Saturday, November 21, 2009
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
October 25th Sunday
“long ways draw sweat, short cuts draw blood”
Person- “Gavin, ask your family back home to send me money. Christian people s give money, and they are Christian right? So they should give me money.”
Me- “Well, have you considered getting a small business loan to start your business?”
Person-- “Yeah I got one a few years ago; I want to get another one of those, it was really nice”
Me- “You paid if off right?”
Person- “You don't need to pay those off if the bank can't find you.”
Me- “What do you think caused the man to take his own life?”
Supervisor- “I don't know why the man committed suicide, he didn't have kids or a wife..... wait... GAVIN! Don't you committee suicide too!”
Child- “Gavin your hair is getting long again!”
Me- Should I get it cut? Or do you like it long”
Child- it's not long enough for cornrows so you should grow it out”
Me- “Deal”
I am currently writing this blog as I wait for Sunday service to began. Because transportation is so unreliable, especially on Sunday, I tend to get to church an hour early to insure that I'm not late. I have to walk 45 minutes down a muddy farm field to reach the road where I hitch hike an hour to a Church just outside of Montego Bay. Many Jamaican's think I am insane for passing so many churchs but
it's well worth it.
I have started a side project organizing a health fair for Food for the Poor. This brings me into Food for the Poor's office in Montego Bay once a week. Ask anyone in Jamaica, I LOVE Montego Bay. Unfortunately, because of the high level of crime there I am only allowed to be there once a week.
Dear President Obama:
Mice are invading my room. Please send back up.
Thank you a for the prompt counter insurgency,
Gavin Finnegan PVC
The Stonehenge Development Club recently entered into a parish wide cricket tournament. Unfortunately, most the residents of Stonehenge believe that the cricket tournament suffices for a club meeting so the club no longer meets.
My mom sent me a tube of tennis balls, aka cricket balls. I originally made the mistake of buying cheap balls in the market. These balls burst after the first big whack. The ones she sent me are legit... After school about 6 youngsters and I practice in the square. I am SOOOOOO bad. According to the kids it's because I played baseball and don't know how to protect the wicket.... Today a line drive was hit at me. I was able to get in front of the ball; normally I would have caught the ball but this time as it deflected off my body and my glasses fell off. Needless to say, I was unable to catch the ball because I could barely see it. I even had to have a kid come over and find my glasses for me. Lame. Even though I am not better than the 5 year-old, the kids love playing with me. I think it's because they love making me look bad, but I enjoy it too.
With my assistance the club has been able to acquire some small donations of food, vitamins, shoes, books, pillow cases, tooth brushes, children golf clubs and moisturizers (I took everything I could get my hands on). Distribution of this aid has NOT been the best experience.... LIFE LESSION- In developing countries the majority of people are needy. The difficulty in distributing aid is determining who is the most needy, trying to explain to community members that they are not needy enough to receive aid and trying to avoid the negative effects of aid- like developing dependencies on the aid. Fortunately, before I got in over my head, Peace Corps advised me to not take part in any distribution activities. I now work way in the background keeping records of how the aid is distributed.
A month ago the taxi driver that comes up to Stonehenge raised his fare by about 80 cents. This small increase has caused a big headache for me. The already infrequent taxi now has less people willing to pay the exorbitant fare so now the taxi takes even longer to fill. It's difficult to explain but I'll give it a shot:
I need to travel from point A to point D. To ride in a automobile the entire way I have to go from point A to point B and than travel to point D for a cost of $3 and 3 hours of traveling/waiting for the connection that may or may not come. The other option is traveling by bus from point A to point C and walking though a isolated and muddy farm field to point D. This way only costs $1.50 and takes 2 hours. Both options are a pain.
Richard and Gale and I visited Lucea last week. There Richard and I placed 2nd place in a horse shoe competition that had some stiff competition. I had a terrific time hanging out with them.
I better run to church.
Big up
Person- “Gavin, ask your family back home to send me money. Christian people s give money, and they are Christian right? So they should give me money.”
Me- “Well, have you considered getting a small business loan to start your business?”
