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Long Overdue Video

It's hard to believe that it's already December. November was a blur, but in a lot of ways it is starting to feel like Christmas around here. The kids all practice Christmas carols at school daily, the radio has been playing carols for about a month now, and our social calendar is filling up with various fundraisers, concerts, and plays. The most exciting part for me came when we were at Bosco for dinner one night last week. They had a college group there for the week volunteering, so we came to meet them. One of the Sisters came inside and told us that there was a surprise waiting next to our van, so we ran outside to see what it was. I was beyond excited to find that while in Kingston that day the Sisters had bought us a Christmas tree, imported from Canada and everything. It has jumpstarted my Christmas decorating in the house, and led to many jokes about how many snowflakes will I really make this month. It may not be cold enough for us to have snow here, but it has been pretty cold. I'm not exactly sure of the temperatures, as Mandeville is much cooler than the rest of the island, but small enough that they rarely talk about the temperature here on the news or in the paper. I just know that this is the coldest it's been since I got here, and I'm not getting used to cold showers.. the drop in temperature is making them much worse!

On another note, looking all the way back to October, I realized that I had taken some videos at the Jamaica Day celebration at the Basic School, but that I had forgotten to share those videos. My camera battery kept dying that day, so I kept getting short clips, but I put them altogether along with some of the pictures from that day. It's nothing fancy, but I hope you like it!

For Thanksgiving, a Post about Food

Most days I come home from work with food. Whether it is simply a single tangerine or a whole bag of pears (avocados), most people in the rural areas grow lots of food in their yards and are always willing to share it with me. The forty-ish year old man who loves to attend my youth club meeting in Pratville brings me bags of cane and oranges most weeks. One of the old church ladies in Cross Keys regularly sends me home with at least two different foods. From cho cho (sp?) to pumpkin to bananas, it’s always a surprise what she’ll have for me. The parents at the Basic School have even started bringing things when they pick the kids up if they saw that morning that I was there. This influx of produce has led me to start experimenting with my Jamaican cooking, as I received a bag of gungo peas and some sorrel from some parents one afternoon last week. The next day being my day off I made my most Jamaican meal yet: rice and peas. Jamaicans eat rice and peas more than any other food I have seen. The most common version of this dish is rice and red beans (which they call peas), but the traditional dish is actually made with the gungo peas, that are currently in season and which that mother had picked from her yard to give me. (The red peas version is more common because red peas are cheaper. I definitely prefer the gungo pea version.) Anyway, I knew little about how to make it, but I went to the market and asked the woman who we usually buy our produce from, and she was nice enough to give me directions AND the ingredients for free. In case anyone at home wants to try to make it (with the red peas, since I don’t know if I’ve ever even seen gungo peas at home), I’ll quickly share the directions. I boiled about a cup of gungo peas in a pot with about 4 cups of water and about 2 cups of coconut milk (I used poweder – I wasn’t ambitious enough to make my own milk from a coconut). Anyway, in that pot I also crushed two cloves of garlic and put one scotch bonnet pepper (these really spicy little peppers – I didn’t cut it or anything, just put the whole pepper in like the lady said to do). I also added some chopped scallion and a few sprigs of fresh thyme. After about 5 minutes, once the peas had cooked pretty well, I added 3 cups of rice and let it all cook together on a low heat. 

While that cooked I also cooked some bammy, which I had purchased at the market. I know I’ve mentioned bammy before, but it is one of my favorite Jamaican foods. Made from shaved cassava, it is slightly bitter, but when it is cooked it reminds me of Baba’s pedahaire (I know that is not spelt anything like it really is, but I figured the family might understand what I’m talking about better). One of the boys from my youth group has made me bammy before, and he promised that he’s going to teach me how to make it, but for now it’s a learning experience just for me to buy it and cook it.

 I soaked the bammy in milk and then fried it on a pretty dry skillet. Soaking it in milk gives it a pretty gummy texture, but then the frying makes the outside crispy, just like pedahaire with the crispy outside and potatoes inside.

