Has it really been more than two months since I updated this thing?

Hello friends,

Life is good. My job is awesome, the people I work with are great, Mandeville is treating me just fine. Really, the only thing I can complain about right now is the 103.6 degree fever and back pains that are making it impossible for me to sleep.

Here's what's new in my life:

I got another JM$230,000 grant towards HIV outreach. Along with Red Cross trainers, I am coordinating a December 11-13 HIV/Youth Empowerment training for high schoolers in the parish. Its going great. See the following picture for an idea of the preliminary work involved... me and a counterpart in schools doing introductory activities. This one was a stigma/discrimination role play where students were assigned roles (see: tape on back) and tasked with determining their roles based on how other people react to them. Its a good activity to promote discussion about stigma and clear up a few myths about HIV.

I got certified as a first responder instructor and have been teaching weekly classes for the past few months to that end. Very awesome. I am training the volunteers who will eventually staff the ambulance service once it is running (eta... January?). See the following picture for an up close and personal introduction to my Jamaica Red Cross team... they are supremely awesome. My supervisor is wearing the red shirt on the left. My HIV/AIDS counterpart is wearing the yellow shirt in the middle. On the right side in the middle is one of the trainers who will be helping me with the December project. Everyone is awesome... its really nice to work with people who understand volunteerism and are willing to donate their time to projects.

The HIV International Art Exchange I am coordinating with a few volunteers in Jamaica and abroad is going spectacularly well. We are working with Peru, Nicaragua, Morocco, and South Africa in an international art exchange project to promote global discussion about HIV through art. Its awesome. It also takes a lot longer to explain that I feel okay with right now. See an attached submission my friend Patrick got in Peru for an idea of how things are going. The caption got cut off but this one is obviously about condom use...

So yeah. Work is great. It is wildly fulfilling. And it doesn't even come close to describing how awesome the last few months have been. The little nags here and there don't even bother me... everything else is going too well to get hung up anything in particular. Its silly to think back two years and reflect on what I wanted to do in the Peace Corps. My first year was great, don't get me wrong, but the stuff I am doing now is to a point exactly what I want to be doing with my time right now.

Oh, and I interviewed at JABSOM last month... quick trip home and now I get to cross my fingers until March! Pray for me, if you're into that sort of thing.

So, yeah. It was great to see those of you I saw in NYC a few weeks ago and great to see those of you I saw at home. Nine months to go here and I plan to make the most of it.

-TG

Networking makes a difference, to be sure.

Since I moved to Mandeville at the start of August I have been flooded with work. (This is a very good thing.) Every sort of work. I've been rocking hardcore in the volunteer ambulance, teaching first aid / CPR classes, attending Red Cross executive meetings, preparing a grant proposal, and so forth.

I figured I could share three short stories about networking. Even though they are different in scope / intentions, each experience has helped me integrate into my new community in an efficient and effective way.

1. There is a country club in Mandeville. The term 'country club' here is used loosely, but nonetheless there is a club in Mandeville with a nine hole golf course, a squash court, weight room, billiards table, bar, and a few tennis courts. Its pretty bare bones beyond that, but the bones are all in place. ANYWAYS, I decided that in this whole ridiculous move scenario I might push my limits and see how much a membership would be for a random white dude, so I went to the club a few weeks back and met the manager. $40K/year. Ouch. After I explained that was too much, things started to get interesting. I explained that I was with the Peace Corps, and it turns out the manager knows / likes the Peace Corps and what they do. She has had a lot of PC friends in the past. Long story short, I managed to work out a situation where I can pay what I want, when I want for a country club membership. We set a general price at about 60% off the initial offer, and I can now play squash / lift whenever I want. I think I charmed her.

Moral 1: Doing volunteer work with the Peace Corps can help you out in ways you don't expect. Being chill and awesome helps too.

2. Part of my job is trying to establish income generation projects for the Manchester Red Cross in hopes that the branch may one day function at high enough a level to support a full time administrative worker to staff the office. The main way I plan on doing this is promotion of the volunteer ambulance service. More calls = more money = potential for administrative help. Additionally, I am teaching various health classes with a super competent first aid / CPR instructor named Andy. We get along great, and recently (about a week and a half ago) he had the idea to try and spin my expired EMT license from the states into a valid EMT-esque instructor license in Jamaica. I got an email over the weekend saying that my application had been received by ESCI, and today received a follow up email informing me that I had been approved for teaching up to the First Responder competency level. This is pretty much the highest level of certification currently held by any ambulance workers in Jamaica, so I am now a powerhouse of sorts in the training world. Andy and I will be teaching classes throughout the next year, and this increased level of training certification should help us bring in more cash for the branch while providing necessary training to interested individuals. All I did was scan my expired card and send it Andy's way, and less than a week later I find myself certified as a first responder instructor. Word.

