Wednesday, February 01, 2006

Packages and Cable

We got three packages last Friday. I would have written about them earlier, but it has taken us this long to look through all the goods that were inside of them. Just kidding. Kaelyn and I really enjoyed the packages we got from the States. It always reminds us that the most significant thing that we gave up in joining the Peace Corps is our friends and relatives.

One package was from Kaelyn's grandparents and included lens wipes and our favorite rectangular meals - Clif bars, Brewer's Yeast (great for protein in soups and popcorn) and a can of tennis balls for the tennis team. My friend sent tennis balls, jelly beans, reading material and oodles of music (and comedy recordings), along with a very nice note written on quite small paper. Finally, members of our KC connection gave us a box stuffed with books, organic chocolate, dried fruit, energy bars, and Harper's magazines. They also sent us a traveling mitten that we took to see some of the sights in Jamaica, like the beach. It is an educational activity which Kaelyn will explain more in her post later.

Thanks for making us feel special. The experience of getting packages has convinced us that we really need to send letters and packages to our loved ones when we return to the states. They're so cool to receive. Just one of the many things you learn (or recognize) in the Peace Corps.

-Shane

PS - If you are still reading . . . We got cable installed yesterday. It only took two working days for them to come out, making it one of the faster processes in Jamaica. You get about 90 channels, including movies, for the basic rate here (US$12.50).

PPS - Peace Corps can be spelled Pea Score and still sounds the same at loud. As a fun game for all of our readers, how would you answer the question, "What is the Pea Score?"

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

1) The music accompanying the motion picture "Pea"

2) A group of 20 peas

3) A tally kept on a pea

4) What you have when you successfully smuggle a shipment of peas

Shane and Kaelyn said...

This last post script is kind of important because so many people in Jamaica ask us "what is the Peace Corps?" And the name is sort of confusing to me because there are things like peace keepers, "winning the peace", and most of the things that deal with peace seem to be about war. That's why the dreads can see through this whole "Peace Corps" thing, because Rastas are wonderful with language. Volunteers from Canada are called CIDA volunteers (Canadian International Development Agency). Certainly drier, but less open to odd misinterpretations of intent (the classic: are you a CIA agent?).

Pea Score = What you are going to have for dinner in Jamaica, where rice and peas is ubiquitous.

-Shane