misunderstood

I guess we should start by making a correction. Our anniversary was Monday, not Tuesday. Funny as it may be, Matt and I always forget which actual date we got married, and our mothers often have to correct us when we get it wrong. This last time wasn't any different, and both moms e-mailed us to make sure that we knew that our wedding anniversary is May 3rd, not the 4th, nor the 2nd, nor the 5th. May 3rd. Okay, maybe we'll remember this time. (Thanks mommas!)


So do you remember a number of blog posts ago, when I wrote about the response most Jamaican PCTs/PCVs get when people back home heard that we're serving in the PC in Jamaica? No? Well, I'll refresh your memory: "Jamaica! That sounds like a rough time! (hint hint, wink wink)" "Jamaica! Sounds like a 2-yr vacation to me!" "Jamaica! Maybe I should join the Peace Corps so I can go live in Jamaica..." etc.

Well, believe or not, Jamaica is supposedly one of the most challenging placements for PCVs.
ET stands for Early Termination here in the PC, and it is the term used anytime a PCV leaves before the end of their 27-month service. Of course, a PCV might ET for a myriad of reasons: an unexpected death back home, medical reasons, University schedules, etc. And of course, there are ETs that occur when the volunteer essentially resigns, for whatever reason of their own. All of these early departures are lumped into the one category (ET) to everyone outside of the official circle. Well, regardless of any of this, Jamaica has one of the highest ET rates of any PC countries in the world.

Now, before we get too much deeper into this blog post, I want to make sure to make clear that Jamaica is a beautiful country with wonderful people, and we're having an excellent time here.

All the same, Jamaica is an extremely complex country. Many locals and PCVs alike have aptly described Jamaica as 'schizophrenic', which in many ways seems to be fitting. There seems to be many contradictions and confusion within its intense culture. The minute you think you might have it figured out, you're instantly shown that you really know nothing at all. Jamaica is unpredictable, eccentric, layered, and in your face.

Unavoidability is usually the part of the culture I refer to when people here ask me what I think of Jamaica. I often say something along the lines of..."Jamaica's intense. It's in your face. You can't avoid it. You either love it or hate it, but either way, you can't get away from it." And I've yet to have a Jamaican disagree with me -and trust me, they would let me know if they thought I was wrong.

We don't exactly know why Jamaica is so challenging. We could only offer our own theories, which are simply ours, and simply theories. PC Jamaica itself is ardently trying to figure this out as well. What exactly is it about Jamaica? This question has been asked over again by many of us here, and there seems to be 101 different reasons. I'm sure we'll get into some of these reasons as we make future blog posts. So stay tuned. :)
So we wish you luck in trying to figure it out. As we've heard many times, "It'll give you a head trip."


So remember how I said what most people say, have said, and probably will say when they hear that we were assigned to PC Jamaica? I suspect that this will be one of the hardest parts of it all. I'm sure from now on when we go back to the States, and we say that we served in the Peace Corps, in Jamaica, we'll get much of that same response from here on out, "2 yr vacation!" I hope we don't get too frustrated, and are content to say, "Oh, if you only knew..."