Life Goes On: New Jobs and Kittens!

I just got hired (2 weeks ago) as the Director of Education at the California Wildlife Center in Calabasas/Malibu. So far, it's been great working here-- the California Wildlife Center has a great philosophy, and it's just refreshing to be working with people of the same mentatlity as myself. 

I'm currently working on Environmental and Animal Curriculum for presentations at schools and community group meetings; the main theme of what I'll be teaching is Co-existing with wildlife. Also, I volunteer in the animal hospital nursing orphaned, injured, and sick animals. Sometimes I go out on animal rescues (we rescue marine mammals in Malibu). So, it looks like this is going to be a really rewarding job!! 

Right now I'm living in Wrightwood (and commuting a ridiculously long way to work everyday), so Bryan and I are probably going to move somewhere around the Santa Monica Mtns. this year. Bryan is working as a Geologist for an Environmental Consulting company where he does Phase I and II assesments. He likes his job, but really misses geology fieldwork and mapping (school) and is applying to grad schools at UCLA, CalTech, and UCSB this Fall.

We also recently got a kitten. He's all dark gray and has an energetic and playful personality. I named him Ziggy after my favorite music artist, Ziggy Marley. We've had him for a month now, and really love him. I still miss my kitten, Irie, that died in Jamaica, but having Ziggy has helped. I know it might sound stupid that I'm so sad over my cat dying, but she was like a little child to us. I haven't wanted to talk about what happened, but, when we took her to a vet (one of the 3 veterinarians on the island) to get spayed, the vet overdosed her on anesthesia and she died 4 days after the operation. It was AWFUL -- Bryan tried to give her CPR, and we had to bury her, and none of the Jamaicans we lived around or worked with could sympathize because no one has cats for pets over there.

Lately, when we're not working, Bryan and I go hiking a lot and want to get into SCUBA diving in CA. We also are looking into buying a kayak. Saturday is the first football game of the season for UCLA; Bryan, my parents, and I always used to go to all the home games at the Rose Bowl, so it'll be neat to get back into all that.

Back to the US

Bryan and I, after a year living in Jamaica, have decided to come home to California. We had a LOT of tribulations being there (from sickness, to bad coworkers, to death) and wanted to come back to the states to go on with our education and future together. This was not a light decision, and we put a lot of thought into it. We love Jamaica, we love the people, we love the land... it was just really trying to live and work there.

Our departure was an adventure in itself. We had 72 hours from the day we announced we were leaving to PC to get out of the country. Unfortunately, the PC office failed to tell us some important things that would have helped us out a lot. We spent Monday going to May Pen to say goodbye to Robert (he was REALLY sad), helping Claude get stuff to our friend Andrea, giving our neighbors and friends gifts, and going to Knox to say goodbye. Tuesday we finished packing, and had to arrange a charter taxi to take us to Kingston. We left Spaldings Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. for Kingston; our neighbor, Junior, and our landlord helped us out all Tuesday and waved goodbye as we left (it was sweet.) We had a long dinner with our friend Matt in Kingston Tuesday night. Wednesday morning we woke up early and closed our bank accounts, wrote our description of service, had to get about 20 signatures on a check-list, go to a physician, get an HIV test, etc. All the things the COSing volunteers do, but we only had one day to get it all done because PC picked a flight for us to leave on Thursday at 7 a.m., and didn't tell us the time until Wednesday afternoon!! Somehow we got all that done, had lengthy interviews with Jimmy and Suchet (PC Director and APCD) and parted very amicably (they want us to come back) and then met our friend Elizabeth for dinner.

Bryan and I had spent most of our June living allowance on paying off our ridiculous electricity bill (because a couple of our neighbors have been stealing it, but the electric company couldn't do anything). We had to arrange another charter taxi to pick us up in Kingston Thursday morning at 4:30 a.m. to go the airport. When we got to the airport, all hell broke loose... Coming to Jamaica, the weight limit on our bags was waived. But leaving, all 4 of our bags were way over the limit and the airport said we'd have to pay $100 per bag!!!!!!!!!! It was awful... they made us empty out our bags and try to eliminate things (we threw away/gave away all of our shoes) and everyone in line saw our laundry, etc. It was soooooo embarassing!! Finally, one airline worker had pity on us and got approval from the manager to give us a small box we could put some stuff in for free. We filled it and got all our bags under 75 lbs. each which the lady said was good enough. We finished all this business by 6:50 and had to run to catch the plane before it left at 7:00! Our carry-ons were extremely heavy (probably at least 50 lbs each) because we put our heavy stuff in them so the big bags could pass the weight limit. So, by the time the plane took off, at the moment when I thought I'd be nostalgic and weepy about leaving Jamaica, Bryan and I just wanted to get out!! We had 2 layovers (Miami and Dallas) going home, but we arrived in LA by 5:00 and had a GREAT reunion with my whole family, grandparents, etc. Then we went to a steak house... :-)

Since then we've been helping around the house, catching up with friends, and sending out our resumes for potential jobs. It's been really relaxing and luxurious... This Monday we're going to the beach for 2 weeks for a family vacation, so we're really looking forward to that.

