Roasted peanuts seller in Ochi, showing off his Usain Bolt stance
Grade 6 students taking their end of term exams outside (quieter!)
THINGS I’VE LEARNED RECENTLY

1. Jamaicans do not get paid by the hour even in places like Burger King. They are paid by the week.
2. Teachers do have a health insurance plan similar to U.S. Teachers contribute and the Ministry of Ed. contributes, and they pay a portion of dr. visits & prescriptions. The parish Health Clinics are free but statistics say less Jamaicans go there than 2 years ago. (Poorly staffed is one reason I hear)
3. Murder has gone down in 2010 but not that much(10%). We have heard from PC warnings about increased thefts and burglaries during this Christmas season. I have heard this on Jamaican TV as well.
4. Poverty has risen form 9.9% to over 15% in 2010.
5. My Rasta neighbor’s comment to me when discussing the purpose of Peace Corp and will it help Jamaicans, is that “Jamaica is a failed state” How sad that that is his opinion.
6. 3 young teachers at my school are all looking for jobs overseas ( U.S., Canada, UK, Japan) and express frustration with educational system and little hope for its improvement or t5heir career advancement.
7. Students miss a lot of school - one boy was absent 2 weeks and there is no real procedure to address this issue.
8. There is really no teacher substitute system- teachers will just combine classes, or maybe a parent will come in to supervise them. Miss Gowie, our principal, will go in to check on a class without a teacher but she does not stay and teach them. If too many teachers are out, school may be dismissed at noon.
9. Drugs and guns traffic with Haiti continues to be a problem.
10. Peace Corps celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2011 and Peace Corps Jamaica celebrates its 50th year in 2012! I’ll be here for both!
11. I think I have seen maybe one convertible here in Jamaica- personally I think the roads are so bad no one wants to be in one if they go off the road!
12. I went to the St. Ann parish Rotary Club meeting in Ocho Rios this month- it’s been around for 40 years. Kiwanis is here too. I hope to become active and either a guest member or a “real” one.
13. We are on a cholera alert since we are so close to Haiti.
14. I just met some Smithsonian (as in DC) researchers studying the Jamaican crow. They play a tape of their call and sure enough 2 crows flew over to check the “invader” out! Right on Breadnut Hill! They told me the crow population is stable but very susceptible to new pathogens, such as West Nile which has arrived in Jamaica, so they are working on a baseline survey.
15. It was explained that Christmas is a time to fix up your home- new drapes, furniture, bedspreads, not so much a time for present giving like in the US. I see Christmas trees in some stores and hotels (tourist focused obviously) but not in anyone’s home that I know of. I have been looking for a potted Norfolk pine but so far no luck.
16. Due to the severe consequences of the 4th grade literacy exam ( if they fail this they cannot take the GSAT) and the Grade 6 GSAT exam (which determines their high school placement), parents will pay to send their child to Saturday lessons to prepare for the exam. They may only take the GSAT once, so some students even repeat Grade 6 to give themselves a better chance.

THE RAINY SEASON HAS ARRIVED IN JAMAICA!

