Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween!

Halloween isn't celebrated in Jamaica. Not like in the USA anyways. There are probably some halloween themed parties in Kingston, but that'd be about it. And I was unprepared in creating a costume for this special day. Therefore my "costume" is a cop out. I am a nudist on strike. Meaning just a person wearing clothes. That's okay though. I'll be celebrating to myself by buying some chocolate candy. And downloading a halloween themed movie-most likely not too scary, because I watch those with my eyes closed :D

Now this past weekend was quite eventful! I got to meet a currently popular dancehall artist. His name is Tommy Lee. This name is also known from Motley Crue and  or the actor in MIB. This is what Jamaica's Tommy Lee looks like ( my friend, Tommy Lee and I)

Try and google the name Tommy Lee and see what pops up. If you type Tommy Lee Sparta... you may get more hits and info. Anyway, I met him after his concert on Friday. I also got a t-shirt to represent his music. Upon talking to him, I found out where he gets his tattoos. Don't be surprised I asked, I'm determined to find a good tat artist here. And the man has a lot, of course he'd have some recommendations. :) haha!

I also got to see a Roller Cart Darby ( gotta say it that way). The darby was in May Pen, Clarendon. This social event was a way to strengthen bonds between the Police/ JCF (Jamaican Constabulary Force) and the citizens of May Pen. The Crime and Prevention Committee  helped organize this. They act as a liason between the two parties to increase police visibility in a positive way. The event was very successful. There were eager racers and some funny races witnessed.  For instance, in the second heat, the first place finisher almost came in second.

 He stopped not five feet from the marked finish line, thinking he had already croseed- he did a victory twirl with his roller cart (above).  **Note his roller cart is painted with the Jamaican Flag!
When the spectators saw this- we all yelled at him to finish!! The second place finisher approaching saw his opportunity and literally pushed his cart forward with no person on it, in hopes of getting first place. The spectators were laughing sooo hard. ( Here's all the race cart participants)

Weekends such as these are great. I get to learn a little more about Jamaica and then share it with you, my friends!

Hurricane Sandy

Hurricane Sandy came and went. In preparation for her arrival on Wednesday, I picked up batteries, some canned baked beans and an aromatherapy candle of lemongrass to ward off mosquitos. I was eagerly awaiting her to come strong when I saw the forecasting on Tuesday afternoon. Heck, I even thought maybe I'd have to group up with some other PCV's to wait out the storm.

I've never been in a direct area for a hurricane before. I had mixed emotions. I was nervous about the intensity of the storm. I also was excited to see what would happen. What I didn't consider is how underwhelmed I'd be sitting in my house for nearly 48 hours. Fortunately! I had power for most of Wednesday. The power went off and on for a few hours but then I'd get it back.

For preparation, my host dad boarded up the vulnerable windows (above, mines on the right)  which made half of my living space very dark and for me claustraphobic. When H. Sandy came to visit for her two hour stay, she was destroying the east side of the island. Therefore all I got was some wind and some rain.

But that didnt stop Peace Corps from keeping us bunkered down at site. We're still told to keep at site. Unfortunately, there are reports of looting and bad roads. So hopefully by tomorrow that will go away. Some cities across Jamaica have curfews to reduce the looting. Isn't that awful? Taking advantage of a natural disaster. rude.

I occupied my inside time with teaching my host family how make popcorn from the stove, catching up on Homeland (such a great show!!) and sleep. When this morning showed signs of calm I went for a run. Opening the door to the outdoors and the light sky, I cringed back. I felt like a vampire about to burn! Only seeing grey skies and rain had my eyes set on nocturnal mode. The run this morning was freedom. Everyone was out and about in town and things were being picked up from where it was left off.
I only hope that the electricity and flooded roads get repaired soon for eastern Jamaica. Because that's no bueno.

End of September

The next world cup qualifier match is this Friday. I'm excited about the game as the USA needs to get more points! The Jamaica v USA in Kingston early September was upsetting. Though, if any a year for Jamaica to be successful, it is this year, their celebration of 50 years of independence! 

 Even yesterday, the West Indies Cricket team won the World Twenty/20 Championships! Here's a picture from today's Gleaner ( http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20121008/sports/sports1.html the article for anyone who likes cricket.) 

I was in Kingston yesterday and while I was walking down one of the roads, I hear loud male voices coming from a house on the opposite side of the street. Then I see about 50 yards ahead of me, on that other side two people screaming and jumping up and down running toward the male voices. The men who I heard came out and were yelling Windies Won!! We're Champions! Windies WON!!! AHHH!!!  ( perhaps not exactly like that, but give or take yes.) By the looks of the photo, Windies were pretty stoked. I'd like to be part of that celebration. whoop whoop! 

The end of September I participated in the PCJ Early Service Conference (ESC). This is held at the six month point of our service. It's a week long conference in which the PCV brings their counterpart/ project partner (interchangeable terms) and we engage in sessions for the betterment of our respective communities. Another part of ESC is to discuss our experiences at site with our sectors (mine being the Youth Sector) and having the support from staff and our fellow PCV's on what to look foward to.

The first three days was a project management workshop. Here is where we did organizational sessions and goals sessions, lots and lots of sessions. Then the project partners leave and the last two days are about us. In YAPII we talked about our challenges, successes, stabilizers...everything. Not seeing everyone together in months was a delight and then talking out our individual situations was therapeutic for me. Another aspect of ESC was our CASI ( Community and Sector Inventory). This is what we worked on for the beginning of our site integration. It's a paper and presentation given at ESC about the needs of the community, the current resources any and anything relevant to our stay here in Jamaica. I talked and showed pictures of my Santa Cruz life, while other PCV's had some amazing presentations. This too gave people a way to take in how similar and different our sites are. It was cool. 

ESC was in Ocho Rios, and our sweet little hotel was at the beach front. The water is amazing!! I swam in it every morning before the day started. The water was cool and warm. I was told that something to do with the limestone, there's fresh water that mixes with the ocean water, especially near the coast. So the very top layer, as I would put my arm in for a stroke, I would get an ice cold chill before the warmth of the ocean. 

The weekend after ESC I stayed with a PCV with some friends. It was a good way to ween me off of seeing everyone before heading solo back to my site. I learned to play Settlers of Catan! At first I was confused, but I enjoyed it. Here (above) are two other PCV's and I playing ( Photo by PCV Marie) 

More to come, hopefully sooner, and in closer intervals... haha. :-)