rachelanna.com

Hello dear friends and family,

Well, here it is Monday afternoon . I had wanted to write you more last week but always the lab was down and I was busy anyway…The graduation ceremony was very nice. I am hoping that at some point some of the people here with digital cameras will have some of their pictures posted and then I might be able to share them with you and everyone else .

After the ceremony, I got home to O.H.B. at about midnight (of course having been driven home by friends). On Saturday, Karen (my the lady I am living with) and I spent all day from about 8 or 9 am until 11 or 12 midnight working, moving furniture around and moving me in. I didn’t think that she would go for it, but she didn’t mind at all–she said that every once in a while she gets the urge and has to or wants to move furniture around. It was a lot of fun and I love my room. The rest of the house still needs a whole lot of work to clean up and put things away.

Today, I went to both offices of the agencies that I am working for. The first half of the day went very slowly with a very boring meeting at the Ministry of Health (from 10:00-1:00). When I looked at my watch, I couldn’t believe that it was that late! Anyway, I finally made my way out of that office and onto the SDC/DAC office. SDC is Social development Commission, and the DAC is Development Area Committee. I feel like I would like the Ministry of Health’s support and backup, but it is hard for me to know how I fit in with what they need/what I should be doing for them. However, I do see me fitting in very well with the SDC and DAC, and all the other development committees and CBOs (Community Based Organizations).

Well, I have been here a long time and it is time for me to go home now. Much, much love to all of you, and I hope that you are (all) doing well !

to all the Principia staff–my best wishes as the new school year starts.

the weather here–the rainy season has started, albeit, slowly, with rain every few days. At this moment, since it rained today, the breeze is slightly cool, but not enough to want longsleeves.Yesturday was hot, humid, and sticky. (but hot was maybe in high 80’s) I don’t think that it ever gets to a hundred here, but it can be very hot in the mornings–this morning included.

much love,Rachel

Just some more notes:

A friend asked me will I be able to travel around the island some or will I be so busy that I am stuck and I am not sure. Yes, volunteers do travel around the island from time to time and especially to visit other PCV’s sites, but I am not sure if I will. we are only allowed a certain amount of time for vacation and by the time that I (hopefully) go home for association and other family business, and come back and ….I don’t know, maybe if my family comes to visit me, then we’ll travel together and see the sites. ? ?Who knows?

Another question was if in my work if I would be in an office or out in the field with people and the answer is probably a little of the first and a whole lot of the second.

The third question was about language, and the language that is spoken here is Patios (pronounced Pat-wa–Jamaicans even spell the word different because it is pronounced differently than the French.)so one common phrase in Patios is “Mi soon come,” meaning, I’ll be back soon.

Jamaicans often drop the letter “S” before words and the h from the “th” sound. I have probably said this before, but one of my favorite phrases is “Everyting kris!” it means that you couldn’t be happier, and that you are completely satisfied, everything is perfect. the “kris” comes from crisp, clean.

love you all, see ya!

Dear All,

You’ll have to excuse my absence for the past two weeks–as it is the end of
training, I have been short in the monetary department and haven’t been able
to afford the taxi into town and then the charge of actually using the
computers once I got there.

I am in the last week of my training and come Friday night (Aug 22), I will
go back to Old Harbour Bay which will be my new home for the next two years.
On Friday, we have what is called a “Swearing-in ceremony” which is
supposed to be very nice and elegant. It is our graduation ceremony from
the training program that we are in now.

UNTIL Friday, I have my own single (all of us do) in the newest and nicest
housing complex on the Univ. of the West Indies campus. They are really
treating us well–today we left OHB in a “limousine” type tour bus where I
think anyone that wanted one could have their own row! that is a big thing
when we have been used to cramming in or what is called “queezing up”–short
for squeeze up.

I have two options for where I can and or will (possibly more that I haven’t
seen yet) stay, but I know that wherever I live I will be taken care of.
come friday night, I will go home to a lady named Karen and her house. she
is a recent grad from Univ. of the West Indies in Sociology. she is very
nice and very smart and we get along very well. we laugh and smile a lot
together. the best part is that she doesn’t watch (apparently) a whole lot
of TV, and I am grateful for that.

the other option is a beautiful house, and if I do end up there, it will be
a show of God’s divine guidance as to where the furniture (and household
items) will come from, as I am sure that the moving-in allowance is very
small.

anyway, I love you all very much and remember that each of you are loved,
loving, and lovable!
have a blessed day

love,
rachel

Hello family and friends,

Here are some questions I received and I have tried to answer them.

