Make a joyful noise!

Well, I survived Christmas.  I spent the 24th, 25th and part of the 26th with a Jamaican family that I like very much.; that part was good. What I had not planned on was spending 7 hours in church on Sunday and not just any church but a full of the holy spirit pentecostal church!  My Methodist upbringing would be considered comatose by comparison.  You cannot imagine the loudness and in general, energy of this service. Imagine over 100 voices singing off key, someone "banging" not playing a keyboard, drums, tambourines, hands clapping, shouting, bodies jerking, arms flailing and whoever holds the microphone yelling or screaming into it. I was wise to this cacophonous experience and came prepared with earplugs! They definitely helped but did not fully lower the volume.  A woman next to me who was quite large and had a 2 year old boy stretched across her lap sleeping (how, I cannot imagine) and was suddenly seized by the holy spirit and began twitching and jerking, jabbing me in the arm with her elbow and the boy slept on. An old man at the alter got the spirit and began spinning wildly, flailing arms and oblivious to anyone around him.  The minister and elders did not want to stop this holy demonstration and kept the music, singing, praising going for full 30 minutes and at last spent, the old man stopped.  Only then did the service end.  I was so glad it was over as I had been sitting on those hard wooden benches for 3 hours!  I was then informed over lunch that we would be going back in the evening for the children's program. I almost wept.  We did indeed return for the 7pm performance which lasted till 11:30pm!  I had reached my limit of graciousness and cultural sensitivity and when asked how I liked the service, I said that I was tired and cannot manage the noise level.  My hosts exclaimed "We are supposed to make a joyful noise to the Lord!" to which I replied "not if it means sustaining a hearing loss and a splitting headache!"  I have observed in and out of church that Jamaicans are not bothered in the least by loud noise.  From cradle to grave, they must endure it.  In fact, it may even provide the excitement and adrenalin surges that some Jamaicans seem to thrive on.

I did manage to avoid going to the grand market which is probably the only thing that saved me from a complete breakdown.  That is where children who are fortunate enough to get a Christmas present go with their parents and may be given $3 to $10 American dollars to buy some toys.  It is a far cry from the more typical American excesses during the holidays.  Adults do not give gifts in general and there are few decorations, lights, and decorated trees.  Most people just spend the day with family and cook some traditional dishes if they can afford to do so.

I am spending New Year's Eve alone at home and  I do not know what to expect as far as the local celebrations are concerned.  The smell of ganja is already wafting on the Christmas breeze.!  Tomorrow, I will go to the Methodist Church with my friend, Madge who has invited me to lunch at her home after church.  This evening, I will listen to some music, open a bottle of wine, journal about this year and intentions for .
the next and maybe watch a movie on my laptop. It may sound pitifully boring and sad to some, but to me, it will be nirvana.

I am including a few pictures.. At the beginning, a house in my neighborhood where the pickni sing out "hi, auntie mimi" when  I walk by.  There are two pics of Burrwood beach, about 20 min. taxi ride from my house and children playing in my backyard.  The pic above is of my Jamaican grandchild, Kemoy, age 3 standing by my backdoor.  She is my landlord's daughter.

 "It has been quite a ride" as they say. This past year has brought so many changes to my life and a huge lesson in letting go. I have no regrets but admittedly, December has been a tough month for me as I have missed my family, friends, traditions, etc.  I know it is a transitory sadness and a bit of loneliness but I signed up for this gig, so onward and upward..  I wish you all a delightfully  happy, healthy and peaceful 2012!
As I journal this evening, I will begin with words from T. S. Eliot "For last year's words belong to last year's language and next year's words await another voice."

"The Christmas Breeze"

