Category: * Peace Corps

* Michelle Thoughts, * Peace Corps, Videos

Jamaica by Jamaicans

mcmeeshi

Peace Corps’s Third Goal Office is hosting a video challenge for this year’s Peace Corps Week. Being the wanna-be film-maker that I am (and being partial to the Office of Third Goal who awarded us a free trip to DC last summer!), I had to do something.

Peace Corps has three primary goals for its volunteers, and the third goal focuses on raising awareness about our countries of service among Americans. Hence, the contest to depict what you wish Americans knew about your country in two minutes or less.

My strategy was to let Jamaicans speak for themselves (not too many PC countries can capitalize on their English-speaking counterparts). I’ve collected a lot of great interview footage over the two years, so hopefully I’ll get motivated to share more of that eventually.

Continue reading “Jamaica by Jamaicans” →

* Michelle Thoughts, * Peace Corps

Jamaica Nuh Easy: A Case Study

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We have very rarely written blog posts describing the events in our day, but today I am making an exception. This is a true story of one afternoon this past week, which I think will enlighten you to a number of things that happen in this country.

JA bus town story

Our story begins at 2:37pm on a school day. The bell should have rang seven minutes ago to dismiss classes. Instead, for no apparent reason, it is rung just as rain starts to dance on the zinc roof.

I pop open my trusty umbrella, one leg of its frame permanently out of joint, causing it to dangle like a loose limb. I bee-line to the front gate of the school yard where the south coast “highway” (think: small, two-lane farm road) is quickly amassing more and more puddles.

I have one mission this afternoon: get a new phone. In Jamaica, you cannot have more than one mission in a given afternoon. You can try, but it’s not recommended.

As I stand on the side of the road with my Continue reading “Jamaica Nuh Easy: A Case Study” →

* Jedd Thoughts, * Peace Corps

The Most Useful Travel Gear

simplyintentional
Useful Travel Gear
From top left down – Reef Sandals, Totes Umbrella, REI Messenger, Croc Flat, Wustof Knife, Logitech Mini Boombox

Dear Outside Magazine – though I’m sure the demand is greater than the need, I humbly and officially submit my interest to become one of your honored gear testers and reviewers. My experiences as a Sales Associate at Recreational Equipment Inc., living and traveling abroad, combined with my passionate, yet slightly obsessive drive for product research make me a perfect fit for the position. I would also like to add that my wife, family, and friends, think I’m extremely trustworthy and that I provide useful information about many things (most of the time).

I am a gear junkie of the best variety. I’m honest to a fault, but mostly I just believe in great products and knowledge. Products that, when I pay for them, I expect them to do what they say they are going to do. Fair value. A great overall experience is much appreciated.

Having traveled to a variety of places and committing our lives to intentional and simple living, I’ve discovered that there are Continue reading “The Most Useful Travel Gear” →

* Peace Corps

Jamaican Culture: Top Posts

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Some grateful senior citizens recently gave Jedd the book Jamaica Fi Real!: Beauty, Vibes and Culture as a thank you for teaching them how to use computers. And it’s a keeper. The images are great; the content is relevant; the commentary is on point.Jamaica-Fi-Real-CoverThe books is fantastic and its words resonated with our experiences of this country. For example:

It’s possibly the most contradictory country on the planet. Jamaica combines a Third World standard of living with an almost First World life expectancy. It is one of earth’s most stable democracies, yet has one of its higher homicide rates. It is reputed to have both more churches per square mile, and a higher out-of-wedlock birth rate, than any other place on the globe… (pg. XVII)

Are Jamaicans happy people? Well it’s hard to say; while few people go hungry, there are pockets of real poverty, and a fair amount of physical discomfort. Polls say about half of Jamaicans would emigrate to the US if they could, and a high crime rate is not usually the sign of a contented populace. Then there is the constant complaining, for people here are world-class grumblers. Yet Jamaicans interact with such vitality and humour, that it’s hard to conceive of them as being fundamentally miserable and disgruntled. There can’t be many places where people laugh as easily or as often, and no matter how bad things get, folks here always find reasons for outbursts of merriment. (pg. 11)

Throughout our Peace Corps service, we’ve tried our best to Continue reading “Jamaican Culture: Top Posts” →

