Captain's Log May

June 2nd



A volunteer from the community has begun teaching at the school and it turns out he is an amazing teacher. He is not trained but he has the passion and the aptitude. Right now he has his entire class engaged. He might be a little harsh to the children but he is pushing them. None of these students have ever been pushed before.

It is very late right now but I will briefly go over my work today. I read over the past few posts and I realized I never talk about work….
I start my day off around 7AM with breakfast and by 8:00 I am out the door. Devotional prayer at school starts at 8:30 and my walk should only take 30 minutes so you would think I would always be on time… False. I am always late because my community loves to stop and say hello to me and I love getting to know everyone. Guess I need to start leaving earlier.

Today I met a father and son who farm their family land together and a Rasta family that is in dire need of assistance. After speaking with the rasta family for 30 minutes or so I continued on my walk. While at school I perform my secretarial duties for the development club, mentor students, try to understand the complex water system at the school, plan health and sanitation presentations for the classroom, tutor students who have fallen behind and discourage students from cutting class. When I get home I talk on the phone, read, clean, and take care of the dishes after dinner. Living the dream.

I miss my family, especially my dog Morgan. You can’t ask a dog how she is doing, not over the phone.


June 1st

Get busy living, get busy dying.

Quote-

“If you want the girl you are going to have to shed a few tears, not like a girl, like someone that wants girls.” Sounded better when I didn’t take out the expletives.

Friday night my supervisor asked me to travel to Mo-bay with her so that we could try to register the club. Now when she charters a taxi, it’s never just her getting a ride. We JAM people into taxis. A normal size car doesn’t hold just 5 people. It's more like 6 or 7 adults and a lot more if there are kids. While in Mo-bay my supervisor and I stopped by the hospital and visited my neighbor who I was trying to get medical attention for. In a previous post I spoke about her. She was taken to the hospital after she took a turn for the worse… I was actually relieved her symptoms got worse, because at least she would now be in the hospital where she would be more likely to get the treatment she needs. She didn’t look great but she didn’t look that bad. The hospital was a tall building with a large veranda on every floor and huge windows allowing the coastal breeze to cool the building.

After getting some work done the car load of people and I spent the better part of 2 hours hanging out on the “hip strip”- a dead end road where people hangout, watch the planes land, and listen to music. Would be a great place to take a date.

The next morning I had to drag myself out of bed because I stayed up past 5 AM talking to a friend on the phone (seriously, how often can you talk on the phone with someone and not be dating?).

That morning, as I was leaving my yard (house) to grab a taxi I got word that a beloved teacher at the school had unexpectedly passed away from a heart attack. My school only has 3 teachers and this teacher was terrific. She welcomed me into the school with open arms and for that I will deeply miss her. Her unexpected passing was depressing, but in a different way than the man who was brutally killed in my community. Luckily, I have a great support network. I remember thinking I was fine but could see myself being deeply saddened if someone else where to pass away.

After speaking to my supervisor about the loss I went to visit a friend who lives on the north coast near a city named Lucce. 12 volunteers descended upon his place for the night. We played a few card games, caught up, and some of us briefly attended a street party, (I had to attend the party or else Peace Corps might take away my party animal status). The night would have been boring with any other group of people, but instead the night was a little out of control. I got dance lessons from Jamaican kids; got in a fake argument with Heather and Nick because I thought my phone relationship had more love than their marriage (a joke); and the street dance party was so awkward it was fun. We all were asleep by 12.

The next day a few of the volunteers and I stopped by Doctors Cave Beach on the way home to take a dip in the ocean, use the wireless internet and their showers. I love Doctors Cave but always thought it wasn’t really Jamaican because it’s too touristy. BUT, the beach is actually showcased on the 50 dollar bill... So maybe I should go there more often and support Jamaican tourism. Everyone should support Jamaica.

This happened a few weeks ago-
James Jerry and I are sitting on the beach just talking. Suddenly one of the guys says something like “wow, that girl is hot. Smoking hot….. wait a second, no, no she’s not about to do what I think she’s doing….”
I respond, “What!? I don’t have my glasses on. I can’t see anything! What does she look like and what is she doing?!”.
“YES! She is taking off her top!!!”
“WHAT! I CAN'T FIND MY GLASSES!”
“Ok ok ok, she got in the water, its over…. Wait, no she’s… no, she couldn’t…..”
“ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! NOW WHATS HAPPENING? WHATS HAPPENING!”
“SHES GETTING ON THE WATER TRAMPOLINE!”
“I have no idea where my glasses are, someone please shoot me.”

