up today (Friday) and look out the window to find the sky the same color it was 24 hours ago, and the courtyard tree ripped down to a less-impressive version of its previous self.

Another fun tidbit… at its best, the rain filled the pool right up to the lip last night, water was simply overflowing from the pool. There were also waves. Very cool. If I hadn’t been bed ridden with a horrible fever/flu combo for the first time in years yesterday, I probably would have gone swimming. Wouldn’t you? How awesome would it be to go swimming in a hurricane? My brother thought it was a bad idea so I didn’t go, but had I been healthy and motivated as opposed to sick and aching and lethargic I probably would have jumped in for the sake of telling people I swam in a hurricane. So yeah, Gustav is kind of a douche. But whatever, it has been a fun and true Caribbean experience.

I mentioned above that I have been consolidated with most of the Peace Corps volunteers in my group to a hotel in Kingston. I am writing this blog entry from the hotel (and hope I will have internet later on to actually post). What I didn’t mention is I have been staying in the hotel for a week now, as yesterday (Thursday) I swore in as a fully-fledged Peace Corps Volunteer at the United States Embassy. The U.S. Ambassador swore us in using the same oath that all government officials are given, and heard speeches from Peace Corps staff and the Jamaican Minister of Agriculture. Because of the weather, the attendance was rather dismal – my counterpart made it to the ceremony but he was one of five or so non-Peace Corps staff. Hurricanes can do that sort of thing. Allow me to jump back to the beginning of the story (the description of Gustav above is actually quite recent) to explain a bit about what has been going on for the past week or so.

I have been in Kingston to take my final examination, do final processing work, and swear in. It has been a fun week all around – seeing friends I won’t see for up to three months has been both fun and sad. Having passed my exam (five people actually failed), we had a pool party at this place called Colin L. Powell Plaza, a residential compound for embassy and other U.S. workers in Jamaica. It is quite the building, though it really does feel like a fortress – it is on the top of a hill and about 10 stories high overlooking much of New Kingston. I played some quality ping pong for the first time in a while, and had my first ‘Trelawny Gold Label’ rum, produced locally in my parish and only a few miles from my home. Not that bad actually. I have also been living for the entire past week with only $280 JM in my bank account ($4 US), and eating peanut butter to scrape by -- except for one day, and what a glorious day it was. It was ‘two for one’ day at Domino’s Pizza (yeah they have it here, too), so naturally I had two pizzas for myself and immediately regretted the decision. Oh, and this one other day… I went to a highly recommended Jamexican place called ‘Chilitos’ and had a jerk chicken burrito that was simply amazing. I had heard great things, but this was truly something. It was Chilitos that both allowed me to make it through the rest of the week on peanut butter, and required that I do so. Their assortment of hot sauces was spectacular – especially a combination of Scotchbonnet (-ish as spicy as Jabanero) pepper sauce and Jerk Sauce for an ultra spicy kick.

Now to jump back to Thursday. I have been eating rather poorly (can you tell? I also had a whopper somewhere in there), have been in debt to multiple people, and as a result started to get horribly sick on the eve of the swearing sick ceremony. I had a high fever for the first time in many years, and a head cold and joint aches to boot. The embassy kicked us out rather quickly after we swore in as Peace Corps Volunteers (silly Gustav!) and the first thing we heard from the Peace Corps was that we would be returning to the hotel and that “if you leave hotel grounds you will be administratively separated.” I found this part both frustrating and rather hypocritical. The original deal was that any supervisors showing up to the swearing in ceremony would be responsible for driving their volunteers back to their site. Some supervisors did show up (as opposed to my counterpart), and those who did have supervisors attend were required to get a ride back to their sites while the rest of the group consolidates with the threat that if they leave hotel grounds they will be kicked out of the Peace Corps. Does that seem strange to you? It makes no sense that Peace Corps would threaten to kick people out for taking one step out of hotel grounds, yet at the same time send volunteers in cars across the island and surely be hit by the storm mid-travel.