Moral 2: The people working at the Red Cross in Mandeville are awesome, awesome people. The work I do over the next year should be very useful and right up my alley. Good relations are essential among coworkers, and cool stuff like this can come along randomly.

3. Last Wednesday, the Governor General of Jamaica made his first official visit to Manchester Parish. The Governor General is the figurehead of the country. While he has no voting power, he signs all legislation into law and acts as a gobetween for the two political parties. He is one of the three most powerful people in the country, and I got to chill with him. The Red Cross staffs a volunteer ambulance (as mentioned above). On Wednesday, my supervisor, a Red Cross first aid worker, myself, and my friend Emily (another Peace Corps EMT), drove the ambulance around the parish following the Governor General to three separate community forums. He spoke at each, and heard updates from community members in three different parts of the parish. My supervisor wisely took each opportunity to plug the Red Cross and Peace Corps, and he was right to do so. At the final of three stops, Emily and I were deemed guests of honor, and welcomed in turn along with the Custos of Manchester. The Governor General took a moment out of his stump speech to thank us for the work we are doing in this country, and asked for a response (as per Jamaican protocol). I spoke for two minutes or so to an enthusiastic crowd, doing my best to explain what Peace Corps is all about. The event was covered by national media, and yeah. Rad. The Peace Corps Country Director wants me to get my hands on a copy of the tape so that PC/Jamaica can use quotes as a means towards self-promotion. Word. Afterwards, it seemed like we got thank yous from just about everyone in the crowd, and we got to exchange words with the Governor General on a more personal level. It was sweet. Emily almost got a ride back to Kingston in his chopper, but alas... next time.

Moral 3: Self promotion in the right arena is highly effective. Over three meetings, the Governor General grew to appreciate the volunteer work we do as volunteers, and used us as an example for Jamaicans to follow. It was an amazing feeling to talk with such a powerful guy, and have him thank us for our work. Truly a standout day, as far as days here go.

Tomorrow I should be getting internet put in at my house, so I will try to upload some pictures.

That's about it... three stories, three awesome outcomes. A ton has been going on, and I have been way to busy to write about any of it. Email me with questions, or if you want to chat.

Miss you all,

TG

Quick Update

I moved to Mandeville on Friday! A lot has happened in the last two weeks, and I don't have enough time to really talk about them, but yeah. I'm in, and I started work today with a First Aid / CPR class in the morning. My first regional Red Cross meeting is tomorrow night, and my first Jamaican ambulance work is scheduled for Wednesday.

It was real tough to leave Trelawny. I will always think of my host family up on the coast as my home away from home. I see Mandeville as a more business-centered experience, and I am fine with that.

I went to the Denbigh Agricultural show yesterday (biggest on the island), where I saw the Prime Minister, lots of cows, some sheep, and had far to many free samples ranging from shrimp to eggs to coffee liquor to callaloo juice to... well, you get the point. I had some awesome jerk pork, too.

Also, I managed to get to the Bloomfield Great House on Friday night for the best meal I've had in country. It is the nicest Great House in the Mandeville area, and known for its cutting edge Caribbean fusion quisine. A bit of a splurge, but quite worth it.

I'll try to update again soon with some pictures ~ I have some of the host family kids I left in Trelawny, some of my new place, and some other random ones.

-TG

I spent the 4th here

Treasure Beach, St. Elizabeth, Jamaica

A mere hour and a half from my new Mandeville home...

Year Two: An Introduction

Long post incoming (sorry!) ~ lots has been going on for the past three weeks (I think I have been in every parish since the start of July), and here is a quick update on one of the more notable aspects...

I spent the last four days in Mandeville, Manchester parish, where I will be soon moving to take up a position with the Jamaica Red Cross. Leaving Falmouth will not be easy in any sense of the word, but the potential to do the work I wanted to do when I got here is too much to pass up. I will be drafting my own job description over the next few days, and right now it looks something like this:

HIV/Youth Outreach Worker

Co-facilitation and organization of an HIV Youth Immersion Camp (SPA/VAST Grant) with youth link patrons in Manchester parish High Schools. Participate in ongoing meetings related to promotion and planning of the event, as well as location of resources persons. Camp will include HIV Stigma/Discrimination discussions, youth empowerment forums (ex. Money Management, Motivation, etc.), sports / arts and crafts aimed at motivating youth engagement in Red Cross activities, and more.