Since last I wrote there have been a number of different activities at Breadnut Hill Primary School. One Saturday, 4 Peace Corps friends from the Ochi area and about a dozen members of the Breadnut Hill Police Youth Club met to help build a rock/cement wall at school. This wall will help to divide the school yard from a dirt road. This project entailed hauling marl over to mix with cement and gradually pouring it over a collection of rocks dropped into a wooden form. We were able to complete about 3 new sections of 5 feet each. Some of the Police Club members prepared us a lunch of chicken and rice and peas (really kidney beans). This group meets once a week at the school on Monday evenings from about 7-10PM and is geared to what we would term young adults from ages 16-24 or so. They have various activities, community projects and social events. There is more wall to finish but they need to fundraise the money for more cement first.
Mrs. Williams, the school guidance counselor, and I met with Junior Achievement representatives about starting an after school program for our Grade 5 & 6 students. JA has a financial literacy program designed for this age students and the curriculum is all organized and Jamaicanized. This seems like it has great potential and is something that would be very helpful to our students. I will keep you posted on how this works out!
Currently volunteers from a U.S. nonprofit called Great Shape Inc. (they do have a web site) are at my school. This is the group that donated most of the school’s 8 computers. The volunteers come and lead sessions in Music, Art, Sports, Literacy, and Computers. The students love it- Music, Art, and Sports are not in the school curriculum and computer time is very limited, so this is a real treat for them. The volunteers are generally from the Washington and Oregon area, but anyone can sign up, pay a participation fee, and come. Some have teaching experience but it is not required. Sandals Resort puts them up for the week so they are able to enjoy deluxe accommodations and food. The group helps at 4 primary schools in the Ocho Rios area. I felt badly that my fellow PCV’s working at more rural schools don’t have this opportunity, so the group kindly put together a box of school supplies & some books for them. When I go to our PC Thanksgiving dinner and meetings I will pass them along.
The most exciting event of this month was having my 1st visitor! My father, (G’pa) came for a week long visit. He stayed at my apartment for 3 nights and I joined him at the Hibiscus Lodge Hotel in Ocho Rios for 4 nights. He came just before the anticipated arrival of Tropical Storm Tomas. But lucky for Jamaica, and us, Tomas really did not hit Jamaica. We had lots of windy , cloudy weather but not much rain. Dad and I took a number a day trips to places I had read about but had not visited. We visited Sir Noel Coward’s Jamaican home, Rose Hall Great House, and The Enchanted Gardens with multiple water falls, gardens, and a bird aviary. and took a plantation tour It was such fun to show him around “my” Jamaica; he even came to school with me one day- the day before TS Tomas was to arrive- only 40 of the 275 students even came to school that day! I’ve learned that lots of rain, or in this case, anticipated lots of rain is sort of like snow days in the U.S. The Ministry of Education announced that schools were open on that Thursday and Friday in all the parishes except the far eastern ones, but hardly anyone came to school. On Friday only 4 students total came to school- the principal sent them (and us teachers ) home by 10:30AM! Both days there really wasn’t much teaching going on, but I was kept busy supervising students in the computers room, so they lucked out! Dad was even invited to go “clubbing” with 3 of the younger teachers! My landlord Steve was very helpful in arranging transportation for Dad and me. I am lucky to have such a caring landlord!
Dad came with school supplies from the Wallingford Family YMCA, (Thank you everyone!) some clothes and shoes I had ordered, and some Christmas things, including Christmas cookies from Dad’s church! I am so fortunate that at 87 he is interested and able to travel and came to see me! I do have a spare bed, so let me know if you are interested in coming to Jamaica! I’d love to see you!
I feel so very supported by family and friends - I am truly blessed! Thank you- and have a wonderful Thanksgiving wherever you are! I will be in Kingston with most of my fellow PCV’s for a couple of meetings and a Friday night Thanksgiving potluck dinner!

PEACE CORPS ADVICE FROM OUR EARLY SERVICE TRAINING CONFERENCE
September 27 (my birthday) - October 1st our PC Group #81 met for our Program Development and Early Service Training conference. Each volunteer was expected to bring a community co- worker for the 1st three days to work on Program Development methods and skills. Mrs. Williams, our school guidance counselor, came with me. Our training was at the SandCastle Hotel in Ocho Rios. (This was the hotel we had stayed at last month!). Mrs. Williams and I had discovered a Pennsylvanian connection- she and her husband had worked near Chambersburg PA for a residential program for delinquent youth a few years ago! In fact, she met my son Chris in August when she and her son visited friends in Chambersburg! It was great to spend time discussing ideas and possible projects without all the usual school interruptions. We talked about strengthening fathers involvement in school, starting a school newsletter, improving our computer room usage, and starting/restarting possible after school clubs. It was great to see everyone from our group and hear of their projects and activities. The entire week we were together the island was visited by Tropical Storm Nicole. It rained constantly and some areas of the island really suffered with flooding, bridges out, no power. Some people couldn’t get home for a few days! At the hotel we were fine. And when I got home power had just been restored, and no flooding! I was sure lucky!
I visited 2 Police Youth Club meetings; they are primarily for young adults ages 16-24 and offer sports teams, speakers and service projects. The club that meets at my school hopes to rebuild a stone wall for the school and has asked Peace Corps volunteers to come and help. No date has been set yet though. These clubs offer social activities especially for youth not pursuing tertiary education (Jamaican term for any school after high school)
October 10th a bunch of us PCVs went to watch and help out at the Marlin Tournament and Health Fair in Oracabessa. It was a rainy day and no marlin was caught. But I enjoyed seeing the small open boats come in and have their fish weighed. This was a hand-line tournament, so no big rigs with the big fancy seats etc. Most of the fish that came in were small tuna, jackfish and a few Mahi- referred to here as dolphin fish. The Health Fair was giving away t- shirts to fisherman taking a non invasive HIV test. This is a population group not often reached.
October 14th was JAMAICA DAY or Culture Day at my school. Quite a day. It started with a guest speaker for devotions, and a soldier from the Jamaican Defense Force in the morning. There were displays on Jamaican history, fruits and vegetables, baked goods and old time artifacts. $50 JA tickets were sold for merry go round rides, snow cones and popcorn. Jerk chicken and roasted breadfruit were cooked for lunch. After lunch each class had a presentation- a song, dance or poem. I was informed that the teachers had to do a dance as well, and I was needed! Over much protesting and many promises of help, 3 Jamaican teachers and I practiced our traditional dance on Wednesday afternoon for Culture Day on Thursday! I still am a little unclear how some Jamaican teachers didn’t dance but I was needed! ? When the teachers weren’t laughing too hard, they were very encouraging. We were quite a hit and even had to come back for an encore. To me the best part of the day was the arrival of a troupe of JonKunnu dancers. Traditionally these dancers come out at Christmas time, and originated from Africa and the Jamaican slave days. The group was in wonderful, colorful costumes depicting the Devil, a Duppy (ghost), a Donkey, a Bull, Pitchy Patchy, a Belly Women, a young Boy plus their 4 man band. They danced and chased the kids, some of whom were truly afraid of them. Sort of reminded me of Halloween and Mardi Gras! Their dance was as wild and colorful as they were!
I was certainly exhausted by the end of that day! But happily we had no school on Friday, and Monday, Oct 18th is Heroes Day, a National Holiday to commemorate Jamaica’s six National Heroes.
I’m ready to get back to school and my kids- I really love working with them and trying to find ways to to encourage them to try, and to read more!