After an appeal to Peace Corps staff a bus was obtained to take volunteers to Mega Mart, a Costco-like store only 1 km away. We were to grab our food stuffs and return to the bus immediately. Well, when we got to the Mega Mart we found that it had been closed because too many people were already inside. So we drove to the other local Mega Mart across town, and found the same deal. By this point, the fact that there were about 40 people in a bus made for 25 (many were standing, including me) was starting to wear. I had been feeling horrible all morning, but at this point – swerving around corners and all the sudden slamming of brakes – was really starting to wear on me. I felt sick to my stomach and like I might faint at any moment, and claustrophobic to boot. Yeah, not so fun. Anyways, we drove by a supermarket that was still open at just the right point and we were let out. I checked my account to find my September living already deposited (no more peanut butter! Now if only I had an appetite), so I gathered some grape nuts, soy milk, water bottles, and coconut water and immediately got in line to check out. 45 minutes later, I hadn’t really moved. The store was packed, and no one really wanted to be caught without food in the storm that was already threatening. After what seemed like forever (I was really in bad shape here – aching and having my faucet nose in full flow) of sitting on the floor in a not-so-clean supermarket, I got back on the bus and got back to the hotel. I immediately took some ibuprofen, chugged my coconut water, and passed out.

Waking up in a sweat and overheating (while I have the tendency to do this anyways, it really shouldn’t happen in an air conditioned room) – you know the feeling – I ate some grape nuts, realized the storm was in full swing, and for lack of anything else to do, watched ‘The Notebook’ on my laptop.

After another nap, I found it to be 8:55 pm. Why is this important, you say? Well, in approximately five minutes, Barack Obama was to take the stage at Invesco Field in Denver, CO and accept his nomination for President of the United States in front of 75,000 people. Though the cable television was out, the wireless internet near the main lobby of the hotel was still working. www.demconvention.com was a lifesaver. I stood under a balcony with a group of a dozen or so other volunteers, and streamed the speech to Jamaica mid-hurricane. Maybe it was my sickness or the weather outside, but that was an amazing speech in a surreal environment. Barack Obama gave his speech to a stadium full of screaming supporters, and with a group of volunteers, I got to see it in the middle of a hurricane with wind whipping and rain falling all around. Please people, get out the vote. We need Barack Obama. The whole convention has been quite a success, and I can’t wait to get my absentee ballot. And if you didn’t see his speech, you can go to the website above to watch it, along with all the other speeches from the week (Michelle, Hillary, Bill, Joe, and John were particularly good).

I think that covers it. I actually feel pretty bad right now (again), so I might take some more ibuprofen and get back to sleep.

Thanks so much to all of you who made it this far, this was quite a long-winded post, but there has been a ton going on and hurricanes don’t really let me do much else.

More updates to come, but entering the second day of the hurricane with no end in site.

Love to all, 

Tommy

P.S. Posting this on Saturday -- the sky is clear for the first time in three days. Hopefully they will let us go back to our sites, but we won't find out for sure for another hour or so.

The aftermath of the 100m dash...

Well I am getting worse and worse at this updating stuff, and I owe a number of you phone calls. Sorry for dropping the ball.. Jenn, Mr. Wong I will call you both soon, and Brumme, thanks so much for the email, but you suck at picking up your phone. Shall try again soon!

I am writing this on August 19th – just nine short days until swearing in! It is very odd to think I have been here for almost two months. The day after swearing in, I will be approximately 7.6923% done with my service. Approximately. Very strange how time flies. Anyways…

So since my last post, I went back to Kingston for a ‘processing week’, and have since returned to Falmouth and started pre-school year work. I am designing a guidance program with my counterpart, and we have put together rational and project proposals for a Parent Support Group and Parenting Club. Starting Thursday, I will be designing an At Risk Youth project, in which I will train peer educators on health, substance, and conflict issues, among others. The project should be pretty sweet – I will likely be able to hold meetings on the basketball court, and just sort of take it easy for a while and give the benefit of a first impression. So, my job isn’t really what I had expected it would be when I got here, but I am definitely eager to get more involved. Classes start on September 1st, and I can’t wait.

I was running the other morning and as I finished I noticed six kids running after me. I had seen them in my neighborhood before but had only said hello. For some reason, I guess they decided to introduce themselves this time, as seeing a rando white dude around the neighborhood for over a month now must be slightly confusing. Anyways, they wanted to go on a ‘journey’ as soon as I finished, so after a 4 mile run I immediately embarked on a 2 mile stroll around town. I learned that summers for these kids don’t really consist of much… lots of TV and just sitting around the yard. But it was chill. They now say hello to me every time I pass by, and today I brought them Guinep and cold water.