While we were finishing up at Doctors Cave I received more horrible news. The lady I was trying to assist in obtaining medical treatment passed away only one day after I saw her in the hospital. I was not visibly upset by the news but was very saddened. She left behind at least two children and a husband. So from the time I began this blog- the mentally disabled man I was bringing to church passed away, a man was violently murdered on my street, a great teacher I work with unexpectedly passed away, and my next door neighbor died because she couldn’t find proper medical treatment.

Goals-
This weekend I am going in to Kingston and Spanish Town for a Peace Corps Meeting. While I am there I am going to talk to Food for the Poor to find out if I can get some assistance for the community. Many community members have leaking roofs, no toilets, and are malnourished. Also, the school has a huge sanitation and water problem. My long term goal is for the students to know a few ways to conserve water and to provide the school with a reliable source of water to flush toilets and drink.


May 26th

Quote-

“The short cut is great, except when it’s muddy. Never venture down it in the rain”
I feel like I am racing a car towards a brick wall. I should put on the brake but instead I am slamming down the gas,” said by one of the guys in the community about a girl he likes.
“Gavin what are you going to name your kids?”
“Unicorn and Ostridge Face”

Last night was Pine Fest (Pineapple Festival). Anne, Annelease, Nick and Heather came up from surrounding areas. There were at least 4 huge sound systems blaring different music in the square, and lots of food and booze. Unfortunately, I heard the event was not a success because the festival was only one day instead of three; and the lack of a musical guest star all contributed to a low turnout. I was also bummed because Annelease, Heather and Nick left the party before the dancehall started. Dancehall is equivalent to dance/rap music but with some Jamaican flavor. Anne and I danced for a while but she was tired from the past weekend so she also retired early that night. But looking back, I guess we were lucky that we turned in early; because at the street party someone fired a gun causing the police to cancel the rest of the dance. – To signal that you like a song it’s common for people to use one hand to symbolically shoot the sky (“pull up”). Using a real gun is not uncommon.

I really like my new living arrangement. This morning I ate a HUGE breakfast. But I do miss my last host family (at Stud’s). We left on very good terms and I plan on continuing to visit and spending a large amount of my free time down at that yard (house). I have already visited twice. Today when I went down there I took the short cut which takes about 2 miles off the hike. I was told in the past to never take the short cut while it is muddy but I decided to go for it. Bad idea. I busted butt 5 times before I reached the bottom. My backside, bag, arms and legs where covered in mud. I was even wearing a new shirt. : ( Even thought it was a bad idea I will always, no matter what, take the short cut. I am not walking an extra 2 miles.

Good news, the puppy at Stud’s that I thought was going to die is looking at lot better and I was able to take a shower when I got back to my house. It is only the 4th time that there has been enough pressure in the pipe for me to take a shower. I normally take bucket baths.

Prayer Request-
There is a loving family of at least 4 that lives next-door to Studs. I have been recently meeting with this family and have noticed that they seem paralyzed by fear that the cost of the mother’s health problems places treatment out of reach. I think I wrote about this in my blog last week. I spoke to the family 2 days ago and was shocked to see how quickly the woman’s health has deteriorated. Without going into detail I can only say that I planned on visiting the next day during business hours so we could make some calls to the hospital. That night I spoke with Emily a Peace Corps volunteer that has worked with the hospital and my mom who took care of my grandmother when she had some of the same ailments. When I went back to visit the family I was very saddened to hear that the women had to be taken to the hospital the very night I spoke with her. Maybe this is good, at least she is getting treatment….

I spent hours at night on the phone. I have never been a phone person but it’s not the lack of TV and sometimes power that causes me to pick up the phone, instead, I actually enjoy talking to my new friends.


May 25th

Mothers know Best!

Quote- “I am in love with you”

“I kind of have a phobia of eating old fruit”

Today I spent the day watching a community member prepare food for tomorrow’s pineapple festival. Her kitchen could give Willy Wanaka’s factory a run for its money. It consists of a dilapidated shack with no stove ventilation, a dirt covered floor, no sink, a bag of soap, a wood stove and a gas stove. But it’s not the kitchen that makes the food; it’s the cook, and in this case the cook knows exactly what she is doing.

