Dear Family and Friends...

Just wanted to let you know that I am back in the States. I came home to help take care of my grandmother, Jan, who is fighting cancer. It feels so good to be home. :) Thank you for all your support while I was away doing the Peace Corps in Jamaica.

Runner Boy

Last week a fellow pcv asked me to go with her and students from her school to see the annual pantomime show in Kingston. Of course I jumped on this opportunity right away. I really miss seeing live theater/performing arts and was excited to see how it's done in Jamaica.

Before I tell you about the show and our experience let me give you a brief history about the Jamaican Pantomime, cause it's quite interesting. The National Pantomime is put on by the Little Theater Movement theater company which promotes the development of drama in Jamaica. The first National Pantomime took after the tradition of English theater, where a childhood story was adopted for stage with music, song and dance. However, over the years the Pantomime has evolved from English tradition to "lusty tales of the Caribbean, with dialogue in patois and humour reflecting the robust sense of comedy of these 'islands in the sun." (Taken from LTM's website). Each year the Pantomime uses Jamaican culture, folklore and historical references to create a story entertaining for both children and adults.

This year's Pantomime is called Runner Boy, a parody about the famous Usain Bolt who impressed the world last summer by smashing world records and bringing home three Olympic gold medals. The story was not only about the Runner Boy, but also about the community he came from, the people of the town and everyday life of the rural community.

In true Jamaican fashion, we arrived late to the show so we ended up coming into the theater during the middle of a scene. As I sat down and tried to understand what was going on I realized that I couldn't hardly understand anything the actors and actresses were saying. :( I'd like to think that by now I can mostly understand patois (even though I don't use it much), but it is hard to follow along when I had no context on what was happening. Luckily though, once I was settled and really paying attention to the story I found that I could understand almost everything and got a lot of the jokes that were said on stage! It felt good to know that my patois part of the brain has been well trained to comprehend the Jamaican language.

Needless to say the show was very cute, with lots of songs and dance numbers that I was moving my booty to in my seat. I always get reved up by musicals. The remind me of the ones I preformed in during my high school years and all the fun I had performing in them... Ahhh memories!

The show ended rather late but that didn't stop us from taking some pictures outside the theater before loading up on the bus for the long ride home. What a fun night! Looking forward to next year's show!

Home sweet home

I am a very lucky girl. With the help of my parents I was able to visit home for the Easter holiday and see all my loved ones! I was home in the states for two whole glorious weeks and had such an amazing time experiencing all the things I miss in Jamaica including family, friends, special foods, even little things like the joy of carpet and well stocked public libraries! (Did that sound nerdy?)

The first stop of my journey brought me to Philadelphia. Dad, Vicki and the boys were all there to pick me up from the airport and were surprised to see my tears of joy at being home, back in the states. Immediately following greetings and hugs and kisses we went out for cheese stakes and I got to enjoy my first cold draft in over nine months!

As we drove around on the highways and roads I was seeing familiar places through different eyes, eyes that have seen a different way of living and experienced a different culture. For instance, I was very impressed with the quality and vastness of public infrastructure that surrounded us, which is lacking in most places in Jamaica.

Luckily the boys were on spring break while I was visiting so I got lots of time to play with them and go exploring. Dad took us down town to the art museum, one of my favorite places in Philly. We went to a Phillies game and got to see the 2008 World Series Ring Ceremony before the game, a pretty cool event although I didn't follow baseball at all last summer/fall cause I was in Jamaica. I stole this pic from the Phillies website!

The next stop on my trip was to Cleveland where I got to spend time with Mom, Shane, my brothers, and Grandma and Grandpa Mac. Mom and Shane picked me up at the airport and mom had a great big sign "Welcome Home Janelle!" I felt very loved! And I was greeted at home with more big hugs from everyone. On saturday we spent the day dying easter eggs, frosting Grandma's famous easter cookies. We all watched Wallie in the evening and I got to cuddle with Spencer, he's such a cuddle bug! Easter morning we all went to church and then we were off to Hocking Hills State Park where Mom had rented a lakeside cabin for us to stay in for a few days. We explored the nearby state parks and saw some AMAZING views. Waterfalls, caves, cliffs... absolutely gorgeous.
My next stop was to D.C. where I got to see all my friends that I had been missing while gone in Jamaica. Even though I'd been gone for almost ten months we were able to pick right back up like I hadn't been gone at all. I also made a visit to campus and got to chat with some of my old professors and coaches. It was fun to share with others about my experiences and learn about what's been going on while I was gone. There are a lot of changes at Mason, the school is really growing fast! Go Patriots!