Anyway, for my lunch that day I ended up having the rice and peas, bammy, AND plantains, since Natalie had been making them at the same time. Also, Kathryn had used the sorrel we received to make the sorrel drink that is so popular here at this time of year. I love the sorrel drink. It is made from these flowers that you take the petals off of and then put into boiling water with some fresh grated ginger. You then add sugar and allow it to cool. It is one of the best drinks that I have had. Jamaicans say that it’s even better with rum, but I’m yet to try it that way. Anyway, to complete my very Jamaican lunch that day I had a glass of sorrel. I’m very excited to know how to cook these things, and I hope that someone will give the rice and peas a try! If not, I’ll definitely cook it for everyone when I get back!

On another note, Happy Thanksgiving to everyone at home. It’s really strange to be here for Thanksgiving. When I missed Thanksgiving when I was in Europe it wasn’t so strange because the weather was at least cold and Tarah and Jenny were there, so it was a little bit more like a Thanksgiving weekend at home. It’s a little bit stranger to be here, but we will be having our own family Thanksgiving dinner tonight as well as a big one at Bosco tomorrow night with over fifty other Americans on the island. It’ll be nice to still have the same foods, but it definitely won’t be the same as Thanksgiving at home!

Some Updates and Some Sweet Sap

On behalf of Sean, thanks to everyone who offered ideas about his books. The good news is that a priest from his high school has a brother who owns a shipping company, so the books will be making their way to Florida soon. Thanks again for the help.

Things have been crazy here, so this is just a short post with a little taste of Jamaica. This is a picture of one of my favorite fruits here in Jamaica. The season has finished now, but they were excellent. They are called Sweet Sap, and the inside tastes a little bit like honey.

This second photo is of the inside of the Sweet Sap. The other thing on the plate is sugar cane, which is a very popular snack here, (which given the lack of money and access of dental care, you can imagine the state of a lot of people's teeth). Anyway, more on Jamaican food soon! 

Mi Beggy Some Ideas...

I'm writing this post as a bit of a plea on behalf of Sean, one of the other volunteers. This is Sean's second year serving as a volunteer at Black River High School, and beyond his role as head coach of their basketball team, Sean has set out to build their library at the school. From Jamaica he has been able to secure about SIX THOUSAND books from various sources in the States. The nonprofit Food for the Poor will be able to bring these books into Jamaica duty free, which is huge, but the problem is that the books must somehow get to Coconut Creek, Florida where the headquarters are located. Sean's family has been inundated with books, as they agreed to let him use their home on Long Island to store them. However, the transportation from Long Island to Florida fell through, and his family is looking at the holidays with a home decorated in cardboard boxes. We have brainstormed and brainstormed and tried many different options, but we are out of ideas as to how to get them to Florida in an economical way. That is why I am looking to all of you for some help. I am hoping that the more brains we have on this the better the chance of finding a solution. We welcome any and all suggestions! Thanks in advance for your great ideas!

I'm Still Here, Dad - "Don't Worry, 'Bout a Thing"

The last two weeks have been some of my busiest since arriving in Jamaica, but they have also been some of my best. From an overnight to Dunn's River Falls for our first house trip, to my new weekly routine of spending Sunday afternoons playing football at the Bosco Boys' Home, to the several days where I have been the substitute teacher and had my own class, it has been a whirlwind that I have thoroughly enjoyed, despite the fact that I have been out of energy and have a new habit of falling asleep in my taxis.

