Tag: Peace Corps

* Michelle Thoughts, * Peace Corps

Galina Breeze

mcmeeshi

A former volunteer recently shared with me an interesting reflection about our time in Jamaica. They said that day-to-day life here is not really hard, but it’s wearing. Volunteers will need to find an outside source of rejuvenation because our daily work and community life will, more often than not, be draining. I didn’t want it to be true, but in many ways, it’s a pretty accurate statement. Fortunately, we are in a country that offers us numerous ways to re-energize and keep our lives in balance, from exercising outdoors to finding familiar foods in the bigger towns, from decent access to the internet to spending a nice day on a beautiful beach. Just last week, we had a special opportunity to find respite and rejuvenation just when we needed it most

IMG_3323We were delighted to take up an offer to stay at the Galina Breeze Hotel on the north coast of St. Mary parish for a long weekend. We had heard good things from a former PCV and had stayed once before when my parents visited, which is when we were invited back to learn more about their non-profit/mission work in the surrounding community. The hotel is connected to an organization called ACE (American-Caribbean Experience). They’ve been in Jamaica for 25 years and focus on the parish of St. Mary with projects including education, agriculture, child sponsorship, micro-enterprise, and more. Continue reading “Galina Breeze” →

* Michelle Thoughts, * Peace Corps

Seasons Change (or do they?)

mcmeeshi
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.

* Michelle Thoughts, * Peace Corps, Videos

Life In The Yard: A Video (and so much more)

mcmeeshi

I’ve been collecting footage of the various creatures and friends around our yard since we arrived. Some have already come and gone in the short time we’ve been here, but there is also a continuous renewal of life through new birth. In that way, the place is always, always full of life.

Most recently, we disposed of a particularly unwelcome guest, Continue reading “Life In The Yard: A Video (and so much more)” →

* Michelle Thoughts, * Peace Corps

Better with Both: The Advantages of Peace Corps as a Couple

mcmeeshi

Jedd and I joined Peace Corps for the challenge of growing as individuals and as a couple in an unfamiliar, cross-cultural environment. We knew that the Peace Corps experience would help us conquer new obstacles, refine our values that will guide the rest of our lives, and bring us closer together as a couple through common shared experiences and overcoming challenges. Being the practical (and sometimes pessimistic) one, I was gearing up for two years of tumult, knowing that the every-day stressors in our lives were about to get magnified. But what pales in comparison to the normal, surface-level clashes in our marriage is an underlying thankfulness: I’m so glad I’m not doing this alone!

Some of the single Peace Corps volunteers, who make up the majority of our crew on the island, have told us Continue reading “Better with Both: The Advantages of Peace Corps as a Couple” →

* Michelle Thoughts, * Peace Corps

Training the Ears

mcmeeshi

More than any other sense, I’ve noticed that my sense of hearing has gotten more “tuned” since I’ve been in Jamaica. Listening and discerning sounds has become more important for both enjoyment and survival here.

On my daily walk to the school, where the shoulder of the road is slim to none, and where the sides are getting overgrown with long grass, I rely less on visual cues sometimes than I do on the auditory warning of an approaching vehicle. In some ways it’s good that the undetectable hum of the Toyota Prius has not yet made its way to Jamaica. Its only when cars are not around that the road is tranquil, making it easy to discern where the next car is coming from and how far away it is. Plus, the drivers love to honk- both as a general greeting and Continue reading “Training the Ears” →

* Life Updates, * Michelle Thoughts, * Peace Corps

Boys Camp

mcmeeshi

I’ve spent the last month and a half assessing a long list of low-achieving students provided by each teacher. One at a time, I pulled them out of class and sat down with them to find out about their home life, their interests, and also their reading level. Using the Jamaican Ministry of Education’s reading diagnostic tool, I determined that most of the kids I saw were still confusing some letter names, were not familiar with saying the sounds that letters make, had no concept of how to sound out an unfamiliar word, and didn’t know the sight words for their grade level. From first through fifth grade, about 1/3 of the students at the school were below their reading level with a vast majority reading below the first grade level (including many fifth graders).

