Hey, it's like the 4th of July! Only on the 6th of August instead.

Wha gwaan (what’s going on), my loved ones! I have made it back to my site in Santa Cruz after my week of “processing” in Kingston. Processing Week is a five day training period where we trainees talked about our experiences so far-- you know-- housing, job sites, concerns, challenges, stories, feelings. There seemed to be an extra strong focus on feelings. I am pretty much done talking about my feelings forever now. We also participated in more language training, which I can never get enough of! I love Patois, and although I may not get many chances to speak it at home or work, I just speak it anyway…to myself. I mean, would you rather say “I should dress properly for class” or “Mi fi jres trash an redi fi di klaas, mon”? There’s no contest. Patois wins every time.

Wednesday was Independence Day here in Jamaica. We went to a huge event in the Kingston Stadium called “Gala” where we celebrated culture, food, music, and then we danced the night away alongside tens of thousands of Jamaicans. During the week I also got to spend some much needed time with friends; we cooked, we relaxed, we commiserated, we laughed. It was a good, good time.

But, after all of that I was ready to get back to Santa Cruz and get back to work. Right now I am basically establishing my project goals within the Red Cross, in addition to getting to know people here and finding out what they believe this community needs.

Let me take this time to shed some light on what my role is as a Peace Corps volunteer, because I’ve been running into a lot of misconceptions as to what exactly PCV’s do around the world. I don't blame people, it's kind of a vauge thing. In a nutshell, the Peace Corps is all about sustainable development and helping grassroots projects succeed in communities that seek PC assistance. PC has found that the best way volunteers can help communities help themselves is by being an agent in identifying needs and an assisting in generating lasting change. Areas of PC work in Jamaica include Environment, Health & Sanitation, and Youth (Literacy and HIV Education). I happen to be working in the Youth sector, where I will be doing HIV education among many other things. Others are helping to build greenhouses with farmers to generate income, some are teaching children to read and helping to establish libraries in schools, and others are working with health clinics and health departments to ensure there are educational sanitation sessions in place and clean water supplies available. Simply put, we are a diverse group of skilled people volunteering our time and energy to help communities generate the changes they aspire to achieve.

Highlights from this week:
-THERE IS INTERNET. IN MY ROOM. Need I say more? However, this is a bittersweet development because a part of me didn’t want or expect to be so accessible. Look at me complain about having internet in the Peace Corps. I am ridiculous.
-The insane cat fight between two women while on the bus back from Kingston. It was full on screaming and cursing like I have never heard before for 30 straight minutes. The bus driver pulled over and threatened to kick them off and it still didn’t stop them. Apparently, this is can be a fairly common occurrence on public transportation. Let me just say that honestly, the open expression of emotions here is pretty refreshing.
-Being looked out for by a complete stranger on the same bus, who made absolutely sure the driver stopped where I needed to be let off at. She was kind.
-The Great Flood: The apartment above me while I was in Kingston, which was inhabited by four mischievous male volunteers, was mysteriously flooded. There are theories. The damage was mild but severely hilarious.
-Learning from the incredible people I know as my fellow trainees.
-I left my clothes out to dry on the line in the backyard. If they are not stolen by the morning I will consider this another highlight of my week. Eep!