Sipping slow on my coffee this morning, luxuriating in my lack of mosquito bites (thank you Neville for helping me with the net!). The week ahead will be another busy one, and I’m looking forward to the unexpected directions each day always takes. I have learned that you always need to be prepared to do the thing that you set out for, but must not be surprised when it doesn’t happen at all the way that you had planned.

Take this past week. Generally I am based out of the Citizens Association building, working on getting them organized and online, building up the library, preparing for summer camp, and myriad other small tasks that each day brings. As the days in June tick by, the necessity for planning camp and fixing up the library and recycling areas becomes increasingly important, as there will be 30 children who need space to run around without knocking over dusty books or stepping on glass! So this week we were going to really buckle down on those things. Monday I went in with a list. An hour into it my supervisor comes in and says that she found out this is the last day to get a food handlers permit for the Jerk Festival (which I will be working at this July 4 – woo!), and we need to go into Port Antonio right away to get into the class. Instead of getting frustrated that nothing else would be accomplished that day, we went into Porty, sat the class, took the test, got the photo taken, and moved on. Late that night I got a call that my supervisor found someone to help with sorting bottles the next morning, so we spent the early hours of Tuesday working through the bags and bags of plastics and glass, kept company by the scuttling land crabs and scurrying rats. Wednesday I had committed to participating in a work day with the area DAC (sort of a regional community organization, covers the communities from Long Bay to Fairy Hill), putting up paneling and building a veranda around a container they have that will soon be an Environment and Internet Center.

Jerry drilling the paneling.

Filling in space next to container where veranda will go.

The inside "before." Hopefully next time you see this there will be computers and we won't be so drained from the heat in there.

Thursday we finally got to that list, checked off a few lines, but didn’t have much success with a lot of it due to the current being out and preventing us using the computer and printer. Friday we begged money for our camp in Port Antonio, and did a few other chores. Maybe next week things will actually get moving! Maybe not. Despite the sometimes ridiculous serious of events that constitute a day, I’ve realized that I really enjoy not knowing what’s going to happen as I walk to work each morning.

It’s been a fun few weeks with the other Portland PCV’s too. A couple weekends ago we all trekked up inna di mountains to Belleview, where a Group 79 volunteer’s host family was throwing him a birthday party. I met with a couple other volunteers in Port Antonio to get some cake mix and rum (essentials) before heading up in a taxi. What a taxi that turned out to be. Down in Porty we piled what I thought was about 10 people into the car. I was squished in the back with the two other volunteers, a girl of about 13, and two likkle pickney spread across laps. Comfy. There were three big people in the front, and another kid in the back (we were in a station wagon type car). All of our stuff for the weekend was piled haphazardly on laps and in the back. Ok. We creak along the bumpy road and I notice that Jamaicans are staring at us. You know it’s a crazy situation when even the locals think the car is packed! A few minutes in we stop to pick up a spare tire. As I turn around when the driver is opening the trunk I realize that actually there are three people back there, not one! 12 people in the car. Ok. The car somehow wills itself up the hills, around the tight turns, and up and down the pot holes, until it can go no further and one of the tires pops. After what seemed like 10 minutes just riding the flat, we stop. We all pile out. It’s quite a crowd. The tire is changed and we squish again. The trip is an hour and change, so the kids were getting bored. They brought out whistles from school. We were serenaded for the last several miles. My friend Angie and I just looked at each other and laughed. It was ridiculous. After extracting our bodies (by now almost reclining since our combined weight broke the back seat), we limped down the hill to Rob’s house and poured out some rum.

View from Rob's roof. (picture taken by Josh Hunter)

Once we were revived, Belleview was a really beautiful place. After celebrating that evening with rum and delicious Jamaican food, we spent the next morning hiking down to Guava River. In the process of slipping and sliding down the steep hill, we stopped to eat Otaheiti apples right off the tree (thank you Tallis for climbing it), aww at a family of pigs that was hanging out, and collect lots of cool looking seeds. The river was cold and crisp. Really a beautiful area and fun hike!

Di pickney dem playing cricket. (Thanks Josh for the great pictures)

Chilling by Rob's SPA project (storage shed for farmer produce) during the long wait for a taxi down. We're good at waiting. (Photo by Josh Hunter)

I feel very lucky to be where I am. Fairy Hill is a great community, and as I walk by the same shops and people each day, I get more and more smiles and responses to my good mornings. The ladies that I am working with at the center are so generous and kind in fact, that at one point I counted 21 honey bananas and 7 plantains in my possession from their collective giving! Having several other Environment and Health/Infrastructure volunteers somewhat nearby is also a blessing, both socially and for work purposes. Our association often partners with the Portland Environmental Protection Agency (PEPA), where my friend Angie is volunteering. The two Health Infrastructure volunteers, Jerry and Craig, will be putting hurricane straps on our recycling center soon and helped out at the DAC workday last week. Several Portland PCVs along with a few volunteers from across the island will be helping me out with camp in July. There is so much room for collaboration here. So far I really haven’t felt the isolation, frustration, or whatever else that they so strongly warn us about during training (fingers crossed this will continue!!). There are definitely days that just start on the wrong foot, but generally there is something in that day that makes me laugh at the situation, or the next day is better. Every day has kept me busy too, which I do well with. Today is the first time in a few weeks that I don’t have work, travel, laundry, chores, whatever else to do! I’m free to blog! 

Here are some other pictures from the past few weeks, somewhat haphazardly:

Raz and I enjoying Devon House iced cream at the Marina in Port Antonio. Damn it melts quickly.

View from my veranda. Wanna visit?

My first attempt at fried plantain.

Marina at sunset.

Current and water out at Angie's. Solution: veggie burgers and rum by candlelight.

ps

The title of this post means anything you want you have to work for. Also, check this out: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/latin_america/10355777.stm

ALSO, Happy Father’s Day!!!!!!!!