I was a waste of space in the kitchen. I took the opportunity to call friends and family back in the states and help collect wood for the fire. I trekked up into the Cockpit (uninhabited no mans land) to gather the firewood. Tip- don’t walk into the jungle with shorts on. Everyone thought I was insane for walking into the jungle with shorts but I followed kids! I thought if they could do it, I could do it! Two of the kids had shorts on and for some reason they were fine. Plus, that morning I had sprayed some Deep Woods Off Mosquito Repellent all over my body. The repellent did keep 90% of the bugs away but when there are a billion bugs in the jungle 10% is still a feeding frenzy. To make things a lot worse, in the jungle there is a plant the children call Courage. I was expecting it might cut me or sting me a little but nothing worth fussing about. I WAS WRONG! The first time I brushed my ankle up against it, I was climbing down a very steep ledge; I felt a mild burning sensation on my ankle like I had just scraped my leg but I kept trucking. However, just two seconds later it felt like my ankle was covered in ants. I seriously felt like something was attacking my leg. I freaked out a little. “Is this normal!? Is this normal?!” “Am I going to die?!” The kids all had a good laugh and luckily, after about 30 seconds the worst of the pain was over.

I have been spending my nights talking to friends on the phone and reading. You know, living that crazy party life style. : )


Sunday May 24th

Pin Fest

I was told from the Peace Corps rumor mill that I have been pegged as a party animal. Ha!! But in all seriousness, I can understand how the Peace Corps thinks I party too much because recently I have been willing to try new dance moves, teach volunteers underwater karate, and I am always saying “Today is the best day of my life!” I take my work very seriously but I am also having the time of my life.

I have made a few great friends during my time in Jamaica. Too bad most of them live in Kingston. Blah, that’s a 4 or 5 hour drive.

Oh, did I ever mention that I moved out of the rasta house?! Right now I am living on top Stonehenge. I think I might have mentioned this…. Anyway, I live with a married man whose wife lives in a foreign country. He drinks a million cups of tea a day and informed me that I have a chamber pot under the bed. I guess I can pee without having to leave my bed. Hurray!

Quote of the Day!

A man approached James Jerry and I at an appliance store in Mo-Bay. I thought he was going to tell me I shouldn’t be waving my cell phone around and be talking about where we would be spending the night (Foulmouth or Ocho Rios) but things went downhill fast…
Stranger- “See we are all one. We all are people. White Black it doesn’t matter”
Us- “yeah, totally agree, one love man, out of many one people”
Stranger- “Except Chinese and Indians. You never see those types helping no one. Historically it has been the white man helping blacks. “
Us- We stare back in disbelief
Stranger- “You never see a China man or an Indian dating a black or white girl. No sir. You see white and black dating one another. That is because black and white are genetically closest to one another”

We'll need to do some work on the one love man part. There are bad apples / bad perceptions everywhere.


May 21st 2009,

This picture is of the tank that I am trying to get repaired at the school I work at. The tank is said to be 80 years old and from my observations it holds at least 1000 gallons of water. The problem is the water drains almost as fast as a bucket without a bottom. There must be a massive leak in the tanks foundation as well as many small leaks around the sides.








Past 2 nights I spent in Kingston for therapy -Peace Corps thought it would be a good idea if I spoke with a therapist after seeing the mutilated body a few days ago... I am fine. While I was in Kingston I planned on visiting LeeAnn while she was working at an orphanage. However, and I feel really bad for this, I was unable to visit her because my meetings with Peace Corps staff kept running longer than expected and I spent time talking to volunteers who where in the process of E.T.ing (early termination). SORRY LEEANN! I MISS YOU!

Emily a PCV who lives in the surrounding area came in to visit me. We went to the huge US hotel compound to utilize their rockin’ gym and pool. Afterwards, I attended one of Emily’s meetings for work. She was working with a really interesting local organization who is trying to establish a non-profit equestrian- horse therapy camp for at risk youth. It was a very interesting project, completely different then anything I am doing.

During my time in Kingston most of the night was spent hanging out with a group of friends (LeeAnn couldn't come out of her compound). We first went to Wendy’s, Baskin Robins, checked into my hotel room (locked the key in my room) and finally wound up at a night club. Nightclubs in Jamaica are like any other nightclub in America. Most people just awkwardly stand around while they sip on expensive drinks and watch a few people dance. For the majority of the night I was one of those awkward people. The next day we visited a burger joint, watched VH1, went to the movie theater, and more VH1. I spent way too much money- 17 American dollars! The best part was definitely watching VH1.