FAQs, Round 2

Q: Where are your dogs?
A: All of the dogs currently reside in or near Eagle, AK (the community that we were living close to before leaving). We had 10 dogs as of May 2009. Tonga was adopted by the Helmer's. Samoa, Moxie, and Typhoon are with Mike and Sonja's family. The rest: Hurricane, Cyclone, Djembe, Moby, Triton, and Gecko were all adopted by Wayne and Scarlett, and have continued to be used for the same guide work that Matt was doing before we left.
For those of you who don't know, we're planning on moving to Maine when we get back, and thus won't be able to take all the dogs with us. As a result, we will only be getting Moxie and Typhoon back when we come back to the States. We won't get into how heart-wrenching this whole process has been, as we're sure you'll be able to guess.

Q: Where's all your stuff?
A: First of all, we don't really have a lot of stuff -unless you ask Matt's mom because most of our things are at his parent's place. We don't really have any furniture or big items, as most of the furniture was incorporated into the structure of the cabin. Plus, we didn't have electricity or running water, so appliances were pretty much non-existent. In fact, most of our things can be put into three categories: books, Matt's tools, and clothes. Most of those things are currently at Matt's parents', unless Judy had a big garage sale and we just don't know it yet :). To further highlight their generosity, they offered to pay to store our truck while we're gone -probably out of fear of it also being stored in their garage. Either way, thanks again Ed and Judy!! Don't worry, one of these days we're going to live somewhere consistently for more than a couple of years. (Maybe you're asking how those things got from Alaska to Buffalo, NY. Short answer: Matt drove everything down in the truck and trailer...in late December...at -30...5 hours of daylight....16-20 hours of driving a day... sleeping in the truck along the way....you get the picture)

Q: How have you been adjusting to the heat?
A: You would think we would be melting- and sometimes we almost do- but we haven't been doing too bad. We're approaching the hottest part of the year, and as long as we avoid being outside 3 hours straight at the hottest part of the day, we're okay. This may sound wimpy, but that's what Jamaicans do. And I guess that's how I judge how well we're adjusting, by comparing to the locals. If it's noon, and I'm walking down the street to my house, and I think I'm going to die any moment from being roasted alive...and then I look over and see a fellow Jamaican experiencing the same torture, I figure I'm not doing too bad. If Matt goes out for a hike at 11am, and none of the locals want to join him because it's just too dang hot...well, I guess we're alright.
Also, attempting not to discourage any potential visitors, we probably live in one of the coolest places on island. It's usually only from 10-3 that it's so bad. Last night, I was able to sleep comfortably with a blanket, no fan. Some other PCVs sweat sleeping naked, no blankets, with a fan on full blast.
Yet another reason we are loving Accompong.