Recent discoveries:
1. I found a squash court at a ritzy hotel nearby that charges only $4 US to use the facilities (I am having my racket sent down!).
2. Being in Trelawny when Usain Bolt sets a WR in the Olympics 100m is awesome. Bolt’s win meant an impromptu parade in downtown Falmouth, with cars decked out in Jamaican flags with about 10 people per sedan went driving through town blaring horns and blasting music. Bolt is a Trelawny native, and people were pumped.
3. It costs about $300 US to get dive certified here. I still might do it, so if you want to dive in Jamaica…

So yeah. I have been enjoying the Caribbean sun and summer while it lasts. Many many beaches, and I find myself about as tan as I have ever been. Though I guess I didn’t really come here to sit on a beach, or I would be at home – so far Hawaii beaches get the nod. I am looking forward to getting to work, and hope it will be a decent situation. Also, I am looking into working with the Red Cross, so if the school isn’t what it seems to be, I might have a secondary project somewhere down the line.

I met an expat from San Fran in town today who lives in an old colonial home near the center of Falmouth who has a sweet setup including wireless internet I can use whenever I want. Pretty sweet. I am getting around and meeting people, and it is a good feeling. For the first time today, one of the taxi drivers I use knew exactly where to drop me off and we chatted Patwa the whole way there while eating Guinep. I love Guinep.

Anyways, I am about to go running again, sorry for the random assortment of thoughts, but yeah. Lots has gone on these past few weeks, and I am really starting to get a hang of things.

Love,
Me

At Site...

Soooo, I got placed near Falmouth, Trelawny, on the north coast of the island working with the Ministry of Education guidance department. I have been at site since my last post, and have been loving it. My host family is great – my father is a bishop and my mother is a pastor. They are both very kind and have been helping me with my transition. My house brother is a great guy who has shown me how to cook breadfruit, scale fish, and fry fish Jamaican style. Sweet.

A road near my home, with an old sugar silo on the left

The good thing about being placed in the GC dept of the MoE is that I will have a relatively structured job with specific expectations and be working with a group of people who want me to have lots to do. The bad part is that during summer session, there isn’t much for me to do. But that actually might be a good thing right now – I have had a lot of time to network and meet people around town, as well as get familiar with my surroundings and try lots of new food and visit lots of beautiful places. A lot of people have had rough situations to deal with, but I really haven’t had that experience. My host family has been great, and I got a placement and job very similar to what I wanted, so as of right now I am quite content with my situation.

A random goat, in a field. Quite explanatory, really.

The reason for the length between posts is that I don’t really have a high speed internet source to post pictures online. I AM however, fortunate enough to have a 56k connection in my house, which is how I am posting right now. My room is quite nice, all things considered – significantly nicer than my junior year room at Williams, and nicer than my senior year room at Hoxsey. I have my own bathroom and own private entrance, and the temperature here is quite similar to back home. I have enjoyed peace and quiet and a beautiful neighborhood, and have been able to go running during the days. At night the area isn’t well lit and I have heard some rather troubling stories about security, so I am trying to be home by night and reading before bed.

Hurricane damage to a field near my house.

I have visited a few very nice beaches since getting placed up here—for those who don’t know the north coast and west coast are generally the ‘touristy’ areas of Jamaica, but Falmouth manages to have the scenery of the north coast without the bustling tourist crowd, allowing me to get around town without being hassled for the color of my skin, while still enjoying beautiful scenery and trade winds. The trade winds are key. Kingston has none, and is the weather is stifling there. I guess I do get people shouting, “MoBay! MoBay!” in my direction every now and then while walking around town, but these calls have decreased significantly as people see my face around and realize that I am not another tourist. Anyways, yes. It is quite enjoyable up here.

This Friday is Emancipation Day, one of the major holidays in Jamaica. It should be a scene – I hear Falmouth closes down its central square and has a huge party. Should be interesting.

Another random field...