Act as a resource person for Manchester parish Red Cross youth links, attending high school meetings when applicable.

Coordinate with Michaela Cameron (Red Cross Mandeville HIV / Youth Employee) on ongoing outreach activities and fit in where appropriate.

Sustainability Advocate

Attend Parish Council, SDC, and other meetings to promote Red Cross Manchester income-generating projects (Ambulance Service, HIV testing, etc.) with the intent of reaching an income generation level high enough to support a paid administrative employee.

Support the transition towards Red Cross Mandeville performing administrative tasks without assistance from the United States Peace Corps.

Attend monthly Red Cross Mandeville meetings (1^st Tuesday), and Executive Committee meetings (2^nd Tuesday).

Training Associate

Assist with weekly V.A.S.T. (Volunteer Ambulance Service Training), First AID/CPR, and First Responder training courses with Red Cross trainer Andrew McDonald (counterpart). Persons trained include Red Cross Youth Link (High School Clubs) Patrons, Nursing Students, Parents, etc.

Assist in disaster preparedness outreach alongside Lloyd Myrie (Emergency Section Coordinator)

So, yeah. Things are happening. I have the unique opportunity to be exactly who I want to be for the next year, and I plan on making the most of it. As a supplemental list to those tasks mentioned above, I plan to accomplish the following things before leaving Jamaica next July/August:

1. Complete the Reggae Marathon in December in Negril

2. Become a serious pool shark (Mandeville has a ton of pool tables... why not?)

3. Integrate into Mandeville high culture through trips to the country club and organic juice bar (I feel sort of guilty mentioning these things, but if I ever start saving money on this whole escapade there is a squash court in my new town)

4. Learn to cook some mean Indian food - there is an Indian cook shop in town. I plan to become super tight with the chef who has trouble speaking English, and in addition to making him part of my "wolf pack", I will make him teach me to make a mean roti.

Miss you all! I know I say it fairly compulsively now, but please come visit! I've spoken to a ton of you about coming down, but for those of you who are serious I would like to start planning some of these things so I know when I myself can safely leave the country.

-TG

Rumination Nation

I had one of the most fulfilling and meaningful conversations of my life today with my best friend from high school. Our lives have taken us to different places, but our core values couldn’t be closer.

After a long, rumination-filled weekend, I learned something about myself on this fine Monday. Or rather, remembered something I forgot some time ago. Doing what you love and making sure you are fully comfortable with your actions is the only way to truly be at peace. And being at peace with yourself is absolutely essential for others to be at peace with you.

I look forward to another year in the Peace Corps on my terms. I have at times taken a lot of flack for not entirely following certain social norms for people my age, and because of that I have at times buckled and abandoned some of the things that make me who I am - in order to fit in, or something like that. I feel like going into this any further would just be weird on a blog, so I’m done there. I guess I can just say I know the person I want to be, and I am tired of being less than that for the sake of appeasing some common ideal of what a moronic post-college twenty three year old guy should be. Okay yeah, probably too heavy but whatever. I guess that was a convoluted way of saying I have a mid-year (and mid-service) resolution that rocks pretty hard.

On a slightly different yet still related note, I might have the dream job (or something like it) I came here searching for by week’s end. I’ll keep you posted. A lot of my discontent since returning from Hawaii has been replaced with simmering anticipation for a conversation with Peace Corps this Thursday about what comes next, and the future looks quite bright.

~full steam ahead~

One year ago today I was sitting in a conference room in Miami with a bunch of strangers getting ready to travel to Jamaica. How time flies. As I approach this awesomest of awesome landmark, I certainly have mixed emotions about the whole thing. On the one hand, Peace Corps and my country supervisor are happy with the work I have done, and I could easily coast by doing the same for another year. On the other hand, it would probably be cynical and angry if I was to have to do everything I just did over again. I'm looking to the future -- full steam ahead -- in hopes that the work I do for this community and country become more fulfilling, and more worthwhile, for everyone involved. I'm meeting with some Red Cross people early next week - will keep you posted.

Last weekend I had my first all night 'Jamaican' party experience. It was ridiculous. It started at my house, and ended on a pier in Montego Bay as the sun rose over a nearby mountain range. Actually, it ended after I got back to my town a few hours later, post-a brown stew chicken, callaloo, dumpling breakfast at a the yellow bar (a personal favorite in town). Somewhere in the middle? Three bars and Pier One, a seriously legit dancehall. I was with three volunteers, and we were close to the only white people in a crowd about five hundred strong. Loud music, inappropriate dancing, and good times had by all. I won't ever do it again, but now I can check that one off the list.

