Jonkonnu

The other night I was getting dinner in Ochi when I heard some interesting music playing. I looked down the street and saw a little band playing music on drums and pipes. There were people dressed in crazy costumes too. Devils, a green monster, a guy dressed like a pregnant lady, a zombie creature... They were dancing all around the street and the stores of Ochi and chasing people around. I had no idea what all this was about but it was crazy fun. The Pregnant Lady even came up and danced on me. Later I asked Nurse what all that was about and she said its a tradition called Jonkonnu. This is what I found on Wikipedia about it:

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Jonkonnu in Jamaica

Jonkonnu, or Jonkanoo (John Canoe) is parade that links music, dance, symbols and mime. It is a Jamaican traditional dance form of African descent. Typically Jamaican’s would parade in the streets and enact mime-style plays. This folk form has gone through many stages of development until today when it is rarely performed on the island.

The Jonkonnu festival is secular in nature and used to be performed at Christmas. It was the festive opportunity afforded to the slaves by the planter class, Christmas was one of the few times that slaves were relieved of their duties.

The Characters : Core participants; Pitchy patchy, The cowhead, The horsehead, The devil,

Other participants The King, The Queen, The police, Belly woman

The characters parade through the streets in very elaborate costumes; they are attired costumed with head dresses, masks, pitchforks (devil), batons (police), fans (set girls) and any other paraphernalia that is necessary to complete the character.

There basic jonkonnu steps that are done and each character has a signature movement. E.g

Pitchy Patchy – turns, cartwheels, large movements in circular patterns.

Belly woman - moves belly in time with the music

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It was awesome to experience this cultural tradition first hand and reminds me how lucky I am to be living and learning about a different country/culture from my own.

Birthday Hike

For my birthday this year I decided to hike to the top of Blue Mountain, Jamaica's highest peak, standing 7,402 ft above sea level. It is about a seven mile hike to the peak and a 3,000 ft change in elevation. Several of my PC friends and I headed out in the early morning to the trail head. On our hike we passed by senic views of coffee plantations, misty rainbows, mossy trees, and wild flowers. Although it was misty/rainy for most of the hike (meaning all we could see was clouds at the peak) it was still a great adventure, and we were all excited to get a breath of cool and fresh mountain air. Side note: Thanks to everyone who wished me a happy birthday, I miss you all!!

Rally Jamaica 2k8

My pcv friend Alicia's boss Johnny has a nephew that happens to be a famous race car driver in Jamaica, Doug "Hollywood" Gore. Johnny invited Alicia, me and our friend Steph to watch Doug compete in Rally Jamaica 2k8 which is this big racing competition hosted in Jamaica each year. It is a three day event with several different "stages" (race tracks) located in various locations including an orange tree grove outside of Bog Walk where there was a big water jump that the cars drive through.

The water jump!

We got to watch all the races (and a few crashes too!) up close and personal and also got to meet some of the drivers. One of the drivers is 72 years old! I got a pic with him and gave him my bottled water to use when his car was over heating, pretty cool huh? LOL! Anyways, the races were crazy, with lots crazy sharp turns with cars skidding around corners and flying over hills in the road.

Me with Morley, the 72 year old race car driver!

Me and Steph with Doug "Hollywood" Gore. "Team MoBay!"

The Rally finished in New Kingston where we got to go to the top of the PanCaribbean building to watch the end races through the main streets of the city. It was an amazing view. Thanks to Johnny for caring us around all weekend and Alicia for being a fabulous hostest.

The view from the PanCaribbean Building of the race track in New Kingston

GAD Auction

In Peace Corps Jamaica we have different subcommittees that we can join for various causes. The point of the subcommittees are great for collaboration on projects, sharing resources, generateing funds, etc. One of the subcommittees is called Gender and Development (GAD), and their focus is obviously tackling gender issues in Jamaica.

It is a tradition for GAD to have a yearly auction where they can generate more funds for an island wide project. The auction is really neat cause the items that are auctioned off are things that we PCVs donate ourselves. Some items include: visit/tours of interesting places in Jamaica, baked goodies, hand crafted jewelery, yoga lessons, etc. So we donate things for the auction and then we all get together to bid on the items. My friend Alicia was in charge of putting together the auction this year and she asked me to be a Vanna White for the auction and display the items up for auction. I had so much fun modeling the prizes and helping the announcer, Jason, run the auction. We were able to raise $70,000 JA for GAD which is an amazing amount of money ($1,000 US)!!

The plan is to use this money to launch an island wide calender contest. Students from all over JA will be educated on how to be respectful to each other and better treat the opposite sex. Then they will be able to create a piece of art that represents what they've learned about respect and enter it in the contest. The winners will be part of a calender for 2010. It is planned for the calendars to be created with the money we generated. The winners will receive their own calendar and then the others will be available for sale at a low price to generate even more funds for GAD and more projects in the future.

It is exciting to see what a little collaboration can do and I'm definitely looking forward to seeing the calenders next year! When they are finished I'll let you know how you can buy your very own! :D

mom's visit to ja

Hi everyone! This is Janelle's mom and she's asked me to write a little about my recent visit to see her in "Sunny Jamaica". So............... The first three days we spent in Negril on the west end of the island. We had Thanksgiving dinner with all her Peace Corps friends. What an amazing group of people! All I can say is you are all AWESOME individuals for the work you are doing (not to mention pretty good cooks - Thanks to Yvonne for the turkey and Shana for the homemade stuffing!!!)

Janelle forced me to go cliff jumping. Well, maybe forced is a strong word. I actually did it on my own with a little encouragement. The water was so blue and clear. And what I jumped off was nothing compared to the 40 foot cliff she and her friends jumped off at Rick's Cafe!!

After Negril, we ventured to her place at Runaway Bay. She lives with a wonderful little Jamaican lady, "Nurse", and her son Shavon. Janelle is blessed to be living with such a great person. She took us to a gospel concert at a little chapel in a village called Bamboo located at the top of a mountain. Very neat experience!

We also got a great tour of the mountains and several gorgeous homes by her friends Johnny & Alicia. Janelle has been working on a project for Johnny and I got to go to the site and see it for myself. It's the one she mentions below where they've won a $40K grant from the UN. We saw some fantastic views of the ocean from way up high. Everything is so beautiful & green.

Of course, it wouldn't be a trip to Jamaica without a visit to the beach. And of course, we had to have a "Cheeseburger in Paradise" at Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville before we left.

I also got to experience some traditional Jamaican food. Here's what I can remember: akee & saltfish, breadfruit, yams cooked over an open fire, boiled bananas & dumplings, porridge, jerk chicken, pork & sausage, festivals & my all-time favorite "patties" with coco bread. These are kind of like deep fried pastries with meat filling. Wow did I ever like those! Had to get one at the airport before I left.

It was a tearful goodbye but a great trip and an experience I'll never forget. I am so proud of her and the work she is doing. You all need to make a trip down and visit her. You won't be disappointed!!!

More pictures:

PCVs and friends at Thanksgiving Dinner

Sunset at Rick's in Negril

Janelle jumping off the 40ft cliff at Rick's