End of Service Celebration Season

Since our Peace Corps Group is winding up its service, there has been no shortage of fond farewells. After getting to know such nice people, it is going to be hard for us all to go our separate ways and only be able to see each other rarely. Here are links to some pictures from our recent bouts of nostalgia and celebration, along with pithy descriptions.

• Fun Day in Sligoville - A volunteer says goodbye to her site
• Ambassador's Dinner - Partying, diplomat style
• Group 78 Welcome and Director Visit - Newbies and Bigwigs
• 4th of July - Hot Dogs, Bonfire, and Flouring
• Triple Sevens Party - All interesting dates are good excuses for get-togethers, no?

-Shane and Kaelyn

Strawberry Hill

After all the excitement and hard work of the Creative Thinking Contest, we decided we deserved a treat. We had heard lots of good reviews about Strawberry Hill, a resort and restaurant in Irish Town, St. Andrew. And although it is a bit pricey for the Peace Corps Volunteer budget we decided to splurge and venture up into the hills of the Blue Mountains for Sunday brunch. We were joined by our friends Caitlin, Khaled, and Brooke and we spent most of the day at Strawberry Hill enjoying good conversation, wonderful food, and spectacular views.

The Sunday brunch features dozens of salads, seafood, Jamaican cooked food, and fabulous desserts. Our favorite items on the spread were the smoked marlin and the cold garlic shrimp salad. Strawberry Hill's beautiful restaurant and villas are nestled in the Blue Mountains overlooking Kingston. The grounds are breathtaking, with paths and nooks circling through rich vegetation, flowers, and historic buildings. It was truly a delightful day!

- Kaelyn

You can view the rest of our pictures of Strawberry Hill here.

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

Jimblin

That's the name for star fruit in Jamaica. It can be hard to find in the super market, but I found some for only J$20 per fruit up in Point Hill, St. Catherine. It was tart and sweet, so I think it would have been better mixed with another fruit. It's really pretty, though.

-Shane

Putting Java to the Test

In an earlier post, I had written about trying to brew the best cup of coffee I could, using my French press, grinder, and Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee beans. But it dawned on me over the weekend that I had never directly compared this coffee to other varieties grown on the island to determine if it was truly the best. So, on Sunday, I put the assumption of Blue Mountain superiority to the test.



I bought three types of coffee: Blue Mountain beans, High Mountain beans, and Mountain Choice grounds (these are listed in order of price, from highest to lowest). Since I only have one press, I brewed the coffee in mugs, using one scoop of ground coffee for each mug and filling them up with boiling water to the same level. The grounds were stirred and steeped for about 5 minutes, then filtered with the press. I cleaned the press out between each filtration. Then all of the cups were sampled with no additives (i.e. milk or sugar). I also varied the order of the sips to compare the different varieties against each other.



The results (ranked in order of taste preference):

1. Blue Mountain
2. High Mountain
3. Mountain Choice

This is what you would expect based on their respective prices, but comparing the coffees against each other revealed that the Blue Mountain is far superior to the other two. What distinguished the winner was that it had an earthy, rich taste that was pleasing to the palate. So pleasing that it could be enjoyed with nothing added to it. The other important factor was that there was no bitter or acidic aftertaste. The finish was clean.

The Winner

The High Mountain had some problems, including a woody smell and acidic taste, but seemed to get better after sitting for a while. The Mountain Choice was worse than Folgers, with a bad aftertaste and a flavor that evoked the mildew smell arising from a tent that has been left in a damp basement for many months. Both of them would need reinforcements of milk and sugar to be drunk on a regular basis.

The final verdict: the Blue Mountain is definitely worth the price of admission if you can afford it.

-Shane

Trelawny Yam Fest

I had been hearing about the Yam Fest, it seems, for as long as I had been in Jamaica. It is an event that Volunteers helped start, and current Volunteers help to set it up this year. This year it was held at a fairgrounds near Falmouth, the capital of the parish of Trelawny last Monday. The Monday after Easter is a national holiday in Jamaica, so there was no work.