The vacation ended back in Philly where I got to celebrate the Greek Orthodox Easter with Dad, Vicki and the boys and our extended families and friends. Dad cooked the lamb on saturday morning/afternoon and then we went to midnight service as always later that night. On "Greek" Easter day we rented a pavilion at a local state park and spent the whole day eating massive amounts of yummy Greek food, dancing to Greek music and playing in the park.

But way too soon it was time to come back to Jamaica. It was hard to say goodbye to everyone and to my home, but I know that I have more to do here on the rock and more adventures to look forward to over the next year. And hopefully some of the special people I miss will think about coming to visit me!! :D Hint, Hint! Until then, I'm sending love from Jamaica to all of you back home. Be thankful for what you have in life... you are very blessed!

Rodent Control Program

One of my jobs here in Jamaica is to aid the Public Health Inspectors in projects that they are conducting through the parish health department. Ultimately I'm here to help them build resources and capacity for jobs they currently do and/or want to do in the future. Usually this just means they need an extra hand because the biggest resource they are lacking (besides money) is manpower.

So when one of my PHIs asked for help with a Rodent Control Program that is being conducted in our community I was right there to assist. I am now official part of the Rodent Control Team which consists of other PHIs, the Health Education Officer, other employees at the health department and even members of the community that we are conducting the program in. The main goal of this program is to reduce the rodent population in the community. We will do this through a number of strategies:

1. Educate members of the community about the importance of rodent control and how they can all help to reduce the rodent population through proper solid waste management.
2. Conduct a community wide clean up, creating rodent traps throughout the community.
3. Provide opportunities for community to properly dispose of waste (place garbage bins throughout town)
4. Hold a Best Kept Street Competition to promote cleaner, healthier communities
5. Go the local schools and teach children how they can do their part to help clean up the community. The plan is to have a poster contest and quiz competition on the importance of rodent control and proper solid waste management.

So far we have been able to acquire 20 garbage bins donated by local companies to place throughout town. I spent this past week painting them all. I painted "St. Ann Health Department Rodent Control Program" with a picture of a rat and a big X painted over the rat on all 20 of the bins. I can paint rats in my sleep now! I'm not sure if that is something to be proud of or not... lol! But I had a lot of fun spending the days outside painting. And since I was sitting outside I got to meet more people who work at the health department because they saw me working and were curious about the project. They just came right up and started chatting. So painting the bins was a great excuse for me to meet new people at work as well. :) Needless to say I am very excited about helping carry out the rest of the program with the Rodent Control Team. Hopefully we can inspire behavior change and help to really clean up the town.

By the way, today is a GORGEOUS day outside. I can't wait to hit the beach. I know you guys in the states are all jealous ;) but don't worry, it's spring now and the worst of the cold is over... Miss you all very much, I'll think of you while I'm playing in the waves!

Kalooki Anyone??

So my new favorite card game is called Kalooki. I am definitely hooked! I was introduced to the game by my fellow uwi teammates. After a long day of volleyball is great to sit back with friends and play a good game of cards. And its also a good way to pass time at tournaments in between games. This game is pretty intense tho, really cut-throat, no mercy, every man for himself kind of game. I'm told it's a form of Contract Rummy but I have no idea since I've never played rummy before. This website explains all the rules, which you will see are not too too complicated but the game itself is a real mind exercise for sure. So check it out and try it one night instead of watching tv. Promise you'll love it.

Kiwanis Club of The Garden Parish

The other night I had the honor of being the guest speaker for the Kiwanis Club of The Garden Parish. I was invited to come and speak about the Peace Corps program and what I've been doing in Jamaica over the past nine months that I have been here. For those of you who don't know, Kiwanis is a global organization that works to improve the lives of children world wide. Before my speach I sat and listened to members discuss upcoming community events to volunteer at for this upcoming month and chat about exciting things happening within their club, including work at a nearby mental health institution. It was insping to be amoungst a group of such motivated and caring women.

When it was my time to speak I took the first part of my presentation to talk about a general overview of what Peace Corps was, its history, its goals, and types of things volunteers are doing world wide. But the fun started when I began talking specifically about my time here in Jamaica. Everyone was so intereseted in how I have been adjusting to the culture, that I can speak patios and use public transportation, and that we as pcvs are willing to give so much time to help others in foreign places. They also had questions about water quality in their parish which I was happy to address and help clear-up some misconceptions.