This week has been relatively mellow. Laundry took up a day, and hammock time another. It's a nice day for a change - summer generally sucks - so I'm sitting on my patio anticipating the rapidly approaching sunset.

Who knows what the next year has to offer me. All I know is that if the last year is any indication, this next one will fly by. I hope when everything is said and done I, too, will feel happy with the work I have done here. I know I'll do everything I can to see that is the case.

~~~

I'll leave you with a picture from my recent trip home - this one is my cousin Lorin about to reach the peak of Konahuanui. Its my favorite hike on Oahu. I found this sweet book at the top - its a traveling log where the person who finds it is supposed to drop it off at somewhere else sweet they eventually end up. This one has been going since 2004 - it started in Connecticut and traveled across a continent and an ocean before ending up at the top of the Ko'olaus. I didn't have time for another hike before I left the state, so I gave the book to my dad to carry forward. Pretty cool idea ~ small world we live in.

(JD, WAJ, Ms. Miller... beat by a high schooler. No prosciutto this time though, so no big loss. And the top was cloudy. ugh.)

Near the summit of Konahuanui, the highest point on one of Oahu's two mountain ranges.

Honolulu spreads out below in the distance below the cloud line.

-TG

Graduation

My fifth-form students are graduating tomorrow, meaning I have successfully finished one year as a Guidance Department swing man at Holland High School. Word.

Back safely in Jamaica, getting ready for a long summer of not much to do.

Job related update:

Starting next year I will no longer be working on the parenting stuff some of you may know I have struggled with. My supervisor finally came around and is going to be bringing in trained professionals to deal with necessary parents. This means... I get to design and establish a project that will take about three days per week for the next year. Super stoked. Hopefully by the end of the summer I will be working with Jamaica Red Cross.

That's all for now~

It's about that time again when I should remind everyone of a standing invitation to come visit - do it! Its fun. I can give character references, if necessary.

-TG

At peace

In sitting down to write a more substantive blog post than normal, I suddenly find myself unable to do so. I thought about what I wanted to say for the last hour, and now can't find the words.

On the eve of traveling to Hawaii for the first time in a year, I find myself overloaded with the emotions I haven't been able to process for the last few days.

I am o.k., my family will be o.k., and life goes on.

I will be back in Jamaica in two weeks. Driving home from Kingston was my first chance to process anything since Wednesday, and everything is suddenly hitting me. That substance I planned to sit down and pour out will have to wait until I have had a moment to actually think about what has happened.

Though on that drive, I past a secluded field in the mountains as the sun began to set, and I watched ten Jamaican kids playing football. It was the first time in a long time that I felt, strangely, at home.

Another one bites the dust...

Hi all,

I know it has been forever since I last updated this thing - just take it to mean I'm doing good work and have been really busy.

The last month in six short points:

1. My agency and I secured a JM$250,000 grant - funding outreach work for about five years!

2. I got decent MCAT score results.

3. I have made serious progress with my peer education group. After months of struggle, I got them all together and pretty much said 'this is your group now', and it was all I needed to do. We are planning a beach cleanup nearby to raise environmental awareness at the school and in the community. The kids are stoked because they get a beach day, they get media coverage, and they get to skip school. I'm stoked because I have finally made a few breakthroughs with the kids. I am in the youth sector after all, so this feels particularly good. We held a bake sale last friday and made about JM$5,000 - good enough for lunch for about 60 people if we do it properly, in addition to materials to make signs and buy trash bags, etc. More details as they arise~

4. Sad to say the troops are dwindling. Peace Corps Jamaica Group 79, once a strong 52, now stands at 33. Just over 60% of the starting group remains, and I have feelings we haven't seen the end of it. Four of my close friends have left in the last week, and it definitely sucks. The island will be a tad quieter for the next year it seems like! Good news though in the impending return of a close friend of mine, one Ms. Shanna Maloney, PCV, my partner in crime in the Trelawny Guidance Department system. Looking forward to it!

5. Only a few weeks left in the school year! Coming this summer I will be spending all my time working to establish a worthwhile secondary project, something I hope will keep me extra busy through this time next year.