SIX MONTHS- AND NOT COUNTING!
Pictures are of Swim Jamaica lessons at James Bond beach, Oracabessa
School started September 6 so my schedule is pretty regular now, but before school started I took a little vacation! Dian, Juanita and I treated ourselves to 2 nights at the SandCastle Hotel in Ocho Rios. Air conditioning, hot water, a pool, walks on the beach, rum punch, free internet access, cable TV, and great company! A real treat! Our reason/excuse was to give us time to work on 2 Peace Corps reports due in September. One was our Community and Sector Inventory and the other was our trimester report. These are to enable our PC supervisors to read what we have learned and what we need help on, and to report to the US government statistics about how many lives we have touched etc. I found both to be helpful.
I also took Diann on a turtle hatching- this one was unique in the Mel had 3 nests to open so we had 3 buckets of hatchlings and we got to count and release them. Mel had been keeping an eye on some local fishermen who had a huge net out in the bay. So after we released the turtles we all went with Mel to visit the fishermen. They had caught 2 juvenile green turtles in the net, so Mel untangled them and we got to see them before he released them back to the sea. Even though catching turtles is illegal in Jamaica, most likely they would have been eaten if we hadn’t been there. This coming October the whole bay where the turtles are nesting will be a designated fish sanctuary. Mel has been warning the fishermen about this deadline, and some effort has been made to offer the fisherman some training in landscaping with the opportunity of jobs with the nearby hotels.
School starts at 8:30 am with devotions, usually outside with students lined up by grade with the boys on one side, the girls on the other. There are grade 6 monitors to keep kids in line. They sing a few hymns, have a prayer and usually end with the Lord’s Prayer or sometimes Psalm 23. Classes begin at 9AM. I am pulling out small groups of 4-6 kids from grades 3, 4 or 5 and bring them to the library for about 45 min twice a week. I work on sight words, decoding skills and reading stories ending with comprehension questions. This year I plan to use the computer room as a reward for good behavior and progress in their skills. I also hope to have a “Treasure Chest” with special prizes for when the kids have read 20 books or other noteworthy accomplishment. Donations would be lovely! Items such as fancy pencils and erasers, matchbox cars, or fun little games would be so nice. These low readers have been passed from grade to grade and they don’t have much self esteem. And when I say “low” I mean grade 5 students reading at primer level or maybe grade 1!
Besides my pullout groups (currently 36 kids, school has about 270 kids) I plan to open the school library 3 days a week at lunch and after school. I have asked the grade 6 students who would like to be library helpers to submit a letter to me by this coming Monday. I like working with the grade 6 students and this gives them a chance to help out their school and gives me help! School is out at 3PM except Thursdays when school is out at 2PM to give teachers an hour for lesson planning and staff meetings. I also am in the process of developing a computer lab course on word processing for the grade 5 & 6 students. I hope to find a college student or parent to take over this Friday program.
At the moment, I am not needed at Swim Jamaica for fall; I ended the summer teaching 3 days a week when one of the instructors left for work in Canada. I miss the water! I am still hopeful that we can get lessons started in Ochi this year.
Success! I made 2 screens for my 2 windows- I bought screening= referred to as mosquito mesh, made a frame of cardboard and stapled and tacked Velcro to the frames. Velcro makes it possible for me to undo a section to lock my windows when I am going away or for hurricanes. It’s wonderful to be able to leave my windows open and not have a herd of little tiny and quiet mosquitoes munching on me!

