Food Update!

Once again I've failed to post for a while, despite everything that has gone on in the past week. From learning to drive manual in a Town Ace van to riding through Coronation Market in Tivoli Gardens (the oldest market in the Caribbean, right in downtown Kingston) to attending a steelband concert, this week has been full of diverse array of experiences.

This is the van we're learning to drive.  

(I stole the photo from Jen's Facebook and wanted to give her credit!)

During this past week we found out the service sites that will be our primary locations for the coming year. I will be based in the community of Cross Keys, where Michelle is currently the volunteer. As this will now be the program's second year in Mandeville, they are looking to branch out beyond the initial sites, and therefore I was also given the communities of Knockpatrick and Prattville. On Friday I spent the day in Cross Keys with Michelle doing home visits and getting to know the priest out there, Father Patrick. A pretty young guy from Kenya, Fr. Patrick seems like he will be a lot of fun to work with this year.

Since I am going to have all year to discuss my experiences in Cross Keys, I'll save you from the rather boring anecdotes of initial encounters. Instead I'll entertain (or try to entertain) you by introducing all of the Jamaican foods that I have had so far, many of which I never even knew existed before arriving. (I haven't taken any pictures of what we've eaten, but if you click on the name of the food, I've linked to a photo on another website). As someone who loves breakfast foods, I was shocked at some of the foods that are common for Jamaican breakfast. For example, the national dish here is ackee and saltfish. Ackee is a vegetable that grows in a shell that looks a little like a flower, but which when cooked looks a lot like scrambled eggs. I liked that dish, but I definitely would have preferred to eat it for lunch or dinner, as I'm not used to eating something that salty that early in the morning! Another breakfast food that we have had is bammy, which is sort of like a bread made out of cassava (also known as yuca). They serve it with baked beans, which is good because it is sort of plain without it. Another popular food is boiled green bananas; I never even knew that green bananas were edible. When we were served that for breakfast I expected it to taste like a banana, but it is very tasteless and starchy, almost like a boiled potato. I didn't dislike boiled green bananas, but I don't think that it's something I'll ever decide to cook for myself.

There are so many more foods that I have tried, but I'll save them for another time. For those of you that were waiting for this, my pale skin got its first sunburn today, as my left arm hanging out the window for the hour drive was disastrous. I'll be sure to wear sunblock tomorrow on our day off adventure (and I promise I'll post about that sooner rather than later)!