Having been in schools for over two months now, it is amazing to see the amount of progress that the students have made in such a short time. For example, yesterday morning I took taxi out to Holy Cross Basic School in Pratville, and the taxi driver was the father of one of the students from the class in which I usually work. We picked the boy up for school along the way (making him the 4th person in the front seat, sitting between me on a pillow on the center console and his father in the driver's seat). At the beginning of the year Tavary was basically a zombie; he would wander into school at a very slow pace, only when coaxed, and for at least the first month I had not heard him utter a single word, not even his name. The past two weeks he has started to give trouble in class. Most teachers (if I can group myself in that) would be annoyed by a problem student, but I've just been so happy that he's been coming out of his shell. His father didn't believe me when I told him of Tavary's newfound personality, as he claims he barely talks at home either, but when Tavary got in the taxi yesterday morning and saw me, he became animated and even answered my questions (which impressed his father). The best part was that since I was filling in for another teacher yesterday, I was not in Tavary's classroom as I usually am, yet Tavary spent the entire day sneaking out of his room and down to the four year old class where I was, content to just stand there holding my hand while I taught the letter "Hh." Every once in a while he would tell the class "Mi daddy carry Auntie Danielle a school today!" Tavary is quickly becoming one of my favorites (as is half the school), but it really is great to see the little ones becoming little people with big personalities.

Anyway, I really do want to make an effort to post more frequently (not just 'cause my father has been pestering me to do so). I feel like there are so many interesting and wonderful nuances about Jamaica that I miss when trying to post solely on big events, so I want to try to post more often and work in the small details that I think are the most important in understanding what my life here in Jamaica really is like.

Happy belated Halloween to all of you who were in a country that celebrated it! My favorite answer that I got for why Jamaica doesn't celebrate Halloween was from one of my Jamaican friends who stated that "Jamaica 'ave nuff scary people dat we don't need a 'oliday fi dem good ones a be actin' scary too!"

Passport to the PVI Residence

Yesterday was a public holiday in Jamaica, National Heroes Day, so there was no school. Natalie, Brendan, Mr. Samuels (a teacher at the Bosco Boys' Home), and I decided to have a cookout and enjoy our day off. In the course of our day Natalie and I ended up finally filming the tour of where we live, which I have been promising for a while. For some reason we chose to spend a lot of time in the schoolyard, most likely because we were excited that there weren't kids everywhere for once, but I hope that the video helps you get a better idea of where I'm living. The apartment is huge, as I'm sure you'll see,   so we are really lucky. It makes me sound terrible when I grumble about the lack of hot water and green TV, I know!

Photos!

This week was probably my favorite in Jamaica thus far. I did so many different things, and I hope to post about it soon. For now I just wanted to let you know I put up some photos from October so far, and you can see them by clicking HERE! They are from both basic schools that I go to, St. Joseph's in Cross Keys and Holy Cross in Pratville.

St. Joseph Basic School - Cross Keys

To give you a better idea of what my days are like, I'll share yesterday, especially since I took some pictures and videos!

Shaqueel, one of my favorites at St. Joseph Basic School

Kimora

On Fridays I get up at 6 am (I'm going to do a video tour of our apartment next week, I promise!), and get ready for the day. By about 7/7:15 I walk into town, which is about a 10-15 minute walk. Like I've mentioned before, I have to be pretty awake for the walk into town, 'cause there's usually a decent amount of people that are in the mood to talk, even at that early hour. When I get into town I go to the area where the Cross Keys taxis park, and I try to find one that is nearly full so that it will be leaving shortly. There's a high school down in Cross Keys, so I can usually get a taxi with students pretty quickly. Since all Jamaican schools have uniforms, it's easy to spot the Cross Keys High students, as the girls wear pink shirts and grey jumpers. Since I've been going down to Cross Keys for a while now, I'm getting to know a good number of taxi drivers, and look forward to the mornings when I get to ride down there with a familiar face. Mom, Grandma, and Grammy may want to stop reading now, but the taxi ride is pretty interesting. We usually sit with one or two people in the passenger seat and then four or five people in the back seat, not counting any kids under age 10 who can be crammed in anywhere. There is occasionally a seatbelt in the passenger's seat, but they aren't always functioning properly. Some of the cars are in good shape, but some look like they have been built by putting together the parts of about 10 different cars, so those can be interesting. I also like the ones that have a trick for every car function, whether it be putting the window up, opening the door, or even shifting. You never know what you're going to get with these cars. This particular Friday, the taxi driver only put 4 of us in the car, which was surprising, but then he told us he was going to have to drive into the "bush" to pick someone else up on the way. We all told him that was fine, but then when he pulled off the road we ended up taking a 15 minute detour down hilly dirt roads that we realized at the end was solely to avoid a police roadblock/inspection that was set up on the section we missed. (The police set up roadblocks all the time where they stop cars at random to inspect their paperwork and various other things). Anyway, after avoiding the police we made it to Cross Keys smoothly, even if the drive had taken about 40 minutes, rather than the usual 25.