SOO, yeah. Not much else to report… if I was doing better about posting I would have more interesting things to say, but hopefully you enjoy these pictures, and hopefully I can get a more regular/easy way to post in the near future.

Love,
Tommy

P.S. Jerk Pork is delicious, especially with the skin still on. Except for the hairy parts. Also, Jackfruit is delicious. And eskovich fish is delicious (I think that is how you spell it) – a whole fish fried with oil and seasonings that you eat with your hand. Guinep is still my favorite new fruit.

P.P.S. Ocho Rios isn’t the best. Don’t go there unless you want to get ripped off. There are better tourist spots that are less oppressive.

Training

It has been almost two weeks since my last post, so I guess I sort of fail on that once a week thing. Long story short: training is exhausting. I have been waking up at 5:45 to 6:00, going for a run (minus the days I have been dealing with multiple days), and starting a 7 AM to 7 PM training day. Also, I have been sleeping around 9:30 to 10:00, but it has been getting earlier every night.

 

There really hasn’t been much to report – lots of classes, lots of insecurity about where and what I will be doing, and a lot of closure, actually.

 

It has been somewhat of a roller coaster ride. I made the mistake early of thinking I knew what I would be doing, and where I would be multiple weeks before I was to actually find out (this Thursday…). I freaked out for a weekend, then realized that knowing where/what was not what I expected at this point anyways. And then I heard about a billion (actually more like 4) really inspiring stories and visited a local school to see education problems first hand. It was quite the experience.

 

Anyways, I am updating because Patrick has been hounding me to do so, but as of now, nothing really new to report. It was a pretty sucky last few days for other reasons entirely, but the weekend was decent. I got to Hellshire Beach on the south shore of Jamaica, and was privy to warm (slightly warmer than home) waters, nice people, and delicious food. And by delicious I mean red snapper cooked whole and seasoned amazingly. You pick at it with your fingers. Oh, and we also had spiny lobster. And there were dudes just walking around the beach with buckets of oysters to sell on the spot, and shrimp too. And you could buy coconuts and have a dude cut it open with a machete on the spot for a delicious treat. And Red Stripe. In the ocean. Delicious. You can see where my priorities lie (same place as always, with the food).

 

So yeah. I am trying not to start thinking about where I will be until later this week. They are holding a ceremony on Thursday, and we leave for our sites on Friday after meeting our counterparts/supervisors (they are coming from around the island to meet with us – pretty sweet).

 

Shout out to Chris Beeler, as putting up with non-site based training would kill me. Three months before finding out where I am going? I can hardly stand two weeks! I guess I am impatient.

 

I miss you all…

Thanks Jenn for the Serious Eats shout out

Thanks Will for being a bro, and meeting the baseball all stars

Thanks Catie for putting up with me as long as you did… :)

 

 

Oh and yes, curried goat and ‘aki and saltfish’ are delicious.

 

And patois lessons are going smoothly, or rather as smoothly as one may expect for less than two weeks…

 

Arrival

What a day.
What a long day.

I woke up at 4:30, nervous as ever, yet ready for the trip to Jamaica.
My roommate and I were packed and in the lobby by 5:30, and after a brief wait we were at Miami International before 7:00. Breakfast was Pizza Hut (a great last American meal…) and after the plane (naturally) got delayed, we found ourselves taking off around noon and arriving in Jamaica about 40 minutes later (gaining an hour). Oh, and we flew over Cuba. So I’ve seen Cuba.

Out the plane window looking at the Port in Kingston

Customs was a scene. It took easily an hour and a half to get through the line – a horde of 52 (predominantly) white Americans in a sea of Jamaicans. There was a cute little girl behind me in line with her mother – the girl had quite the lungs. She was running in and out of the line and laughing and playing with everyone nearby. Finally leaving customs, we retrieved our bags and headed outside to be greeted by about 15-20 current Jamaican PC Volunteers, all of whom were awesome. Yes, all of them, WAJ. We mingled and talked about the island and programs for a good amount of time, and after a picture we left the airport. I had a huge grin at this point – the nervousness was slowly being replaced by ecstasy.

Driving away from Kingston Intl.