6. My med school application is almost done. I will be applying early decision to the University of Hawaii, and am hoping for good things. If I don't get in, I am looking at post-bac and MPH alternatives.

That's about it - quick update but to the point. Send good vibes! I think rainy season is bringing Eeyore-like vibes for a lot of people. I'm doing great though, but I don't want to be all alone this time next year!

-TG

Backontherock :)

New York was an amazing, amazing time.

I have the BEST and most amazing friends and family. Except Will, that guy's a douche. Things started out rather interestingly, as I arrived in JFK to find that an 18-year old bottle of Jamaican rum had broken in my bag during transit. Smelled nice, but quite unfortunate. That mishap was counteracted by the generosity of the woman I sat next to on the plane from Montego Bay. She is a resident of the upper west and paid for my cab from JFK to 110/Broadway. Gotta love the bubble.

I arrived in NYC with three goals:

1. Do well on MCAT

2. Chill with friends

3. Eat good food.

The following is a day-to-day on my doings. I place weight on food, because that was 99% of what I thought about.

Monday: Milano Market take out with Brother / Reunion with the W 108 crew.

Tuesday: Yale Club Dinner with Father / Squash extravaganza

Wednesday: Sake Bar Hagi (yum) with Jennifer.Sit

Thursday: Biryani Cart (seriously, ridic.) on a solo lunch promenade in Midtown

Thursday: Korean BBQ courtesy of Joseph K. Song. Absolutely amazing Beef Brisket / Spicy Pork / Kalbi. I cannot express how much I dug this meal.

Friday: Yale Club (revisited) with Father, Brother, and Eleina. Lots of crab legs and asparagus.

Saturday: MCAT.

Later Saturday: Legit lamb shank. Sunny Haft. Zoe Fonseca. Poetry bar (For whom the bell tolls...). Ginger Man. Potato Chips. Some random diner at 5 AM. Jenn: A-game performance.

Sunday: Recovery. At least 18 hours of sleep logged in the books.

Monday: Williamstown, MA / Kopy chill time.

Tuesday: Choice Eats with Bill and Jenn. How is unlimited free food/wine/beer/liquor only $35? Honestly. Great deal. Good thing too, because of the $$$$ to be dropped the next day.

Wednesday: Chelsea Market Lunch with Weiler. Grape gelato = yum.

Wednesday: PDT, Momofuku Ko, Artichoke.

(Tuesday/Wednesday = Best 48 hours of food when? Oh, ever.)

Thursday: Roti Roll with Gregory Valentino Puppione. Chill time. I got sick.

Friday: MSTRKRFT. Bounce Low... Bounce High... A bar tab far too large to talk about.

Saturday: Celebration of Jenn's birth. Krik Krak Haitian. I remember this being fun.

Sunday: Central Park Promenade with Joe/Polo/Jenn. Levain Bakery cookies = yum.

Sunday: The Mill Korean with Brother. Sushi and goodbyes.

Monday: Flight delayed. Arrive home late.

Additionally, I beat my brother at his NBA video game (progress?), ate Chipotle/Pinkberry, and gained 9 pounds (mission 3 accomplished).

I also got some kimchi/nori/shin ramyun back to Jamaica without it ruining all my clothes. Awesome.

Special props to Jenn/Joe for hosting me for a few days and everything that goes along with it, and extra special props to Jenn for compiling what I will always remember as one of the best food-related agendas of all time. Super props to Polo for finally helping me find a guitar!

Thanks to all who made my two weeks in the States awesome! Sadly there are a few of you who I never got to see, and hopefully next time around we can work something out.

Much love,

Tommy

In one week..

NYC.

That is all.

Final push on MCAT studying - I would update you more but that really has been my whole life for the past month or so.

Let's do this,

TG

A culinary success story!

A quick update all my foodie friends back home (ahem... Jenn) will be sure to appreciate...

Having long desired to but never having the courage to delve into the art-form that is cokking ackee and saltfish, I was struck by a wave of creativity earlier today and decided to try something completely new and entirely me... Ackee and veggie chunks! Well, not entirely me, but that isn't really the point. The chunks substituted nicely for the saltfish, and now that I am comfortable with the process I will be trying the "ackee and [fill in the blank]" dish with a number of different spins on the original. Next up? Ackee and bacon. Yum. Anyways, take a look at my dinner...

Preparation as follows.

Clean ackee by removing the 3 fruits from the reddish pod. Cut off the seed from each piece of fruit. Clean out red inner lining. Repeat x a million (at least it seems like that). People visiting me will surely see what I mean.

Boil ackee with black pepper, scotchbonnet pepper, whole garlic cloves. Boil until tender, but not until it turns into mush. Remove from heat, strain from water, set aside.

Rehydrate veggie chunks by boiling with thyme, paprika, various seasonings to taste. Takes about 5-7 minutes. Strain out water, set aside.

