Heroes Day Weekend

Marcus Garvey, Nanny of the Maroons, Sam Sharpe, Sir Alexander Bustamante, Paul Bogle, George William Gordon, and Norman Manley.

     Ever heard of these people?  Well, if you have ever been in Jamaica you should know them as the National Heroes.  These heroes of Jamaica all played an integral role in guiding Jamaica to the independent slave free country that it is today.   And today October 19, 2015 is the National Holiday in order to remember and honor these great leaders of Jamaica celebrated every third Monday in October!
Click here to find out more about the Heroes!

image from http://jis.gov.jm/calendar/national-heroes-day/

      Therefore, due to the holiday today we have had a long weekend off from school.  While I was expecting this weekend to be slightly non-eventful due to the lack of public transportation on any Holidays and Sundays in St. Elizabeth (the parish I live in), it has actually turned out to be one of my best weekends spent a site so far!  This has been the first weekend I felt like I have integrated into my community and surrounding communities and that my friends is a beautiful feeling. 

      The holiday weekend started with a special presentation from our students at school on Wednesday honoring the National Heroes of Jamaica.  This presentation was put on by our culture club at school and feature readings about all of the 7 Heroes as well as dancing and dub poetry performances.  I was very impressed by my students’ talents and plan on having them teach me some dance moves this up and coming week at school.  This performance was the perfect way to start of Heroes Weekend.
      On Saturday, the Treasure Beach Women’s Group hosted a 6k Run/ Walk for Breast Cancer.  I along with two other volunteers participated in this Run and this was the start of me feeling very integrated.  Running is one of my favorite things to do and getting to combine my love of running with integrating was incredible.  Most of the participants in the 6k were locals so it was a great opportunity to get to know even more people from my surrounding communities as well as catch up with some local friends.  And it turns out we had a Peace Corps sweep in the women’s running category coming in first, second, and third!  So to celebrate we headed to the beach!  The Women's Group is an amazing group that does so much to help the Treasure Beach Community and the surrounding communities so Check out the Treasure Beach Women's Group here!

Pre Race

 

We made it to the finish along with one of the race co-founders!

Beaching it to celebrate!



The Treasure Beach Women's Group is located down in treasure beach and does as much as it can to help the community.  The group has a craft store that sells these starlight candles that are hand made by the Women's Group! 

      While, this is already way more than normally happens on a weekend here there is more to come.  On Monday was Heroes Day, so to celebrate my host mom invited me to go with her to an event at a nearby church called an “Old Time Sinting” (Old Time Something).  There was traditional food which was great, I had red pea soup, salt fish fritters, and gizzadas lots of gizzadas.  (Gizzadas are a coconut and sugar pastry fried to perfection).  After we finished eating the community put on a performance to remember their heritage.  It started with the local primary school students showing us several dances set to traditional Jamaican folk music, then several of the church members showed us a dance, there was dub poetry about the Heroes and it all wrapped up with a lovely Maypole dance from the students.  It was a lovely way to celebrate Jamaican culture.  And even though I have been in Jamaica for a little over seven months this was the first time I really and truly felt like I was getting integrated and I can think of no better way to feel integrated in Jamaica than by celebrating their culture with my community!  So here’s to Heroes Day!



Students dancing

 

May pole dance

Back to School



         Students eagerly embark on their way to school, donning new uniforms, shiny shoes, and book bags filled with their new books!  Today is the first day of school and the students as well as the teachers are anxious and excited.  Many of the teachers at my school switched grade levels so today would be the first day they would test the countless hours of preparation they put forth in planning throughout the summer holiday.  The school day starts off with devotion led by our principal, Mrs. Smith.  Devotion consists of singing several hymns, reading a bible verse and daily announcements.  Mrs. Smith closes with the inspirational quote "If it is to be, it is up to me," hopefully the students will take this with them throughout the school year and know that if they are to be successful it is up to them to work hard.  This quote rings true for my fellow teachers and I as well, we all must continue to work hard to insure the best for our students.  So here's to a great year in which to make sure of this "If it is to be, it is up to me."

 

Officially starting off the school year!



Welcome to my classroom!

Around the world decorations



Where the teaching happens

First computer up and running!



Daily Devotion

 

 

Edusports (a locally sponsored PE program) came to visit in the first week!

 




Walking home crew

 

Celebrating Jamaica

The main road in Black River

"To the left to the left" (*sung in the style of Beyoncé), a police officer steps into the street and redirects our taxi to a parking area to the left of its normal route down the main road of Black River, St. Elizabeth.  The road is blocked off and is swarming with people all decked out in green, black, and yellow.  These people are all here showing off their Jamaican pride to celebrate Black River Day in none other than downtown Black River, the capital of St. Elizabeth, Jamaica.  Fun fact Black River was the first place in Jamaica to have electricity. From the moment I exit the taxi I am engulfed in the scent of jerk chicken and reggae music with the bass all the way up.  Way up stay up! Walking down the road I see men in stilts taking pictures and making balloon animals for all di pickni dem, several stages set up for performances later in the night, various vendors giving out free samples (big up fi di free hotdogs dem), and even a center for all the kids with a trampoline and bouncy house.  Black River was busting at the seams with people out and about having a good time and showing their pride for Jamaica land we love.  This event marked the beginning of the Holiday week with Emancipation Day (Aug 1st) the following day and Independence Day (Aug 6th).  With 53 years of Independence it is truly spectacular to witness how far Jamaica has come in that time!

The Black River Market is the large building in the back

Jen and I celebrating Black River Day!

Off to Camp We Go!

This past week I was lucky enough to help out at my new Jamaican church’s’ Vacation Bible School!  And if any of you know me I love summer camp, like a hipster loves their glasses, like an athlete loves winning, like a gamer loves all the latest video games and technology (shout out to my little bro), you guys get the point.  I LOVE CAMP!  This week was especially exciting because I got to see just how similar a Jamaican camp is to an American one.  Both types are packed full of music and arts and crafts!  My host mother, Kay, was one of the leaders of the camp so it was really neat to get to see her in her element. 

The theme for the week was “I am special, Lord fill me with music!”  And boy did we get filled with music.  This past week I learned more about music than I have in my entire life and even had the chance to learn how to play drums.  Each morning we went over various music notes and terminology to help all of the campers including me learn how to read music.  We then split into various stations where the campers could all learn how to play different instruments.  My host brother led the drums, Kay the keyboard, and somehow I ended up having to lead the recorder group.  Thankfully my knowledge from the fifth grade at Davidson Elementary came back to me and I was able to teach/ successfully remember how to play hot cross buns and Mary Had A Little Lamb! After music we then moved onto arts and crafts.  We made various paper flowers each day as well as created jewelry beads out of magazines for necklaces and bracelets. 

With a close of the camp the church had bonfire night at the beach Friday.  This felt much like a continuation of my camp days in the past with singing various church songs around the fire.  This was such a great time to get to know all the members of my church and just hang out and relax.  So basically moral of this story is this whole week I got to go to camp and it was fantastic!  The best part is that next week I am helping out at another Vacation Bible School near Ocho Rios so the fun will continue on! 

One of the types of flowers we made in arts and crafts

Keyboard Time

Recorder
 

Kay and I at the beach bonfire

Evening Swim

Dinner time at the bonfire



Definitely Not Too Cool For School

These past couple weeks have been quite a whirlwind.  It involved getting used to my school, teaching, my community, and what to do with my free time.  Which sounds like it would be simple but in a new country even simple tasks such as these have more aspects involved in them.  At my school my main task these past few weeks was helping several grade 4 students get prepared for their Grade 4 literacy test.  In Jamaica the testing system is very intense and the tests in Grade 4 and Grade 6 determine what high school they will be allowed to attend so it’s important the students do as well as they can.  In addition to this, I would have a read aloud every morning and at lunch to help the students get familiar with me and help out the other teachers as much as possible.  Sometimes even get a football game going with the students at lunch.  In the evenings, I typically hang out at the local football field aka the “dust bowl” with the members of my community getting to know them or watching Americas Got Talent with my host family!  But just as I was getting into the swing of things we had graduation for Grade 6 and school ended.  The graduation ceremony was incredible! The entire community attends and every person puts their best dress forward.  I loved getting to see all the fashion at the event.  My school had 18 students graduate and I could not have been prouder of these students and will certainly miss them next year.  Although all the ones going to the high school down the road I have made them promise to come visit next year! 



The PCV crew in Negril



 

The weekend following graduation was 4^th of July weekend, and one of the Peace Corps Volunteers birthdays so of course we had to celebrate!   We made the trip up to Negril which was about 2 hours of “smalling up” in taxis and buses (basically fitting as many people as possible into the car/bus).  It was so nice to see familiar faces and get to relax for the weekend.  Once the weekend was over it was back to my community in St. Elizabeth!  So now with it being summer it is time for lesson planning, learning to crochet and cook with my host family, and lots of Taylor Swift jam sessions in my house! 



 

 

 



My classroom/ library

Inside of my room

 

Another view of my room

 

School snack vendors

We got new books!

 

Spent hours organizing all the books

Geneva Primary was invited to attend a field day by EduSports along with 7 other schools!

Learning boxing

Basketball

 

Football

 

My host brother, Dadrian, and I at graduation!

 

My host mother Kay!

Ricks Cafe

 

Cliff jumping at Ricks

 

 

Nothing beats a Jamaican sunset!

 

There's No Place Like Home

Much like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, after the tornado of training and moving all throughout the island I have finally found my home in St. Elizabeth, Jamaica, also known as the breadbasket of Jamaica!  Although there is no yellow brick road, my new house is bright yellow so I think that counts.  As in any new place there are new things to explore and the best things I have explored so far are all of the animals that live around me!  In mi yaard alone there are so many animals: cats, a dog, turtles, goats, and two pigs!  And not to mention the lovely cow that lives in the pasture behind my room always feels inclined to sit right behind my window and moo all night long.  This area is also brimming with vegetation!  I completely understand why they refer to St. Elizabeth as the breadbasket of Jamaica.  On my walk to school alone I pass mango trees, almond trees, pear (avocado) trees, guava trees, various melon fields, and many more trees with fruits I have yet to be able to identify or taste.  The school I teach at is about a twenty minute walk from my house which is just long enough to get me dripping with sweat by the time I reach school, but hey burning those calories am I right?  My school is super into sports which has been the way I have been able to best integrate myself with my students and teachers.  So far I have been able to attend a netball tournament and a football match both of which my students won!  An additional plus about my site is its location.  I have easy access to get to large cities where I can get my shopping done and I am also very close to Treasure Beach where I can get away to relax and enjoy some of the best pizza Jamaica has to offer at Jacks Sprat.  So although I'm still new and have so much more to learn "There's no place like home!"

 

 



School Football Match

School netball tournament

Be kind whenever possible, it is always possible!

Ready for his close up

Cats on cats on cats

I like eggs

Turtle pond

My host mom is an excellent gardener

Mango time is all the time

View on my way to school!

View on my walk home!