I CAN’T BELIEVE IT’S BEEN 5 MONTHS SINCE I CAME TO JAMAICA!
This has been kind of a quiet month- mid July to mid August. I led a round table discussion on stress at the little church on my road- met both the Basic School teachers ( Basic School is ages 3-6 including Kindergarten) which is moving into their new building across from the little church right where I catch my taxis.
The end of summer school ended with a “field trip” into Ochi- not at all like one in the states! Was decided the day before and students were just told to tell their parents- no letters home or permission slips, or much in the way of planning. Crazy! I just kept telling myself “I’m not in charge, go with the flow….”
Ron and Carol Sands, a retiree couple from our group #81 came for a respite visit- they are up in the Blue Mts.- coffee country, with no paved roads, an hour hike to Carol’s school. They really have challenges! But they can get coffee right from the farmers- so let me know if you want some! We all went to turtle hatching- and it is just as awe inspiring the second time!
Jamaica celebrates Emancipation Day on August 1st, and Independence Day on August 6th. No fireworks, there was a parade in Kingston but that was the only one I heard of. Celebration in Ochi was kind of an all night block party- lots of people in the streets, lots of vendors selling jerk pork or chicken etc.
Carol and Ron inspired me so I have been doing more walking; I have walked into Ocho Rios – downhill about an hour. I have also been walking uphill to my school (45 min.). I usually go up twice a week to use the internet and walk back home. I am in training to hike the Blue Mt. in December!
I finally got a library card for the Ocho Rios library- they wouldn’t give me one until I brought in my electric bill to prove I lived here. I am now reading James Michener’s Caribbean. It’s been a great read since everything is right here! Did you know Columbus was stranded on Jamaica for 9 months?
Peace Corps invited me into Kingston to talk about the Swim Jamaica program with 14 new Peace Corps Response Volunteers. These are returned PCV’s who have accepted a 6 month assignment for a specific project. These 14 are here to help with HIV projects and sports programs.
Courtesy of my landlord, I got to join a working plantation tour-mostly bananas, and then Dunn’s River Falls. This is a prime tourist site with the usual vendors and hype, but it was fun to go up the falls- the water was nice and refreshing!
This past weekend I journeyed to the parish of Portland and the town of Port Antonio and visited with Jerry, Group #81, and his wife Kathy. Jerry will be turning 70 this month and is starting a training program in fiber glassing. Since Port Antonio, Errol Flynn’s old haunt, has a wonderful marina and obviously boats, this could lead to some skilled jobs for his students. We had fun finding Long Bay, eating curry shrimp, swimming in Fisherman’s Cove and visiting Great Hut- an ecologically friendly native West African resort. A very fun weekend. And Jerry showed me how he made screens for his windows so I am inspired to make some for mine! So there, you ol' mosquitoes!
Sadly we have had 3 of our group #81 go home early - we had high hopes tthat our group would be able to stay the whole 2 years together. But each person had their own particular situation to deal with, and we wish them well.
Jamaica is really struggling- with not enough employment, a too crowded and often ineffective educational system, violence, and poor infrastructure plus a few more issues I haven’t really identified yet. But the people, when you take the time to get to know them, are very nice.