It was a very refreshing and inspiring night, reminding me of the reasons I decided to be a pcv. And it was motivational to see that these women are making a difference in their community! With an active community group, so much change is possible. It reminds me of quote from President Barack Obama:

"Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek. "

Hee-Haw

Last weekend I traveled to Negril to volunteer at the annual Donkey Race organized by the Negril Rotary Club. Funds generated from the event went to support early childhood education in the community so I was more than excited to give my time to help out with the event.

I ended up helping at the face painting booth with a rasta guy: just me, him and fifty pikni crowded around the tent. Face painting was a free event so there was just a huge line of kids, one after the other. I painted tiger faces, flowers, butterflies, lots and lots of Spidermen and other super heroes, and even a few American flags. It was funny to have little kids ask me to paint American flags, I was like, “Are you sure you don’t want a Jamaican flag?” … “No miss, I want the one with stars.”

At the beginning of the day the donkeys were dressed up in silly costumes and paraded around the track. I didn’t catch any pictures of it cause I already had my hands full with face painting but it was pretty cute to see donkeys in wigs and lamp shades for hats. After the parade the real fun started. The donkeys would race in groups of three and people could place bets on the winner.

In addition to the donkey races and face painting for the kids, there was a bar for the big kids, plenty of food vendors, carnival games the kids could play to win prizes, a ferris wheel, and a giant Disney Princess bounce-a-bout that I really wanted to jump in but never got the chance. Hehe.

So after a long day of face painting and watching donkeys I took a dip in the ocean, got a few drinks at the bar with other PCVs at the donkey race and then headed back to the beach to see a beautiful Negril sunset. A great ending to a long but extremely fun day.

PC Projects: A Quick Update

I have some updates on the projects I’ve been working on down here in Jamaica:

For my farmers’ group irrigation project, we have selected the pump and dealer we want to purchase from and are in the process of completing the order. Hopefully the pump will be in Jamaica by March.

Some more good news: I showed my supervisor at the Regional Health Authority the database I have been working on for the health department I volunteer at and she really liked it. She requested that I expand the database so it could be used throughout the region. She said that once it’s developed we could hold training sessions so that others in the region will be able to use the database and know how it functions. I am super excited about the challenge even though there will be a few things I will have to teach myself in order to make this dream a reality.

I’ve picked up a new project that I’m super excited to work on. I am teaming up with community based organization to help them with site development for an eco tourism establishment that they are trying to create. The site is located in a very sensitive area at the head waters of a major river in Jamaica so they have to pay special attention to the waste water that will be generated at the site. Additionally they need help in deciding on what water source they will use and the design of the distribution system. Here's a few pics of the site:

So these are a few things I have been up to the past few months and projects that will continue to work on during my time here in a Jamaica. I have one more project that I would like to share with you, but I think it’s best to send it via email, so check those inboxes when you get a chance.

uwi volleyball

For all of you that didn’t know, since around October I have been playing with an indoor volleyball club team here in Jamaica. The club is sponsored by University of West Indies, Mona campus. I met some of the girls at the beach volleyball tournament a volunteered in the fall and they invited me to come out and play on their team. We have two women’s teams and two men’s teams. I am on the UWI A team. Don’t want to brag too much but we happen to be the best team on the island, officially. Last month we won the season championship for the eighth year in a row. The final game was sooooo much fun, there was a big loud crowd and I played the best I’ve played since I’ve been here in Jamaica. It’s great to play competitive volleyball again and to be part of a team. I’m making new friends and having a blast. Sometimes I wished I lived closer to Kingston so I could train with them more regularly, but I have to take what I can get and enjoy the times I do get to play.

A productive morning

This morning has been very productive: I woke up, went for a run, saw the sun rise along the way, nearly died at the end of the run because I haven't ran in over two weeks... then i got home, tried to climb the grill on the back of my house to get on the roof of my house (my favorite place in the mornings) only to cut my finger... doctored it up then noticed my tomato plant was over growing the pot I first planted it in so I then recruited Shavan to help me dig a hole for it in the yard and transfer it into the ground. On my way back into the house I noticed this pretty little girl sitting on our porch:

Pretty scary huh? I have also talked to my dad on the phone, cleaned my room, and did a load of laundry. Aaaand wrote this new blog entry which I have failed to do for over a month now. I'm gonna have to big up myself for all waking up early and getting stuff done today! I have lots to update you all on so stay tuned this week for some good blog posts!

