* Jedd Thoughts, * Life Updates, * Peace Corps

2 years. 24 months. 730 days.

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Peace Corps Jamaica Day 1
Our very first picture when we arrived 2 years ago

Today marks a huge milestone for Michelle and I (and the rest of our volunteer group), our 2 year anniversary of living and serving in Jamaica. It’s hard to believe.

We often say “the days go by slowly, but the months go by fast.” It’s been a roller coaster ride of highs and lows. Challenges and joys. Laughter and tears. Yes tears, but lots of laughter. Some days we’ve had to really question why we are here and other days we couldn’t be more thankful. We’ve come across an amazing group of characters. Strangers that have become friends. Friends that have become family. A strange new country that has felt at times, home.

When we get back to the states next month, people will ask us to try and sum up these 2 years. What do we say? All I know is that whatever happened….happened. Our lives have forever been changed from this experience and in the end, we are still thankful for it all.

Some of my favorite memories, thoughts, and photos from these past 2 years (in chronological order):

– After 2 years I still can’t eat/handle spicy food (I was hoping I would be able to by now).

– I’ll miss the sights and sounds of Jamaica (video) Continue reading “2 years. 24 months. 730 days.” →

* Life Updates, * Michelle Thoughts, * Peace Corps

Leaving is a Process, Too

mcmeeshi
Finally checked off the bucket list: hiking through farms in the hills of Westmoreland
Finally checked off the bucket list: hiking through farms in the hills of Westmoreland

There is quite a lot involved to join the Peace Corps. Months of paperwork, packing, saying goodbye, the multitude of tasks involved in putting your life “on hold…” With our two year mark approaching this week, we are now learning that there is almost as much effort necessary to leave the Peace Corps as well.

After much anticipation, we recently learned that Continue reading “Leaving is a Process, Too” →

* Peace Corps

Peace Corps Third Goal Blogging: An Unofficial Guide

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PC Third Goal Blogging

Back in August 2013, we were thrilled to be able to participate in Peace Corps’ Third Goal Summit in D.C. with the other winners of the Blog It Home contest. We gained a renewed motivation to use our blog for PC’s Third Goal: to promote a better understanding back home of this new country and culture we’re experiencing.

Peace Corps HQ: Blog It Home
Peace Corps HQ: Blog It Home

The Summit also sparked a whole lot of great ideas for Third Goal blogging and allowed us to collaborate with the other blog winners from Thailand, Ethiopia, and Mexico as well as the Office of Third Goal. 

We were learning so much from each other, we decided it would be worthwhile to put all our thoughts together and create a practical resource for Volunteers who want to use their blogs for the Third Goal. 

Blogging Guide

This guide, created by volunteers, for volunteers, has already helped us become better bloggers and better Third Goal ambassadors. It is meant to be an ongoing and collaborative effort, so additional suggestions and contributions are encouraged. We hope Volunteers around the world will find it useful.

Even bloggers outside of Peace Corps will find this guide useful for sharing about cross-cultural experiences, service or mission trips, and travel.

To access the guide, start with the links below. You can also find the pages in our tabs above, under Peace Corps Info.

Blogging About Third Goal

> Includes: Why you should consider blogging about Third Goal topics, and serves as a homepage for the other resources

Resources in the guide are:

Principles for Third Goal Bloggers 

> Includes: Simple steps to improve the quality of your blog writing so that you can become a more effective ambassador of your host country’s culture and increase your readership

How To: The Nuts and Bolts

> Includes: Practical tips and tricks from blog settings to getting ideas for content, great for beginners and those wanting to up their game

Blog Post Idea Bank

> Includes: An extensive list of ideas for Third Goal-related blog posts, with examples from recent PCV blogs, so you can keep your content fresh and interesting

Again, we’d love to include tips, ideas, and examples from other Volunteer bloggers around the world, so if that’s you, don’t hesitate to provide suggestions using the comment form at the bottom of each of those resource pages.

* Michelle Thoughts, * Peace Corps

What makes a great Peace Corps host family

mcmeeshi
  • They become family, including you in family gatherings and outings, like Christmas parties, weddings, father’s day dinner…
  • They give you enough space and privacy while always being available when you need them.
  • When they notice that the rain is starting to fall and your laundry is hanging out on the line, they tell you before it’s too late– or, if you’re not home, they save your clothes from the downpour for you.laundry to dry in JA
  • They sit with you when the power goes out during tropical storms, sharing stories of storms gone by as you watch gusts torment the trees in the yard.
  • They fix up the TV antenna just in time to watch their team dominate the Olympics with you.
  • They stay up until 11pm with you watching a fellow Jamaican win a popular U.S. singing show.
  • When you cook a favorite meal from home, they politely oblige you in tasting your strange dishes. (And in the case of brownies, they surprise themselves asking for more.)
  • Occasionally they even carry home goodies to share- like fresh crab or lobster!
  • They let you enjoy the bounty of their yard: mangoes, avocados, limes, guavas, breadfruit, and more…
  • They volunteer alongside you at community events.
  • Impossible to forget, they will be in your heart and memories and stories for the rest of your life.host parents under umbrella
* Michelle Thoughts, * Peace Corps, Videos

Jamaica by Jamaicans

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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

mcmeeshi

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

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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” →

Videos

Peace Corps Jamaica Close of Service 2014

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In March 2012, we landed in Kingston together. Now, almost two years later, we celebrate and reminisce on our time of service in Jamaica and prepare ourselves for the final chapter of PCV life. This week, group 83- our cohort of Peace Corps Volunteers on island- met up in Portland parish for our Close of Service conference. In less than four months, most of us will be heading home.

This video that a fellow volunteer, Marie, and I made is a recap of our group’s experiences, which we shared at our conference. Though full of meaning and memories for us PCVs in group 83, I don’t know many outsiders will want to watch all 11 minutes. But I thought some might be curious. And I think the video does a good job of representing what service looks like in this country without spending too much time on any one thing.

Close of Service conference
Close of Service conference
Where we're all going when we finish PC
Where we’re all going when we finish PC
* Jedd Thoughts, * Life Updates

Sustaining Gardens

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IMG_6211
ACE Staff chat with a homeowner about their planter box

Yesterday I  was not at the community center teaching basic computer classes to senior citizens. I went on an adventure.

Far across the island from our normal location, I spent the day with the ACE (American Caribbean Exchange) team doing 21 house visits in 2 different communities, visiting families that they support. ACE is a non-profit organization that has been doing sustainable community development work in Jamaica for over 25 years. You can learn more about who ACE is and what they do at their website: American Caribbean Exchange

We connected with ACE during our first year of service and were drawn to their mission. Since then we’ve been visiting the organization (located in Galina, St. Mary) here and there during breaks from our regular assignments to assist in what ways we can Continue reading “Sustaining Gardens” →