Project #2- Book Club

       One of the relatively successful ‘projects’ that we’ve started in Accompong is the Accompong Children’s Book Club (Grades 1-6). It’s primarily Julie’s project although Matt assists in many ways.      Book Club takes place every Tuesday after school and is open to any Primary School student who can behave themselves during our meetings. The goal of the book club is to encourage reading for pleasure at a young age. Largely due to illiteracy and lack of resources (i.e. books), the idea of reading for pleasure is minimal in Accompong.
     Book Club members take a different book home each week, assuming that they’ve returned the book (in proper condition) they took home the week before. Each member is asked to read their book before the next meeting, whether this means reading it themselves, or having it read to them by someone else, usually Matt or myself –something we encourage.
     If the member has read their book and returns it in good condition, they get to add a new sticker to their chart. And IF the member fills all 10 slots on the chart –that’s ten weeks of reading-, they get a small prize!
During each meeting I pick a president, and a king/queen. The president’s role is to oversee/lead the meeting (i.e. call the meeting to order, welcome new members, remind members to behave :), ‘big up’ readers, etc.). The king and queen are chosen to sit on the author’s throne individually and present the book they read that week to the club.
     We also have a book read-aloud to the group. Lately it’s been read by Matt, however, I’m working on the idea of having ‘guest readers’ from the community come in and read. This is my favorite part of our meetings. These kids are bouncing off the walls when they get to club. But, without fail, as soon as someone starts to read to them, a miracle happens… they’re quiet… they’re still… and they pay attention. This reaffirms my belief in the need for children to be read to.
     The book club is growing with each passing week, and last week we had 28 kids show up for the meeting. I can’t tell you how encouraging it is to see all the children get SO excited to take home a book each week. They constantly refer to their book/book club when they see me. After walking home after our Tuesday meetings, it’s not uncommon to see the kids sharing their new book with their parents, or to see the parents looking through the book themselves.
     Many of the kids seem to carry the books with them everywhere they go. One of the best mental snapshots I have is of Tiandra, one of our book club members, at recess, licking from her just-bought ice cream cone in one hand while clutching her week’s book in the other. I have to admit that part of me cringed, knowing the wear and tear that occurs with such usage –especially because books were such a limited commodity in Accompong before we got here*. But the other part of me, smiled giddily watching her carry her book around, much like many other children will carry around their favorite stuffed animal or blankie. It really hit me what it’s like to grow up without access to libraries, that to a young child seem to be filled with limitless books.

*We have already said it to many of you individually, but would like to say it here publicly. To all who sent us books: Thank you, especially with heartfelt gratitude from the kids in Accompong. Please know that those books are being loved, appreciated, and cherished the way that books should be.

The Token PCV Blogpost

     One thing that almost every PCV can agree on, regardless of which country you’re serving in, is that PC service is like an extreme roller-coaster ride. Your highs are really high, and your lows are really low. And the amazing thing is that you can feel both of which many times throughout one day. Although I can’t speak for PCVs in other countries, I’m sure that almost every Jamaica PCV has at one point or another said to himself, ‘Forget this place. I’m out of here.’ Whether this feeling occurs regularly, or only once or twice, whether you’ve seriously contemplated it to the point of looking for jobs back home, or just said it in a moment of passing frustration, the bottom line is that we’ve all felt it to some degree. That’s right, us, Matt and Julie, too.

     We’ve both had points in the last 6 months that we’ve looked at each other and said, “What the heck were we thinking?’

     It can be something major: Someone in the community has royally pissed us off. The aggressiveness with males to females makes you hit your breaking point. Nobody wants to actually work for a community project. Those who do work only ever bitch and complain. People beg you everywhere you go. No business/organization ever calls you back, even though they say they will, over and over and over again.
     Or it can be something small: You just want to at least have the option to eat out, rather than cooking for yourself night after night. You want to be able to know that a certain grocery item will be at the store. You want to walk down the street and not have everyone stare. When you’re trying to build something, it’d be nice to have a few decent hand tools.

     But here’s the beautiful thing about it all. For many of the lows, there's at least one high that seems to carry you through.

     It could be barely anything at all: The afternoon rain holds out long enough for you to dry your laundry. You finally figured out how to make jam on your own. You know people at the market by name, and they know yours. All the local taxi-men know where you live, even if you’ve never met them. Getting the front seat all to yourself, when all the other passengers are crammed in the back.
     Or it could be major: Your project finally falls into place. You go to a workday expecting nobody to show, and 10 people do. You come home to food waiting at your door. You receive the care package you were waiting for weeks to come. You receive a care package you didn’t even know was coming. When you walk down the street, everyone notices and says hello. When you walk by a classroom, you hear the all the children excitedly call out your name. You feel like you’re truly needed somewhere, to a place, to a people.

What's for dinner?

