First Two Weeks in Bellevue

I’ve been in Bellevue for a little less then two weeks now and I’m enjoying myself so far.  I would like to think that I’ve been here long enough and had enough different sites to know when I have found a good place, and I think I have.  Bellevue is a small rural community of about 600 people in the mountains about 15 miles south of Port Antonio.  If you don’t mind smalling up in a taxi for about an hour on really bad roads, the people are nice, the food is good and the views are amazing.  From my house, I can see down the Rio Grande Valley all the way back to Port Antonio and the ocean.  I finally have batteries again, so I’ll take pictures when I get back to site and post them as soon as possible.

 

Like I said, the community members are really friendly.  One reason for this is that they had a volunteer living in the community a few years ago who everyone really liked, so they have a good view of volunteers already.  Another reason is that, with the community being so small, everyone knows everyone and most of them help each other with their farms and raising animals. The hardest part so far is trying to remember everyone’s name.  Walking down the street, I have been getting into a lot of conversations with people who know me and who I’ve met before, but can’t remember.  A few more months a few thousand more awkward conversations and I’m sure it will sort itself out.

 

My host family has been a real highlight so far.  They are farmers who have a sizable piece of land and grow yams, dasheene, bananas and coffee (yes, blue mountain coffee) along with some random fruit trees like papaya, mango and pair (avocado).  They also raise goats and chickens.  I’ve already seen my first goat butchered and will be seeing the first round of chickens go next week.  Also, in a few weeks, one of my host brothers will have a birthday and said he wants to butcher a hog, definitely looking forward to some nice fresh pork.  I’ve enjoyed eating with the family and learning more about real Jamaican cooking.  There is never a shortage of yams and dumplings at dinner. 

 

As for work, it has been the typical Peace Corps experience of “easing” into the process.  I’ve been able to get involved with the maintenance of the community water supply system, which is a pretty big task, trying to maintain a few miles of pipe through some rough terrain.  In addition, the principal at the school has been enthusiastic about letting me help with literacy and computer lessons.  It is just beginning now, but I’m looking forward to getting more involved with the school.  I can’t say I’m looking forward to all the frustrations that volunteers have in schools, but it is better then commuting into Kingston on a daily basis.

 

So that is about it for my first two weeks.  Can’t wait to get back to site.

A Busy Few Weeks Doing Not So Much

I never thought that I could be so busy when I’m not really doing much. For the past few weeks, I have not been doing too much in terms of work because I am in the process of moving again….for the last time!!! All I’ve really done is help to put together some group grant applications totaling about $5 million Jamaican (a little over $50,000 US) for projects for other volunteers and typed up a disaster plan for the basic school up the street from where I currently live. The best part about doing work at the basic school was going out and spending time in the school with about 20 little kids who are 3 years old and dressed up in school uniforms, just about the cutest thing you’d ever see.

Then, a little over a week ago, I hosted my first visitors with my sister Kelly and her boyfriend Tim came down for a week long visit. It was a great trip! I took them up to Portland Parish and showed them Port Antonio, San-San beach and parts of the Rio Grande Valley. The highlight of this part of the trip was definitely visiting Jesse and Josh in Comfort Castle with Kelly, Tim and Liza and hiking to the Dry River Water Fall. As we were hiking into the bush to get to the water fall, a group of about 15 Pikini (Patios for children) who looked like they had just finished a mud fight, ran past us and beat us to the river. We all spent a while swimming around and jumping off the rocks. As soon as I get some pictures from Liza I’ll be sure to post some.

After that, I took Kelly and Tim to the Riu, outside of Ochi to get them checked in for their last few days of vacation. By some miracle, the guy gave us three all-inclusive bracelets when Kelly had only signed up and paid for two. Kelly and Tim said it was cool for me to stay with them, so I spent three days eating tons of food, drinking tons of booze (a few too many White Russians as usual) and sleeping on the floor. Its certainly a different side of Jamaica being in a resort with all tourists, still trying to “process” it, to use the PC lingo.

All in all, it was a great trip and I really enjoyed myself. It was a lot of fun trying to teach Kelly and Tim some Patios and having them chat a little to the taxi drivers and bar tenders. They certainly were troopers handling the “smalling up” on public transportation so well. I had a few days after arriving on island before getting into a bus, they had about 30 minutes. I’m sure we’ll have even more fun the next time they come and visit…..

Now I’m back in Parottee trying to get packed up to move to Bellevue on Monday. The only problem was that I haven’t done laundry in about 3 weeks and yesterday I didn’t have power or water all day. Hopefully Lauryn, an awesome PCV that lives about a mile down the road and has a washing machine, will have power and water tomorrow or else I’m going to be spending my first day at my new site hand washing almost every piece of clothing I currently own.
One last note, my new house has one of the best views I’ve seen in Jamaica. It is out on the edge of a mountain that is looking down the Rio Grande Valley almost 15 miles to Port Antonio and the Caribbean Sea. Stop by if you want to see a great view, meet some cool people and experience some of the worst roads in Jamaica.