In a frying pan, put about 2 tbsp of oil and heat. Cut up one onion, tomato, a few cloves of garlic (I used 4), 2 scotchbonnet pepper, 1-2 stocks of scallion. Add all of the above to the oil and sautée until delicious looking/smelling. Season to taste. Add chunks, mix, continue to make delicious. Finally, add ackee. Cook till warm, and not so long as to turn ackee into mush (as above). Turn off heat. Enjoy! I ate it with rice.

Yeah. Success stories come in many shapes and forms, and this one I felt was particularly noteworthy.

Other than that, not much new.

Studying studying studying away… testing March 28^th in NYC. In NYC March 23 – April 3. Give me a shout out if you want to catch up!

-TG

Puppies and excuses...

I'm actually going to take that in reverse order. The reason I haven't posted for a month is because I wrote a mass-email (I know, Tommy MyL, they suck). I think this completely justifies my not posting for a while. Also, I have been studying like a crazy person. Anyways, here comes a short update.

There are six puppies now living in my front yard! They are about three weeks old now and absolutely adorable. See below.

It really is a shame that they will never be as cute as Rambo. Or as friendly. Or as smelly. See below. How I miss that guy...

In other news, I finally got a bike. Though I don't have a helmet. And Peace Corps kicks you out if they catch you riding a bike without a helmet. "Soon come" on that one.

Six weeks and three days until the MCAT means I won't be doing much else besides studying until I get back from NYC. I have an anti-stigma HIV/AIDS training planned for next Thursday at my high school that will be attended by the Peace Corps Country Director, the Program and Training Officer (#2 in command), and my Youth APCD (my boss). So... pressure is on there I guess. Hopefully it goes smoothly.

I am caught in this weird spot where I could go on and on, but I really need to get back to studying so... yeah.

Things are going well here, as always. Happy belated to the 'lil bro, who is now 21. 

Looking forward to two months from now when Will and Jordan will be visiting. Decent.

O.K. that is all. I really just wanted to share that bit about the puppies!

-TG

Random pictures from the break

This is the drunkest man I have ever seen in my life (and likely ever will). I was visiting my friend Taylor (see left), when this dude rolled up on the back of a motorbike (driven by another drunk dude) and fell over trying to get off. He is wearing army boots and his pants are tucked in. He staggers over to a nearby child (see below), tries his best to pick him up, and falls over in the process. This picture was taken shortly after.

This is the aforementioned child blowing up his brand new basketball. Anyone who sends me a new basketball to give this guy will have the pleasure of seeing a picture of (who could be) the next LeBron James with a smile on his face.

The transportation system. 'Nuff Said.

A very sarcastic woman tending to her kyaabij patch. These old ladies are quite the workers! One woman tending to more than an acre in the middle of nowhere was quite an impressive site.

That is all for now, back to work!

Lifeisgood.

Don't really have time to write a full life-update (nor do I really want to), but just checking in to say happy new year to all I haven't talked to!

Real quick:

Back at work now meaning internet again~ thus this short update.

Also, I moved! I no longer live in Green Park, but now live much closer to school. I will be within biking distance from my school and couldn't be happier. My new land lady is amazing -- in the first four days of being there she has made me *fresh* soursop juice, beet juice, and juneplum juice. We get along great - she sleeps around 7:00 and wakes around 5:00. I am about an hour and a half later on both counts. I feel totally at ease talking to her, and I don't see any reason why I would ever move. I didn't even realize how much I needed out from the Bishop's place until I actually left.

In the past month I have travelled to rural Jamaica for some hiking (photos on facebook), and done a lot of catching up on rest/studying. I have done real HIV/AIDS work, and am starting to coordinate a local basketball tournament to fund the Jamaica Red Cross. I am looking into a possible project working to train Jamaican EMTs -- that would blow my mind -- and am stoked about the possibility.

Also, Jordan and Will are planning to visit in mid-April, which will just be awesome. Viva la Rum Tour.

Possibly the best part of my break was catching up on music. Actually, the entire PC has been great for that. I feel like a music god now that I have time to do what I like to do. Essentially, me time is great. Props to Jenn/Mira on Bon Iver. Can't wait for Andrew Bird on January 20.

Gotta get back to work -- I will get back on soon with a better update and some pictures. I am having an internet hookup put in at my new place, so I should be more in contact in no time.

Happy new year!

-TG

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