The weather is now delightful averaging 83 degrees during the day and 73 at night with a wonderful breeze; hence, "The Christmas Breeze". I heard a child singing "jingle bells" walking past my house and that is a somewhat surrealistic experience.  During the last couple of weeks walking down the streets, I hear Christmas music coming from homes, some with no running water and maybe two or three rooms where 6 to 10 people may live.  I have only seen one fake Christmas tree on a veranda and no decorations.  I have learned that for most people in my community there are no gifts exchanged and maybe only a small, inexpensive gift for the children like a ball, coloring book, etc. If  they can afford it, a special meal will be prepared consisting of rice and peas, chicken or fish, curried goat and sorrel ( a drink made from a flower) and a pudding made from yams, potatoes, coconut, spices, brown sugar and then baked into a very dense, heavy cake. I was invited to spend Christmas with a couple who have become my friends, Neville and Jacqueline Gibbs.  I met them when they came by my house on Fridays selling produce from their pickup.  I have been to church with them and to their home for dinner I will join them tomorrow and we will attend "grand market" which is held on Christmas eve in most communities.  As described to me it will be like the state fair x 10(people, noise, junk for sale, dancing in the streets, pushing and shoving) which for me sounds slightly less insufferable than a bad case of the runs with attending projectile vomiting.  However, when in Rome........Then on Sunday, I am sure I am in for a 4 hour worship experience that is loud and enthusiastic from start to finish. I have included some pictures to share some experiences.  The children surrounding me were at the all day 7th Day Adventist service and they were fascinated with my whiteness and hair which they  all had to run their fingers through.  It was a very long day for me and the children were the best part of it.  You will see that I included a picture of the goat butchered in my back yard back in September.  More recently, a pig was slaughtered in the back yard and you can see that I have become more brazen and less squeamish as I walked right up to my neighbor and asked to take his picture with the hog.  There is a picture of my friend Gloria, cooking pigs tail red pea soup for me over her wood fire.  I usually eat with her on Sundays and she is a fabulous cook, a purest who refuses to use  canned or powdered coconut milk but grates her own fresh coconut which is labor intensive but worth it in taste. The remaining pictures are Mr. & Mrs. Gibbs with their truck and produce and more pics of  them and family after church the Sunday that I visited.  They insisted that I sit up front with Mr.Gibbs and handed me a 3 month old baby to hold while the rest of the family climbed into the back of the pickup, Sunday clothes and all, to make the 5 mile trip up into the hills on a road more like a cattle trail. What an adventure! They built their home themselves and it is lovely with a big veranda overlooking the lush tropical hills all around.  I hope to spend time on that veranda over the next few days recuperating from "grand market" and church!  I shall write about my Christmas in Jamaica next week.  I will add that for gifts, I made play dough for my youngest friends which they loved and since I only have one burner to cook on, I made welsh cakes which have been a hit here. For all you readers of this blog,  I wish you a Christmas filled with appreciation and deep gratitude for the amazing blessings in your life.

the pictures for last post

hope this works this time

Thanksgiving

It is hard to believe that it is already December!  The time is passing quickly and by the end of December, I will have been here 6 months. Thanksgiving was a lot of fun and my PC friend, Kelsey, and I made it seem almost like a traditional holiday. I have always enjoyed cooking for Thanksgiving and usually start planning and preparing a week or more before the event.  Well, in Jamaica with my limited resources, I had to get creative and resourceful.  To begin with as you can see in the picture, in my kitchen there is one functioning burner and two pots and a skillet.  I knew we would not have turkey as that would cost approx. $50.00 for a 12 lb. bird and my food budget for the month is about $150.00.  A very kind Jamaican lady offered to f ix my chicken Jamaican style and bring it to  me.  I fixed deviled eggs, raw vegies and a dip.  I had indulged and bought some cheese (very expensive here and hard to find) and crackers.  I created "dressing" on top of the stove in the little pot and it was pretty good.  I had looked and looked for sage and finally found it, a necessary ingredient in dressing but not a Jamaican herb.We had mashed potatoes, carrots and chocho, two bottles of wine and for dessert, I created a pumpkin, currant bread pudding with a warm rum butter glaze - it was decadent!  I made that as well as the dressing in the little "magic pot" on top of stove.  I tried to deliver a maudlin toast before we ate and just in the middle of my delivery, one of the lens in my glasses popped out and the little screw on one side of the frame fell out never to be found.  Kelsey said "only in Jamaica" and we both laughed and gave up toasting and just started eating.  We had been listening to some of  her music,
Billy Holiday, Frank Sinatra and I added soundtrack from Somethings Gotta Give, Tony Bennett and a lot more.  We had fun exchanging music, laughing, deep philosophical talks, watched the sunset with a glass of wine and finished the evening watching a pirated copy of "The Help".  It was really great and made up for not being with our families and friends.
The other pictures include some of my recent paintings and of the children at the basic school (3-5yr) where I go to read during their story hour once a week.  I had read the little book  "Goodnight Gorilla" which they loved and the clever teacher was having them act it out.  For those of you who are not familiar with the story, it is about a zookeeper who goes to say goodnight to all the animals and lock their cages. The baby gorilla takes the keys out of his back pocket and lets all the animals out of their cages, and follows the zookeeper home without his knowledge.  The baby gorilla gets in bed with the zookeeper and his wife and the other animals proceed to lay down to sleep in the room.  When the wife discovers what has happened she is quite shocked but patiently leads them back to the zoo and attempts to lock them up again but the clever little gorilla takes the keys and they all follow her back to the house.  In the picture, you can see the wife in bed and the zookeeper and animals preparing to do the same.  It was such fun sharing this time with these adorable children.