     Good question. A better question is, what’s in our fridge? Or, what is bearing in the garden? Or, what has been dropped off lately by a benevolent community member?
     I do try to alternate what we have every night: Jamaican dish, non-Jamaican dish, Jamaican dish, non-Jamaican dish. This non-Jamaican dish almost always originates from a Moosewood recipe, my all-time favorite cookbook series. (I’m not sure how many Moosewood cookbooks I own in total, but I think it’s somewhere close to 15. Of course, I couldn’t leave country for 26 months without at least one in tow.)
     Cooking is a favorite pastime of mine, and I’ve especially enjoyed it since coming to Jamaica, even despite all the adjustments I’ve had to make (i.e. access to ingredients, lack of storage, new foods, limited appliances/no oven, etc.) However, I feel that some of these ‘adjustments’ have also granted me more grace from my hungry recipient (a.k.a. Matt), as he knows what I have to work with.
     Juicing is another kitchen activity that I spend a lot of time on. Coming from Alaska, we didn’t always have fruit readily available, much less growing on trees right outside our door. I’ve definitely taken advantage of the abundance of fruit here, through juicing. I take great pleasure in grabbing june plums from our tree, immediately bringing them inside to make juice with…whenever I want. Because they’re right there, just waiting to be plucked for consumption. It’s wonderful.... Anyway, some of the juices I’ve made so far include: mango, papaya, orange, banana, pineapple, cucumber, sorrel, june plum, guava, soursop, and passion fruit. And there’s more that I would like to add to my repertoire. Akeliah, one of the neighborhood girls (also one of my students), and I have plans for her to teach me how to make peanut juice and breadfruit juice next.
     Akeliah and I have also spent some time making jam. So far we’ve made june plum and guava jam, both very good, and I hope to experiment with some other fruits as well.
    I’ve decided to include a slideshow of some of the dinners we’ve had over the last couple of weeks. You’ll notice that it’s pear (avocado) season, and we have them in abundance. We also were given ‘nuff’ pumpkin recently, both foods have been augmenting many of our dishes.
Last but not least, I have to give a shout out to my multi-talented husband. No, he is not a 'bump-on-a-log' when it comes to the kitchen. Our arrangement (as it was in Alaska, and continues here) is that he cooks breakfast and I cook dinner. The highlight of Matt’s breakfasts are definitely the chocolate tea (Jamaican name for fancy cocoa) he makes for me every morning -made from the very cocoa pods he harvested, fermented, dried, roasted, pulverized, froze, and now makes into the best cocoa I have ever had in my life. Trust me, if you ever get the chance to try this stuff, you’ll agree that it is the best way to start off every day.
     And that’s how we start most days, individually reading our respective books, Matt with his self-roasted coffee and me with my delicious cocoa.

The PCV Tourist

     This is what I mean, and please excuse my frankness:
     (I have to preface this by saying that I recently read something similar on another PCV's blog. So kudos to them.)
     There are many types of tourists in this world. But for the purpose of this blog, I'm going to put them in 3 categories:

     #1: There are the all-inclusive-cruise-ship-passenger tourists. Who will book a 4-7 day trip where everything is included for a one-time fee including airfare. These tourists arrive at their destination, while a local will be waiting with drink in hand, ready to serve them. Many of these same tourists, not all, will be the same people who will readily list off all the destinations they've traveled to around the world.
     But where have they really been? In my opinion, this tourist has paid an expensive plane ticket to hear different looking people speak with a funny accent so that said tourist can go back to their master list of Destinations Traveled and check one more off. Sure, it may be that they’ve seen the actual landscape of the country, and experienced its warm tropical weather and fine beaches. But culture? I’m not so sure about that. They've never seen those different looking people in any outfit outside of that ridiculous costume the resort makes them wear. They've never been to their home or ate at their table. They haven't heard them truly laugh, or met their mother, or understand what their daily life consists of. Yet, they will tell you they've been to Thailand, to Indonesia, AND South Africa.
     Really? Have you really been there? I have to admit that this conversation can be quite frustrating:
Bob: Jamaica? You're doing the Peace Corps in Jamaica? 
Me: Yep. Jamaica it is.
Bob: I've been there. 
Me: Oh yeah, when? Where did you go? 
Bob: Oh, my wife and I took a Caribbean Cruise for our 15th wedding anniversary. You wouldn't believe the food on that ship! Anyway, we had a stop in Jamaica. 
Me: Oh. Where'd you go? 
Bob: Oh, in Ocho Rios for the day. Man, those Rastas are HILARIOUS. 
Me: Yeah. Cool.
When what I really want to say is: Bob, let's be honest for a moment. Yes, you have physically been to Jamaica. And if you want to tell people that, then that's fine. But just between you and me, we both know that you have never really, truly experienced Jamaica. 

     Okay, tourist #2. These are the people who would prefer that I call them travelers and not tourists, because they hate that word: tourist. These are the backpackers, the hostellers, the ones who don’t rent a car, but use public transportation. Usually when they travel, it’s for longer periods of time, at least a month. They use Lonely Planet or the Rough Guide to help them experience more, and usually will try to read up on the country they are visiting beforehand. Most of them truly try to get to know the culture in which they are traveling. Many of these travelers have been to a local’s home and dined at their dinner table, they even still keep in touch with some they’ve met along the way. They acknowledge the carbon footprint left behind by their favorite pastime, but they can’t help themselves. They love to see the world. Plus, don’t they lead a pretty conscientious lifestyle otherwise?