Some of the taxis will drive me to the school, but others just drop me off at "Cross Keys," the intersection of two roads that constitutes the rural district known as Cross Keys and earns it a place on the map. I like being dropped at Cross Keys cause I walk down to the school with some of the parents and students or run into people that I know and get to say hello. I usually aim to be at school by 8, because that's when the kids start arriving. We hang out and play until 8:30 when devotion starts. All Jamaican schools do devotion, whether they are public or private. At St. Joseph it consists of all of the classes gathering together outside and singing 2 or 3 "lively choruses," which are songs with lyrics like "Jesus' love is a bubbling over, Jesus' love is a bubbling over, bubble bubble bubble bubble bubbling over, Jesus' love is a bubbling over." The students then sing the Jamaican National Anthem, recite the Jamaican pledge, and then recite different psalms and sayings about education and manners. After all of this, which takes almost half an hour some days, the school day begins. On Friday I found out that one of the teachers wasn't there, so I ended up with the class of three year olds that I'm usually with on my own! We had a great time. I taught some geometry (the triangle), and sang and danced as much as I could to keep 20 three year olds  under control as best I could. (I know what you're thinking - my singing and dancing skills probably made them want to leave, but it worked!) Anyway, it was a tiring day, and it gave me a lot more respect for those teachers who handle that many students of that age on their own every day.

School ends early on Fridays (1pm), so usually I would try to visit some people in the area to say hello, but on this particular Friday I had to get back up to Mandeville to get to the bank since I'm in charge of the finances for us here in Jamaica. It's not my favorite job, especially since banks here are a lot less efficient than at home. (Open 8:30-2 M-Th and 8:30-4 on Friday; no online banking; 15-45 minute wait in the line for a teller, etc.)

Anyway, I took a couple of videos at school, and I put them together into one, so here it is. These are some of my favorite students, and they will introduce themselves in the video. The part at the end where I am repeatedly calling Shawndee's name is a little thing he does every single day I'm there where I say his name and he immediately says "don't call me" or "no call pon me" over and over. I know I probably shouldn't have favorites, but he and Shaqueel are definitely up there on the list!

The Other Volunteers: Sean

This summer I spent a couple of weeks helping Sean to create a video about his year+ in Jamaica for a contest that could raise money for the program. I figured I'd share the video with all of you so that you could see what some of the other volunteers do. 

My Life in Jamaica 

by Sean Clores

Once Again School Is Getting in the Way!

As you may have already noticed, my frequency in posting significantly changed once school started here, as my schedule (and energy level) have made posting more difficult. I am working in two different Basic Schools (ages 3-6) 2-3 days a week, which I will describe in more detail very soon. Today I just wanted to give a quick update of what a typical week has been for me so far and to share a picture or two.

As I said, I spend one to two days a week at Holy Cross Basic School in Pratville and one to two days at St. Joseph's Basic School in Cross Keys. On Saturdays I am in charge of the Youth Clubs in Knockpatrick, Pratville, and Cross Keys, which has been a great opportunity to meet the kids in those areas. On the other days of the week I do "home visits" in those communities and visit a nursing home called Curphey Home, which I hear is the only veterans' home in the Caribbean. We work on the weekends, which I like because I enjoy being busy; it just makes it much harder to write updates!

