Not a good post

May 3rd

This morning I woke up bright and early for church. Luckily it is Sunday and that means I walk all the way to Seaford for Mass (2 or 3 hours). The 21 year old that lives with me decided he wanted to walk with me to Seaford. Right as we started walking he was able to flag down the gas man. The back of the truck was piled high with empty gas cans but a free ride is a free ride so we piled on top of the cans. Instead of walking 2 or 3 hours to Seaford we got there in about 15 to 20 minutes. The Peace Corps prefers if we only ride in red plate taxis (licensed taxis) but in the country we don’t have red plates so I wind up hitching rides. Never alone.

May 2nd
Today I was stressed. There are aspects of my site that are proving to be very difficult for me to understand and/or accept. I don’t want to post details. I am still thankful for every day I have here. I am fortunate to have great friends who live 30 minutes away. There is always music playing in Jamaica and the Night at the Roxberry song just came on. Hahaha. “what is love” ha. We used to listen to that song at all the time in highschool. Everyday has a lot of stress but I am so happy to be here.

May 1st
Today I went to Mo-Bay to visit with a teacher that works at a school designed for at risk youth and foster children. It was amazing. After speaking with the teacher I went to the beach for the rest of the day. Working in the heat and having difficulty understanding half of the people I speak with really starts to tire and stress me out. The beach is a cure all.

April 30th

This morning I was a little late for school because I was “chopping the yard” (cutting the grass with a machete). I was expecting to get ready when the 7 year old started to get ready. But as the day warmed I realized he was not going to school and I was going to be late. I was told later that he was not going to go to school because his uniform was dirty. I think truancy is going to be a difficult obstacle to overcome. The 7 year old in my household goes to school regularly, but there are kids all over Jamaica that do not. I am lucky that most of my community does highly value education.


April 29th
While getting a ride to Sav (the nearest market) I often speak Patwa. People are always surprised to see a white man in a mini bus but are almost shocked when I ask “mornin’ docta, umuch de fear?”

I am starting to really enjoy listening to dance hall.

April 28th

Today I went to work at the school where I continued to organize the library with the help of my counterpart. At the end of the day the principle walked and told us to move everything back to how it originally was! Luckily she changed her mind after we showed her the benefits of our new system.

During lunch I read with a few of the students at the school. I noticed today that there are 6th grades that do not know their entire alphabet. What I think is going on is that the students that fall behind are unable to catch up because the teachers do not have the time to give them special attention. I was in remedial classes when I was young and now I realize how fortunate I am for that. I plan on taking students out of class who have fallen behind and help them catch up.

April 27th

I spent the day at the school where I read with students and helped my counterpart organize the school library. I was very surprised that the students wanted to read to me and how well they could read. I think they could be at a higher level than I was at their age.

I am starting to get a little stressed out about my eating situation. Some days I only eat one meal a day. Luckily, the school provides free lunch for me.

Lately I have been trying to figure out why my community goes for days without running water. I think it’s because a large amount of people are not paying their water bill and a small number of people have been sealing the “gas oil” used to run the water pump. I don’t know how I am going to address the water problem but I am looking forward to working with community members to solve it.

April 26th

Today I tried to attend Mass in Cambridge- a town about 12 miles away. Mass never started and I had to pay $8 to get a ride home. It was a little frustrating to say the least.


Tonight Stud came home with a kitten. According to a member of my community, to make sure a cat likes you would should spit in its food. I watched a man spit in the cats food… I hope people are not spitting in my food.

My lap top has become the house TV. Every night we watch 2 episodes of 30 Rock. It’s a blast.