Greetings! We are in the second week of training and trying to absorb as much as we can about Peace Corps rules and policies in addition to language, culture, safety and security, public transportation, agriculture, and much more. Our day typically starts between 6:00-6:30 am with a brisk walk around the neighborhood or catching up on 'homework'. Nicki, our host mother cooks breakfast every morning and I have gotten used to the taste of salt-fish or mackerel first thing. I also kind of like the local instant coffee, however I am looking forward to finding a source of good ground coffee in the future.
This weekend was a lot of fun for Linnae and I. On Saturday morning we went with our host-mother to Coronation Market in downtown Kingston. The official market is open-air but under roof. There are literally hundreds of vendors selling callaloo, pumpkin, potato, ginger, scallions, thyme, oranges, grapefruit, akee, soursop, jackfruit, tamarind, bananas, plantains, breadfruit, sugar cane, and on and on. There are no set prices, so you either haggle with the vendor or just move on until you find a better price. On the perimeter there are a lot of unofficial vendors selling many of the same things, though they are a little more aggressive at calling to you and trying to get you to "spend a likkle sintin wit dem." The aisle ways are small and there are dozens of men steering their brake-less pushcarts around, narrowly missing toes and produce. There are supermarkets and produce stands in Kingston and in the surrounding parishes, but the best prices are in Coronation Market. That being said, Linnae and I will be doing our shopping close to our permanent site, not in the big city.
After the shopping experience, we dropped of the purchases at her office in town and then got on the bus (to learn how to use the local bus service) to go farther uptown to a place called Halfway Tree. This is where the main bus terminal is located as well as lots of "regular" shopping opportunities. There were even restaurants like Burger King, KFC, and Wendy's; we still haven't had any urges for fast food though. Getting on buses here takes a little bit more attitude and a little less courtesy than we are used to in the U.S.. Climbing aboard involves forming a gaggle of people and keeping people from squeezing by you. We took the bus back downtown to collect the groceries and drive home.
Sunday, we rode up to Ocho Rios on the northern side of the island. Along the way we drove through the countryside and it was nice to get out of the urban/suburban area we have been accustomed to for the last two weeks. We didn't actually spend much time in Ocho Rios (Ochi for short), but we did go to Dunn's River Falls. The falls are probably somewhere between a waterfall and a cascade, but they are climbable and that's the attraction. You can also spend some time at a little beach there, which we did. The water was kind of interesting with cool fresh water mixing with warm salt water. As we swam we would move in and out of pockets of warm and cool. After swimming a bit, the three of us made the trek up the falls with a bunch of tourists (I know I've only been here two weeks, but I already consider myself more than a visitor). I was surprised that the rocks weren't more slippery.
We took the long way home and got to see some of the agriculture in Saint Mary parish. There were coconut groves, sugar cane fields, banana farms, and pineapple fields. As we moved into the mountains we could see some of the terrace farming and small plots the farmers have there. This was a glimpse at the kind of environment Linnae and I will likely work in. On some of the terraces there was just a single row of corn. I'm impressed that the farmer would exert so much effort to build a terrace for each row.
Linnae and I only have a few more days left in the Portmore area before Peace Corps Jamaica Group 83 gets split into our respective sectors and move to a new community. From what I hear, Green Initiative (Ag/Env) will be moving to a small community at about 3,000 ft above sea level. I'm hoping that will bring slightly cooler temperatures. We won't be able to see the brilliant blue waters of the Caribbean Sea out of our windows anymore, but I suppose we will manage. During the upcoming phase our training will shift to primarily Ag/Env topics as well as language and culture. We are all looking forward to graduating from the mundane training we are going through now.
Peace Corps Masters International
As I prepared for my thesis stateside, I was drawn to participatory methods of assessment and research. I thought this was something that I would be "bringing to the table." As it turns out, this is the bread and butter for how Peace Corps Volunteers integrate and learn about their communities. PC uses two main tools, Participatory Analysis for Community Action (PACA) and Community and Sector Inventory (CASI). We haven't gotten too deep into the methodology, but I am assuming there are a lot of similarities with what a lot of the literature calls Rapid Rural Appraisal, Participatory Rural Appraisal or Participatory Learning and Action. I'm really looking forward to learning more about PACA and CASI to see what kind of studies I could potentially develop from them.
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