Jedd teaches life skills with a game for the boys

But this week was the start of summer, and the guidance counselor and I had put together a two-day program for some of the low-achieving boys. Continue reading “Boys Camp” →

* Jedd Thoughts, * Peace Corps

Creative Affordable Cooking – Callaloo Pasta

simplyintentional

Tun Han’ an’ Mek Fashion -Jamaican Proverb

Translation: Turn your hand and make fashion
Meaning: Use your creativity to make something. Use whatever you have and make something great.

This is one if not my favorite Jamaican proverbs because of how well it describes Jamaican people and culture. Jamaicans are extremely creative. You see it in the art, hear it in the music, and taste it in the food. Jamaican creativity is beautiful and I love it. It’s an endearing and amazing quality, but more importantly, it’s inspiring.

As you may or may not know, many of us Peace Corps volunteers did not commit our lives to this experience for the Continue reading “Creative Affordable Cooking – Callaloo Pasta” →

* Michelle Thoughts, * Peace Corps, Videos

PCJ Education Sector Volunteers

mcmeeshi

Today is our last day of “Hub training” where the eleven of us education volunteers have been meeting for the past five weeks. We have successfully completed our practicum assignments, which involved tutoring two primary school students in literacy over a period of two weeks, as well as other education and patois language-related assignments. We’ve heard from a number of presenters, including several from various branches of Jamaica’s Ministry of Education, and we’ve even toured some important sites to the country’s education system on our field trips. As the Jamaicans say, we’re “ready fi touch di road” (sort of like: “ready to hit the road running”). They often tell us that although five weeks is not enough to prepare us for everything, we are prepared enough to begin our work and go until our next training in September (Early Service Conference). We’ve also learned a lot outside the classroom, namely with our wonderful host families who feed, house, and watch out for us while we’ve been here. We will be leaving our host families on Sunday afternoon and heading back to Kingston where we’ll (finally!!) find out our site placements for the next two years.

A 5th grade class on break tells me all about what they’re learning in school

I’ve been working on several videos lately but in an effort to get something posted quickly and have it not be too lengthy, the first video (posted above) is simply some interviews of the education trainees who have spent the last five weeks with me. Hopefully you’ll get a taste for the diversity of volunteers who are in my group as well as some idea of what it’s like to be an education trainee. The next video will include more of the sites and activities we’ve experienced in our time at Hub training. Until then…

-M

* Michelle Thoughts, * Peace Corps, Videos

Community-Based Training (Part One)

mcmeeshi

This video is a quick look at what our lives have looked like the past couple weeks. After Staging in Atlanta, we flew to Kingston where we were warmly welcomed and did our first two days of orientation. Then, we moved into our first home-stay community in a small town outside of Kingston where we have been enjoying home cooking, fresh juice, and life lessons from our host mother and sister. On week days we are in training sessions with the other trainees, learning about the local language and culture, safety and security, Peace Corps policies, and overviewing issues related to our project sectors.

Some random things we’ve learned and experienced so far:

  • Steel drums actually come from Trinidad and Tobago
  • It is not culturally acceptable to eat on the street, walking or sitting (jury is still out on why this is so)
  • Jamaicans hold big social parties nine days after a death called a Nine Night and anyone can attend
  • “Howdy come from outta door.” Greetings are more important than saying Thank You here, and it is the person coming from “outside” (whether entering a room or a foreigner entering a neighborhood) who must be the one to offer the greeting
  • Morning jogs must wrap up before 7:30am or else you’ll get too hot
  • The ice cream truck plays the same song here
  • Sometimes girls will ask to touch your hair
* Michelle Thoughts, * Peace Corps

Making Headlines

mcmeeshi

Jamaican Observer article about our Peace Corps group: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Peace-Corps-celebrates-50-years-of-service-to-Jamaica_11106257

Don’t ask me why I was selected for this picture but upon our arrival to Jamaica last week, the Jamaican press covered Peace Corps’ 50th anniversary of being in Jamaica. Our entire group attended the ceremony, and now we’re in the paper!

We’ll try to post another video in a few days. In the meantime, I’ve made some small updates to the mailing instructions on our Peace Corps Info page (tab above). Since we’re moving around a lot during training, we’ve been told that it will be easiest to wait until we go to our permanent site in May to get packages. But it’s not a hard and fast rule.

Until next time … -M