     Category #3: The Peace Corps Tourist. That’s us. I mean, we definitely live here. We eat much of the same food our neighbors do. We live off of the same budget that they do. We wash our clothes by hand. We haven’t taken a hot shower in months. We ‘small up’ in the taxis. We are affected by the local politics. For 26 months, we do all this and more. We live as our neighbors, our community and as our Jamaican families do.
     But that’s just it. For only 26 months. This isn’t the whole of my life. Come May 2012, we’ll be moving on to our next adventure. So, no matter what hardships we may face in the PC as a result of living the lifestyle that much of the developing world does, in 2 years it’s over. We all know that. And besides, if we really just couldn’t live without Nutty-Butty bars or rechargeable batteries, our parents can and will send them in the mail. (Thanks guys!)
     The beautiful thing about PC is that for 26-28 months, we move to a country and live like the host country nationals do. We don’t go to work every day and then return back to our protected housing compound, or dine at our favorite restaurant every Friday night while we share our cultural stories over a glass of red wine. But I don’t want to kid myself all the same. Because the future I’m facing is not the future my neighbors are facing. The possibilities for me are not the same as my community. And if it just gets too tough, I can decide to go home, to my personal vehicle, college degree, financially stable family, and boxes of things now residing in Judy’s basement. My Jamaican family doesn’t have that option. If it gets too tough, well, they just ‘deal widit’.
     I do realize that all of us have different motives for travel, some for the beach or scenery and others for the culture or travel hardships. Please don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that no one should ever travel because it’s pointless, or that they’ll never truly understand another culture. No sah. That’s not what I’m saying at all. I think that we should try our darndest to understand other cultures the best we possibly can….I just think that part of this understanding process is the realization that we’ll never truly grasp the whole picture.

weather update

     As some of you may know, Jamaica was hit by tropical storm Nicole this past week. This has led to all those wonderful things that come with tropical storms: flash floods, landslides, power outages, roadblocks, food shortages, etc. Although this may seem like a stressful situation, and for some communities it has been, most of the island just adapted and coped like they so often do to adverse situations. And, to be honest, it hasn’t been THAT bad.
      We were starting to get slightly concerned when earlier in the week, it looked like a rather sizable hurricane was heading straight for Jamaica, but luckily for us, the hurricane has seemed to dissipate. Otherwise we check the NOAA Caribbean map regularly to see if there are any orange or red blobs in the Eastern seas of blue.

our banana trees that were blown down this past summer

     Hurricanes and tropical storms are a reality here in Jamaica, but to be honest, we don’t really worry too much about either. This is partly due to the fact that our place could double as a bomb shelter, that PCJ does an excellent job of keeping us safe, and that living in a small, farming community, at a high elevation, we are cared for by the community, some sort of produce is almost always available, and all the water runs downhill. Probably the largest inconveniences in Accompong this past week was the couple of people who lost their zinc roofs to the strong winds, power outage (lasting Monday through Saturday), and how stinkin’ moist/damp/wet everything is after a week straight of rain, and I quite literally mean just that. Rain all day, round the clock.
     For us personally, we didn’t have to put up with too much because our Early Service Conference (ESC) was this past week. So not only were we not in Accompong, but we were staying at a resort in the tourist hotbed of Ocho Rios. In our defense as suffering PCVs, we stayed at a low-end resort (the same place where the Ministry of Education has been known to hold their conferences), and the only other touristy thing we did was go to Margaritavile on Wednesday night.
     As far as the fun factor, Margaritaville was probably one of the best times we’ve had with other PCVs. After being at our sites for 4 months and dealing with all that entails, it was great for about 20 of us to cut loose together. Margaritaville has a Wednesday night special: all you can drink for about US$8. Add the pool, waterslide, dancefloor/DJ, hottub, and the fact that because of the rain, only about 10 other people were there. Let’s just say it wasn’t the most difficult thing I’ve ever had to endure….So, where was I? Oh yeah, our trials and tribulations.
     When it comes to power outages in Jamaica, the tourist districts are last to lose electricity. As a result, we had power in Ochi all week. Originally we were supposed to head home on Friday after ESC was over, but due to roadblocks, collapsed bridges, and the like, we ended up needing two days to get home (the same journey took us 4 hours on Monday morning). Aside from this, the other hassle is that when we came home, our place smelt worse than a moldy gym shoe. There was water on the floor, everything was damp, and bacteria was growing on our walls. Remember how I said we lived in somewhat of a bomb shelter? Well, cave might be the more appropriate term. Prior to this week, we regularly have to rewash formerly clean clothes that acquire mold spores somewhere during its quiet life in our dresser drawer –and that’s with us here every day, opening the place up, running the fan 24/7, and it NOT raining round the clock for a week. So you can imagine what our place was like yesterday. Since then we’ve been trying our best to air it out, clean up the water and mold, dry out our linens in between the frequent rains, and get rid of that God-awful smell.