Time to Make a Change

My apologies for not posting this sooner- However things have been a little crazy for us this past month. As most of you know Will and I decided to terminate our Peace Corps experience. We thought long and hard about this decision and for those of you who know us the most know what a difficult decision this was for us. We spent almost a month praying and talking about our situation and finally decided it would be the best for both of us to leave. If you ever want the full story we can always hook up for coffee or something and talk about it. With that decision being made a whirlwind of events followed:

1. Will was hired as the Agricultural Teacher at Meridian High School- he'll be teaching vocational agriculture classes to high school students (he of course couldn't be more excited). It is such a blessing for him to have a job in such hard economic times
2. We moved back to Idaho and began readjusting to life in the United States
3. Will's parents are being evicted from their home because the state of Idaho bought their house/property and will be building a freeway right over 35 years of Schumaker memories. Therefore they have 30 days to get out and find a new place to live- We have spent countless hours helping them pack, tear down barns, sheds, and fences.
4. We are finally getting around to seeing close family and friends. One of the hardest adjustments was being so overwhelmed with being home. I felt socially awkward, having missed out on the last 10 months I couldn't relate to the latest fads and material things nor to be honest did I really care :)
5. SO MUCH FOOD! We have eaten so many different things since being back I've been sick sick sick! I love all the options we have though and of course am grateful to have food
6. We've been living here, there, and everywhere. We of course are extremely grateful for everyone that has opened their home for us or offered for us to stay with them
7. We've been camping twice- once to Sumpter Oregon and again to Silver City Idaho- I LOVE AND MISSED THE GREAT OUTDOORS!
8. I have helped my grandma plant a flippin sweet garden. By the end of summer we'll be feasting on corn, onions, tomatoes, squash, watermelon, bell pepper, jalepeno's, potatos, radishes, lettuce, zuchinni, and artichokes.

This Jamaican experience has truly made us realize how grateful we are for all those small things in life. Together we grew closer to god, our family, and friends. We learned a lot about a develping country and wouldn't change any part of the experience. We can't wait to see all of you we've missed over the last year and of course are looking forward to a new chapter in our lives.

My Husband is totally boss...

He's the cheese to my Easter Bun! If only I liked Bun and Cheese... However this is one Easter tradition that's huge in Jamaica. Everyone goes out and buys their Easter Bun and Cheese. Seen on the left is our Easter Bun and cheese- The bun is delicious by itself- It has raisins and is kind of like sweet spice bread. The cheese however is warm, processed, and has a weird smell (this of course is my opinion!) So together I'm not a fan of this Easter Bun and Cheese business!

As some of you know we headed to good ol Powell Plaza for our Easter Festivities. We got some much needed R&R. Went to the pool almost every day, hung out with the Hunters, talked with our families at home, ate a yummy Easter dinner, and colored Easter Eggs (which I'm quite proud of :) Of course we have brown eggs here and no Easter egg coloring kit. So we were forced to get creative. Jesse found some recipes for natural Easter egg colorings- We used blueberry juice, coffee, kool-aid, boiled carrot for orange color, and sadly did have to stoop to using green food coloring. However our eggs turned out pretty sweet.

Finally we have some very pretty Easter Lily's growing at our host mother's house. They are beautiful so I thought I would share them with you all! Hope you all had a Happy Easter- Love and Miss You!

Weird, Crazy, Funk......?

I didn't really know what to write these last couple weeks nor do I really know what to write now??! I will begin with some news that shook us the night before last. A friend that we work with on the Moringa project called us and said, "John Jay is missing have you heard from him or seen him?" I replied No and waited to hear of any more news. The following morning we received the phone call that he committed suicide.

Will and I stayed with John J and his family a couple months ago while working on the Moringa project. Words can't express how shocked we are. Will and I talked about how great of a family they were. Sitting down for dinner together, talking about the day, attending football games, and working on homework together. It is something that is hard for both of us to understand and cope with. Such a loving family man gone in just the blink of an eye. Here is the link to an article in the paper... I just don't really know what else to say right now? http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/html/20090407T200000-0500_149064_OBS_MANCHESTER_MOURNS_PASSING_OF_LEADING_BUSINESSMAN.asp

Of course when it rains it pours...therefore more depressing news. I went to visit the school garden yesterday and was saddened to see that it wasn't doing so well. The kids planted some seeds in seed trays a few weeks back- but someone neglected to water them. Therefore as of right now we will not be planting cabbage or cucumbers in the garden. Also someone accidentally left the gate open and a cow decided to go in and munch on corn and lettuce. The kids and I weeded what is left of their garden and talked about taking better care of it- I also found out the kids didn't plant the peas nor are they taking care of them. The principal hired someone to do it. I was saddened and upset with this realization. I suppose this is to be expected when doing development work ;)