Person-- “Yeah I got one a few years ago; I want to get another one of those, it was really nice”
Me- “You paid if off right?”
Person- “You don't need to pay those off if the bank can't find you.”
Me- “What do you think caused the man to take his own life?”
Supervisor- “I don't know why the man committed suicide, he didn't have kids or a wife..... wait... GAVIN! Don't you committee suicide too!”
Child- “Gavin your hair is getting long again!”
Me- Should I get it cut? Or do you like it long”
Child- it's not long enough for cornrows so you should grow it out”
Me- “Deal”
I am currently writing this blog as I wait for Sunday service to began. Because transportation is so unreliable, especially on Sunday, I tend to get to church an hour early to insure that I'm not late. I have to walk 45 minutes down a muddy farm field to reach the road where I hitch hike an hour to a Church just outside of Montego Bay. Many Jamaican's think I am insane for passing so many churchs but
it's well worth it.
I have started a side project organizing a health fair for Food for the Poor. This brings me into Food for the Poor's office in Montego Bay once a week. Ask anyone in Jamaica, I LOVE Montego Bay. Unfortunately, because of the high level of crime there I am only allowed to be there once a week.
Dear President Obama:
Mice are invading my room. Please send back up.
Thank you a for the prompt counter insurgency,
Gavin Finnegan PVC
The Stonehenge Development Club recently entered into a parish wide cricket tournament. Unfortunately, most the residents of Stonehenge believe that the cricket tournament suffices for a club meeting so the club no longer meets.
My mom sent me a tube of tennis balls, aka cricket balls. I originally made the mistake of buying cheap balls in the market. These balls burst after the first big whack. The ones she sent me are legit... After school about 6 youngsters and I practice in the square. I am SOOOOOO bad. According to the kids it's because I played baseball and don't know how to protect the wicket.... Today a line drive was hit at me. I was able to get in front of the ball; normally I would have caught the ball but this time as it deflected off my body and my glasses fell off. Needless to say, I was unable to catch the ball because I could barely see it. I even had to have a kid come over and find my glasses for me. Lame. Even though I am not better than the 5 year-old, the kids love playing with me. I think it's because they love making me look bad, but I enjoy it too.
With my assistance the club has been able to acquire some small donations of food, vitamins, shoes, books, pillow cases, tooth brushes, children golf clubs and moisturizers (I took everything I could get my hands on). Distribution of this aid has NOT been the best experience.... LIFE LESSION- In developing countries the majority of people are needy. The difficulty in distributing aid is determining who is the most needy, trying to explain to community members that they are not needy enough to receive aid and trying to avoid the negative effects of aid- like developing dependencies on the aid. Fortunately, before I got in over my head, Peace Corps advised me to not take part in any distribution activities. I now work way in the background keeping records of how the aid is distributed.
A month ago the taxi driver that comes up to Stonehenge raised his fare by about 80 cents. This small increase has caused a big headache for me. The already infrequent taxi now has less people willing to pay the exorbitant fare so now the taxi takes even longer to fill. It's difficult to explain but I'll give it a shot:
I need to travel from point A to point D. To ride in a automobile the entire way I have to go from point A to point B and than travel to point D for a cost of $3 and 3 hours of traveling/waiting for the connection that may or may not come. The other option is traveling by bus from point A to point C and walking though a isolated and muddy farm field to point D. This way only costs $1.50 and takes 2 hours. Both options are a pain.
Richard and Gale and I visited Lucea last week. There Richard and I placed 2nd place in a horse shoe competition that had some stiff competition. I had a terrific time hanging out with them.
I better run to church.
Big up
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Soon come
Sorry I have not posted anything in a while. As you can see from my pervious posts I lost some of my positivity.
Everything is going very well now. School is back in session AND I was able to raise the money necessary to improve the schools water system.
I also bough a very nice used bicycle.
My list of things to do takes up an entire page but I will try to make time to continue posting.
Miss everyone back at home and Big Ups to Alex for getting back in school and becoming a father. Congratulations.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Some pictures that I have recently taken.
