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

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