July started out with a bang- but no fireworks! About 35 of us PCV s gathered at Cocono House in Treasure Beach (south coast) for our own 4th of July. It was fun to be together and hear about everyone’s sites and experiences. Lots of cooking (we had a potluck buffet on the 4th), playing, talking, drinking, beach walking- the surf was up so just a little swimming, and a general good time had by all. I had borrowed a nice blow up air mattress- heavy to haul around in my roll bag, but I slept well- with a wonderful ocean breeze! Then summer school started (no break at all - the last day of school was Friday, July 2, and summer school began July 5th) I had volunteered to assist Mrs Minnott, my counterpart person and an excellent 1st grade teacher. Our focus was to be on basic phonics and word decoding skills. Class was to be M- TH 9am to 12pm through July 29th. The first week we had an average of 6 kids, and I was thinking how many kids needed to be there but weren’t. No letter went home and no announcements at school, only an announcement at the PTA meeting. The parents need to pay $500 JA per week, that‘s expensive for some families. Beginning the 2nd week we have averaged 15 kids, and most of them really need this focus. Students range from entering 2nd to entering 5th grade. I have learned that classes don’t usually start at 9 and don’t end at 12- definitely island time for the summer! I also started helping Swim Jamaica lessons on Wednesdays. I assist a very capable young man, Dave, with his level 1 class of 15 students. Then I walk them to the showers across a field so that Dave can start his second class, a level 4 class. I have sat in on 2 staff meetings and hopefully made some usable suggestions. I still love teaching kids to swim! We are discussing restarting adult lessons in August. I am still hopeful that we will be able to have lessons in Ocho Rios this fall. I went to a Wardens training meeting in Mandeville- another traveling experience involving 4 route taxis and 1 bus but a quick 2 ½ hours! Was interesting- I am now the Assistant (ie Ass) Warden for St. Ann parish- we currently have 20 volunteers in our parish. The warden is responsible for contacting all volunteers about any emergencies- both weather related - hurricane season is June - Oct., and civil unrest as we experienced in Kingston, and other Peace Corps info. Any volunteer spending the night away from his home needs to let his warden know where he will be as well. We reviewed hurricane procedures and that we should expect a consolidation drill soon. St. Ann parish would go to Montego Bay to consolidate- that way we are close to an airport if we need to be evacuated- not likely but possible. While in Mandeville one of our volunteers I was with was almost pick pocketed- it reminded all of us to stay alert and follow our safety training! The very best thing this month was Friday night July 23rd my landlord Steve, his 2 children and I went out to a private beach in Oracabessa (20 min away) to help baby sea turtles to the sea! This is something I have always wanted to do- and it truly is a bunch of little miracles! This English retiree has become a turtle expert and after 7 years he has learned how to assist the babies without harming them. He keeps elaborate logs on how many nests , data on the mother turtles and on the nest, its location and depth, and is able to predict when the hatchlings will be ready to come out. Very impressive! When we arrived, we helped stamp down the crab holes along the path to the sea. Then Mel started lifting the babies out of the nest ( he said they would work their way out eventually but this way he can count them ) There were 196 baby Hawksbill turtles in “our” nest! And about 25 unfertilized eggs. We each got to hold one turtle in our hand- such an awesome sensation to see them “wake up” and begin to wiggle and look around. Then we had to put them back in the pack and watch them all scurry to the sea. They crawled over rocks, sticks and shells but all went right to the water. Mel says if the night is dark and the nest is near to one of the two street lights, they will make a half turn away from the sea towards the light- and they won’t make it to the sea at all. We could see little heads bobbing up for air in the water. The first 2-3 years they eat plants then they move on to other marine life. They won’t be ready to lay eggs for about 17 years or so. Hawksbill turtles are one of 3 critically endangered species of sea turtles, the others are “just” endangered. Mel says he gets a few Green turtles and Loggerhead turtles laying eggs on this beach but 80%+ are Hawksbill. This was such an amazing evening, and I was so glad my Jamaican landlord & family could be there- to learn about “their “ turtles. Young Steven took videos (me too) and he really was excited! I hope to go out again in the next few weeks. I am on Mel’s list to call if he needs help- if we expect a hurricane hit he has to pack up the unhatched eggs and move them to safety. It was also such a delight to share this with grandson Jackson- he is an animal lover and he was so excited! And he already knew about Hawksbill turtles!

3 Months in Jamaica

3 months in Jamaica!

