Swearing In and Hurricane Gustov!

Just wanted to drop a couple of quick notes as we wait out this wonderful hurricane! Today we were officially sworn in as peace corps volunteers!

This is how we look when we bling out and dandy up for swearing in- Pretty snazzy if I may say so myself!
We've now been here for 8 weeks and it has gone by quicker than you can imagine! We stay very busy but always miss our family and friends. We enjoy the contact we are able to have with everyone though and love the pictures we see of our godchildren and family.

I have to admit I've never been in a hurricane- it is exciting and scary at the same time. Please don't be alarmed as we will get through it just fine- it's only a category 1 for crying out loud :)
For now we look ahead and truly wonder what this two years will bring- the saying is so true, Life is calling...how far will you go! The adventure begins now and we couldn't be more excited.

Little shout out to the Overstreets- We received your package- enjoyed the wonderful reminders of our St. Joe trip which actually happened about a year ago. This was also the time we submitted our peace corps application- crazy how time changes in just a year. We just wanted to say thank you for the wonderful things you sent us- We love and miss you both! Also thank you to my grandparents and Will's parents for their thought fullness in writing sincere letters to us. You have no idea how much we really do cherish those! As always we miss you all and look forward to hearing from you!

P.S. We added a ton of pictures to the flickr website so take a look and feel free to leave comments! (remember the link is on the left of your computer screen- 'Schumaker photos')

Pictures

Just wanted to let everyone know that we now have a new link to our pictures on the left side of our page. The link is titled 'Schumaker Photos'. This link will direct you to a flickr page at which point you will be able to view all of our posted pictures.

Secondly, our address has been moved to the right hand column.

We're back in good ol Santa Cruz- been here for a week now! Crazy how time flies! The last thing we had to do in Kingston before we left was unveil the compost pile we've been working on! I wish I could show you all a before picture! There was so much trash!!! However this is the after picture- our environmental group in front of the dandy looking functional compost pile!

There are a few things I would like to share that I'm learning about the Jamaican culture.

1. Speaking patois is a joke! I sound like the biggest moron going around saying "ya mon," "mi jus takkin et eazy man," and "waagwaan!" However Will and I hunker down, grind our teeth, and get through it.

2. Jamaican men LOVE women! They love women no matter what the shape, size, or color. They stand along the street and pssssst women they find attractive. Needless to saying there is a lot of psssssting on the street. Not just at me but at several of the women! This can be extremely annoying however I just ignore them and keep walking.

3. Our host mother's sister washes our clothes (for a small fee $J900) The first time she decided to do this we gave her a uool eap ( a lot ) of laundry not really thinking anything about it. About 5 minutes later she came running in hollering my name. I went into the kitchen to meet up with her. She stood on her tippy toes and whispered in my ear, "Andrea I can't wash your underwear can you please come take them out?" I shook my head yes and walked out in dismay to remove my underwear. I asked her if I should take Will's too- she told me no she would wash his dirty smelly underwear but not mine! Later I found out that women wash their own underwear! Even if you put them in a washing machine a womans underwear have to be washed alone!

4.The typical jamaican dish is rice and peas (kidney beans), chicken, and cabbage salad (kind of like coleslaw). This can get old after awhile! However Saturday we received a real treat! Pig Tail Soup! Will was much more brave then me! I gagged and decided to pour the soup back into the pot when my host mother wasn't looking! Will ate about half his and then did the same as me :)

5. Jerk Chicken is truly delightful! Will's favorite is Jerk Pork! On any day you can drive alongside the road and find little huts serving bits of delightful jerk chicken, pork, and goat!

6. There isn't a McDonalds to be found on the island (thank goodness) however Burger King and KFC are huge here! When we were in Kingston we ate at TGI Fridays! It was soo good- but left us both with upset tummies!

Latest News!

We've been at our site for two weeks now and are currently back in Kingston! These last two weeks were challenging, exciting, tiring, and awesome! Our host mother takes very good care of us! We're really enjoying the organization we're working with. They keep us very busy!

We participated in the Denbigh Agriculture Show! This was what really capped off our two weeks! We were able to finally see all of our hard work come together and see some of the places Will and I will fit into this organization! I have to admit though 40 hours without any sleep can take a toll on your body- and then when you finally can lay down for rest sleeping in a pavillion on the concrete floor is not that much better :)



Welcome to Denbigh! The giant cock!


The goats at the fair!















This is the night before we decorated-


This is the after picture! A night full of work and this is part of the finished product! We had several other exhibits in the pavillion but this was the centerpiece! All our hard work! In this you can see beans, corn, cashew, watermelon, pineapple, sorrel, pumpkin, onion, scallion, eggplant, yellowsquash, sweet pepper, bell pepper, banana, ackee, honeydew, tomato, cauliflower, carrot, mango, papaya, pimento, and I'm sure I have missed some! All of this was produced by farmers that live in our area! It was amazing! On Friday morning each exhibit was judged! We were hoping to walk away with first prize but ended up second out of the 13 parishes- booooo! It was a lot of fun- a great way to network and meet a lot of new people! We can both say we're very excited for the work we have ahead of us!

Finally I wanted to give a little rant! To all of our family and friends, please don't forget that we're in the Peace Corps- We've been here for a month and let me tell you living in a different country is very hard and challenging! Right now is a time when we need love and support from our families! Jamaica is not the vacation everyone sees on T.V. there are real issues here every day! It's a tough job and we love it but we do miss our family and friends! We would love a card saying hi or a letter with some of the latest details going on in all of your busy lives! Even just a comment on our blog would be wonderful! As always- Love to Everyone!