I didn't have a very great time at the event. The biggest problem was that it rained for about 75% of the time I was there. This meant all of the attendees were squished together beneath the various tents located on the grounds. The rain also delayed some of the scheduled activities, such as the donkey dressing competition. Then all of the events had to be squeezed into a shorter time frame. The other problem was that there were very few craft vendors, while there seemed to be about 50 food vendors selling chicken and roast yam. I thought there would be some tasty free samples, but most of the experimental yam food cost money. The free sample I did try (yam fritters) wasn't very good.

The things I did like:

• Rasta Marching band from "Selassie Gardens" with red, green, and yellow uniforms
• Popcorn man selling freshly popped corn with melted butter
• Roast Yam with butter and hot sauce was pretty good

Sorry to be such a downer, but the truth is that I don't really like yams that much, and that may have led me to not enjoy this event. And remember, there were many other parts to the Yam Festival spread out over weeks, so hopefully they all went off without a hitch.

-Shane

Rum and Water

Rum and water, the quintessential rum bar drink in Jamaica. But the phrase also describes our recent experiences in St. Elizabeth over the past weekend. There was plenty of both as it rained every day and we visited the Appleton Rum Distillery.



On Thursday, the St. Elizabeth 4H put on their annual achievement day. This is a chance for all of the 4H students in the area to be recognized with awards in such areas as environmental challenge, agricultural production, public speaking, and trash to cash competition. A few of the events were held that day, but most of them had been judged earlier. The main part of the day was to hand out the awards and let the kids have a good time. So there was a carnival air, complete with a Michael Jackson impersonator, sound system, cotton candy, popcorn, and an emcee. The only bad thing was that it rained almost the whole day, so people had to stay underneath the tents in order to stay dry. Big Up to the St. Elizabeth 4H for all its hard work.



On Friday, we went on the Appleton Rum Tour in the very scenic Nassau Valley of St. Elizabeth. The bad parts of the tour were that it was raining and there was a large crowd of drunk Cubans. This meant that the tour guide rushed through the talk and didn't give us very much information. Luckily, we found another guy who later filled us in on all the stuff we missed. There is also a sampling portion to the tour where about 15 Appleton products are laid out and you get to drink whichever ones you want. The Sangster's Original rum cream, coconut rum cream, and the Rumona (a honey liqueur) were our favorites.

Caitlin and Khaled, our St. Bess hosts, also put out some really tasty food, including a Middle Eastern mezze platter with hummus, rice, and sauted beans. Interestingly for us, the beans they used were fresh gungo peas and fresh broad beans. In Portmore, it's very rare to see any fresh beans or peas being sold, so I didn't even know you could get fresh broad beans. There was also an Italian meal with pasta and garlic butter bammy. It was also Caitlin's birthday on Monday so Khaled made a tasty carrot cake decorated with special fast melting Jamaican candles and we sang Happy Birthday. Thanks guys.

-Shane and Kaelyn

Birthday Weekend

The past weekend I celebrated my 26th birthday with many of my Peace Corps friends. I got to celebrate my birthday for three whole days. It was tiring, but well worth it.

On Friday night, some friends came over and we had potato and pumpkin ragout, salad, and frozen rum lemonade. Frozen rum lemonade would turn out to be a theme for the weekend, as we had it on all three days. On Saturday morning, I set out to Lime Cay with a group of about 12 friends. We made it there in the early afternoon, after taking a ferry from Port Royal. The island is very small, and takes about 5 minutes to walk from one end to the other. It is not affected by pollution from Kingston, as there is a strip of land called the Palisadoes that lies in between Kingston and Lime Cay. This means that the water is very clear and there is less debris washed up on the sand. We had a fun time swimming, lounging, and eating some fried fish and festival. I got a really awesome belt from Khaled and Caitlin. It has the really big silver buckle that is popular in Jamaica, but the image on the buckle is a lizard. Kind of reminds me of the famous Jamaican iguana, which is only found in the Hellshire Hills near where we live. Anyway, then we went back to our apartment and had coconut pasta while we watched the KU game. Unfortunately, they lost.

Sunday was spent cooking, eating, and watching the Super Bowl. There was chili, beer bread, twice baked potatoes, seven layer dip, tortillas, tortilla chips, rice krispy treats, chocolate cheesecake, and carrot cake with ice cream (the last being my traditional birthday treat). After all that eating, it was hard to stay awake for the football game. But the team I was nominally rooting for did win. This did not make up for KU losing, but it helped me to move on. All in all, it was a really jam-packed, exciting birthday weekend.

-Shane

Peanut Butter

For those who don't know, I am a very big consumer of peanut butter. My favorite kind is crunchy natural peanut butter, with no added oil or sugar, just salt. I first tried the stuff at a friend's house in Portland, OR over 6 years ago, and I have been hooked ever since. Although it has its detractors, who will tell you that natural peanut butter separates, or gets hard in the fridge, I believe it is the best kind. For one, you don't have to worry about sugar content or hydrogenated vegetable oil, because it doesn't have any. The best thing about natural peanut butter, though, is the way it melts into a liquid when you put it on a hot piece of toast or bagel. When I went back to the US over Christmas, I made sure to bring back a jar of the good PB. Sadly, it is now gone. Back to the regular stuff for me.

-Shane

Thanksgiving Away from Home

What to do when you are a Peace Corps Volunteer serving in a country that doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving and you need some stuffing/pumpkin pie/turkey love? Answer -- have your own Thanksgiving! This is what thousands of volunteers were doing all around the world last weekend, because Thanksgiving isn't celebrated in any Peace Corps countries (No, our neighbor to the north is not a Peace Corps country).



There was a small Thanksgiving dinner at our house on Wednesday, with three of our fellow Volunteers. On Thursday at the Peace Corps Office, we cooked 6 pumpkin pies, 1 large apple crisp, and prepared a huge pan of stuffing. Thanksgiving was held for all the volunteers on Friday. It rained all afternoon, but finally let up so we could have the feast. There was a huge amount of food, but every bit of dessert was eaten. The only leftovers were savory items. Sneakily, I had saved some pumpkin pie at our apartment so I was able to have some sweet leftovers.



After the feast, there was the traditional happy hour at the Four Seasons Hotel. Luckily, they haven't run out of German or Czech (Budweiser) beer. It was such a tiring weekend, and a rainy one, that we stayed home for the rest of it and recuperated.

-Shane

How We Weathered The Storm

Well, thankfully Ernesto didn't turn out to be the threat we thought it was going to be. It headed to Cuba instead so we got off with just some rain on Sunday and Monday. We were stuck at our friends' house in St. Elizabeth until Tuesday but that had more to do with the fact we all came down with the flu. Well I don't really know if it was the flu but in Jamaica whenever you are sick it's either the flu or runny belly. Since we all had sore throats and runny noses we must have had the flu, right? At least that's what all the Jamaicans told us and then they recommended lime and honey to make us better. We just drank hot tea and relaxed, seemed to do the trick. And even though we spent the whole weekend watching the storm and blowing our noses it was still a really good time. I guess that is because the country is just so much more peaceful than our city life (how can such beautiful fog not put you at peace), plus we have such great friends to hang out with. We cooked up yummy meals including coconut shrimp pasta (the shrimp were a rare find at the Mandaville market), pumpkin curry, and banana crepes. The girls did crafts and the boys read and played computer games. And of course we played canasta, too bad the boys once again triumphed over the girls. But I'm sure there will be a rematch, we still have 3 more months of hurricane season to weather!

- Kaelyn

As American As ...

So, I wanted to bring something to work to celebrate U.S. Independence Day, which by the way celebrates independence from the same country as Jamaican Independence Day (August 6th). I settled on making that most wonderful of pie varieties - apple. Apples do cost $32 a piece down here, but I figured this was a small price to pay to represent my country. I slyly built up the excitement for July 4th, revealing to influential first adopters in the office that I would be bringing pie to work. This seemed to work.

Then, on Monday night, I began the process of baking the pie. I had never actually made one, but my experiences gained during the production of such dishes as apple crisp, apple crumble, and baked apples would serve me well. Lacking a pie pan, I used a large rectangular tin pan, like those used for sheet cakes or lasagna. I sliced eight Granny Smith apples, peeling them with the large chef's knife because I had neither a peeler nor a paring knife (Stocking Stuffer Alert). The apples were mixed with a sugar syrup and placed into a simple pastry crust. For the top, I tried my hand at a lattice crust, with delicious results!

It was finished at 2 AM. I carried the pie, shielded with foil and wrapped in a scandal bag, onto the taxi to go to work, where I kept it in the fridge until the end of the day, to keep up the suspense. Then, the unveiling. It was a big hit. 16 out of 20 pieces were eaten (80 %, for those scoring at home), and I had to cut off the disbursement in order to save some to eat at home.

Not only did I represent my country tastefully, but I learned a little something about myself in the process. I can make pie.

-Shane

A Jamaican Day at the Beach

On Saturday we went to the beach with our co-workers for the launching of the Portmore Municipal Council Social Welfare Club. We were scheduled to depart at 7:00am from the PMC office, however in typical Jamaican fashion we left at 8:37. While we were waiting the girls went on one of their many food runs of the day to Tastee Patties for some breakfast (liver and onions or saltfish with food). Since there is only a little bar and restaurant at the beach we were instructed to bring along snacks and even though the girls brought coolers and bags onto the bus there was still an insistence for many food stops. Finally, we were off picking up the one last person on our way out of town instead of waiting on her to reach. Since there were so many of us, around 20 persons, we were riding in style in an air conditioned coaster bus with plush seats - the kind you see tourists traveling around Jamaica in, it was pretty sweet! And the cost of the bus ride (J$500 each/ US$ 7.70)was actually less then we would have paid traveling by public transportation which would have been way more cramped and sweaty.

We made it all the way to Spanish Town before our next pit stop. This time it was for ice, bathrooms, and KFC. Spanish Town is approximately 10km from Portmore so at this rate I figured we would be getting to the beach around noon. Once we were off again we journeyed over the imfamous Flat Bridge - a single lane bridge that washes out almost everytime it rains. And we of course all lifted our feet to prevent the duppies (ghosts) from grabbing hold of us and pulling the bus into the Rio Cobre. Then it was through the Gorge and up over the wicked Mt. Rosser where you can get stuck for hours when the big trucks break down. Luckily no trucks! Our next stop was off the side of the road to buy some juicy pine (pineapple). It was already peeled (the hardest part) and cut up in the baggies so it was ready for eating. Very tasty and only J$100 (US$1.50)!

The bus ride was pretty eventful with lots of dancing in the aisles and screaming, laughing, and drinking. I was surprised to see the "dutty wine" (a current popular, quite risque dance) being busted out at 9:00 in the morning but I suppose anything goes. The girls not only had mixed CDs for the driver to play but had a boom box of thier own in the back as well. Shane almost lost an eye due to some fast hair whipping action in the aisle next to his seat. But some would consider him a lucky man being so close to such movements.

Then we pulled into Ocho Rios, a cruise ship town on the St. Ann coast, and of course stopped for lunch even though it was only 10:30am. We pulled up to the main street and luckily it wasn't a cruise ship day so there weren't massive amounts of white people mulling around which made things much calmer than normal. We headed for Juici Beef Patties for vegetable patties and then stopped into Baskin Robbins for a rare treat. Others hit up Island Grill, Burger King, and of course KFC. Then it was off to the beach which was down the road aways and over the border into St. Mary.

Reggae Beach was a really nice, clean, low-key white sand beach. Since it is outside of Ochi it doesn't get so much tourist traffic and caters more to Jamaicans. We heard some music videos have even been filmed there. It was J$200 (US$3.00) each to enter but worth it for the cleanliness, bathrooms, and lack of harrassment. There were lots of shade trees and picnic tables and even a volleyball net. We had a tree swing near our spot and further down there were hammocks. Of course the Jamaicans mostly hung out in the shade (sun hot!) , snacking and napping. We chose to soak up the sun and do some swimming. Some of our friends did get in the water and there were a few attempts at swimming lessons. Dominoes and bingo were played and of course there was lots of eating. At some point in the day another KFC run was made too. After the girls were successful in building a pyramid in the water it was time to head home.

Of course the return trip warranted pit stops too. First it was to buy a big whole pine - but not for the tourist price of J$500 (they didn't even weigh it, the nerve!) but for the more reasonable price of J$200 that we got 2 stops later. Then we stopped at Faith's Pen for some jerk - it is a large string of roadside stalls who all sell jerk meats and roast vegetables. We got some roast corn, yam and breadfruit plus some festivals (fried dough). It was really, really tasty! We finally rolled back into Portmore around 7:30pm, tired with our bellies full!

- Kaelyn

Dinner and a Movie

We volunteers who live near Kingston or other cities get to enjoy certain creature comforts that other volunteers may not get to access very often. Our rural counterparts do have other quaint pastimes, such as "parachuting," that we do not get to enjoy very often. If you're like me, though, and you like movies, you might as well take advantage of the movie theaters and restaurants in Kingston. That's just what Kaelyn, myself and another Peace Corps volunteer did the other night.

The dinner part was best. Habibi Latino is a Middle Eastern restaurant off of Knutsford Boulevard -- the heart of New Kingston -- above the Burger King. They also serve some Latin American dishes, such as patacones. The restaurant is so popular among a certain set of Peace Corps volunteers (by that I mean, those who like Middle Eastern food such as myself) that its reopening, after a temporary closing, was trumpeted via email to every volunteer on the island. I have to say, the food was very good, even if they were out of Diet Coke. We shared the hummus and baba ganoush, while Kaelyn had the lentil soup and I ordered the falafel sandwich. It was also tasty and fresh, with colorful presentation. The atmosphere of the restaurant is relaxing and warm, with a TV playing off to the side, but not in a position to distract from conversation, just provide a little respite when their is no conversation. Paintings of Arabic scenes line the walls and fabric hangs neatly from the ceiling, taking you away from the Jamaica scene quite effectively. I definitely recommend it, and the prices are all in the 200-500 dollar range.

The movie we saw was "The Sentinel." Really, not that good, but up to the task in diverting one's attention. There are a few too many characters to focus on, so some such as the villains have very little screen time. The use of a blackberry to tap phone lines was intriguing, though. The real fun is going to the movie theater at Sovereign, at the corner of Hope and Old Hope Read. This is one of four movie theaters in Jamaica. I prefer the one in Mandeville, as it is newer, but Sovereign affords you the chance to examine the upper class of Kingston, and you can sip your Miller Lite through a straw.

-Shane

Portmore Gets Healthy

In other great news two wonderful new shops have opened in the Plaza where our office is located. The first is Vibrant Health, a health food store that has lots of dried nuts and fruits and even some rare finds like Tom’s of Maine Organic Toothpaste, seaweed, and miso paste. The other is Earl’s Juice Garden which is a new location of a vegetarian restaurant we eat at sometimes in Kingston. It is only two doors down from our office and tonight is the Grand Opening complete with Earl himself and a menu tasting. We are excited to attend but even more excited at the thought of replacing our boring PB&J with healthy veggie lunches from Earls. Jamaicans complain that health food is too expensive but to us a few extra dollars (Jamaican dollars) is definitely worth it if just for the Good Vibes!

- Kaelyn

The First Mango

Mango season has officially begun. I knew it was coming, ‘cause the last time I was in Kingston, the Friday before last, I saw someone eating one. However, there have not been any on sale anywhere and most people I have asked have said “mango soon come”. The trees in our neighborhood have definitely been hanging lower, weighed down by this wonderful fruit. It has really been quite taunting and I have been getting pretty anxious. Then Shane saw some in Kingston last Monday at a streetside vendor but he didn’t have any extra money with him so he couldn’t bring me one. That was pretty disappointing. When we were in St. Elizabeth we checked out the market in Santa Cruz but all we could find were some puny blackie mangos. Since I have been waiting for it so long I really wanted the first one to be good and those kind are pretty stringy so I decided to pass and wait a little longer. And boy was I rewarded for my patience. When we came back to work yesterday from our little Easter vacation our friend Randy surprised us with 4 mangos fresh from the tree in his yard. It was a thank you for the big chocolate bunny and KC Masterpiece BBQ Sauce we had carried him back from the States. I made myself wait until I got home to eat the first one; I wanted to be able to document the momentous occasion and they are pretty messy so not really good for the workplace. I had it for dessert and it was fabulous – scrumdidleumptious in fact! What a great start to the wonderfulness of mango season!

-Kaelyn

Bun and Cheese Update

Bun and Cheese 02
Originally uploaded by Shane and Kaelyn.

Here is my very own bun and cheese meal that I ate for breakfast the other day. As you can see, the cheese did not melt. But it did taste good. Also, check out this article from the Gleaner for more info about Jamaican Easter traditions.

Bun and Cheese

Buns and small cakes are extremely popular in Jamaica. People eat them for lunch, breakfast, or a snack. They are basically a sweet bread with various ingredients to flavor them. Spice (they never tell you exactly what kind, but I think it's allspice, cinnamon, and nutmeg), raisins, fruit flavor, and cheese are some common fillings. For Easter time, though, nothing beats the Easter bun and cheese.

Easter bun and cheese is the quintessential food for the holiday. Now, I used to think that it was only eaten on Easter weekend. But I was wrong. People eat it for up to an entire month before Easter. And some people eat it everday. The bun is basically a sweet, dense bread, with raisins and the aforementioned spice. There are different kinds, but I have found the HTB brand (Haflway Tree Bakeries) to be very good. The cheese has to be Tastee cheese, which is pasteurized process cheddar that comes in a tin. You open it with a can opener. It is very hard and, unlike Velveeta, will not melt no matter how long I put it in the toaster oven for. I actually like the bun and cheese, and have had it for breakfast and lunch.

You can order your own Easter bun and cheese here.

-Shane

p.s. Isn't it funny how they have Easter Bun in Jamaica and in the States we have the Easter Bunny? I think they must be connected somehow, perhaps the lack of bunnies in Jamaica explains it.
- Kaelyn

Margaritaville B & B

Stats for this past weekend.

• Consecutive days with overnight guests: 4
• Total guests: 6
• Meals served: 5
• Tequila consumed: 400 mL (1/4 gold, 3/4 blanco)
• Oscars watched: 1
• Frank Capra films viewed: 1 (Mr. Smith Goes to Washington)
• 12 A bus tickets purchased by all guests: 20 (J$50 per)

Looking past the numbers reveals an interesting aspect of the Peace Corps ethos. Letting other Peace Corps stay at your house is fun. This is one of the great undavertised perks of the Peace Corps experience. You don't have to get a hotel, because there's always a floor (and sometimes even a mattress) to sleep on. Some volunteers even go to other countries and sleep on the floors of the volunteers there.

So, for quarterly meetings, since we live so close to the Peace Corps office and have cable, many people sleep at our place instead of a hotel in Kingston. It's cheaper, and we all cook together, which is fun. Plus, we have finally perfected home made tortillas, after the third try. (Thanks Caitlin!) Karma dictates that if we let people stay at our house, then we get to stay at their house. Works out nicely.

-Shane

Happy Hour

There are certain rituals that must be observed in the Peace Corps. One of these is happy hour. I would venture to guess that posts all across the globe have their own version. Some may be smaller, others swankier, more frequent, or featuring different drinks. But they all have them.

The biggest happy hour ritual in Peace Corps Jamaica happens during quarterly meetings in Kingston at the Four Seasons Hotel. Part of the appeal of happy hour is cheap drinks, and this one is no exception, serving everything half price for one hour. Since this hotel is owned by German-Jamaicans, though, the really fun part is the German beers which cannot be found anywhere else in Jamaica - Hofbrau and Beck's. The restaurant serves sausage and potato salad as well. Happy Hour is one of those time when you really feel like part of the expatriate community. It's a time to reconnect with your fellow Peace Corps and relax. We all need that sometimes.

Here's To Happy Hour!


-Shane

PS - Sadly, at the time of this writing, the Four Seasons had run out of German Beer. We will give them until the next meeting to restock.