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
Simply Intentional 