This is Sasha-kay, me, and Annakay (who goes to St. Joseph's Basic School) at the rectory in Cross Keys where we were hanging out on Saturday.

Anyway, I'm hoping to post a summary of a typical day at some point this week so that it'll be easier to understand what life is like here!

And finally, once again, thanks for the comments, emails, letters, and donations. It's been about three months that I've been gone now, and it really means a lot to continue to receive your support and encouragement. I miss you all!

Dem pickney know me kiann chat patois..

When I decided to come to Jamaica, I knew that patois existed, but I did not know 1. the extent to which it was used, and 2. how different it is from English. I figured that it was something that people used in their own homes and that even if they did use it around me, it would only be a few nouns here or there that were different. I was very wrong.

Most Jamaicans speak patois at home, and there are some families in which the parents can barely speak Standard Jamaican English. Therefore, in the rural communities where I am, a lot of people speak to each other in patois. After being here for almost three months, it is getting much easier to understand; if I am in the room and a part of the conversation, for the most part I will at least know what it being discussed. I struggle when I am in a crowded or noisy space, or if the people who are talking are in another room. In those situations the person might as well be speaking Hungarian or Korean because to me it bears no resemblance to the English with which I have grown up.

For an example, listen to this song (click that link) that was very popular here all summer. It's a dancehall song called "Summertime" by the popular artist Vybz Kartel. The chorus is understandable, but deciphering the verses is more of a challenge.

The kids in our youth groups and at the schools really like trying to teach us how to speak like them. There are a lot of words and phrases that we have learned, and sort of like after spending a week in Quebec when things would come to me in French, after a full day at school listening to the kids talk to me and talk to each other, I have to stop myself from saying things certain ways. At the Basic Schools they try to teach the children standard English, meaning that they need to hear English from the teachers, not the patois. Therefore, I can't tell a student "me no know" when they ask a question, nor can I say "yeahso" if they ask where their bag is. Every once in a while I will try to "chat" like them at recess, which cracks them up to hear me trying (and failing). I always just throw "a" and "fi" into my sentences but struggle beyond that. I just end up with the mix of patois and English that people use when they speak with me. Mi a try a chat patois wit dem pickney but dem look 'pon mi like mi kiann be fi real. (I try to speak patois with the kids but they look at me like I can't be for real.)

In corresponding with everyone back at home the language isn't something I ever think to bring up, and Jamaica being known as an English speaking country, something that no one would think to ask about, but there is definitely somewhat of a language barrier. Whether it is the 3 year olds who I must tell to "take up their bags" or that "Mommy soon come to carry you to you yard" in order to be understood, or it is the adults or taxi drivers that I sometimes have to ask to repeat themselves several times, language has been an unexpected challenge since being here, but the improvement that I have found in my short time here so far makes me hopeful that I may be close to "fluent" by the end of my year here.

Camp in Photos

On Friday we completed Bible Summer Camp (more like plain summer camp), where we had been working for two weeks. It was a great opportunity for us to get to know a lot of the kids that we will be working with all year, and I had a great time doing crafts and playing football (soccer) for over an hour every day. Here are some photos from the last day of camp.

 

Chantel and Me

Roshane, one of the boys that was great at football

 

Robert and David, two of the other footballers

 

Kalicia

 The girls braiding my hair

 Playing football

 

Alica, who was my buddy for the week

Brittney

Jamaican Jumble Sales - My New Target

Two weeks ago I met with Fr. Martin, the priest in Knockpatrick and Prattville, in order to learn more about both of those communities. He informed me that Knockpatrick would be having a "Jumble Sale" the coming week, which would be a great opportunity for me to meet both the parishioners and other members of the community, since according to him these Jumble Sales were popular events that drew the entire community.