This is the abandoned train station that I live next to
Kids collecting apples for me
I take a lot of shortcuts in my neighborhood. Today when I was walking through the bush I came across the guy, and he did not want to get out of my way. I eventually pulled a leafy branch off a tree thinking it would want to eat the branch but I ended up just scaring it out of my way.
Neighborhood kid killed a bird with his slingshot. Everyone was so impressed I just had to take a picture of it. I was a little sickened but at the same time I have
to admit I was somewhat impressed.
I should have made these last two pictures bigger.... Anyway, they are pictures of the Montego Bay Bus Park. Unless it's Sunday, it's always packed. Seeing a white person there is very peculiar so the people that work there have quickly gotten to know me.
Picture of me and some of the kids at summer school doing the Usain Bolt pose.
Monday, August 10, 2009
The best beer I ever bought -
I was walking alone on the main just two days ago (first time since being pushed) and like usual I was saying hello to everyone. My heart broke when I stopped in to say hello to an elderly person in the community- her shop was empty of all goods and I noticed that she had been sleeping on the floor with her chickens. So after chatting with the lady for a good while I noticed that she did have a lot of empty beer bottles so I decided to order a beer. She told me it would cost $130 JD (about $1.30) but I insisted on paying her $150. I gave her a large bill for her to break and she came back with the change and a big smile but no beer. I asked her where the beer was and she kindly informed me that she didn’t have any but was very grateful that I bought her a beer for later : ) I just laughed and went on my way.
Recently I have had my most trying points yet in the Peace Corps. Luckily, Peace Corps Volunteer Nexta came to my site today and she was able to really cheer me up. Just seeing my site through a new perspective revigurated me. Also, tonight’s club meeting went very well. I brought my radio and iPod so we started off the meeting with Michael Jackson’s “Beat It”. We are moving the club in a new direction and we had a visit from the well respected community Councilor.
“Don’t worry, about a thing, cause every little thing gonna be alright.”
I think Bob Marley might have been right.
---
I wrote this post last night. Today I found out that my community thinks I was tied up, beaten, and left in the jungle. In reality I was just pushed and then ran off into the jungle to get away.
ALSO, in a nearby town a man's head was found in a plastic bag. Crazy times…
Friday, August 7, 2009
Dont start nothinn wont be nothin
Read the previous post first.
The past two days have been mentally exhausting. I think my nerves are just starting to get back to normal. Now, I am just frustrated.
All the volunteers love how "I was pushed". Even though they find my adventure hiding in the jungle funny, they understand why it was frightening. Even I think it’s kind of funny.
I don’t think I did anything wrong that would provoke an attack. I could improve the way I travel but not drastically. I live in the “deep country” so there isn’t much I can do. I can walk; hitch a ride; or wait over an hour for someone I know to pick me up. But if I wait too long I could be stuck at night and forced to pay an expensive fare for a private cab. Living in the deep country presents more transportation issues than most of the other volunteers experience.
Luckily, Nexta is coming to my site to help me teach summer school for a week. There's nothing like work to get you back in the swing of things.
I still love the Peace Corps so if start your applications now, it’s amazing. Well, the pay isn’t but the life style is. Livin Big!
My new lap top comes soon!!!!
The past two days have been mentally exhausting. I think my nerves are just starting to get back to normal. Now, I am just frustrated.
All the volunteers love how "I was pushed". Even though they find my adventure hiding in the jungle funny, they understand why it was frightening. Even I think it’s kind of funny.
I don’t think I did anything wrong that would provoke an attack. I could improve the way I travel but not drastically. I live in the “deep country” so there isn’t much I can do. I can walk; hitch a ride; or wait over an hour for someone I know to pick me up. But if I wait too long I could be stuck at night and forced to pay an expensive fare for a private cab. Living in the deep country presents more transportation issues than most of the other volunteers experience.
Luckily, Nexta is coming to my site to help me teach summer school for a week. There's nothing like work to get you back in the swing of things.
I still love the Peace Corps so if start your applications now, it’s amazing. Well, the pay isn’t but the life style is. Livin Big!
My new lap top comes soon!!!!
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Crazy Times
Attacked
I don’t have a lot of time on the libraries computer….
