love. serve. live.
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:
Continue reading “Jamaica in “Winter” Photos”
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”
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”
Happy New Year! As mentioned in our Year In Review post, we took some time off over Christmas to reflect on the past year and cast our vision for 2014. We followed the Annual Review shared by The Art of Non-Conformity and here’s what we came up with:
What went well this year? Continue reading “Annual Review Exercise 2013”
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:
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 together
Continue reading “A Year In Review”
Finally, the festive holiday season has arrived in Jamaica. Continue reading “A Christmas Gift”
It 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”
Photos from this past week with our visitors. Photo credit: Jedd and Aunt Susan
It means a lot to know that someone is reading our blog. I was just looking back over our list of blog subscribers, and some of you – like Mike A., Paula, and Jeff D. – have been following us for over three years now! We really appreciate you sticking with us. Continue reading “Some Blog Updates”
The following photos were collected from current Peace Corps Volunteers around the island to share how they’ve gotten into the Jamaican spirit of resourcefulness and ingenuity. See the first set of crafty, make-shift items by Volunteers in the original post: Do It Yourself: Peace Corps DIY Ingenuity
Truly Trash to Treasure: Courtney (recently finished service) and Brandi
Bookshelf, purse, and table: Brandi sent in three photos, two of which were made by her former site-mate, Courtney. “Scandal bags cut into string and crocheted together into a purse by Courtney. A bookshelf made from cardboard, tape, and a Jamaica travel magazine.” Brandi says: “She was always much craftier than me. This one was so valuable to me that I carted it in a mini bus from her site to mine after she left.” And lastly, by Brandi herself: “My antique end tables made from my (full) PC issued water buckets and covered in fabric.” Continue reading “Peace Corps DIY Ingenuity- Part 2”
Simply Intentional 