,

mi drop at the market

this is the picture that goes with the post of the same title - taken after I fell in that horrible puddle and was cleaned up and new clothes purchased for me by kind Jamaicans

Praise God for Earplugs

In Jamaica there is a lot of noise everywhere, day or night.  There are people on the streets before 6am yelling at each other, laughing, talking, singing and then there are the frequent dog fights, roosters crowing, babies crying, radios blaring, horns honking, etc.  I have learned to wear my earplugs every night.  Most recently, my earplugs served a "holy" purpose as they allowed me to survive a church service.  Part of my attempts to become culturally aware and integrated into my community have been to accept the invitations that I receive to attend various churches.  In Jamaica, that means that you will attend some pentecostal services that may last 4 hours and will be unbelievably loud and dare I say, unusual, by my Methodist church background. I attended such a service yesterday.  It was the second time at this particular church and I only agreed to go because of the kindnesses extended to me by Gloria, who loves to cook for me on Sundays and she is a great cook.  I had decided after my first foray to this church a few months ago that the experience was slightly less painful than a root canal. So I "girded up my loins" and prepared for another torturous 3 or more hours but this time I had a little secret, I would wear my earplugs and at the very least protect my hearing which they say is the first thing to go as we age.  There I sat and the show began.  The congregation is admonished to prepare to worship, this being accomplished by repeating, " hallelujahs, amens, praise Him, glory, glory, He is worthy", etc. accompanied by shouting, writhing, jumping, screaming as though one is being tortured, flailing of limbs, strange noises, body jerking and seemingly various forms of what appear to the outsider, psychotic induced episodes!  Then when the congregation has adequately prepared to worship, the pastor's wife delivers the sermon.  Her topic is freedom in Christ.  Now I must tell you that this theme is not a new one to me as a Christian, but her way of demonstrating her point certainly was.  Before her unique demonstration,  I had been thinking that in my church back home,  Boston Ave Methodist, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, that anyone who exhibited any of the aforementioned behaviors during a service would be subdued, led from the sanctuary and 911 would be called to summon an ambulance to take the poor soul for observation and a psychiatric evaluation at a local hospital.  But all of these behaviors would pale in comparison to what the preacher's wife had in store for us.  Suddenly she appeared with a butcher knife and a chicken with its legs bound with twine.  I was horrfied thinking that she might cut its head off right there before God and everybody!  She being the consummate performer, relished her task as the congregation was spellbound---she had them and walked up and down the aisle waving the knife in the air whilst the poor chicken looked terrified, describing the many ways humans are in bondage and need to repent and be free.
With this, she cut the twine and the maimed chicken ran out of the church! My deliverance came when the service was over and I too, like the hapless bird, was set free!  So you can see why I praise God for the earpugs.





















h
 




h

ii

Swearing in speech

I had promised to provide the speech that I delivered at the swearing in ceremony at the American Embassy September 2, 2011.

"When Peace Corps group 82 stepped off the plane in Kingston on June 29,2011,we embarked on a journey into the unknown leaving all that was familiar to embrace the life of a Peace Corps trainee living in Jamaica.

The past two months have been full of challenges, frustrations, training, tears, fears, laughter, training, new friendships, Devon House ice-cream, and, of course, more training.
At last, we are ready to do "the toughest job we will ever love." The Youth As Promise sector extends a "big up" to all the PC staff and volunteers that have worked so hard to prepare us for successful service. We have truly felt your love and commitment to our learning process, to our health and safety, to our cultural integration, to finding our host families and just the right work and home sites for the next two years.

We gratefully acknowledge the many hours and sometimes "hair pulling" moments you have spent trying to coordinate the myriad number of details that encompass this process;again, thank you. The YAP group are ready and willing to answer the call "how far will you go?" I love inspiring quotes and from Nelson Mandela these words, "A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination". I believe that each member of Youth As Promise has this winning combination, a good head and a good heart, and with these, we will succeed.

Mother Theresa's great words of guidance follow:

"People are often unreasonable and self-centered......forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives.....be kind anyway.
If you are honest, people may cheat you.....Be honest anyway.
If you find happiness......people may be jealous.......be happy anyway.
The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow......do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough......give your best anyway. For you see, in the end, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway."

In closing, I would like to sing a song that my host mother in Hellshire taught me that perhaps expresses some of our feelings:
I no Bon yah, but mi a live yah
Mi nah lef yah
Fi go America
No way sah
Pot a boil ya
Belly full ya
Sweet Jamaica

Thank you