In some ways, I don’t have a lot of hope for humanity. People are inherently good, but we also just can’t seem to get ourselves out of trouble- and I mean that on multiple, multiple levels. Living in a developing country, especially one with cultural roots that cannot be un-entwined from the effects of slavery, only convinces me more that all human beings struggle with some unalterable defect in our nature. Every last one of us. Including me, of course. Our issues are deep and far-reaching.
But before you assume that this post is going to be a big downer or that I’m hopelessly depressed and negative, hear me out. I do have hope. I just don’t think we as people can fix all our messes on our own. My hope lies in something greater.
This past Saturday was a much-anticipated one for our Jamaican host family. It was the day of our host mom’s second annual Plant Sale & Garden Expo. Jedd and I have assisted with some online marketing and event prep for it, but nothing to match the time and energy put into this day by our host parents. All in all, I’d say it was a great success. Most people who came stayed for a good while to enjoy the beautiful setting, live music, fresh seafood hot off the fire, children’s tent, and a variety of garden and art vendors. Here’s a video recap for the event:
We are currently in Kingston at an All-Volunteer Conference open to the sixty or so volunteers currently on the island. I’d say almost forty of us showed up since some are off island with their families, others chose not to come, and the less fortunate caught dengue fever. It’s the first time I’ve been back to the “big city” since we swore in six months ago. I have to say that the change of pace and scenery is a welcome thing to have every once in a while.
In an effort to keep the two day conference on a minimal budget, some US Embassy and USAID officers opened their homes to several of us volunteers on Thursday night. Jedd and I got to stay the night and enjoy Thanksgiving dinner with an incredibly well-travelled, career Embassy officer, his wife, and two teenage children. Every dish was delicious and brought back the tastes of home. The company, including their guests (mostly Barbadians with some connection to the US State offices who have relocated to Jamaica), were fun, friendly, and engaging. It was fascinating to interact with a family who has lived in a different country every two to three years.
The All Volunteer conference we’re attending has served as a nice reunion and a chance for volunteers to share their experience and expertise with each other. Jedd helped facilitate a session on teaching basic computer classes, mine is on team building activities. This afternoon we’ll head back home, four hours across the island, on another crowded bus and then its back to every-day life.
The view outside days before leaving for Jamaica (Northwest U.S., March 2012)
If it weren’t for pictures posted on facebook, I probably would have forgotten that it was Halloween, that the leaves are changing colors, that the air is getting crisp, and its time to wear sweaters. Here, whenever I have to recall the date, my mind does this wheeling process like its trying to get its bearings. I no longer have the seasons to indicate which month I’m in, so instead, there’s a brief moment where it feels like it could be any month. March? July? September? Finally, I recall the truth by referencing to the last time I went through this process. Oh yeah, we’re in October.
I’ve never been season-less before, and it’s a disorienting experience. When I studied abroad, I was basically at the same latitude as my hometown. And when I volunteered abroad for an extended time, I went to a hot climate in the summer, which didn’t seem unordinary. Here, there is only hurricane season, rainy season (or two of them, apparently), and dry season. There is a season for mangoes, avocados, and the other fruit. There is the school year, which dictates a lot of the changes we feel, along with national holidays. But all throughout, the temperature hovers between 80 and 90 degrees a majority of the year. I’ve been told it will start to get cooler soon, which I think means somewhere in the high 70’s.
Having Raynaud’s condition, which makes being cold highly uncomfortable, I expect to appreciate Jamaica’s climate a lot more as we enter our first “winter” here. I think that the familiarity and sentimental attachment I have with the seasons will soon be trumped by my aversion to winter.
Hurricane Sandy passed us without too much excitement. As you can see in the image below, the storm did not actually cover the entire island as originally predicted but instead passed over the East side. Those of us on the West saw wind gusts for several hours, a relatively small amount of rain, and a good number of power surges and outages. In a hasty effort to depict what our experience was like, I threw together a couple video clips from our day.
What you don’t see is a lot of time spent staring out the window, reading, watching a movie, and hanging out on our host parents’ balcony while chatting and overlooking the yard in the evening. Their yard suffered minimal damage. One large tree branch snapped off a tree that was already dying, another oversized flower bush and a few stray palm branches were bent to the ground. That was really it. So we feel fortunate and it sounds like our friends on the other side of the island, who faced the brunt of the storm, fared safely as well. Today, the day after the storm, the schools are still closed but the community center eventually opened up and things in town are getting back to normal.
Tomorrow Michelle and I and all of us on the island of Jamaica will be hunkering down as tropical storm, soon to be, hurricane Sandy will be making an unexpected and most un-welcomed visit. Its strange because Saturday, we got caught outside in a storm waiting for a bus and taxi and the only thing I can say is that it was humbling. I had never been outside with such heavy rainfall and the loudest, the brightest lightning, and the most earth shattering thunder. Thankfully a bus driver we knew picked us from the tiny shelter we stood under on the side of the road. I had grown up with these kind of storms but it’s been awhile can’t imagine what this will be like.
So yeah…bit nervous about this storm. Now Michelle and I are in a safe place. Probably won’t have internet for a couple of days, probably won’t have power, and probably will be eating can food, but really, that’s not what i’m concerned about. What really worries me is Continue reading “When life gives you storms you…”→
So one day when I was writing all of these thoughts for our 6 month review I blinked, life got busy, and next thing I know we have now been here for 7 months in-country. Wow.
Little Victories: So time can be our friend and our enemy. With the same kind of perspective, the development work that Michelle and I are trying to accomplish can be equally frustrating and rewarding depending on the day. We just spent a week at a Peace Corps conference with other volunteers around the island and it seemed that we all seemed to agree on the importance of celebrating the “Little Victories”. The little victories principle in short is about Continue reading “6 Month Review: Part 2 – Little Victories”→
To adequately and accurately describe the experience of the last 6 months would be like trying to describe the concept of infinity to a two year old; it exists, but it’s impossible to explain.
Where do I start? I guess I’ll try my best to work it out in themes.
TIME: As of today we have been on island and in the country of Jamaica for 6 months, 2 weeks, and 4 days. Depending on the day and mood we are in, this can either seem like a Continue reading “6 Month Review: Part 1 – Time”→
For my thirtieth birthday, Jedd organized a scavenger hunt that took place over the first three days of our Peace Corps Early Service Conference. I received instructions, had to complete a task throughout the day, and then solved a riddle to find a volunteer with the next clue. Many of the tasks were designed to reflect back on the things I’ve done so far in my life and also where I want to go, so it was a very creative and memorable way to mark my passing into a new decade. It also got me reminiscing and so today I thought I’d share a few random pictures from my life as I reflect back on its first thirty years.
I had a great and fortunate childhood
Volunteering in the Dominican Republic changed my life
College at Gonzaga was wonderful
The first day Jedd and I met
Getting married, another life changer. With my two amazing grandmothers.
Our very memorable, epic road trip through the National Parks
Simply Intentional 