rachelanna.com

Dear sweet Friends and Family,

I have been somewhat silent for sometime now because I have been very busy
and the library where I use the internet to write you is not in the town
that I live in.

For two weeks now (and beginning on the third), I have been living with a
family in Old Harbour Bay, a small fishing village on the south coast. “My”
home is about fifteen minutes walk to our training hub site, the Old Harbour
Bay Baptist Church. Yesturday, all of the CEHVs (24 Community Environmental
Health Volunteers) went into Kingston to meet the heads of the agencies with
whom we will be working. As it turns out, I will stay in the Old
Harbour/Old Harbour Bay area for the next two years. Two agencies have
requested to have a PCV, and so I will be sharing my time between the St.
Catherine Health Department, Old Harbour, and the Old Harbor Development
Area Sectariat/Committee. I will also be working closely with SDC (Social
Development Commission) and KODAK, an organization based in Old Harbour Bay.

The agency was supposed to be responsible for housing the PCVs for the four
days called COW (Community Orientation Week) where we will learn where we
will be living and what we will be doing for the next two years. Since I am
staying in Old Harbor Bay area, my boss said, so I thought that you could
just stay where you have been, is that okay? I said, “Yes, that is fine.”
Later, I learned that my boss actually called my home and asked my
(Jamaican) mom if that was okay, but not to tell me. They wanted me to have
the fun of dragging my suitcase around! anyway, it is all good

The librarian has just told me that the library is closing in 5 minutes (6
pm), and so I have to sign off, but I hope to write more often, especially
since I will be coming into Old Harbour (the town where the library is) for
work …

I love you all, and have enjoyed all of the letters that all have sent. I
always welcome more… !
LOve,
Rachel

Dear Family and Friends,

Thank you all for your letters and prayers -they are gratefully
recieved. I am, as always, having a good time. Jamaica is so much more
than I could possibly imagine when I was back in the States. People here
are so much friendlier than I imagined. Everywhere I go, I always find
myself with what we in Jamaica call “picknie,” aka, children. Granted,
there aren’t kids in our training sessions, but there are plenty of other
opportunities to be with them and talk to them.

Tomarrow, I have an interview with some staff, which happen to be friends of
mine. That interview is my opportunity to talk about where I would like to
be in Jamaica, what living conditions I need or would like to have.

I am still having trouble with the food–to me, it feels like every jamaican
meal has too much seasoning, but my host mother is very
understanding–today, she made my breakfast without any seasoning at all and
it was perfect. Breakfast in Jamaica is a big meal, often with veggies or
any number of other things. My host mother is also getting the idea that I
only want and need small portions.

In my host family’s house, we are among the few that have a washing machine.
we also have showers, which not all volunteer’s host families have.

If I haven’t mentioned it yet, Jamaica is on St. Louis time until the Fall,
and then on Eastern Standard time because we don’t have daylight savings.

The Rastafarians here do not have that big of a presence. All of the ones I
see are introverted and quiet, usually in a state of self-imposed poverty
and keeping to themselves. I haven’t talked to any though. THey are only
about 15% of the population.

Overall, the key to Jamaica is being loving, smiling, courtesy, and
interaction. Jamaicans want to be recognized, so I make sure to greet them
(obviously, when appropriate).

I love you all!!
Sincerely,
Rachel

Dear Family and Friends,

The supposed hurricane was nothing. we didn’t even get the slightest bit of
heavy rains. mostly mist.
My assignment is “water sanitation/hygene education,” but don’t ask yet what
that means.
Today, we will be going to our homestay families and living there for 5
weeks and training as well. I am not sure how much I will be able to email
you from there. Maybe there is a library or something.
the food is good, similar in some ways and different in others. I will tell
you about it later when I have more time.

I love you all. Have to go to class.
by the way, almost all the current pcvs have cell phones, and almost all the
new trainees are getting one, so being as it is the most practical
communication for us, me, and me to others, I will be getting one as well.
they are very economical. see ya! I forgot to mention that many, many
Jamaicans also have cell phones too. some vollunteers said that they came
to the pc to escape materialism, but we have walked right into the eye of
it. maybe it will be different in the country.

see ya later, and I love you all!!!
rachel