On May 21st, 37 of the original 38 of us trainees were sworn in at the US Embassy. A very meaningful ceremony and especially our 3 group #81 representatives did a fabulous job summarizing our hopes and experiences. We were out of Kingston before the real violence began there. The situation has not really been resolved yet as the man the US wants extradited has not been found, there is now a reward posted for him. We (Peace Corps volunteers) are not allowed to travel in the Kingston area without special permission and may not use public transportation (route taxis and buses)
My apartment in Breadnut Hill is beginning to feel like home (Carrie sent a housewarming box- it took a while to get to me but so nice to receive!) I am very fortunate in having a wonderful landlord and nice neighbor tenants.
I have settled into a school routine for the rest of this year (the last day of school is June 29th. ) I pull kids out for special tutoring M-TH 5 groups of 4 or 5 come M & W and 4 groups come T & TH. On Friday I have been bringing small groups of 6th graders up to our computer lab.
The library is up and running but I am still trying to figure out a system for usage as I get big groups of kids wanting to turn in a book and lots of pushing and shoving. It is great to have this short end of school time to see how things work so that come Sept. I will be better able to design my schedule. I have really enjoyed the 6th graders- they are so eager for more responsibility. I’ll have to find new helpers next fall! The library is in need for more books- especially Level 1 and 2 beginner readers and books boys might want to read - I have lots of Hannah Montana books! Today the Grade 6 students learned their GSAT test results and what high school they will be going on (all based on test scores not location) there were some very upset kids, and a few happy ones.
The highlight for me has been a trip to see Swim Jamaica lessons in action at the James Bond Beach in Orcabessa - a $140 JA taxi trip east of Ocho Rios. I observed their end of session lesson assessment day and then this week I took the Assistant Instructor course. It was fun to get back into teaching kids swimming! I knew I had missed it but hadn’t realized how much. I need to take the Royal Canadian Lifesaving course in order to be a “regular” instructor - they don’t accept Am. Red Cross here. One step at a time! The group is working on securing a site for lessons in Ocho Rios and that would work out perfectly! A few of the teachers at my school want to learn to swim- so maybe we can work that in this summer too.
Group #81 continues to be a great support system, and since I am near the beach and have a spare bed, I have invited friends over for an R & R weekend! I hope to go see other parts of the island as well.
I am feeling much more at home on Breadnut Hill- most of the taxi drivers know me and when I walk home I visit with the people at the small stands along the road. I learned what a nutmeg looks like before it is out of its shell (?) and not dried yet. They also grow allspice and chocolate up here! Plus lots of mangoes and sour sop and June plums- I’m learning what they all look like and taste like!
The Jamaicans are a welcoming people who are always asking how I like their island! I love the jerk chicken and pork! Come and try it yourself!

Breadnut Hill Primary School

BREADNUT HILL PRIMARY SCHOOL

I have been at my school for about a week now. It is exciting to finally be here. I have now sat in on each of the classrooms, talked with all the teachers, and explored the library and computer room. All the teachers are looking forward to help for their low students and utilizing the computer room On Thursday I was one of 3 judges for a Reading contest- grades 1-3 finalists (5 each grade) had to answer questions about the book they had read= written answers, then read aloud a passage. The grades 4-6 each put on a readers theater production complete with costumes. The Ministry of Education sent 2 literacy consultants to observe. The one consultant is eager for me to open the computer room and use some phonics software for the kids needing help. So obviously that is a priority I will be working on - school runs to the end of June, so I have a month as a trial run for next school year.
I also have gotten to know some of the 6th grade girls and they are helping put the library in some kind of order, stamping books and arranging them. The school has been given multiple copies of the same book (and I mean 50-60 copies) which isn’t that helpful as libraries go- I hope to see if other school have this problem, maybe we can create a book swap! I should know next week what types of books we are lacking- right now I would say level 1 and 2 beginning reader books and books for boys. Here too, just like the US there is concern for boys not being interested in reading. We have lots of Hannah Montana!

The school doesn’t have any after school programs although some kids seem to stay later just hanging out. I have been watching some of the boys play cricket- using a tennis ball or an inflated juice box. Oh, they sell bag juice which most of the kids drink - cheaper that bottles or cans. Most don’t put a straw in, just bite a hole and drink. I get school lunch free- so far it has been chicken and rice and peas, curry chicken and rice, and mac and cheese and mac and veggie mite ( vegetarian meat substitute very common here cheaper than beef).
I am mastering taking the taxi every where- grocery shopping is a challenge since you can only buy what you can carry to the taxi stand (3 blocks away) and then up the hill and down 36 steps to my place!

Because of the violence in Kingston, all of the Peace Corps Volunteers are on Alert status and we have a procedure in place to communicate anything to us and what steps we should take. I feel very safe in this neighborhood.

almost swearing-in day!

SWEARING IN DAY IS TOMORROW!

After 9 weeks of training and orientation the Peace Corps Jamaica #81 group is finally ready to swear in. Tomorrow at the US Embassy we will take our oath, 4 of our group will give a short speech, a guest speaker and the charge d’ affairs will preside. Our site supervisors will be there and after a short reception we will head to our new homes across the island. This week we enjoyed hotel living with hot water, usually, and a pool and a bar, next week we begin life on a Peace Corps volunteer budget. But this week was busy with last minute trainings on budgeting and final documents. It has been great to hear about everyone’s sites and housing, and plans on how to visit each other.
Another especially nice event was that Wes, our acting PC director, invited all 11 of us over 50(years that is) volunteers to his house for dinner. He said his mother was a PC volunteer at 62 to Romania and she told him to look out for us older, vintage volunteers and treat us right. It was a lovely dinner at his VERY nice apartment with a wonderful view of Kingston.
Jamaica has some nice amenities that many PC sites don’t have, such as pretty universal cell phone coverage and running cold water (with some lock outs due to the drought). Our housing has been selected for safety as crime- theft and robberies- are pretty common. Unemployment is high- bauxite mining is about done here, and of course the state of the world economy.
I am excited to begin what I came here to do- contribute to improving life here in Jamaica. I thank you all for your offers of help and will keep you posted on my needs and ways you can help!

