Greetings from Jamaica/Welcome to Jamrock
Trip Start
Jul 01, 2007
1
4
17
Trip End
Aug 17, 2009
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Kingston,
Jamaica
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
We have been on the island since last week Tuesday. Here people speak English and Patois or also called Patwa. Patwa is a mixture of English, African languages, Spanish, native languages called Amerindinas, Dutch and Portugese. We are currently learning to speak Patwa. Here is a little taste:
A uu yu bi? (Who are you?)---Jamaican Patwa
Mi niem Claudia (My name is Claudia)---Me
Waa u kom fram? (Where do you come from?)---Jamaican
Mi kom fram Houston, Texas (I am from Houston, TX)---Me
Waa gwaan (What's up/what's going on?)---Jamaican
Mi nice (I'm good)---Me
Instead of saying "I", in Patwa people say "Mi." There is a lot of rules that goes into speaking Patwa. It is orginally the language of slaves. The slaves created the language to communicate with each other. Now, the upperclass in Jamaica look down on the language. The majority of Jamaicans can speak Patwa but it is not spoken in formal gatherings such as in the classroom, rarely in church and never in government events/speeches. Basically the language is only spoken in the rural areas, on the streets and among friends. But enough about Patwa for now. For your convience I have broken up my experiences in Jamaica into short sections. I hope you enjoy.
Arrival
We were greeted at the airport in Kingston by current Peace Corps volunteers. They were over 50 of them waving and clapping as we exited the airport. It was like we were rock stars. It was a very warm greeting.
Beach
From the airport they bused us over to our dorms. Later on that day we had a banquet to celebrate our arrival and the 45th anniversary of the Peace Corps. It was a very long day. I had been up since 4am and didn't go to bed that day until around 11pm. Lodging
We are staying at a campus dormitory which is similar to the dorms in the U.S. My room has a bed, a desk, and a closet. The dorms we are in has a community bathroom. The big difference is that the dorms do not have air conditioning. At first I thought that I wouldn't be able to handle it but I have adapted. We have to leave our windows open to keep cool. There are bars outside of our windows for our safety. I don't feel unsafe by leaving my window open. But the one problem I am having is insects getting into my room particularly ants and mosquitos. I reduced the problem by buying raid and spraying my windows. I will also place mosquito netting on my window. During the days we are in class for training so I am only in my room in the evenings and by then my room has cooled off.
Training
We have training classes everyday. They start around 8 am and usually end around 5pm. I am in the health sector with 20 other volunteers. The rest of the volunteers are in the youth sector and the environmental sector. We are learning Patwa and skills relevant to our sector.
Field Trip
We took a field trip to downtown Kingston, the market area on Sunday. We were all excited because it was our first time leaving the campus since we arrived on Tuesday.
cafeteria or canteen
They had kept us inside the walls of the campus sheltered from everything so when we finally were able to leave it was quite an adventure. What is downtown Kingston like? Loud. Noises fill the air...whether it is people talking, reggae music blasting from the shops or the motorcycles whipping past you in the narrow streets. Your ears is constantly bombarded by sound. I liked it though. Listening to reggae music as I am purchasing fruit. The vendors were selling all kinds of things from fish, fruits, underwear, clothing....everything and anything could be purchased at the market. The market was huge it covered several blocks. We had to talk to the vendors in Patwa. I didn't do that great but it was fun practicing and they seemed to understand what I was saying besides they all spoke english so when I didn't know how to say something in Patwa, I would say it in english and they would understand. I blended in the crowd with the other Jamaicans but the caucasion volunteers stood out. A couple of times they were harrassed by vendors wanting them to buy their merchandise because they thought they were rich tourists.Elections
In Jamaica the prime minister is the only one that can call an election. Usually the way it works is that the current prime minister will wait until his/her popularity is high and then set a date for the elections in hopes that he/she will win the election. Currently Jamaica has a female prime minister and rumors were going around that she would call the election. There was a big rally in Jamaica and thousands of her supporters showed up. She announced at the rally that the election will be held on August 27. Prior and during thae time of elections, it can get violent throughout Jamaica with oppostion groups causing problems. We were warned not to wear yellow, orange, red and green clothing because they are the colors of the various political parties in Jamaica. And a person can get hurt wearing the wrong colors in a neighborhood.
Side Notes:
1. All of the pictures except for the one of me in my hotel room was taken in Jamaica.
2. We were on our way to breakfast and one of the volunteers turns to us and says "Does anyone know where the time machines are?" Of course we all looked at her like she was crazy and then she laughed and said "I'm sorry I meant to say ATMs." So she is from
Wisconsin and there they call ATMs time machines. Reason being because the popular bank there is called 'Tyme Bank' and its ATMs are called 'Tyme machines.' Get it.
Likl muor (I'll talk to you later)
Claudia
Comments
Hello Claudia!!!
It is great reading your blogs. Please continue to post. It sounds like another world.
Take care and Be safe,
Jess
Lil Bro
very cool, i liked the pics, have fun at the beach.
hi
Your training experience sounds really different from the PC/CR one. Is Patwa very difficult? Will you have to speak that or English when you go into the field?