One Year Down!
Happy PC-versary to meeeeee. Today is one year since departing for Peace Corps. Approximately 14 months to go!
Ok maybe I won’t be posting once a month, so it go.
Home again?
February began with an unexpected trip back home to celebrate the life of my Grandaddy. He was a grafter and a horticulturist and somewhere I got my love of plants and the outdoors. He loved seeing pictures I would send here from the bush. He was a big part of my life and I am very grateful that I am in a Peace Corps country with such easy (and relatively cheap) access to home so that I can be there for important family moments. It can be hard dealing with the death of loved ones away from home and with this being the second in a short period, it hit a bit harder. I have talked about this with friends a lot, living abroad or just away from home in your twenties can come with a certain set of guilt. But at the end of the day, death is a part of life whether I live two miles from home, 5,000 miles from home, or approximately 1,200. Just a reminder to live presently and tell your people you love them.
Funerals
Speaking of, once I returned there were two deaths of prominent community members here at my site. One of whom was a farmer I worked with. Of course, this was sad but Jamaican culture does such a beautiful job of honoring their dead with a series of traditions. Not a lot of work gets done, instead people focus on spending time with family members, eating good foods, and following traditions. These are long events sometimes going all day and all night. There was two weeks packed full of events for both of the men who passed. A lot of partying, stories exchanged, community togetherness, and celebration. Coming from funerals in the U.S., it is very refreshing experiencing the genuine celebration that follow a death.
School!
I have loved working along side the school and getting to know the children better. The school in my community goes up to sixth grade and has about 27 kids. We have been busy at work on the 4-H project, planting the greenhouse with lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, and calalloo. Last week I also submitted a grant to extend the school gate and in turn create a larger school garden and demonstration plot for the community. Additionally, I got the fun opportunity of attending Jamaica Day, an annual cultural celebration day where kids preform traditional dances and games, good food is served, and the community celebrates Jamaican heritage. The whole school and every person was decked out in green, gold, and black. Jamaica day was a Friday then that Monday was sports day! The equivalent of American field day. The school was divided into two teams, the yellow and the blue, and the competition was stiff. I got to help scorekeep the track events and judge the team cheers, it was a ton of fun. I also have literacy club up and in full swing and the kids have been loving it. I even was able to get a box of children’s books sent to our school from an incredible organization called Darien Book Aid. The kids were so excited to check out their books and get reading. I’ve never understood wanting to be a teacher before seeing the kids get so stoked to read new books.
Project Plan
Alongside the school work my farmers group is having an executive body meeting next week and voting for our next project sponsored by the Rural Agriculture Development Authority. We are hoping to either focus on a livestock project, getting some farmers set up with chicken coops and expanding those involved already, while conducting workshops for best practices and financial productivity, or working with on farm water management, assisting farmers in the basics for drip irrigation and conducting workshops for water conservation and drip implementation. We shall see! I am still working with private organizations on obtaining mushroom spores and introducing that as a climate resilient cash crop.
Vacayyyy
Last week I ventured to the East side of the island for the first time for a little vacation in Negril. Some friends from home were going on vacation and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to see them! We had a very lovely trip bummin on the beach, eating good food, and spending time together.
February (and beginning of March) Favorites:
Book: The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters was incredible! Also not a book but a lot of my reading time has been dedicated to jigsaw puzzles. Brought some from the U.S., bought one in Kingston, I can’t stop doing them.
Music: I have been listening to a lot of Chronixx lately, my favorite reggae artist alongside King Marley
Movie: My Old Ass is very silly but such a beautiful reminder to live presently, something I have been prioritizing as of late
Show: Love is Blind is such an insane cultural phenomenon I eat it right up
Cooking: Still loving my pressure cooker. Eating a lot of chicken and pumpkin rice. Recently realized how easy quiche is to make? Sorry about the egg issues over there you guys, but they’re dirt cheap here. Like 40 for $5 cheap. Quiche out the wazoo.
Thats all for this post!
Likkle more,
Marie
Great post, Marie! Here's hoping the 2nd year is even more amazing. And keep the posts coming (even if they are not as often as you like). :)
Jim (PCV Armenia)