Negril with the Fam

Kaelyn's family came down to Jamaica to visit us from June 3 -7. We thought that Negril would be the best place to go, because it has the beach, the cliffs, many local and international style restaurants, and is easy to get to from the airport. It turned out to be a good choice.



During the trip, we ate many fabulous meals, hung out on the cliffs and the beach, and enjoyed the relaxed vibe in Negril. One of the best restaurants was Just Natural, it was right down the road from the hotel, Samsara, which is on the West End (cliff side as opposed to beach side) of Negril. Just Natural features tasty fresh fruit and breakfast as well as vegetarian and seafood entrees, and the tables are outdoors in a garden setting. The fruit juices and blended drinks are especially delicious. We also went to Rick's (the famous Negril spot for cliff jumping and sunset cocktails), Margaritaville, LTU, and Three Dives Jerk. Everyone (including Kaelyn's teenage sisters) was adventurous and tried new things like curry goat, curry conch, jerk chicken, ackee and saltfish, and Jamaican style patties (beef in a pastry shell).



Besides eating, we did a few other activities. There was snorkeling off the cliffs at Samsara. And although most of the coral reefs around Jamaica are dead we did spot some pockets of color and saw several schools of fish. We even spotted some dolphins, which we hadn't seen anywhere else in Jamaica. We spent an interesting and tiring day at the Negril craft market and found some nice pieces to buy. They got to experience exhilarating route taxi rides and smalling up going back and forth from the hotel. And most importantly the weather was sunny the whole trip, so there was plenty of time to lay in the sun, tan, read, and relax. All in all a fantastic family vacation!

You can see more pictures here.

- Kaelyn and Shane

Interesting Tings

Below is a list of interesting things we could have blogged about over the past month or so but didn't (mostly because we have gotten a bit lazy and more busy at work).

• We spent the weekend of Shane's birthday at our friends' house in the cane fields of Clarendon. They had piglets in their back yard and made an awesome feast of lentil burgers, sweet potatoe fries, hummus, and vegan chocolate cake. We provided the wine. They borrowed a projector and we watched a movie on their wall. Good times!
• We made chocolate chip cookies and hummus for our Super Bowl party for two. Commercials were sub-par in our opinion. The buff he is sporting in the picture was courtesy of a birthday package from Kaelyn's family, it also had a new KU t-shirt (his old one got bleach on it) and a t-shirt for the Swizzle Stick Club.
• Our friends from St. Elizabeth, who we spent Christmas with, came down to our house and we had a Mexican Fiesta and watched nuff cable TV. They also had the luxury of sleeping on the air mattress in our living room.
• The next day the 4 of us went up to the Blue Mountains of St. Andrew for the Woodford Hold 'Em Poker Tournament, a benefit for LTAG (Literacy Tutoring Advisory Group). Kaelyn dealt and Shane made it to the final table. Everyone loved the candy we brought from the birthday/valentine's package Shane's Dad sent, especailly the Hot Tamales. During a raffle at the tournament Shane was the lucky winner of a Vote for Pedro t-shirt. And to appease the crowd he even quoted Napoleon ("This one tastes like the cows got into an onion patch").
• On our way from the tournament to the cabin where we were staying 7 of us took a midnight hike up the wrong mountain, twice, before eventually finding the right road on the 3rd try. It's a good thing cell phones work in the Blue Mountains.
• Once we got to the cabin we were exhasted and promptly blew up the air mattress that the 4 of us were planning on sleeping on. Of course it found a nail and promptly deflated. Sleeping on the floor = not good times. But we did eat noodles at 3 AM.
• Kaelyn attended a week long training in Kingston so that she could become a Peer Supporter. It was great: 5 days of hot water, free food, and socializing with other volunteers. While in Kingston she also discovered an awesome Mediterranean/Latino restaurant, drank way too much wine, and spent lots of time at TGI Friday's (located across the street from the hotel).
• On Valentine's day we had a 7 1/2 hour dinner with two of our friends. It invovled checking out and quickly leaving Bob's Cafe (at the Bob Marley Museum) which was way too commercialized. Eating wonderful food at a Devon House restaurant. And concluding with drinks, then dessert, then more drinks and an appetizer at TGI Friday's.
• Our friend delivered Shane's birthday drum from Accompong and pictures of the Rasta who made it. We'd never seen a square drum before but it sounds great!
• Last week we got a 600 gallon water tank installed at our house. Now we can take a good pressure shower any time of the day. And we no longer have to haul water from downstairs to do laundry and flush the toliet between 8AM and 5PM when the pressure isn't strong enough to come upstairs. We are very, very happy!
• Thanks to a patch, super glue, and duct tape we believe the air mattress has been fixed!

- Kae and Shane

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?"

19th Day of Christmas

In our world Christmas goes on forever. Today we received a package from a friend of Kaelyn's family. It was the perfect Christmas package, complete with homemade cookies, white chocolate pretzels, Christmas music, the DVD Christmas with the Kranks, and our favorite - Clif Bars! And not just any Christmas cookies, Kaelyn's absolute favorite waffle cookies. And even after traveling all the way from Kansas they are still incredibly tasty! We were thrilled when we opened the box!

Thanks!

- Kaelyn and Shane

From The Bluest Mountains, The Blackest Brew

The French Press and Grinder I received in the package from Kaelyn's family was really good with the Blue Mountain beans I got in Kingston the other day. The beans still cost a lot down here, about US$23 a pound, so I just got a half pound for the weekends and I will use the instant Blue Mountain coffee on the weekdays. We hope to hike up to the Blue Mountains where you can get coffee for only US$9 a pound.

The freshly grind beans make a very smooth cup. No milk is necessary with the Blue Mountain as it would be with the inferior brands, although addition of milk can be ok sometimes if you really need it. I mention the dairy for those stalwarts in my family, you know who you are, who for which coffee sans cream or milk is not really coffee at all. These same people are also appalled by my use of sugar and/or artificial sweetener. But I digress. There really is no one way to enjoy coffee. As evidence, the most popular type of coffee in Jamaica is instant, mixed with powdered creamer and sugar. Espresso bars are few and far between. In fact, few Jamaicans drink the Blue Mountain coffee and something like 90 % is exported to Japan. The Japanese get all of the good stuff.

-Shane

PS-Does anyone know about the merits of leftover coffee grounds as a soil additive? I like to pour out the grounds into the potted plant we have on the patio in hopes that bacteria and insects will break down the grounds into soil. I know this experiment has been conducted millions of times in middle school science fairs, but where are the results when I need them?

Christmas Package

On Friday, after two previous Fridays of being disappointed, we finally received our Christmas package from my family. I had been warned that this was the "best package yet" and I think that was an accurate description. We took pictures to capture our excitement and to document the occasion and those will soon be on the flickr site if you want to see for yourself. I'm getting tired of listing what was in every package although I started that for the purpose of assuring my mother that everything she sent made it here. I also thought that would be something interesting we would want to look back on since this blog's main purpose is to serve as the journal of our Peace Corps experience. But since this package was particularly big and I already told my mother over the phone everything that was in it I think I'll just hit the highlights. We of course got our 2005 Christmas ornaments. Although they weren't labeled we figured the snowman with the coffee mug (saying "I can't, it goes right through me") was for Shane and the mini-gherkin pickle ornament was for me. Shane got an unbreakable French Press (just in time since his plastic travel one couldn't possibly make another cup) and a coffee grinder. I'm sure he will write later about the perfect cup of coffee he was able to brew on Saturday morning. I got many things to make me smell good and feel like I'm not gross and disgusting all the time from all the dirt and sweat. I truly have never been so excited about pretty new underwear and deodorant in my whole life. Plus two microfiber quick dry towels that look even better than the REI ones my friends got that I was so jealous of a few weeks ago. I also got some new shoes and a new purse which are super chic but now I am afraid of pairing them with all my wornout clothes. Oh well, in a few weeks they will be dusty and wornout too. We also got a new poster from Wakarusa (which if you don't know is the best music festival of the summer that just happens to be in Lawrence, KS) and so now we will be able to fill up a little more of the vast amounts of white space dominating our walls. Oh and the new KU Alumni calendar plus these cute little origami Jayhawks. So we really made an excellent haul! And we were even able to share a little bit of our package. On Saturday afternoon we heard some little kids playing futbol outside our house so we brought down our package of candy canes, that only would have made us fat if we ate all 12 ourselves. We made instant friends thanks to the "sweeties" and they even let us play dominoes with them. We felt special.
- Kaelyn

Exciting Tings From Faarin

'Tis the season and have we ever been blessed with gifts aplenty from abroad. While we definitely recognize that Christmas is about much more than giving and getting, this year it was especially meaningful to get some nice familiar presents from home.

Since we had a visitor we had the fortune of receiving many things that wouldn't be as easy to send in a box. Shane's Mom brought us a duffel bag stuffed full of treats, more than we ever imagined we would be getting. The highlight was a queen size air mattress so now we can have guests and they won't have to sleep on the lawn furniture. We are hoping this will increase our popularity among the Peace Corps crowd, especially since Portmore isn't a popular destination spot on the island. No ThermaRest pads needed at our house; we offer superior comfort and only need 8 hours notice to charge up the pump! The rest of the duffel was crammed full of Clif Bars, Mike & Ikes, and Fruit Leather, oh my! As luck would have it Costco carries these things in bulk so we now have an ample supply. No more Clif Bar rationing - yippie! Our other treats were candles and incense (now we can combat the burning trash smell); magnets; licorice; lotion, soap, and body spray for Kaelyn; 2 huge bottles of hand sanitizer; and the card game Phase 10 (which Kaelyn kicked Shane's butt at yesterday). It was a truly overwhelming experience and we are well set with treats to send us into the new year! Plus Shane's Mom brought some super yummy homemade cookies from his brother's family and a cute snowman ornament made by our niece.

We also got a Christmas package on Friday from Shane's Dad which was filled with lots of festive treats, including: cocoa and Christmas chocolates, holiday scented candles, clothes, and Christmas kitchen towels. Also in the box was a wall decoration which reads Welcome to the McCalls and has a different hanging piece for each holiday and season. Right now we have a cute snowflake hanging from it. It really transforms our apartment and makes it feel homey! So while we may have been a bit lacking in the Christmas spirit before it definitely found us before it was too late. We realized that with a few touches from home we could still feel connected to the Christmas Past that we had been longing for. And it isn't over yet, we must have been extra good this year because there are a few more Christmas treats in transit!

A very special thanks to our wonderful family and friends who through their emails, cards, phone calls, and treats have helped us to be far away yet still feel connected!

- Kaelyn and Shane

Tennis Clothes Line

For those who don't know, I (Shane) do tennis lessons with students at the local high school on Fridays after school. I hope to expand this to two days a week next semester. The school has the lines drawn onto an asphalt court, and they have 10 tennis racquets, all with strings. There are also some enthusiastic kids and two teachers who are supportive of tennis at the school, one of whom does tennis lessons on a different afternoon. What they don't have is a net.

While teaching them how to play tennis, I was continuously reminding them that, if this had been a real tennis match, their shots would have to go over the net. Then I would point to a spot in the air (approximately 36 inches off the ground) and say, "See that shot, that was a little bit too low, so that would not have gone over the net in a real game." I think they got the point of the whole net thing, but it's kind of hard to practice while trying to visualize the net.

So, last Friday, I finally unveiled my big plan for showing them -- kind of -- what a net would be like. I took two volleyball poles that the school had and tied a length of clothesline between them. I measured the height at the middle so it would be 36" and a little bit higher at each end, as a real tennis net would be. Even though it was the last day of school before the Christmas vacation, I still got 5 kids to come out and practice. Success: the net thing worked, in my opinion. I said, "See, you have to hit it over the net", as I introduced a new concept into my tennis pedagogy. For the most part, they remembered to hit it over the clothesline instead of under.

Then I took the clothesline home so that I could still use it to hang clothes in my apartment. Beautiful. My hopes are that we can have a net donated by Jamaica Tennis Assocation or another source sometime in the spring school semester. Then, in the next school year, we could play competitions against other high schools.

One other thing we need is tennis balls. Right now I only have two that I bought in Kingston. It was a can of three, but we lost one in the tall grass. Now the two we have left are turning brown from dirt and have quite a few burrs (macka is the Jamaican word I learned for burrs) stuck in them. So if anyone out there has any old (or new) tennis balls they would like to send down, feel free to ship them down in with another package or as a separate box.

