Aaaand New Scene

It's been about 5 days since I left Hellshire and I do apologize for not being more on top of the blogging thing. The rest of last week flew by with group training wrapping up with a tour of Port Royal and the national art gallery in Kingston. As you can see from my photos on facebook, we had a great deal of fun at Port Royal where my affinity for historical ruins and abandoned buildings was apparent to my new friends. The city was once the most prosperous in the Indies but was ravaged by several earthquakes, sending it's outskirts into the sea and depleting the actual city to about 1/3 it's actual size. Captain Morgan reigned there and lived in Fort Charles, the featured location in my photos. From the fort, one can see the ocean on three sides.
When we got home from the field trip we found that our host families (a particular few) had been cooking all day and setting up a nearby park for a grand sendoff feast. Curried goat, BBQ chicken, fish, pasta and egg salad, festival (a sweet, bready fried-dough-like stick), salad and I can't even remember the rest were laid out on a table while host families, friends and our training staff got together in rare form. By darkness, the volunteers walked the 2 blocks to the bar and finally a few of us ended up at a community members birthday party. The Jamaicans taught the PCT's some dance moves and we had what I felt was our first true night out.
Sunday morning we woke, packed and gathered in the church parking lot to say goodbye to our hospitable host families, and to each other. For the next five weeks we will be training in our specialized sectors, groups of 12, this is called 'hub' training. The Green Initiative has since moved to the mountains, while the Youth As Promise (HIV ed) and the Education sectors have moved to areas outside of Kingston.

The town I live in now is in the John Crow (jahncrow) Mountains, named for Jamaica's only breed of vulture. The John Crow Mountains become the Blue Mountains as the peaks grow higher towards the center of the Island. The highest point is the Blue Mountain at approx 7,000ft. Getting to my homestay from Kingston is reminiscent of driving in the Andes mountains of Peru. While a lower elevation, these are steeply sloped and layered, the roads snake back and forth, the potholes are immense and I'm still shocked two vehicles can fit side by side (sometimes they just can't due to construction or...goats...). Houses are quite nestled into the slopes, I still can't figure out to get to some of them, and often the rooftop or second story of a home is even with the road above it.
We are more spread out here, five of us live along my road, four live up another (2 couples) and another two live down the mountain closer to school. The walk to school is about 30 minutes while the walk home is closer to 45. The slope on the walk home is relatively constant and sometimes almost impossibly steep- my legs are gonna look niiiiice by May.
Training this week has been so interesting to me (usually). It's basically intro to environmental studies-Jamaica style and come on, you know das mah jam. The defiant 'stick it to the man' attitude here combined with a post-colonial culture makes a potent concoction for environmental reform, especially when 'the man' (ie ntl govt) has a hard time following or enforcing it's own laws. We got a good look at the challenges we'll be facing and how to pose environmental problems as social ones to capture public attention. Also, the constantly percolating coffee was a huge plus.

Today we went on a hike at the Hollywell Protected Area and learned about the local plants and invasives. The views are amazing here and we summitted 4,000+ ft... I can't wait to climb the Blue Mountain eventually.

I know I'm leaving things out, but I'll be here for the next four weeks so ask me questions if you have them and I'll answer them in subsequent posts. Also more pics to come... the internet is slow at night so they load real slow.

I have the next 4 days off for Easter break, tomorrow morning I am shadowing a local farmer which I'm really excited about and Sunday we are planning for an Easter hike. Miraculously I think mine is the only host mom not interested in Easter mass and while my religious tendencies are limited at best, It'll be the first Easter I've not gone to church with the whole family.

On a related note- A blaring and heartfelt Happy Birthday to my Grandma Josie, I feel her presence every day in the beautiful land of wood and water. I send big hugs to Daddy and my aunts and Pop-pop (and of course the rest of my family because I love and miss you all).

Finally I leave you with the meaning behind the colors of Jamaica and her flag:
"Hardship there is but the land is green and the sun shineth"

May the spring sunshine bring smiles and warmth to you all back home
<3