Will's crop estimate program is sort-of off the ground. He turned in the necessary program but later found out they already had a program that they had created years ago- This program however doesn't calculate the monthly and yearly totals or carry over the crop data from month to month- which leaves the extension officer to calculate that. The program Will developed does all of that. When they came to do the training on the "new" program it happened to be the old one. Our extension officers were frustrated because they had taken two steps forward only to take four steps back. I suppose this is to be expected when doing development work ;)

On a lighter note- Last weekend we were able to hit up Treasure Beach and get some much needed relaxation. We both have some major sunburns- and we even applied sun screen- the sun must have been brutal! We enjoyed some yummy pizza and took a breather from this weird, crazy, sad, past couple weeks we've been having.

Five Events in One GIANT Post!

Holy moly what an eventful last two weeks! It began with a trip to Kingston to meet our friends Josh and Jesse for what appears to be Josh's Birth Month! I had a SPA meeting but Will and the Hunters went to tour the Red Stripe Factory. The tour was free but no samples of good ol Red Stripe. Here are a few pictures of the tour:

It is also important to mention that the Red Stripe Factory recently won an award for being Environmentally friendly- Will said it was extremely clean and that they're trying to find new ways to reuse some of their waste products- WAY TO GO RED STRIPE!
On that trip we were also able to pick up two packages- one from Nick and Joy along with our Christmas Present from Cisco and Kaui (We saw it was postmarked December 31- don't ask me why it took so long to get here!) what a nice surprise! We loved the shirts and pictures! A certain object in Nick and Joy's package brings me to my next story.

As all of our faithful readers know- I now have a flippin sweet school garden at Holland Primary- last week I went back to see how the kids were doing and just to make sure they were taking care of the garden. To my amazement they are not only taking care of the garden but they also planted about 10 rows of black eyed peas! WHOA! I had some spare corn seeds along with some cucumber and cabbage seeds I wanted to put in seed trays so the kids started working on all that- Once we were finished I explained to the kids where I went to college in the states and that each school has a school mascot- I then proceeded to show them Joe Vandal (a gift from Nick and Joy) the kids absolutely loved him- I then told him that I would like to take a picture of them with Joe Vandal- for Joe Travels- of course the kids love having their picture taken. I thought this picture was especially funny, mostly because one little boy is holding his pitchfork while the other one next to Joe has this terrified look on his face (mostly because he's getting shoved out of the picture) and of course you have to love the guy in the back, just throwing his arms up in the air! Thank you Nick and Joy for sending that- everywhere Joe goes it seems like people love it!

I also had another compost training with another woman's group. I won't go into too much detail- there were about 10 women there. It was a lot of fun to do another training with women interested in Agriculture.

We also attended 4-H achievement day for St. Elizabeth. We were supposed to be judges for various events however we managed to get lost on the list. At the last minute they asked me to help judge the Environment Challenge so it wasn't a complete wasted day. I have some pictures of the days events...There was a Ferris wheel (looked old dangerous and had a hand crank), a man with a mullet, a cheer leading performance and a display about water and the environment!

Finally this last weekend I went caving with the Jamaican Caving Organization. I was so excited to go but hurried to pack my stuff because I was running late- well I forgot to charge my camera battery! Grr.... However I had a blast. We went to Smoky Hole- the deepest cave in Jamaica at nearly 200 meters. We descended down about 50 meters (165 ft) since it was my first time caving with them and ascended back up. I went back the next day to do it again- what a rush and thrill- It was amazing, breathtaking, beautiful, and totally AWESOME! Andy Kolb- a PCV was there and took some pretty sweet pictures of me descending down, some of the group, and playing dominoes in a rum bar along with the aftermath of some flippin sweet caving bruises.

Progress....finally Progress

What can I say....things are falling into place! Is it real- boy I sure hope so! Last week was busy with little tasks here and there. As you read in the previous post I was able to give a talk to about 160 kids about Peace Day and my role as a Peace Corps Volunteer.

On Wednesday I was able to do my very first farmer training! It was great! This is something I had always kind of hoped I would be doing- working directly with farmers. I did two different trainings to farmers that grow hot peppers. The first was on Biological Pest Controls- how to control pests in a more natural way rather than using pesticides and other harmful chemicals. The second training was on why it's important to keep farm records. There were about 20 farmers at the training. It was at a hot pepper farm, very hands on, and the farmers were very interested in everything each presenter had to offer. What a GREAT DAY!

