Easter in Jamaica

Hey everyone!! Wat a gwaan? (How are things going?) I hope everyone had a good Easter holiday; here in Jamaica, Good Friday and Easter Monday are national holidays…so no work.

Speaking of work, I have been placed in Port Antonio, Portland (northeast coast of Jamaica) working with the Portland 4-H Club, a parish branch of the Jamaica 4-H Club. The motto of Jamaica 4-H is “to make the best better.” The Jamaica 4-H seems to be similar to the U.S. 4-H clubs; they even have the same symbols. Within Portland 4-H club, I will be responsible for implementing schools gardens and starting up sustainable projects, such as jam-making.

I haven’t actually spent much time in the 4-H office because Portland 4-H had their parish youth expo, which allows the students from parish schools to showcase their various achievements. The youth expo was held the Wednesday after I got into Port Antonio. It was enjoyable seeing all the students and the assortment of products that they had made from their garden vegetables.
So far Jamaica has been wonderful. I am homesick, but I’ve also been keeping somewhat busy by leisure reading and going through training materials. This is a beautiful island…everyone (from Portland) tells me that Portland is the most beautiful parish of all and has the best jerk chicken/pork. Also I’m walking distance from some beautiful beaches. Port Antonio is not an overly huge tourist city, like Montego Bay or Negril.

I actually live about 8 km from Port Antonio. My host family here is extremely nice. They consist of my host mother, Mrs. Noreen who is the teacher of the basic school, my host father, Mr. George who is a local farmer and amazing cook and lastly their grandson, Carlos. I actually went to one of the beaches the other day with Mrs. Noreen’s school group, which has 3 girls and 2 boys. Within the house, I have my own bedroom and my own bathroom. We usually have water and electricity, but it is not uncommon to have water shortages for a day or two (so far the longest has been half a day).

Public transportation is something that I will have to get accustomed to. It isn’t too difficult to get taxis into and out of Port Antonio, but it is common to fit as many people into a taxi or minibus. When I went to the beach with the school kids, there was a person in the front seat, 3 adults in the backseat with 4 children in laps, and an adult and a child in the kitchen (the trunk). So 10 people, not counting the driver. That was an uncomfortable 20 minutes.

I should hopefully have more regular access to the internet at work, so I’ll try posting later…probably in a week or two. Before I forget, I do have a cell phone in Jamaica. The cell phone company offers an international plan, but I haven’t gotten it yet due to complete and utter chaos. If you would like my cell phone number or want me to call you when I finally get the international plan (will probably wait another month or so until after the swearing in ceremony), email me or facebook message me. I am not going to post my number on my blog for security reasons.