Ohhhh Jamaica

The highlight of my week has been the fruiting Mulberry tree just outside my window. I can scope out particularly bountiful branches as I dress in my room- the boughs easily bend so that seemingly unreachable treasures become sweet and warm treats. A simple reward as I pass in and out of the yard routinely every day. Mulberries are easily my favorite berry, and they remind me of my grandmother’s house upstate, before the tornado knocked their impressive tree down.

Also, pear season is gaining momentum, guava and plum too (plums in Jamaica are nothing like the type you’d imagine from the states… green and oval with a hard texture similar to an apple or American pear). I got laughed at the other day for mashing up my pear with scallion, salt and pepper. ‘It’s a sandwich!’ I reasoned, ‘It looks disgusting!’ they replied. I decided not to point out that I thought their tin mackerel and tuna fish with rice lunch was more disgusting to me.

Alex sent me a package with the game Set in it and I’ve been teaching the kids at the summer program how to play. Teaching them is frustrating, since the game is very hard to pick up on and requires a lot of attention to detail, but a few kids are picking up on it and they ask me any time they see me if I have Set with me. Last night was ‘games night’- kids play monopoly, cards, puzzles etc while adults and older kids play dominoes. Of course I had Set, and two of the boys from the program were getting pretty good, so I decided to play instead of just deal. They got a kick out of getting beaten which I found surprising, but the competition was the fun part and they tried very hard to ‘beat teacher’. By the end of the night I was surrounded by a group of young men shouting ‘Set!’ and trying desperately to understand the game. A few picked up on it, which was cool to witness. I almost got my nose broken during a particularly spirited race to point out a Set of cards on the board. Watch out Jamaica, a new game craze is coming your way.

A man who noticed my arm hair dubbed me ‘fuzzy’. As this is an age old insecurity of mine, I’m not super psyched about this nickname, however, he said he liked it- and made a few lewd comments to support that statement. Oooooooh Jamaica.

This is a leap-frogging random thoughts kind of post, so I leave you with this quote from one of my favorite movies, Big Fish:
”They’d talk about just about anything… except for religion.”
”Why don’t they talk about religion?”
”It’s rude to talk about religion, you never know who you’re going to offend.”

This quote rang true when the third question posed to me by a complete stranger was: “are you a Christian?” my response to that question is always that I was raised Catholic, sometimes (and this particular time) I add that I stopped going to church regularly when I was about 17 (or that I haven’t been to church in a while). The stranger’s supplemental question was one for the books: “Is that because you started having sex?”

Oooooh Jamaica.

Standing On A Stumbling Block

It’s been a very dynamic past week. Literally the day I wrote my last post, I had my first real meltdown and left a meeting before work actually started (but 3 hours after the designated meeting time…yeah). The details are unimportant, every volunteer has those days where the work ethic and social tendencies of cultures simply clash with an uncomfortable resonance. I was lucky that the next day I left to visit J 7 parishes away, I needed time away with a friend.

We met a whole bunch of PCV’s in Portland and stayed in a beautiful log cabin on the edge of a cliff, in the yard of an ex-patriot. I slept in my hammock on the back porch, swinging to the tune of the ocean against the land, and I woke up to a hot but brilliant sunrise. The weekend contained a bit of bonding, catching up, drinking, cooking, dancing, swimming in some pretty large waves and lounging on the beach. It was time that I needed to readjust my perspective and consider my position in the community. The first step is to admit you have a problem- I have a few.

PCV Getaway VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

I returned home with my neighboring PCV’s by way of official (air conditioned) PC vehicle, thanks to our Program Manager, Dan. I enjoyed my veggie burger from Burger King immensely before leaving Kingston (trivial and unimportant fact, but as we’ve discussed already- little victories). Dan and Anika were coming into W-more (here on in I’d like you to understand how annoying it is to type out “Westmoreland”, so we have a new abbreviation) for site visits, to check in on volunteers, see the sites and chat about progress and whatnot. He also was able to drop off our bicycles

As always, meeting with Dan put me in a good place. I explained how very many projects Beeston Spring had in its arsenal, the steep learning curve I’m climbing daily and my recent meltdown. Describing the incident, I was able to hear the rain of dominoes falling against each other, pushing me over and to the edge. Dan empathized with the situation so completely that I felt validated in leaving the meeting. He also stated his pride in my progress and perception of the community/culture. Whew, that felt good.

The next meeting I attended to build the Denbigh display, I walked in as an outsider, and asked what they’d gotten done. Instead of delegating, I watched and offered assistance. I knew I’d thrown them off the other day by leaving, and I wanted to show them that I’d been humbled, that I was over it. My moment came when the Carpenter teased me about something we’d argued over previously, and I laughed at my ‘mistake’. Since then, the rest of the week went smoothly and pleasantly.

Building the Denbigh Display VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Yesterday, Friday Aug 3, was a jam packed day of…stuff. Woke early to add the finishing touches to the display before the bus came to pick it up. The community was celebrating Jamaica’s 50th year of Independence, so I decided to get a ride to the Agriculture Show Saturday morning in order to enjoy the festivities of the day/night. We worked until about 1 and stayed for festivities until about 2:30, at which time the heat and dirt from the earlier work became uncomfortable- so I headed home for a bath and lunch. A storm on its way was being closely monitored by the Peace Corps Office, and rumor was that we might need to be on stand by. The official word came around 4pm- no volunteer was to leave the parish or their sites until further notice. The Greenies are currently not very happy campers. Denbigh is the biggest Agriculture Fair on the Island, apparently much like a state or county fair, the Peace Corps has its own booth for the first time ever and many of us have been working with our communities on displays for a few weeks. Major, major bummer. I hope it at least rains today- the sun is out, the heat is oppressive and the hurricane isn’t supposed to hit until Monday. On the bright side, Jamaica is celebrating, my community is partying and I look good in Black, Green and Yellow.

Reppin the JA Vybz (vibes)

 

Jamaica 50th VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Sunset VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL