Port Royal

For the first time since we have been in Jamaica, we got to explore Port Royal. What we found there is an utterly pleasant and cute community. We took a walking tour of the historical sites before dark and then we went to the Cabin for a fish dinner. We got to sit on the dock and listen to the waves lap and watch the boats go by as we ate our conch soup, fish, festival and bammies. After we finished we walked over to the main dock and checked out all that was happening. It was a Friday night and the place was hoppin - oldies music was playing, people were eating fish and festival at tables in the streets, and there was even an oyster bar set up. Then we got an ice cream and enjoyed it at the Sitting Park while watching lots of kids run and play. In the morning we took a walk on the beach and collected smooth colorful rocks and beach glass.

All in all Port Royal is a great place to go and we wish we had visited sooner.

You can see more of our pictures of Port Royal here. And you can check out the pictures of how we spent the rest of our weekend -- cruising around Montego Bay on the Fiesta Queen.

- Shane and Kae

Inverness Primary and Infant School In the News!

Our Peace Corps friend Malaika works at the Inverness Primary and Infant School in a small rural town in the southern part of St. Ann Parish. Her school is without a lot of basic resources and was damaged by Hurricane Ivan in 2004 and still needs repairs. But her kids are really deserving and are getting some help from students at a school in southern Florida. Their donations of school supplies were organized by one very helpful student at the school. Check out this news story and video, which have links that allow you to donate to the school as well.

-Shane

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

New Group Arrives!

The new group arrived on island on July 3rd. Check out this article from the Gleaner and we have some pictures up on Flickr. Here's to a great two years on island!



At the same time, the international director of Peace Corps came down to visit Jamaica for a couple of days. He came to our office, along with the Regional Director for Inter-America and Pacific. We didn't have any electricity, so our office was hot and dark. But they got the generator hooked up and we were able to showcase our database and have a meeting with our counterparts at work.

-Shane

Load Shedding

So we were asking our supervisor why the electricity keeps going off at our office. It has happening a lot lately, often for 3 or 4 hours at a time, after which we usually go home if it hasn't come back on for that amount of time. The answer he gave was load shedding. Specifically, the fact that our office is in Portmore, which is right next to Kingston, the town where the majority of people who live in Portmore work during the day. In these hot summer months, all those Kingston workers are using a lot of air conditioning and other electrical devices. So in order to accommodate this peak load, they cut off the power to Portmore, assuming that not very many people are in Portmore during the day. The truth is, they're right about the small number of people working in Portmore. But for those of us that do, no electricity really cuts down on the amount of work you can do.

-Shane

Drum Shop

We recently spent the weekend in Negril because we had won a free trip at Merrill's, a hotel on the beach. The prize was for entering a raffle held by our friends Caitlin and Khaled. We entered the raffle sometime in October 2006, but the prize was still valid in June. Mostly, we just sat around the hotel, swam, and relaxed in the luxurious room that was about as big as our apartment. I did make one trip to into Negril in order to get a drum and some guinneps. I was successful on both counts, eventually.

First, I went to the drum shop, but Lloyd, the Rasta drum maker, was not there. So I asked after him at the cook shop next door. They suggested calling the number written on his sign. So I did. It turned out Lloyd was at lunch, but he told me he would be back soon. So I went down to small fruit vendor area in Negril, which was prety close to the drum shop. I talked to the fruit ladies there, and I was lucky enough to get the last bag of guinep.



After talking to the ladies for a while, I went back to the drum shop. But it was still closed. So I went to the cookshop and got some coconut water. They were out of their classic tuna water, but that was OK because I didn't really want to drink tuna water. Eventually, the drum maker returned and we were able to talk for a couple of hours and I chose a drum made of guango wood. Here is Lloyd and his shop. He makes really nice drums under the name Lion Claw out of various woods such as guango, saparilla, and coconut.



Make sure to check Lloyd near the round-a-bout in Negril if you are interested in drumming or want to buy a nice hand drum.

-Shane

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.