>>How small is “small” fishing village? it is about 7 or 8,000 people, but
>>the town has about three main north-south “arteries” and a few going
>>east-west. it is segmented in a few different communities: the housing
>>scheme is about 20 years old and has a few hundred lots. Another area of
>>town is called the Sekklement, meaning settlement. I should, but I don’t
>>know exactly the history of the town. What kind of fish? This is pretty
>>crazy, but I don’t exactly know all the different kinds. it is a fishing
>>village, but I think many people that live in the housing scheme (which is
>>where I am) maybe don’t fish.

>>Can you receive snail mail? yes, and my address is

Rachel McVey
c/o Suchet Loois
United States Peace Corps
8 Worthington Ave
Kingston 5, Jamaica
West Indies

>>Are you doing any reading? sometimes… I am reading S&H, and other CS
>>material because church for me is pretty rare right now. Recently, I just
>>finished a kids book that was around my house. I am wanting to buy Harry
>>potter and read it to my host family, but I don’t know if that will
>>work–their attention spans are very short , but maybe something will
>>work out.

Are you walking a lot? yes, but there is also a transportation system that
is affordable and works very well. it is called the taxi system, and it is
easy for me to understand but might be hard for me to explain, but I will
try.

there is a thing called a “route taxi” and it is ususally a man with a small
white car that in the States would seat 5 people. When I want to go home
after emailing, I will go to the area of taxis that are leaving for Old
Harbor Bay and look for a “red plate” taxi, because those are the registered
and legal ones (and insured). he will try and fill his taxi with as many
people (that are also going in the same direction) as he can. On certain
routes (like from Old Harbour Bay to Old Harbour and back) the car is not
usually that full, but on saturdays, when I have gone to market with my host
family mother, we have been squeezed up like sardines. the seatbelt laws,
as far as I can figure, only go as far as the driver and front passenger.
Last Sunday, my family and I went to a Jamaican-style carnival called
Denbeigh, and we squeezed 9! people into the car–5 adult sized people and
four kids, including my 12 yr-old host sister. THe same thing happens on
the bus–sometimes we have to fit five to a row when there are only four
seats, which makes for a shoulder-to shoulder and hip to hip ride, and
remember to hold your bag very close. So far, the one time that I had to do
that–riding on a public bus from downtown Kingston to Old Harbour, I sat
next to the head of the Police Youth Club for a city (May Pen) in the parish
(Clarendon) next to me. So that was a very good experience and a good
connection to make.

Is radio or TV available? yes, very much so. at 7:00 am everymorning, my
host family blares the news, and the TV is on for the family most of the
time. the most popular channel is the disney channel (my host sister loves
several shows…)

this past week, we took a field trip to Montego Bay (aka Mo bay) and had
some work and fun planned.
on Tuesday, we split into two groups and I had the fine priviledge of
working in both groups. In the morning, I worked with my group and we
covered a “soak-away pit” that is kind of like an underground septic tank.
so that was fun and intstructive and the family should be able to use it for
several years into the future. I learned the process of how to make a whole
lot of cement in one area and bucket by bucket we carried the cement to the
setup we had that we were covering. by setup, I mean, we had bamboo laid
down, and ontop of that, cement bags, and then the rebar grid we made. I
was part of the water crew and the cement bucket line–very important
positions.

We finished our project at about one o’clock, and went to see how the other
group was doing. We got there when they were just beginning to make lunch
so I decided to make myself useful and see what I could do for the other
project (cleaning and preping a catchement tank for it to be the next big
project for the PCV in the area. So, I got there, to the catchement area,
and the work at hand was cleaning up sweapt piles of loose dirt, weeds that
had grown in the cracks, and broken cement chuncks. it was humbling work,
but fullfilling at the same time. The person that I worked with was named
Antony, and he was a humble old quiet rasta man. we didn’t exchange very
many words, but we didn’t need to because we both had the same work
ethic–it is hot, and this might seem like small work, but it needs to get
done and we are working for a good purpose–the betterment of the community,
the community’s water, and ourselves.

anyway, I have been here for quite some time and I need to move on. I love
you all, and all prayers are welcome.
peace!
love,
Rachel