Week 1: Jamaica Irie!

Everyting irie. I took this picture this morning when I went to the beach with my host sister, Crissy. I've gone swimming most mornings this week because the beach is so close and the water is so warm. Thanks to the people, the beach, the food, and the dancing I'm quickly falling in love with Jamaica.

Peace Corps group 81 arrived in Jamaica last Thursday and we've been barraged with information ever since. The next months are devoted to learning about Jamaica, its people, and our work. We are staying with Jamaican families in a beach town in the greater Portmore area in order to ease us into Jamaican culture. I'm staying with Cheryll (34) and Crysania (11) both of whom have been wonderful: hospitable, kind, accepting, and great teachers. A lot of Jamaicans have nicknames that have little or nothing to do with their real name so I call my host mother Sandy. She is an inspector for the Jamaican police (the second highest rank) so despite all the stories the Peace Corps tells us during training, I feel very safe living and traveling with her.


For now, I'm mostly observing and absorbing. I'm struggling to understand patois (it really is a different language), forming friendships, and laughing a lot. The Jamaica that I have experienced so far is diverse. While Jamaica is characterized as a developing country there are parts of it that are very developed. I see kids walking around with their laptops and nintendo dsi. Families have flat screen tvs, blackberrys, and a lot of the girls like the Jonas brothers and Hannah Montana. Houses in this area have flush toilets, and electricity. The family that I'm staying with is very modern: they shop at mega mart (similar to walmart), watch cable tv and use a washing machine. In some aspects they are more "American" than I am, but these are all aspects of Jamaica too.

My family and their neighbors are teaching me all about dancehall music (i.e. Mavado, Vybz Kartel, Ding Dong) and how to dance to it (i.e. jerk, skip to my loo, and how to wine). I got a chance to practice at a police fundraiser dance last night. My faorite song so far is Holiday where everyone does the skip to my loo at the chorus.
The other aspect of Jamaican culture that I'm diving into is the food, which is delicious. The most exotic dishes I've tried this far are oxtail and cow cod soup (actually made with a part that only a bull has). They were both surprisinly tasty. My favorite food so far is the fried plantains. One of the things I'm most excited about is Jamaican produce. In season right now is the Jamaican apple: Otaheite.
I've really enjoyed taking walks and talking with the little (likkle) girls in the neighborhood. They really like touching my hair, so its a win-win situation.

My plan is to post once a week every weekend on a basic summary of the week and occasionally write about special topics.