The address is:

Shane McCall
United States Peace Corps
c/o Suchet Loois, Peace Corps Country Director
8 Worthington Avenue
Kingston 5, Jamaica, West Indies

Thanks for your help.

-Shane

Package and Interesting Tidbits

On Friday we received a very important package containing the clothes for our office's Christmas Party. The party is very formal - Cinderella Ball style - and we opted to have things we already owned sent from home rather than buying new stuff. Not only was this cheaper but we really didn't think anything new would be worn again so it seemed less wasteful too. A Big Up goes out to my mother for digging our things out of storage and sending them. She's the greatest! The really fascinating thing about this package (since its contents aren't too interesting) is that it made it to Jamaica in only 4 days! Only 4 days to come all the way from Kansas to Jamaica! Too bad Peace Corps only picks up the mail once per week from the airport so it took us another 2 weeks to actually get our hands on the package. But it is here in plenty of time before the party so all is well.

In other interesting weekend news: Shane was presented with a customer appreciation gift basket at our grocery store - we aren't exactly sure why but it made us feel very cool. We found out that our landlady plans on getting a tank so that we can have running water during the daytime - which means no more waking up super early just so that you can have a decent shower. We bought a portable closet and rearranged the apartment to accommodate this new piece of furniture. And Shane made a really yummy vegan chocolate cake from a recipe in our Peace Corps Jamaica Cookbook.

But the most exciting thing of all were the treats Shane brought back from MegaMart! Coronas and Tequila! Isn't he just the awesomest husband ever! He also got some tortillas so now we can have Mexican Night Part 2. I can't wait!

- Kaelyn

Clif Bars

I don't know if I've really stressed the point of what a treat Clif Bars are. I was explaining this to my sister on the phone last night who could not understand why I was so excited about receiving them in my recent package. See, to those back in the states you might just think - Clif Bars - oh those are yummy, I eat them when I go hiking, or whatever. But to us a Clif Bar is this special taste of home that can't be replicated by anything you can find here. When we get some from farrin (foreign) in a package they immediately go into a special ziploc bag that we keep in the fridge so that no pesky bugs or ants can get to them. Then we have an almost impenetrable rationing system. You must argue your case before the tribunal and then there is a vote on whether it is an eligible and deserving situation. Only then does one of those precious bars leave its sacred storage space. Now you might be wondering what sort of situations are deserving of this honor. Well usually it must entail some degree of struggle and pain on the part of the recipient. Perhaps a 2 hour long bus ride at 6:00am followed by a day full of meetings and no chance to eat until late afternoon. Or after a trip across the island when you haven't eaten or drank anything at all because there are no bathroom stops and you are drugged up on Dramamine. Because we never know when we will be blessed by the arrival of these wonderful treats as our supply runs down we get even more stingy in our approvals. But for now we are blessed because we have quite a stock at the moment and I was even able to sneak by with pretty sub-par reasoning Saturday to indulge in my favorite little treat.

-Kaelyn

Busy, Busy: BBQ, Doctor, Harry Potter, and more

We have had quite the whirl-wind of activity the past few days. Rather than spending the weekend at home reading and relaxing like we normally do, we found ourselves out and about with our Peace Corps friends.

We should start with our Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday night. It turned out quite successful and we were even able to leave work an hour early so that we could get everything cooked and still eat at a reasonable hour. Everything turned out delicious and we ate to candlelight and the Last of the Mohicans soundtrack. We ended up having way too much food even after we had both stuffed ourselves. The leftover Apple Crisp with Cranberry Sauce and the Garlic Mashed Potatoes were contributed to the BBQ the next day. And the stuffing and vegetables were kept for us to eat on Sunday. Unfortunately the veggies weren't so good the second time around, especially because we had mixed them with the leftover gravy. In the future, we are not going to use the "Golden Gravy" recipe with nutritional yeast that we found online; it was gritty and odd. The highlight of the evening was when Shane's sister called - the holiday just isn't the same without family! The only downside to the event was that we were both too full and tired to do the dishes.