I soon learned that a Jumble Sale is basically a church bazaar, and that Fr. Martin was not exaggerating that they were popular; the Knockpatrick Jumble Sale was worse than Black Friday at a Target in America. I showed up a little before 9 am the day of the sale, looking all nice and sweaty since I had taken the "Knockpatrick" route taxi only to learn that it won't take you further than the northern border of the town, leaving me to walk up the hill the rest of the way. (I was informed later in the day by a 12 year old that I should have taken the "Newport" taxi to get to Knockpatrick - Duh, how could I have not known that?!) Anyway, despite the fact that it had started over an hour before I arrived, the Jumble Sale was PACKED because they were selling clothes, THE hot item in Jamaican Jumble Sales. I was shocked to see how many people were there and how aggressive they were with their finds. I was soon put to work stuffing bags as the woman in charge tallied the purchases, and it wasn't until about 2 hours later that the sale slowed down and I was able to start getting to know people!

Apparently my experience in Knockpatrick was not scarring enough to keep me away from Jumble Sales, because on Saturday the cathedral in Mandeville, whose grounds abut those of the school grounds on which we live, had its own Jumble Sale, and Natalie and I spent our Saturday morning wading through piles of clothes to find some items to add to our Jamaica wardrobes. I spent a total of $900 (about US$10.70!) on SEVEN things, many of which were name brands. (I know that Nikki will be happy to hear that, as appalling as it may be that I bought used stuff!) It was even cheaper than Salvation Army or Savers in the US! These Jumble Sales may really become my Target - I work at them and love to shop at them on a budget :)

My Jumble Sale Purchases

The Jumble Sale was a success for several reasons. First, I hadn't brought enough warm clothes or dressy clothes, so I was able to buy a long sleeve shirt, a sweatshirt (which I'm sure Ben will claim I bought only because it has a certain city on it), a couple of pairs of pants, and a dress. Second, I was able to buy all of that within my meager volunteer stipend budget. Third, I got to meet a lot of people at both Jumble Sales. And finally, fourth, a lot of the Jamaican people that we talk to are impressed that we shopped there and that we aren't "above" wearing those clothes. I think that it goes a long way in showing them that we are going to "accompany" them and live somewhat similarly to them this year.

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Just a quick thanks to those that have donated to PVI in recent weeks. I really appreciate all of your support, and I hope that your Thank Yous have reached you, as I have sent them back to the US to be mailed with anyone that I run into heading that way! Keep in touch, as I love hearing from all of you!

Jamaica - Six Weeks In

My observations and wisdom after six weeks here...

1.      Cold showers are much more bearable if you go for a run first.

2.     However, it’s a very good idea to check to make sure there is actually water that day before going for the run.

3.     Moths, grasshoppers, and spiders the size of tennis balls are not rare.

4.     You beep your horn while driving more than you use your brakes, not because you know everyone, but because the roads are so narrow and curvy you have to warn people that you’re coming.

5.     There are about 2 roads that I have been on in which you can go more than 100 feet without seeing (hitting) a pothole.

6.     Just about every Jamaican knows someone in America.

7.     About half of those people expect you to know the person that they know in America.

8.     It is assumed that you know all other white people on the island.

Our Final Move

On Monday we made our final move of the orientation process. We had been staying at Bosco Boys' Home for the week, volunteering with the boys and giving the departing volunteers a chance to spend their last week together. At Bosco we were without internet, but now that we have moved into our apartment I will be able to get internet close by, so I will try to post more regularly.

Moving into the apartment means that most of the realities of the year have set in - cold showers, periodical water outages (including when I got in from my run yesterday morning), sleeping under a mosquito net, and eating on a tight budget. As much as it was nice to have those amenities at the other places that we stayed, I understand the importance of living under similar conditions as those that we serve.