Goodbye 2008

so the past few weeks have gone by in whirl and i have failed to share them with you. :( but fear not this is a quick recap of my holidays in jamaica! yay!

Gina came to visit: Gina and i were camp councilers together at camp perkins all the way back in 2004. we haven't seen each other since that lovely summer but we've stayed in touch via facebook and emails from time to time. well it just so happened that she had some vacation time and some extra cash so she decided to come visit jamaica and excape from winter in the states. she stayed with me for a few days and i took her all around my area, dunns river, scotchies, turtle beach, flavors... all places you too can explore with me if you ever want to visit, i love playing tour guide! gina, it was fabulous to have you here, good luck with the big move and grad school!!

Laura Facey: while gina was still here we had the pleasure of seeing an art exhibit being held by the famous Laura Facey, who is the artist of the statue Redemption Song at Emancipation Park in Kingston. we got to meet her and view her studio and see all her gorgeous new art work. it was so inspiring and quite an honor to meet her! i posted an album on facebook, i hope you can view it here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2185416&l=00164&id=15604815

Grand Market: christmas eve here in jamaica is kind of like new years eve in the states. everyone gets together for big parties and celebrations. so to experience some real christmas eve fun me and a few pcvs in the area went to grand market, which is this huge street party that's held every year on christmas eve. grand market begins with everyone shopping and buying the things they need for christmas. vendors line the streets, selling pretty much anything you'd want to buy and cooking heaps of jerk chicken to eat. in addition to street vendors, djs come and set up huuuge sound systems along the streets. when i walked in front of a massive wall of speakers i could feel the music pumping straight through me! as the night moves along the streets get more and more crowded til you can't hardly move. there are people eeeverywhere dancing and moving to the music from the sound systems. my friends and i stayed late into the night but when we left the party seemed like it was still going strong. here's some pics to show you the experience:

the beginning of night

one of the MANY giant sound systems

Christmas Day: christmas morning i woke up to the sound of carolers walking down our street singing hark the herold angle sing. what a lovely way to wake up on christmas morning! i went to church with nurse and shavan and i got to read the morning prayer for the faithful (it's a catholic thing). the church was packed, over 130 people were there and i was so nervous but i did fine. after church we came home and i helped nurse make the christmas dinner. we spent all afternoon getting ready and then sat down together to enjoy the fruits of our labor. we had ham, lamb chops, real salad, potato salad, corn on the cob, home made macaroni and cheese, and christmas cake that i helped bake a few days before christmas. i was completely stuffed and ended the day with a good long sleep!

Nurse making christmas cake

Some of the ingredients that go into christmas cake, including rose water, browning, and white rum!

The manger scene at church

My church

Me and Desmond, one of the alter boys at church

The sorrel (a jamaican christmas drink) was too sweet for Nurse!

McInerneys come to Jamaica: lucky me to have mooore visitors here in jamaica! my uncle bill, aunt linda, liz and ashley came down to escape the cold chi-town winter. they let me join them for the weekend at their resort where i was completely spoiled with endless food, drinks and HOT water!! lol! the resort had a ginourmous pool and a water park so we spent lots of time in the sun and water. my tan is looking much better now ;) while i was there we went on a tour of the Great House at Rose Hall which is the site where the White Witch once lived. people say its still haunted by her ghost! we drank a witch's brew in the dungeon of the house and got to see all the rooms where she once murdered each of her three husbands before she too was murdered by one of her slaves. scary stuff, but the house was gorgeous. here is an album i made on facebook of all the pics of the house and some of the resort that we stayed at: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2188902&l=06746&id=15604815 the album also includes pics from the grand gala show we saw at the resort. they had a steel drum band playing and lots of performers including dancers, extreme limbo, a fire eating/breathing lady, and lots more crazy acts. i had a fantabulous time with the mcinerneys, thank you for sharing your vacation with me and spoiling me over the weekend, i already miss you!

New Years Eve: honestly i didn't do much for new years eve, i wasn't in the mood to go out and celebrate. so me and two other pcvs got together, splurged a little at the super market on food and drinks, and stayed in for the new year. we watched silly movies and talked and laughed all night. it was nice to just chill and enjoy the company to welcome the new year.

and so we say goodbye to 08 and hello to 09. i can't believe it but tomorrow i will have officially been here in jamaica for 6 months already! time really does fly. can't wait to see what the year has in store for me. i'm wishing you all the best for a great start to the new year and good luck at keeping those new years resolutions. ;)