The drive from the Airport to our college (the site of our training for the Kingston portions of the next two months) was something else. Jamaica is exactly how it has been described. The contrast between rich and poor areas was quite evident (mostly poor for this drive). One thing that struck me is that a majority of homes seemed to have iron rods sticking out the top, as if the family had hoped to build two floors but had run out of money midway through the project. Lots of these. Lots of Red Stripe ads as well. Oh, and gas is sold in liters, and runs about $65 JD per liter. Fun times.

Average house on the way

We arrived at the college, had a quick (much appreciated) snack, and started immediately filling out forms. The last thing, interestingly, was subscribing to a Digicel (local cell phone) service and walking away from the first day with a cell phone. Very odd. The entire process was in a room in the mid 90s with close to no ventilation. I experienced sweating in places I didn’t even know were possible. Enough said there.

Lugging my (far too large) bags up the street, I headed to my room. All things considered, quite decent. It would be something like a one-star hotel, which by PC standards is actually quite luxurious. Electricity, running water, and double beds. I’m not really sure what I think about all of this – I think to some extent having these luxuries is inhibiting my ability to accept I have actually just committed my life away for over two years. I caught myself thinking, “I hope these sheets are clean…” And then I realized… “Hey, I have sheets, and I am doing the Peace Corps. Anymore is sort of greedy.”

After my first cold-water shower of Jamaica (completely refreshing—I wouldn’t have used hot water given the option) I went to a cafeteria for an introductory Dinner. I was actually lucky to have taken a shower – I found out soon thereafter that the water gets turned off every night at 8 pm and is turned back on at 5 am. Apparently that happens a ton of places the whole island wide. And I wasn’t even the worst off – a lot of people will be getting their first Jamaican showers nearly 24 hours after arriving in country after a full day’s activities. Anyways, we met the U.S. Jamaican Ambassador, the Country Director of Jamaica Peace Corps, and important people for training. And we had our first Jamaican Dinner – and I just now realized I forgot to take a picture (sorry Jenn!). Some local fried fish (delicious) and some jerk chicked (amazing) with rice and lettuce. And quality Guava juice. After all the intros and more mingling, it was time to head back to the room, where I find myself at this moment. I am writing in MS Word because despite what I had believed there is no internet in the dorms. There IS a computer lab on campus though, so I should be able to get online and post this sometime on the fourth. Hah! July 4th will be spent from 7 am to 7 pm doing training, and then likely falling asleep immediately.

The view out my window...

And on that note, I am going to fall asleep immediately.
Enjoy the pictures! As soon as training begins tomorrow I probably won’t be posting more than once a week (I already said that I think), but I will try to get you all some decent pictures when I get a chance.

Breakfast at 7 in the morning… hopefully Ackee and Saltfish!

Love,
Tom (That is my new name, I think – something about being more professional… how times change.)


P.S.
I'm posting this on the fourth... Happy America Day! Also, I'm freaking out fairly officially now. I think I am getting anxiety thinking about what project I will end up with, and where I will be. We just finished our first 12 hour training day, and I'm exhausted. I did have saltfish for breakfast (delicious) and in the afternoon had an assortment of fruits I had never ever ever even heard of (also delicious). But yeah. I am freaking out, as I had a very brief conversation with my project director that completely made me rethink any idea of the project I felt I was heading for. So, I went for a run on a partially overgrown but awesome dirt track nearby, and the profuse amount of sweat followed shortly by another cold shower made me feel a little better. Sadly just a little bit. But hey, I'm in Jamaica.
If someone asked me, "Ou yu do?", I might respond, "Me aarait." Alternatively, if someone asked me, "Evriting kool?", I might respond, "Ya man, me kris." Yeah, I'm learning Patois.
I miss you all very very much.

12 Hours Left (and counting)...

Welkom!

Glad fi si unu!

Good to see you!

I think that might be correct. 11:30 Miami time, and the only reason I am not asleep already (I need to be awake at *gasp* 4:30 to leave the hotel 5 hours before our flight... PC policy) is that this time change is killing me. Also, I miss Nemo. Also, he asked me to say that. Though probably still sort of true.

The first two days of my Peace Corps experience have come to a close, and so has my staging. PC staging was a whirlwind of meeting cool people, participating in strange icebreaking exercises, and after a day and a half of general training, finally starting to hear some country specifics. As it stands now, I think the training class (52) people will be told their exact assignments in the coming days, and definitely within the next two weeks.