Excerpts from my Peace Corps Quarterly Report

By May, my first semester as a teacher will have ended. I have found it a challenging assignment, but very rewarding. It has been great to see my students become little environmentalists who can impart their knowledge on others around them. In July I will be teaching another course through Knox Community College, and a third course in August through the Environmental Studies Summer Institute run by Dr. Errol Miller. In the months of May and June I will be preparing for my summer courses by researching and writing out lesson plans.

One project that I’ve had some difficulty with is revitalizing the KEST program at Knox Community College. I still plan to try and make some headway with promotions, finding a donor for a bus, looking into an EFJ grant, and getting community support.

My biggest professional goal for this next quarter will be making some headway with the Canoe Valley Project through Mr. Sam Miller and the Manchester Parish Development Committee. This will involve further research of the area, more networking with locals, possibly starting a handbook/field guide to the area, and taking steps in hopes to make the Canoe Valley a Protected Area. Through collaborations with Knox Community College, MPDC, Manchester Environmental Protection Association, NEPA, and others hopefully we can make some headway.

Another smaller project I’m working on is with the Jamaica Caves Organization. In April I helped with the biological inventory (bats, invertebrates, crabs, etc.) and locations of 5 caves in Jamaica. I may have discovered a new cave worm species when I went caving in April! (pending further research). In late June, I plan to do some more scientific caving through the JCO (hopefully in Manchester, so it can also be of value with the MPDC and their parish profile).

PC Safety and Security

Life here's been busy, but good. We just had a Peace Corps "Safety and Security" conference yesterday and we heard about the various pick-pocketing and robberies some of the volunteers have been subject to in the last few months... pretty scary!! 

One girl was robbed at machete-point! An older woman volunteer was pushed down into the street and had her purse straps break the robber was pulling so hard! 

 Luckily, Bryan and I haven't had any scares at all. (knock on wood) We've gained a lot of "street smarts" here and I think we're pretty aware of our surroundings. 

 My sister is visiting us the last week of March (her Spring break) so we're going to show her the ropes of Jamaica, and go to the white sand beaches, and the beautiful waterfalls, etc. 

 I hope I didn't scare you with the robberies, in case you want to come out to visit!

Hike to the Blue Mountains

I think I'm learning a lot more about the environment through teaching about it-- sometimes I feel like I study more now than I did in college! I like teaching my class, but revitalizing this "Knox Educational Study Tours" program has been pretty frustrating and tedious.

We climbed the tallest peak in the Caribbean-- Blue Mountain Peak. It was painful to do, but so beautiful!! We hiked 14 miles to the top, from about 2,000 ft. ele. to 7,400 ft. ele. in the middle of the night (we were told that's the way to do it so you can see the sunrise at the top). We went with some Jamaicans and other Peace Corps volunteers. Basically, we did 20+ miles on 0 sleep from midnight Friday to Saturday evening-- we tried to sleep once on Saturday morning, but we were outside and it was misty so we got really cold and damp; couldn't sleep. We were all miserable. But, we hiked above the clouds to where the vegetation was very different and very beautiful. It was an "elfin forest" where all the trees were dwarfed in size. Along the blue mountain trail were lots of tree ferns and moss-- very green and wet. It was amazingly beautiful! I heard (and saw) lots of birds just before dawn-- it was great!! I saw a few Doctorbirds (Streamertail Hummingbirds endemic to Jamaica) and Mango Hummingbirds (also endemic).

Papa's coming to visit this weekend for 3 days, then Aimee's visiting from March 20- March 28. So, the end of the month should be great!!

Peace Corps Article I Wrote: Published!

