Bryan and I have been in Jamaica for a few days now, and so far we love it-- but I guess we'd better, because we're going to be here for a while!
We were in Miami for 3 days for an orientation into the Peace Corps, and got to meet the other 75 volunteers who are volunteering in Jamaica with us. Our training class of 77 people is the biggest in Peace Corps history!
The flight over the Caribbean was beautiful, and from the air it looks like Jamaica's rainforests have a lot of largely intact areas, although I could of course see deforestation and fragmentation.
Kingston is a huge city at the base of the Blue Mountains. In Kingston we saw areas of intense poverty right next to large, nice homes and Rastafarians right next to conservative Jamaicans-- it seems like the country has a lot of diversity. . . and beauty.
Right now we are at the University of the West Indies, which we'll be at until Friday. For the next 7 weeks I'll be in "Pre-Service Training" with 5 of those weeks being "Community Based Training." During Community Based Training, Bryan and I will be near the town of Linstead in central Jamaica living with a host family. There, we're supposed to learn Patois (Jamaican Creole), how to cook, other cultural traditions, and go to work everyday to learn the skills in order to be effective Environmental Educators.
It looks like Bryan and I may have our training in a forested area with waterfalls and rivers. I probably won't have access to a computer for a while, so I hope you all are doing well and I'll e-mail you later!
We were in Miami for 3 days for an orientation into the Peace Corps, and got to meet the other 75 volunteers who are volunteering in Jamaica with us. Our training class of 77 people is the biggest in Peace Corps history!
The flight over the Caribbean was beautiful, and from the air it looks like Jamaica's rainforests have a lot of largely intact areas, although I could of course see deforestation and fragmentation.
Kingston is a huge city at the base of the Blue Mountains. In Kingston we saw areas of intense poverty right next to large, nice homes and Rastafarians right next to conservative Jamaicans-- it seems like the country has a lot of diversity. . . and beauty.
Right now we are at the University of the West Indies, which we'll be at until Friday. For the next 7 weeks I'll be in "Pre-Service Training" with 5 of those weeks being "Community Based Training." During Community Based Training, Bryan and I will be near the town of Linstead in central Jamaica living with a host family. There, we're supposed to learn Patois (Jamaican Creole), how to cook, other cultural traditions, and go to work everyday to learn the skills in order to be effective Environmental Educators.
It looks like Bryan and I may have our training in a forested area with waterfalls and rivers. I probably won't have access to a computer for a while, so I hope you all are doing well and I'll e-mail you later!
My Jamaica address has changed permanently to:
Suchet Loois
Country Director
U.S. Peace Corps
Attn: Dana Roeber
8 Worthington Avenue
Kingston 5
Jamaica, West Indies
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