What I know: I am one of three HIV/AIDS advisors in the 52 person class. We are all working in the youth sector, along with about ten more general youth volunteers. The first one, Grace, passed her nursing boards three days ago, and is awesome. The second, Amy, is equally awesome, having worked in an HIV/AIDS clinic at UCSF for the past year. I think those details are correct. Regardless, with my EMT experience we make a pretty powerful team. 

One of our staging exercises was an anxieties/aspirations session. While informative, it might have actually created a lot of anxieties I didn't have, or otherwise brought to the surface issues I was somehow avoiding. I am quite nervous at this point - in a good way though (I think) - and am as ready to go as I ever will be.

Honolulu today was 86 degrees, and Miami was 90. I think Kingston will be around 92, and the forecast is thunderstorms. And hurricanes until the end of November (one of those newfound anxieties).

I did hear some interesting news as far as keeping in touch -- I should have wireless internet during the Kingston portion of my training. That means for the next two weeks, I should be able to stay in relatively decent communication. Also, as of tomorrow my 808 cell phone will be turned off indefinitely and I will have a new Jamaican number and be looking into international calling options.

This is the last post I will make (obviously) before leaving the country, and also should be the last blog entry I make without some ridiculous story about how I made a fool out of myself, which will naturally happen.

My dad sent me a song on iTunes today, "Jamaica Farewell" by Harry Belafonte, which was awesome, and the first of many things today that brought me close to tears.

For those of you I got to talk to, and those of you I didn't, I will miss you all, keep checking the blog (I hope to update about once a week) for new information, shoot me an email, or otherwise stay in touch. Thanks for the memories (even though they weren't so great). Hah. Ok when I start quoting Fall Out Boy I know something is wrong.

Bed time here--

Love,

Me

Miami, FL

So I left Hawai'i yesterday for some unspecified amount of time, but before doing so had a dinner at my house to say goodbye to the bros. Ms. Catherine (who now wishes to be called Cate) Warner was lovely enough to attend, and cook some meringue thing that didn't turn out how it should have but still tasted delicious. See picture below. I think we were focused on the strawberries. At least I know I was. She visited the HI for my last week, and it was a blast. She chugged shoyu at one point for $20 from Will (which he actually DID pay), but that's really another story, and its sort of self-explanatory.

Rambo will likely miss me the most. Too bad he doesn't realize I'm leaving.

The final picture here is jus da bros. I suppose it actually isn't jus da bros, but you get the point. See women on the left, my mother and some random. My mom thought it would be a great idea for people to toast my departure, so she asked who wanted to start. Will naturally decided he would go first, and quoted the movie Alexander, saying "I have known many men in my life, but only one colossus." Thanks Will. I like to think he was referring to my supinator, though I realize that probably wasn't what he was referring to. Pat (aka Nemo) then spoke up, announcing to my mother that the reason he wasn't worried I would come back from Jamaica a stoner was that I had cried at my only point of exposure. The story was a lie. Thank you, Patrick. Riley then said something about how I am really good at soccer, which although sarcastic, took the prize for nicest thing said by default.

Tomorrow I formally register as a Peace Corps Trainee, and spend the next two days going over basics and filling out forms. July 3rd I fly to Kingston and begin two months of training, so things are starting to pick up. I don't know if I will have internet access immediately when I get there, so I plan on making a flurry of phone calls before leaving the country to say goodbye to those I haven't seen recently. I will find out my exact assignment and location sometime in the next week... stay tuned for updates!

Bye for now...

6 days left in Hawaii...

I figured I would share some sunrise pictures from two days ago. I don't know why. Perhaps to make jealous that I am leaving one island for another? Maybe just because I'm bored.

Regardless, I woke up way to early (randomly) on the northeast side of the island and took pictures so you could enjoy them. How considerate, right?

I think I'll write a mass email sometime in the coming days about staying in touch, and how to give me things. I don't think I'm really one for blogging, so I don't know how many posts there will be, but yeah. If the motivation strikes me I'll probably use this page to keep people updated with all my doings and such.

Love,

Me