Article from Peace Corps Features (http://www.enewsbuilder.net/peacecorpscaaz/e_article000224773.cfm)

February 4, 2004

Letters from the Field: Married Couple Serving in Jamaica
by Dana Roeber Murray; PCV Jamaica 2003-present

Riding my Peace Corps-issued bicycle on a dirt road along the ridge of Spaldings Hill in central Jamaica, I can smell a farmer’s growing bananas, see cows and goats meandering about, and hear Yellow-billed parrots calling out to one another from the tree tops. My usual two mile ride to work at Knox Community College along the twisted road always gives me a chance to look around and realize why I joined Peace Corps—to help preserve the natural environment while working with local people in hopes to better their lives.

My husband Bryan and I have been in Jamaica since July 7th, 2003. Our first seven months here have been tough—full of ups and downs, just as Peace Corps recruiters and trainers had counseled us it would be. Some of the downs, such as being hospitalized in Kingston with a terrible case of Dengue Fever, seemed impossible to get through . . . having my husband there with me while I was sick is what really helped me persevere. Or, when we had to change assignments in November—uproot ourselves from our new community and friends in May Pen and start our new assignment in Spaldings. Although now everything appears to have changed for the best, adapting and integrating into not one, but two communities was quite a challenge. We were really lucky have each other through that trying time—if for nothing else, to have someone to vent to! Also, the fact that we’re married helped us to integrate socially; Jamaicans readily respect people who are married.

But, there have also been many ups!! We became SCUBA certified last summer, and have enjoyed participating in underwater clean-ups and eight Reef Checks. (Reef check is an international survey on the health of corals and fish). Whenever I’m in the warm Caribbean taking a weekend day trip to the sea, my anxieties about life melt away and I just feel lucky to be here! Or, last week when one the students in my Environmental Awareness class commented, “Miss, I jus realized ‘ow much me nuh know about Jamaica!” I had to smile and think that maybe PCV’s really do make some small difference in the lives of local people. I’m really excited that I have the opportunity to teach a group of students in Jamaica about local and global environmental issues.

Jamaica is fifth among islands in the world in richness of endemic plant species—but 75% of Jamaica’s land is anthropogenic, and mostly deforested or disturbed. The mission now for my husband and I is to instill respect for nature in Jamaicans and further their pride in their natural environment. Jamaicans are very proud of their country, as they should be, and I want to help them to continue to grow economically and socially while preserving their natural resources sustainably so they can retain that pride.

We’ve made some good friends here, Jamaicans and PCVs. On Sunday afternoons, we often go out to some cool natural spot off the beaten track with our Rastafarian friend, Robert. He shows us places that locals go to hang out; where tourists can’t find. It’s kind of strange to be in the Peace Corps in a country where so many Americans come to visit, though we end up feeling much more like Jamaicans than the American tourists.

With a few of the PCVs here we’re known as “the married couple.” Although there are about 10 other couples here in Peace Corps Jamaica, we’re the only ones who have the same assignment. Some couples have expressed that even with different assignments, they sometimes get sick of being around each other so much—but we like being together and have found that our relationship has grown since being here. Because we have each other, we don’t feel lonely like most single PCVs do at one time or another.

Tomorrow we are making a presentation to 200 Jamaican science teachers on an environmental study tours program that we’re starting up at Knox Community College. We hope for this program to facilitate outdoor and hands-on learning for students throughout the country. We’re also helping a local NGO and Community Development Council to create a handbook/field guide to their wetlands and coastal area in hopes to promote tourism. The next year and seven months promise to be busy and rewarding, and we’re ready to “make a difference” in our corner of the world—that same aspiration that lured us to join Peace Corps in the first place.

Dana Roeber Murray
PCV Jamaica
2003-present

Published by Peace Corps
Copyright © 2005 Peace Corps Los Angeles Recruitment Office. All rights reserved.

Ups and Downs as a PCV

Life's had some highs and some lows in the last 6 months...

But, this new assignment is turning out to be more of what I thought I might be doing here as a PCV- I feel like we have the freedom to really get some work done. Also, our quality of life is a little better- we live in the mountains (~3,500 ft.) so we have cooler temps. than other parts of the island, and less mosquitos!!! I don't get to go to the ocean as often as I'd like, but the montane climate has been comfortable. We have some really good PCV friends nearby (less than an hour bus ride) and hang out with a Rasta friend of ours that takes us to lots of cool places off the beaten path.

Jamaica's a land of contradictions... mansions next to shacks, professionals walking by coke heads, garbage all over the place but beautiful beaches... the most churches AND bars per capita of any other country...

The people are boisterous and frank. Verbal sexual harassment to women is a HUGE annoyance here, but we're all getting used to it and utilizing our "coping mechanisms" to get by. There's a lot of great, interesting people here, but a lot of things to get used to. 

