Here we are with less than a month left to before departure! This past week we have been happily inundated with Peace Corps e-mails about our flights, staging in Atlanta, initial safety training, pre-service training schedule, and phone meetings with our program officers. We will officially be flying to staging on March 12 then heading to Jamaica early March 14. As many of you know, our journey toward this upcoming departure to Jamaica in March has been a long one and since I (Michelle) have not had “official employment” for several months, I’ve had lots of time to browse current PCV (Peace Corps Volunteer) blogs. I thought I would take this space to share some of my favorites for those of you interested in what our lives might look like these next couple years. Keep in mind that the one piece of advice we’ve heard more than anything is that each volunteer’s community, project, and experience is completely unique:
PC Volunteers ’06/’07
Tight pants– Curious what we’re supposed to bring to Jamaica? Advice from former volunteers about packing.
Matt and Julie
You look like a mash of callaloo– Jamaicans must iron their clothes! Also a peak at a volunteer’s host family bedroom.
resources– About the availability of resources in Jamaica. And school library photos.
what we do– a list of projects the couple worked on in their community.
schools part 1– Jamaican schools tend toward rote memorization (and other things about the school system)
shop til yuh drop– what it’s like to go shopping and get groceries in their community
The Token PCV Blogpost– the highs and lows of volunteering in Jamaica
What’s for dinner?– Jamaican food with pictures
I’m Jamaican It (Sammi Travis)
Go Ask Your Mother– Words of wisdom from a local lady who explains Jamaican thinking on a variety of entertaining subjects
The Farmer in the Dell– scroll down to portion about Dogs which explains how they are treated and seen in Jamaican culture
Pearls– a fun list of wacky cultural things and advice for being in Jamaica
Jamaica Cree
Yute– Patois for “youth.” Reflections on Jamaican youth and summary of historical, influential Jamaica young people
Best Day Ever (Aly Wing)
Be Here Now– great reflections on living in the moment and a volunteers’ transformation
Little Things– According to Jamaicans, fans make you cough, and you can never have too many “rubbers” (erasers)
Walk Good (Mark)
Home Sweet Home– a volunteer moves into his site with lots of photos of the surrounding community
The Most Amazing Things Just Happened (Raz)
the goods as promised– Scroll down to “what I’ve been up to in Jamaica” for insight into some unique environmental projects but especially see “some more abstract thoughts on development”
Other
And if that’s not enough for you, check out this great resource for Peace Corps Volunteer blogs around the world: peacecorpsjournals.com
-M
Simply Intentional 