Mi Yard

My house (left) Sandy's house (right).

If you zoom in you can see some blackey mangoes hanging between our units.

Mi Yard is actually the name of a local bar. There is a large sign out front where red tube lights illuminate MI YARD through a drifting haze of ganja smoke. Music is usually blaring and a group of Jamaican men can be found around the bar. This is not my yard.

Mi yard is small and quiet but filled with life. There are four housing units. Three of them house Peace Corps volunteers (me, Curt a second year volunteer who leaves in July, and Sandy a third year volunteer and my mentor at NEPT who will be leaving in September). Miss Beulah and her daughter Maureen live in the fourth unit. Miss Beulah runs a shop in the front of the yard next to the street where all the children stop on their way to and from school to buy suck-sucks (bags of frozen juice), sweeties, and other snacks. I found out that suck-sucks are called serve-me-longs if they are frozen because "dem serve yuh long time." Maureen runs a school supply shop right next door. She sells pens, pencils, erasers, and all sorts of paper and notebooks but I've only ever seen students buy marbles and stickers.

My house is all the way at the back. It has three rooms (kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom) and hot water and air conditioning, neither of which I use. I've been living here for two weeks and neither the electricity nor the water have not shut off yet. All in all it is a very nice set up for a Peace Corps volunteer.

Lucky, our yard dog. He's a little crazy, but he helps keep the yard safe.

Our yard has a dog, Lucky, who Sandy found on her way to the Royal Palm Reserve (run by NEPT). Sandy thought he was black at first because he was so covered in fleas. She took him in and has taken great care of him. He is very Lucky that she found him. The yard also has two cats, three mango trees, wild basil, and a breadfruit tree. I'm hoping to add to the garden as soon as my compost matures. I bought a machete the other day, which is the tool of choice in Jamaica (pronounced Ma-shet: no e on the end). Need to cut a small tree? Don't use a saw: here's the machete. Need to dig a small hole? Don't use a trowel, the machete is right here. The jellyman uses a machete to chop open coconut. The cane man uses one to peel sugar cane. I'm a little embarassed to use my machete because its so clean. The wood on most Jamaicans' machetes is dark and smooth from use and the blade has been filed many times.

Mangoes from my yard: East Indian (left) and blackey (right)

There are many different types of mangoes on the island and they all have several names. Our yard has small blackey mangoes (so called because of the black spots, also called green gage or gatey), east indian mangoes (my favorite), and a large mango that Maureen and Miss Bula call "the big ones." Its mango season now, so I've been enjoying all of them!

The front gate and East Indian mango tree.

It's also land crab season. I visited Kool Runnings water park last weekend (Yes, I rode the Jamaican bobsled. Several times in fact) and there were about fifty of them swarming around the restrooms. One of the employees was dropping as many as she could into a bucket to take home and cook! I've been keeping my eyes out for them in the yard, but so far I've only seen them as road kill. There are several crab holes at the catholic church, so I might bring a bucket with me on Sunday.