A Day at the beach

A DAY AT THE BEACH

May 1 4 PCV’s joined a pensioners bus trip to discovery bay, Puerto Seco beach. Amazingly the bus trip took 2 ½ hours to go across the island- the good news was that the bus was a government bus - big, huge windows and nice seats with no smalling up! We stoped at faith’s Pen- an Jamaican landmark with a row of Red Stripe wooden booths selling jerk chicken, pork, festival etc. then we drove through Fern Gully- truly a deep gully with wonderful ferns growing along the sides. A very narrow road so sometimes the bus had to stop to let another big bus pass us. Was interesting to talk with some of the retirees and hear about where they grew up along the way.
The beach was one that charged (JA $350 for adults) and was fabulous! Very clean, nice little cement picnic tables all around, the water was fabulous- so blue and clear- you could swim along and see to the bottom. Lunch was included in our feed- the usual beach fair of chicken, rice and peas and a coleslaw. I actually had a chance to swim along the buoy line, and then had fun teaching a Jamaican senior how to float- she was so thrilled! Just being at the beach felt so relaxing!

Today May 5, was Teacher's Day in Jamaica. The children in the 4th grade classroom where I have been doing my practicum decorated the blackboard, and picked flowers from the school yard and arranged them in a basket for Mrs. Channer. they also decorated here chair with flowers and had a tiara for her. A few children brought gifts. It was so cute to see them work so hard on this. Mrs Channer accepted everything so graciously!.
Then I taught a lesson on rocks- igneous, sedimentarty & metamorphic. Was a struggle at times to keep everyone on the same page- litterally and figurateively. lots of out of the seat to find someone who had a pencil sharpener to borrow, or a pencil. exhausting! but they really got into making a metamorphic rock sandwich ( 3 slices of bread with pressure applied by walking on the baggie) Quite a lesson for me as well!. The students were excused after lunch so that the principal could host a lunceon for the teachers. All of us Trainees were thrilled to have a few hours off! We have to submit a teaching portfolio this Friday, so this worked well!
The link will help you learn about the SOS Village that this school is attached to