To fill you in on my past week, volunteering at Bosco was one of my favorite parts of Jamaica so far.
We spent the days hanging out with the boys on the play field, reading with them in the library, and going to their soccer games. Steve, one of the volunteers from the past year, had been coaching their soccer team all year, and they have been participating in a tournament the past couple of weeks. Natalie, Kathryn, and I went to their last two games (which they won), and we will be going to another this afternoon.

 This was taken in the back of the pickup truck with the team on the way to their game. We fit all of the boys in the photo below, as well as us volunteers in the truck!

I'll try to post some photos of the apartment this week and to answer everyone's emails. It's been great to hear from everyone, and I miss you all!

A final note: Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad! (This counts as your card :) )

Don't Look, Mom!

Here are some photos from ziplining at YS Falls!

Friday was one of our final days of orientation. We had meetings in the morning, but the afternoon was spent at the Bosco Boys' Home where they performed several short plays for us. Jen has been volunteering there teaching them drama for several months now, and this was their culminating performance. When we got there Natalie and I immediately ended up back stage where we fixed costumes and offered support to all the boys whose nerves had brought them to tears. None of these boys had ever been in a play before, and many suffer from low self esteem anyways, so there were plenty to coax onto the stage. Despite needing a little nudge out onto the stage, the boys came off the stage beaming, so proud of themselves for what they had accomplished. One of the boys, Clayon, who had cried a good amount before the show, threatening to quit and not go onstage, followed me around for a while after his performance (in which he hadn't said a single one of his lines), proudly remarking that this was the first play he had ever been in. It was really great to see what Jen's presence had done for these boys this year. The self confidence that she brought to them was apparent in the pride they showed yesterday, and they are definitely going to miss her and their drama class.

Albion Gully (photos)

Today's two photos are from our first service day in which we went to the Bosco Boys' Home and Albion Gully, the very small rural community so named due to its location in the gully of two mountains.

 In this photo I am reading and talking with two of the kids that live in the gully. The kids there were extremely welcoming and full of energy and excitement to see us.

This photo is of Omario. We hiked with the kids up to a cave, and he walked all the way down to the cave with no shoes on, so when we got there I became his taxi (not to mention he was pretty scared of the bats that we had disturbed).

Finally, I want to wish my grandmother a very happy 29th birthday! (Ironically, she really is still that young at heart!) I miss you, Grandma!

Happy Birthday, Natalie!

As I write this, there is a large lizard crawling across my wall. It's better than the cockroaches we've been finding in the bathrooms, but a bit of an adjustment!

Anyway, today was one of my favorite days in Jamaica thus far. Natalie, one of my fellow new volunteers, lucked out in that her 22nd birthday coincided with our day off this week. We used that opportunity to go to YS Falls, a beautiful series of waterfalls a little over an hour from Mandeville. The landscape and geography here is like nothing I have ever seen before, and YS Falls was just as amazing. There we spent the day ziplining over the falls, jumping in the water off of a rope swing, and hanging out in the pools at the bottom. It was definitely a needed day off, and we had a great time! I can't wait for people to come visit so that I can take them there again!

Kathryn was the photographer at YS Falls today, and I am yet to get her pictures of all of the action. The good news, however, is that I have gotten all of the pictures from the first three weeks in Jamaica, so I plan on posting a photo (or two or three) each day for the next couple of weeks! It's going to take some self control to keep from posting them all at once, as I am so excited to finally have them. Anyway, here are today's photos. These are the series of photos that was taken in an attempt to record Natalie's birthday night. I couldn't choose just one, since I thought they were all pretty funny.  This is the group for the coming year; from the left is Brendan, Kathryn, Me, Natalie, and Sean. (Special thanks to Tricia, the director of the program's assistant, for all of her pictures from this month, including these.) I might not have the YS Falls photos, but I do have these post-Red Stripe and Appleton ones which are just as valuable!

In case anyone was wondering, that is a Burger King crown that Natalie is wearing. As our volunteer stipends limit our out-to-dinner choices, Natalie made an economical birthday dinner decision (and tempted us to steal a crown for her).

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)!