Friday we headed to Kingston to the Peace Corps office with our BBQ contributions in tow. We had a nice surprise we when arrived - 2 packages! The first was the Halloween package from Shane's mom in Alaska which had a bag of Reese's peanut butter cups, a bag of carmels, lots of carmel apple suckers and some Halloween books. Even though Halloween has passed this was still a great package and we don't mind celebrating Halloween all year if it means more candy! Our friends who we shared our candy with were very appreciative too! The second package was a total surprise send from Kaelyn's grandparents. It was full of Nutri-Grain bars and Cliff bars and was the envy of the other volunteers in the office. I think Cliff bars are the number one requested item of volunteers.

Then Shane headed upstairs to the kitchen to work on preparing food for the BBQ. He cooked up some yummy sauteed potatoes and onions, baked potatoes, and sauteed squash! The BBQ turned out to be a really fun event. The Peace Corps staff all brought side dishes to go along with the sides brought by a few of the volunteers and the burgers and veggie burgers. There was a wonderful veggie chili, jerked turkey, festival, mac & cheese, brownies, black forest cake, rice krispie treats, and tons of other yummy things. While everyone was eating there was a fashion show put on by the Peace Corps staff which was really funny. Then there was lots of music to keep up the festive atmosphere.

Unfortunately, Kaelyn missed most of the BBQ because the Peace Corps Medical Officer (PCMO) sent her to the doctor since her sore throat and ear ache hadn't gone away in a week. The doctor visit wasn't too traumatic but she was put on 4 types of medication to treat her ears, throat, and sinuses. The worst part was trying to find the way back to the Peace Corps office which resulted in a bad blister on each heel and giving up and chartering a taxi. Luckily there was still lots of food left at the BBQ and Shane cooked her up a yummy veggie burger to make her feel better.

After the BBQ was over and cleaned up there were the quarterly meetings for the various volunteer groups: IT, Literacy, Small Business, and Gender and Development. Most meetings were short this time since everyone was in the BBQ spirit and not much was really accomplished at either of the meetings we attended. Then it was off to the various Happy Hours around New Kingston to socialize with everyone. We went to Christopher's first which is a piano bar and has a very nice atmosphere. There was quite a crowd of volunteers and we all pulled chairs together and enjoyed the Rum and Cokes that were 2 for 1. Then Shane headed to the German Happy Hour but Kaelyn stayed at the first place with some other people because they had a very appetizing menu and she really wanted to try the Mediterranean salad - which was delicious! Shane finally got to sample the German beers that he had been thinking about since the last time we were there for quarterly meetings when they ran out. Then we met back up and headed home with 3 of our friends who were opting to crash at our place rather than get a hotel in Kingston.

Unfortunately, we don't have the greatest accommodations for people wanting to stay at our place but we made do with having them sleep on the coach, 2 armchairs pushed together, and the lounge chair from our balcony covered with a sleeping bag. In the morning Kaelyn and one of our guests had to head to Kingston early for a meeting but Shane fixed up omelets and coffee for the others. When they got to Kingston they went to the Coffee Mill which is a coffee shop close to the Peace Corps office that is frequented by volunteers. It appears to be the only US-style coffee house on the island. After Kaelyn's meeting we met up again in the office and 4 of us headed out to Mandeville which is in Manchester for the rest of the weekend.

To get to Mandeville we caught a bus at the country bus park in downtown Kingston (our first trip there). It was an hour wait for the bus to fill up and then a two hour ride there. We headed to the volunteers' house who we were staying with which is a really big neat old house split up into smaller apartments and has lots of balconies with great views of the city. We also appreciated the cool air that everyone living in Mandeville brags about. The main purpose of our trip there was to see the new Harry Potter movie with our friends (unfortunately the Portmore movie theatre is closed indefinitely). So we headed out to the show and met up with 2 of our host's co-workers. The movie theatre there was really nice and we got there early so we had good seats. We thought the movie was good but not as good as the last one. It seemed to jump around a lot and there was lots of stuff missing compared to the book. After the movie we all went out to eat at a really good Chinese restaurant which we will definitely be making trips back to Mandeville to eat at again. The next morning it was back to Kingston for us, this time it took a bit longer for the bus to fill up since it was a Sunday but we were still back home by noon.