* Michelle Thoughts, * Peace Corps

Jamaica in “Winter” Photos

mcmeeshi

The other day, a family member back home asked me if there were any flowers blooming in our yard here in Jamaica. It’s something hard to fathom, coming from the Pacific Northwest where everything is dead and gray right now, but the flowers here are always blooming. That’s one thing I love about the tropics. It never gets dreary. Here’s a glimpse of what’s growing in our yard:

jamaica flowers Continue reading “Jamaica in “Winter” Photos” →

* Jedd Thoughts, * Peace Corps

Jamaican Eats

simplyintentional

A fellow volunteer recently asked me how come it took so long for me to write about food, since she knows of my extreme passion for cooking and eating. I just forgot. Food is one of those things both highly celebrated or simply a part of day to day life.

As a traveller, one of the best things about living abroad in another country is getting to try all the new food that the country you are visiting/living in has to offer. If you are a Sociology geek such as myself, you’ll also love the rich cultural and historical context that food provides when getting to know a country. If you love to cook, learning a couple of local favorites is a great tool for integrating and earning respect. If you are a Peace Corps volunteer,  it’s also a great time to try different recipes and work on your cooking skills.

But in the end, for me, it’s all about eating. I love to eat.

Like many developing countries, Jamaican food is rich in tradition but more practically based upon what is accessible in terms of ingredients and equipment. In its most simplified form, Jamaican cooking can be summed up in 6 words: fresh, stewed, baked, steamed, fried, and jerked. The food nerd in me could talk for days about all of this but I’ll do my best to give you Continue reading “Jamaican Eats” →

* Michelle Thoughts, * Peace Corps

Thoughts for New Peace Corps Volunteers

mcmeeshi

Bags packed for Peace Corps
First day in Jamaica

We’ve started to hear from the incoming group of Volunteers (about 30 come to Jamaica each year) who will start their training in March. I know it’s an exciting time for them. When I was in their shoes, I was soaking up all the information I could find about Peace Corps in Jamaica. Being less than five months away from our departure, there are inevitably a good number of lessons we’ve learned on our journey. Maybe they can help the next generation of PCVs…

Continue reading “Thoughts for New Peace Corps Volunteers” →

* Michelle Thoughts, * Peace Corps

A Year In Review

mcmeeshi

Annual Review
This year, we’re trying out the Annual Review exercise shared by blogger Chris Guillebeau on the Art of Non-Conformity site. The basic idea is to set aside time to consider:

  • What went well this year?
  • What didn’t go well this year?
  • Next, you set specific goals for categories of your choice (Friends & Family, Service, Travel, Spiritual, Health, Learning, Financial Earning, Financial Giving, Financial Saving, etc.) including 3-5 measurable objectives for each one.
  • In the end, you come up with a summary and “theme” for your upcoming year.

Because the coming year brings a close to our chapter with Peace Corps and starts a whole slew of new things, I’ve been really looking forward to this exercise. I think Jedd and I both truly enjoy dreaming about possibilities. And because we’re not going home during our Peace Corps service, we decided to treat ourselves to a Christmas “staycation” here in Jamaica so we can rest, relax, and reflect. 

Another Year in Jamaica
In the spirit of looking back at 2013, here are ten of our most memorable moments and favorite blog posts:

Do It Yourself: Peace Corps DIY Ingenuity – It was really fun to see all the ingenious creations volunteers around the island have put togetherTP crafts Continue reading “A Year In Review” →

* Jedd Thoughts, * Peace Corps

A Christmas Gift

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Christmas
Our Community Center Staff  Holiday Picture

Finally, the festive holiday season has arrived in Jamaica. Continue reading “A Christmas Gift” →

* Michelle Thoughts, * Peace Corps

Christmas in the Caribbean

mcmeeshi

xmas collageIt was not until I was asked to put together decorations for a Jamaican Christmas choral service at school, that I realized how much of the American Christmas celebration is really just about winter:

Snowflakes.

Snowmen.

Evergreen trees.

Holly.

These were some of my first ideas for decorations. But none of them translate to the Jamaican context. Sure, Jamaicans are accustomed to these images being imported into their Christmas. But they really don’t make sense in a place that will never experience winter as we know it. Continue reading “Christmas in the Caribbean” →