Basically, I was walking home at dusk and I was hit from behind. I hit the ground hard scratching my palms but was able to bounce back up and instinctively jump into the “bush”/jungle and start running. Running in the bush is SLOW!!!!! and you get torn up by all the thorns. I didn’t see anything, but could tell that the person who jumped me was wearing shoes (a lot of people in my community are farmers and wear big plastic boots). This is important because originally I thought the person who jumped me was a man who that day invited me to come back to his land later and look for giant boa constrictors. WHAT?! But that guy had the big plastic boots on. That’s all I know, shoes, oh and that he was big. The pain in my neck proves that much….
So back to the story, I sat in the bush for a very long time; so long it’s embarrassing. I thought I heard something out there with me so I just sat…. Eventually I started walking and came across some goats and decided to sit with them thinking the giant snakes would be less likely to eat me with the tasty goats around. But after a while sitting I thought the owner of the goats might come across me and kill me thinking I was an intruder (there where no trespassing signs with a depiction of someone being shot). Plus with all the spiders and bugs crawling on me I was just fed up. Eventually, all the adrenalin turned to anger (forgot to mention I dropped my bag with my camera and ipod because it was slowing me down and would be the likely target for the vandal). So I came up with this ludicrous idea that I would run to Studs house (not even a ¼ of a mile away) grab his machete and beg him to come back with me to rescue my belongings. When I arrived I started telling him what happen but that anger melted away and I broke down.
Today I went back with Stud and after 10 minutes of searching I found my bag! Stud then brought me into the police station. Only when I was reporting the incident did I realize how stupid it sounded on paper….
Man pushed... Injury- small scratches... Description- person wearing shoes...
Gavin’s Adventures in the Peace Corps. Lovin’ it!
By the way, my communinity might have a bad apple but it’s still way cool. Plus I am the only Peace Corps volunteer in the Parish/County of St. James now because the only other couldn’t handle it. Got to keep my St. James pride.
On a side note, summer school is starting up again: ) and I am writing a big grant for a new water system at the school. I have up to 3K USD to write for.
I don’t have a lot of time on the libraries computer….
Basically, I was walking home at dusk and I was hit from behind. I hit the ground hard scratching my palms but was able to bounce back up and instinctively jump into the “bush”/jungle and start running. Running in the bush is SLOW!!!!! and you get torn up by all the thorns. I didn’t see anything, but could tell that the person who jumped me was wearing shoes (a lot of people in my community are farmers and wear big plastic boots). This is important because originally I thought the person who jumped me was a man who that day invited me to come back to his land later and look for giant boa constrictors. WHAT?! But that guy had the big plastic boots on. That’s all I know, shoes, oh and that he was big. The pain in my neck proves that much….
So back to the story, I sat in the bush for a very long time; so long it’s embarrassing. I thought I heard something out there with me so I just sat…. Eventually I started walking and came across some goats and decided to sit with them thinking the giant snakes would be less likely to eat me with the tasty goats around. But after a while sitting I thought the owner of the goats might come across me and kill me thinking I was an intruder (there where no trespassing signs with a depiction of someone being shot). Plus with all the spiders and bugs crawling on me I was just fed up. Eventually, all the adrenalin turned to anger (forgot to mention I dropped my bag with my camera and ipod because it was slowing me down and would be the likely target for the vandal). So I came up with this ludicrous idea that I would run to Studs house (not even a ¼ of a mile away) grab his machete and beg him to come back with me to rescue my belongings. When I arrived I started telling him what happen but that anger melted away and I broke down.
Today I went back with Stud and after 10 minutes of searching I found my bag! Stud then brought me into the police station. Only when I was reporting the incident did I realize how stupid it sounded on paper….
Man pushed... Injury- small scratches... Description- person wearing shoes...
Gavin’s Adventures in the Peace Corps. Lovin’ it!
By the way, my communinity might have a bad apple but it’s still way cool. Plus I am the only Peace Corps volunteer in the Parish/County of St. James now because the only other couldn’t handle it. Got to keep my St. James pride.
On a side note, summer school is starting up again: ) and I am writing a big grant for a new water system at the school. I have up to 3K USD to write for.
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