The rest of Sunday was spent eating our leftovers and recuperating from all the socializing. We were both exhausted! I'm sure that we will be playing catch up from our weekend away for a few days especially in trying to survive without having done laundry in over a week. But all in all an overflowing laundry basket seems worth it for all the fun we had with our friends!

-Kaelyn and Shane

I AM THANKFUL FOR . . .

It is tradition in Kaelyn's family to write down what you are thankful for and then these are passed around in a cornucopia and read during Thanksgiving dinner at her Grandparent's. We sent ours in via email but thought we would share them here as well. You will have to guess whose is whose!


I AM THANKFUL FOR . . .

My wonderful partner in adventure who keep things fun; e-mail, packages, and phone calls from my friends and family; and jellied cranberries which we unexpectedly found and will give us a little taste of home.


I AM THANKFUL FOR . . .

My family who came with me to Jamaica, family back home, new friends and old, toast.

It's the Great Halloween Enchilada, Charlie Brown

2005_11_05-06 Halloween Enchiladas 006
Originally uploaded by Shane and Kaelyn.

Note: This is a post describing our weekend festivities which we meant to put up on Monday but couldn't because the internet was down. There are more pictures on our flickr site (see link to the right).

At least, enchiladas were in our plans when a package containing a mysterious item arrived for us in Jamaica. Because the box was too large to carry, Kaelyn opened it and placed the contents our canvas tote bag. This is a bag I had received as a gift from the Lawrence Waste Reduction and Recycling Division when I worked there as an intern. It said “Local, Perennial, Indigenous” on the side and had pictures of native wildflowers that Lawrencians should plant in their gardens. But what did this tote hold?

Well, when Kaelyn got home, I was just finishing up teaching a tennis lesson for the students at the local high school. I hurried home and met Kaelyn at our apartment. We decided to go to the store and get some supplies for the weekend, and we left so quickly that I did not have a chance to really look in the bag. All I noticed at the top was some Zeiss lens cleaners. “Well, those are useful,” I thought to myself as we walked to the store. But really, I had been expecting something more exciting, since we had received lens cleaners in our last package. While at the store, Kaelyn let it slip that there were tortillas in the bag.

***In case you didn’t catch that, Kaelyn's mom had sent some very exciting tortillas! ***

That was a big surprise. It’s amazing how the little things like burritos can instantly remind you of home. Kaelyn let me in on the secret so that we could pick up supplies to make Mexican food. So we got some chili powder and canned tomatoes. We already had black beans, tomatoes, and hot pepper at home.

On Saturday, I set the beans to soak while we went to the beach. When we came home, I rinsed the beans in a colander. I cooked rice and set it aside. Meanwhile, I chopped onion and garlic and sautéed them in the pan with a couple tablespoons of chili powder. Then I added the black beans, hot pepper, can of tomatoes with juice, and some water. I let that cook for an hour and a half, adding a little water. It thickened up into a nice sauce, quite like enchilada sauce. Cubed avocado and corn rounded out the meal. The star was the tortillas; they were soft and luxurious. We filled them with the beans, rice, avocado, corn, and some Caribbean hot pepper sauce. We put our Halloween pumpkin light on the table and ate off of our Halloween plates and napkins that also came in the package. It was our Halloween feast, as you can see in the picture.

On Sunday, we added another onion, garlic, another can of tomatoes, chili powder, and veggie mince. We mixed it all together and heated it up. Instead of avocado, there was guacamole. It was very good. Then, to finish off the mixture on Tuesday morning, I refried it and had it with an egg, Costa Rican style. A very fun Halloween celebration, which should continue next week when we get my Mom’s package with some more candy.

-Shane

Halloween Package!

I picked up our Halloween package from my family today! And usually I wait until I am with Shane to open packages but today I opened it here so I could put everything in a bag for carrying it home on the bus. Plus I just couldn't wait!