 The most stressful (but not hardest) part about being a PCV here is conforming to the culture; mainly, getting used to the fact thay privacy is hard to come by and everyone knowing everyone else's business (including the PCV grapevine)-- all us PCVs have to watch what we say, eat, drink, wear, etc. 

I'm happy here - there are just positives and negatives.

I have a field trip tomorrow, and a presentation on Thursday to the Jamaican Science Teachers Association...

Irie Vibes from Jamaica

Wha’gwan? I hope that you’re all having a nice winter. Bryan and I had some tough times in November; basically, the NGO we were working for was lying to Peace Corps, so we now have a new assignment.

We moved in early January to a town called Spaldings, in the geographical center of Jamaica. Spaldings is in the mountains at about 3,500 feet. Although the trees here are heavily deforested, we still have a lot of tropical forests (rainforests) in the mountains around us. The views here are great! The temperature is probably about 10 degrees cooler here than where we were living in May Pen (May Pen being just about the hottest spot in Jamaica.) I think it’s about 75 degrees here now, in the winter, (opposed to 85-90 in May Pen.) Plus, the bane of my existence—mosquitoes—number very few here! So, in beauty and comfort we’ve definitely had an upgrade in moving here. The only problem so far is that this part of Jamaica is having somewhat of a drought, and we depend on rain for our water source. We’re down to our last bit stored in the tank, so we’re hoping for a torrential downpour soon!

Every morning we ride our Peace Corps-issued bicycles along a rocky road atop a ridge that meanders through green cow pastures, banana and coffee crops, and tall trees full of squawking parrots. The road is about 2 miles long from our little flat (apartment) to our work at Knox Community College. Both Bryan and I work in the Environmental Studies Department here at Knox. Bryan’s teaching a class on Physical Geography and Geology; I’m teaching one called “Environmental Awareness.” This is the first time either of us have taught classes, so coming up with lesson plans and just figuring out how to teach effectively has been a challenge! In my class I’m introducing my students (most of them for the first time) to global environmental problems, Jamaica’s flora and fauna, wildlife conservation, pollution, overpopulation, etc. My students are between the ages of 18-25. It’s been pretty hard because most of my students haven’t even had a basic biology class before. One of my students the other day said, “Man!! I just realized how much I don’t know about the world!” when we were talking about global warming and the ozone layer. It was a good moment because it makes me believe that I’m actually making a difference here by educating some of Jamaica’s youth on the environment.

Another project Bryan and I are currently working on is revitalizing “Knox Educational Study Tours” (KEST) which is basically a program that other schools in Jamaica (any age) can request and pay for where we lead field trips to cool places in Jamaica and point out cultural sites, natural/physical beauty, plants, animals, geology, etc. The money the program generates is going to set up scholarships for students to go to school (school isn’t free in Jamaica past 6^th grade.) First though, Bryan and I are trying to find a donor (in the U.S. or Jamaica) for a bus; because the program cannot run without a bus. Also, we are going to apply for grants from the Japanese Govt., Jamaican Govt., and other funding possibilities for money to help run the program initially (eventually it should become sustainable and not need outside money.) This whole revitalization of KEST seems like a huge undertaking to Bryan and I … but we’re going to try hard to make it work (the principal of Knox and our supervisor, Dr. Miller, really want us to get this going.)

A third project that has been asked of us to spearhead is researching a coastal area called the “Canoe Valley” and come up with species lists of plants & animals in the area, geology, natural history, cultural value, etc. in hopes to establish a National Park or Protected Area. Two NGOs have asked us to do this… it should be fun, but is going to require a LOT of work!! We have to apply for grants, find out what research has already been done, do additional research, etc. Hopefully, though, this will be a successful endeavor—if it is, this could possibly be a HUGE positive impact in Jamaica.

On a personal note, Bryan and I have been very happy here in our new assignment. We love the area, and our co-workers. We have been able to go on a lot of field trips through the school to places we could have never found on our own. Also, we got a little white and gray kitten and named her “Irie”. She’s been a lot of fun and keeps us occupied in our down time at home. We haven’t done any SCUBA diving since December (in December we got to do 4 days of diving for Reef Check), and we miss it—but hopefully we can go soon.

Sorry this has gotten so long… I had a lot to cover! I want to say thank you to those of you who have written us letters and supported us—on some of those especially trying days it really helps to get a word from home! Let me know what you’re up to—