Hellshire, Jamaica

first month in Jamaica

I am trying this blogging thing on the recommendations of 2 of my fellow trainees who have found this an easy way to keep everyone back home up to date on what life in Jamaica as a Peace Corps trainee is like. I hope you will find this interesting too.
JAMAICA #1
Wha Gwan or What’s happening?
I have been a Peace Corps Trainee in Jamaica for a month now. And have a month to go until the official swearing in to become a PC Volunteer. If I have the schedule correct, I will visit my selected work site the last week before swearing in. I am eager to know which part of the island I will be living in!
So… there are 38 in group #81 and many friendships have developed already, PC has even developed a peer support network for all the volunteers here in Jamaica (group #79 and #80 plus #81). That’s nice to know.
Training has been intense at times, hot often, and too many hours sitting, but we have now moved on to more practical training. The first 2 weeks we were with host families in Hellshire and were initiated into Jamaican culture and foods. Now I am staying with a different host family in Stony Hill, north of Kingston about 30 min. Everyone is very helpful and eager to show us off and teach us. Since Jamaica as a whole is in a drought quite often we only have cold water bucket showers. But that feels pretty good when you are really hot! No one has AC, including the schools and most offices.
I have been surprised how hot it is here- and we hear August is the hottest- I thought I would adapt quicker after living in Guam, but it is coming along slowly.
The island has lots of vegetation and many many fruit trees- mangos- 5 different kinds, coconuts, pineapple, star fruit, papayas, ackee, limes, watermelon, sugar cane is sold to munch on, lots of yams, sweet potatoes, pumpkins. Carrots
The food has surprised me- I thought it would be spicier - jerk chicken and pork is great, then the national dish- ackee and salt fish- ( the salt fish was way to salty for me) the ackee is nice- a fruit that somehow boils up like a pasta. Lots of boiled yams, pumpkin, green bananas ( a bit too bland and very starchy). Stewed fish- with head ( I ignore it) Fried sliced plantains, curry chicken and curry goat over white rice. There are goats everywhere, eating the grass along the roadsides- and they seem to know how to cross the street without getting run over! Rice and peas are kind of a staple- the peas are really red kidney beans. It will be nice when I have my own place and can plan my own meals!
Church- plays an extremely important part of Jamaican life. They brag that they have the most churches per population in the world! I visited a tabernacle church- 3 hour service with lots of praise and alleluias and laying of hands in a little zinc roof church with no fans but they had a drummer and elec. Guitar. Then last Sunday I went with my second host family to a United church of Christ- very mainline Protestant with many hymns I knew, and less than 2 hours long. They too had a drummer, and a trumpeter. The public schools- often founded as church schools originally, start the day with school devotions, they pray in class before lunch and at the end of the day. Most meetings start with a prayer as well.
Public transportation- since many families do not have a car, and Peace Corps will not allow us to drive here anyways, learning the system is very important. I just had my first long distance trip on my own from Stony Hill to Little London, close to Negril at the far western end of the island. That 210 km trip took 6 hours going and 4 hours returning! After a taxi to the country bus depot, Brad and I boarded a mini van- what we would class as a 15 passenger van with 4 rows of seats. Then you wait until the van is full before it heads out to its destination. So on the trip out we waited 2 hours for the driver to round up 18 adults (everyone “smalls up” ) then we took off- since time is money, speed limits have very little importance! I was sure he was going 80 but glad I could not see the speedometer (if it worked!) The coming back was even more crowded- I was in the way back seat with 2 other adults and 3 kids, maybe ages 10, 10 and 7- one on the women’s lap and that wasn’t even her child. I think the bus held 22 when it left!, this driver was a bit more careful thank goodness!
Crime is here in Jamaica, so we have had trainings to thwart pickpockets and to keep bus money in separate pockets so you don’t open your billfold in public. Most of the more lethal crimes are gang related mostly in Kingston (where we can only go with prior permission). Most everyone has bars on their windows and front gates they lock at night. Peace Corps encourages us to become integrated into our communities as the best deterrent- the neighborhood will keep an eye out for you once they know you are helping at the school or wherever.
Schools- are based on the British system and have a very important placement exam in 6th grade to determine which kind of high school you can go to. Students list school preferences, they are not limited by where they live, but the parents have to pay for the taxi/bus for them. All students are in uniform preschool thru h.s. Kids can drop out after 9th grade. This past TH & Fr. I visited Deb and Kirk- PC “vintage volunteers “ ( the over 55 group) who have been here 1 year as literacy aides. Their school has over 900 students grades 1-6, each grade has 4 classes which are “streamed” so that the Blue class has the brightest and the Orange has the slowest with red and yellow in the middle. Most classes have 40+ kids per teacher, and hardly any supplies. Kirk was given a white board and 1 white board marker for the year. Needless to say the library has only a few books but at least they are able to keep it open 2 days after school plus lunch times. The library is in a donated converted shipping container. Lunch recess is completely unsupervised- the teachers must be exhausted and need their break! Deb and Kirk pull out kids that have potential to pass the 4th grade literacy exam and or the 6th grade exam and work with them in small groups of 3 or 4. Since there is no special ed, they have to be selective on how many kids they can take on effectively. I am expecting that the school I am assigned to will be pretty similar. Once I know more I am sure I will be requesting help with supplies from all of you. Maybe some of you can find out how much it will cost to send 10 pounds of books construction paper etc. check on the media rate / the slow boat rate. THANKS! I understand it can be pretty expensive. So if you are coming to Jamaica, leave room to bring things! There are some sources for free books from various organizations- I can work on that once I’m placed, then may just need shipping $. Will keep you all posted.
FUN- after visiting with Deb and Kirk they took me to Negril- on the far western end of the island only a 20 min. taxi ride from their place. Finally I saw the Jamaica the travel brochures show you! The 7 mile beach was gorgeous, the water warm beautiful and the sand clean, we spent a few hours enjoying it. That was a wonderful refresher! There are “regular” resorts, high end ones and the all inclusive ones in this area. They have found it is important for them to take time to refresh themselves and come often on the weekends. Tourist season is Nov.- April with the 2 end months being not too busy and often good rates can be had. (remember that!). I have not been to any of the other north shore resort areas yet.
Here are 2 Peace Corps principles I want to share-
“If you want to reach fast, go alone,
If you want to reach far, work together.”

And ACT LOCAL, THINK GLOBAL

The goal is to build on Jamaica’s strength and try to develop projects that can be sustained when the volunteer leaves.

I hope you enjoy this update, maybe I’ll put together another one next month once I become official! Thanks and love to all of you for your encouragement and support!

Pam