<-- Holland Primary School Kids

On Thursday- one of my small dreams came true- We finally did some planting at the primary school in Holland! I have three blisters on my hand which are very painful but totally worth it! Will also came to help and together we helped the kids prepare the ground, carry water, and plant callaloo, lettuce, and corn. I also have some cucumbers and cabbage to plant but we had to start those seeds in small trays. It was inspiring to see so many kids out using the tools to prepare the ground, carry bucket after bucket of water, and get their hands muddy and dirty all in the name of FARMING! Of course it was a hard day because it was not the mechanized farming we're so used to. Instead we had to take a pitch fork, shovel, hoe, and pick to agitate and dig up the soil- oh the pain!

Will is setting up several Production and Marketing organizations with computers and will soon start doing trainings on basic computer skills. He will also train them how to keep accurate farm records on the computer. He has also been busily working with the head RADA office in Kingston to get his Crop Estimates program off the ground- hopefully next month there will be a system online that the entire island will be trained on- all courtesy of my amazing husband!

I need to take a deep breath.....okay! So as you can tell things are really starting to pick up for both of us! We're taking baby steps and being patient, understanding, and above all cooperative. I can't even put into words how much this experience has changed Will and I. We have grown so much as people together individually and in our marriage. I see Will becoming more confident in himself and the ways of Jamaican culture and I'm learning to not take everything so seriously- I can't change the world but by golly I can make a difference in a few peoples lives and I am content with that! We just have to sit back, take a deep breath, and learn to laugh at our mistakes and celebrate those small victories.

Peace Day in JAMAICA!

Today Jamaica celebrates Peace Day! I was slightly unaware that schools would take such an active role in the day! I was in Beeston Springs working with some organic farmers and was asked to present to the Beeston Springs All Age School. They wanted me to talk about the meaning of Peace and what it's like being a Peace Corps Volunteer. It was exciting to talk to the youth and have them be so interested in what i'm doing in Jamaica.

It feels like Will and I are finally turning a corner- this could be the part of the roller coaster ride where we're slowly ticking up only to fall down again drastically however we're feeling pretty confident in ourselves lately. While people aren't banging down our door to recieve assistance and technical advice people are asking us to do trainings here and there and seem to be more and more interested in the things we can help them with.

In other news we have decided to move out of our current home. We found a small house in the same neighborhood that hopefully we'll be moving into by the end of the month. We're really excited to finally have our own little place to call home with our own kitchen, living room, bedroom, and bathroom. Pictures Soon Come!

This is a short and sweet post- but with it being Peace Day I can't help but leave you all with a final thought! "If I have been of service, if I have glimpsed more of the nature and essence of ultimate good, if I am inspired to reach wider horizons of thought and action, if I am at peace with myself, it has been a successful day."Alex Noble

Peace!

It's Official...We're MAC Snobs!

Actually we're not really however both of our computers kinda took a dive so we were forced to buy a new laptop...after a lot of research we decided to buy a MacBook! This thing is seriously amazing! The design and thought put into this machine is great. Every last detail was thought out and designed so well! Need I say more...

I need to also comment on the last post we made...it was not in any way intended for you to feel sorry for us, the only reason we posted it was for you all to see some of the daily frustrations we have. Someday there will be a list of all the great things about Peace Corps so you can all continue to wait in "wide eyed anticipation!"

This past week was filled with extreme highs and lows...contemplating going home only to have immense feelings of satisfaction and gratefulness! This roller coaster ride is unlike anything Will or I has experienced- we're grateful for everything we've experienced thus far and look forward to the many more things god has in store for us- there truly is a reason for the path we've followed and a reason for being here even though we may not see the light at the end of the tunnel!

We had another great time in Kingston this last weekend. Not only did our friends Josh and Jesse bring us back our cool MAC they also came bearing several other gifts...starbucks, sweeties, underwear, socks, shirts, pants, slipper socks, balsamic vinegar, and cards! I love Christmas in February! We were also able to go see a movie for the first time since being in Jamaica. We got the boys to go see a chick flick with us..."He's just not that into you!" They played the national anthem before the movie and half way through we had intermission for drinks and snacks! It was one of those few moments were I felt like a normal human being once again!

On Saturday we were able to go to Black River and take a boat out to a place known as Peilcan Bar- it's out in the Carribbean Sea. It was not at all what I expected but was so much fun- soaking in some sun and relaxing after a long week!



As most of you know we'll be home to visit in July- I know this is a long ways away however everyone needs plenty of notice! We will be in Moscow for Erin and Michaels wedding and in Boise to visit with our family and friends- We look forward to seeing anyone and everyone that will be in the area! As always we love and miss you all- Thanks for all the great comments you continue to leave on our blog- We really appreciate it!
P.S. There are updated photos on our flickr link! Go check em out!