For your information the package included:
A Halloween paper lantern - with batteries
Halloween paper plates and napkins
A ghost wind-up toy
Candy - including Halloween Peeps (my fav)
Vegetarian Times magazine
The program from Winfield - now I'm really jealous I didn't get to go
Tortillas - this was awesome and totally unexpected, I think I'm going to try and make black bean enchiladas with them
Lens cleaners
Bob Dylan's Chronicles Volume One
Two CDs: Audioslave - Out of Exile and String Cheese Incident - One Step Closer
Plus a card that I have yet to open - I have to save something for Shane

It was a very exciting package indeed. But unfortunately the one Shane's mom sent for Halloween has yet to make it here yet. It is coming all the way from Alaska though. Maybe next week.

-Kaelyn

p.s. Our friends got something really neat in their package - a XL Pack Towel, its ultralite and extra compact. The ones they got were msr brand and they think they came from REI. They dry really quick and are easy to hand wash! Just in case anyone wanted to send us some too.

Happy Halloween!

Unfortunately we aren't celebrating since this is one part of American culture that has yet to work its way to Jamaica. We do have two candy filled packages on the way, one from each of our mothers. (But we did get a package from Kaelyn's Grandparents which contained about 100 lens wipes which although not as tasty as candy are very useful.) I suppose we will celebrate when our treats come. But in honor of the holiday we compiled a list of the top 10 things we miss about Halloween.

10. It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
9. Carving pumpkins
8. Eating roasted pumpkin seeds
7. Scary movies
6. The Time Warp
5. Candy apple suckers
4. Getting dressed up
3. Trick or Treaters
2. Putting up scary (and corny) decorations
1. Candy and more candy

Hope you see something that makes you say - Oooh Scary!

Trick or Treat -
Kae and Shane

Package!

After spending more time on the bus to and from Kingston than I actually spent in the Peace Corps Office I was able to bring home one very exciting package! It was just one of the four that we are expecting right now but never the less it was still exhilarating to get it home and rip it open. But before I reveal the exciting contents let me explain a bit more the difficulties of my journey. I departed from home at 8:45 to try and make it to Kingston in time for a meeting that began at noon. The bus didn't come until 9:30 even though they are scheduled to come every 15 minutes. Then began the journey along the very "mashed up" roads - the result of all the heavy rain dropped by Hurricane Wilma. There are two routes to Kingston one which is currently impassable due to flooding and the other which is damaged and already slow due to the construction of the new Causeway and heavy traffic. I reached Kingston around 11:30. Usually this trip takes an hour including waiting for the bus and less time when there isn't traffic. I attended my meeting and got lots of books from the library as well as our package and Newsweeks. But the way home was much, much worse. There was a bus at the stop when I got there which would normally be a good sign. However, the bus waited at the stop until it was full and then it only went to the next major bus stop. At this point the driver told us he would be staying there until 7:00pm (it was 5:00 then). We could get off and get on another bus that was there but it was already pretty full. There was no way I was going to stay in Kingston after dark so I hauled my package and backpack full of books to the other bus where I found a nice spot to stand. The bus proceeded home in bumper to bumper traffic along very bumpy rounds. Lots of jerking and sudden starts and stops which really wasn't enjoyable while standing. Plus it was very crowded and hot. 3 hours and 30 minutes later I finally made it home - what a relief! Luckily I had running water awaiting me so I could shower away the agony of my bus ride. Then it was time to see what excitement my package held!

2 5-gallon solar showers (no more bucket baths!)
CDs - Damian Jr. Gong Marley's Welcome to Jamrock and Samantha's Square One
Cliff Bars
A bag of Fruit Snacks and Laffy Taffy
Tampons
Bead supplies for making jewelry
A Donald Duck figurine from a McDonald's Happy Meal
Plus some photocopied news articles

Thanks Mom and Dad - it was a very exciting package indeed! Plus we have 3 more on the way - stay tuned for what exciting things those bring!

-Kaelyn

New Things

There is something so exciting about getting something new. On Thursday we got a copy of Scrabble for our computer from a co-worker. This has been very fun and we are getting quite good - we even beat the computer on the advanced level. Then on Friday we received a package from my parents which contained pictures of my sisters for our fridge, two cds, a copy of Vegetarian Times, nutritional yeast for our popcorn, and a poster to hang on our very bare walls. And yesterday evening the living room furniture our landlady bought for our apartment was delivered. We now have a very cozy love seat and two big chairs for all of our book reading. Having all these new things to entertain us has been a bit overwhelming!
-Kaelyn