After the hustle and bustle of training and field activities, and the two month build up to where we would ultimately be placed for our two years in Jamaica, I finally feel like my feet are touching the ground. The ground, you may be interested to know, is in Fairy Hill, Portland! Yeah, from Rainbow Lakes to Fairy Hill…and Sherwood Forest is just down the road from us.

Aanyway, I will be working with the Fairy Hill Citizens Association and Neighborhood Watch. I’ll be doing projects with the Basic School right on up to the Senior Citizens Association in town. I think there will also be room for a lot of collaboration and networking with other PCVs and local NGOs. Still some kinks to work out with housing and job structure, but I’m psyched!

Let me brag a little about this parish. Portland is all the way on the eastern coast of Jamaica, bordering the parishes of St. Thomas and St. Andrew. It’s home to the Blue and John Crow Mountains along with all of the coffee plantations that exist there. Yum! Much of the parish is cooler and rainier than the rest of Jamaica, but I think here on the coast the temperature is pretty similar (at least if feels like it). Portland, because of the long bumpy drive and frequent road flooding and landslides, isn’t as developed as much of the north coast. Once you make it out there it boasts the same white sand beaches and cerulean water that Jamaica is famous for. I think the area I am in has one of the few good surfing beaches in Jamaica as well.

So, lots to work on and lots to explore! I think my first big project is going to be to organize an “Environmental Fun Camp” for community kids up to 12 years old. For those of you who work with kids or have experience with camps, please share your wisdom.

no pictures of Fairy Hill, but this was a beautiful spot we went to while training in Ewarton

and we got to jump in!