A quick update...

I am updating today so I can have two blog posts in November! I have been very hard at work trying to finish up all of my assignments and collect data for my research. The benefit to collecting the data is I am getting to talk with various Jamaicans for across the island. Some people I talked to last week aren't getting running water...for about 10 years! They have the pipes and used to get it, but then something happened, and I guess 10 years isn't enough to fix it?

I am down to one major paper, some revisions, and the data. Yea! After that I will have some more time to edit and post pictures, maybe update this a bit more often. I can't believe that I will be done with the Jamaican portion of the program in two weeks. The time is really flying, and, of course, I am just starting to feel like I am making relationships. I guess it is the drawback to only spending one semester here.

I hope all of you Americans had a great Thanksgiving. The picture above is the eight American students in the Jamaican IPSL program this semester, 4 graduates and 4 undergrads. We took this last Saturday when we got together for Thanksgiving dinner. We all brought something and we even had turkey. It wasn't home, but it was nice!

That's all I have for now. I'll post again when things are less crazy.

I must apologize...

I have to apologize for the long-ness between my posts. I have been very (very) busy. To start of with, I spent a week traveling around the island. It was great, but also what one might call the calm before the storm! I went to Montego Bay, which if you have ever docked in Jamaica on a cruise ship, you have probably been here. I stayed on the "hip strip," which is hip with tourists. Seriously, outside of the accents, I almost forgot I was in Jamaica. But, I went into the town of Montego Bay and it was like a mini-Kingston. I also visited the Jamaicans for Justice office in Mo' Bay and had a delightful conversation with its one employee, Joy. She is a former counselor and it doing great things in the office. I also went White Water Rafting while in Mo' Bay, which was so much fun. Our guide was awesome (and cute!), and we flipped over, got stuck in some rocks, and saw a beautiful waterfall. I didn't have a camera, but one of our fellow rafters took some pictures. We exchanged email addresses, so hopefully I will get some copies.

Upon leaving Mo'Bay, we headed to Negril. Negril has beautiful white sandy beaches and great sunsets. It was a relaxing few days before heading back to the grind. Well, I did manage to bruise my foot, fall on my shoulder, and get coral stuck in my fingers, but other than that is was relaxing.

That was the last full week in October, and since returning I have been completely bogged down in school work. I had a major history presentation this week, so all of last weekend was spent at the University of the West Indies library. It hasn't let up as I have several other papers to complete.

I must also apologize for the lack of pictures and insightful commentary this post. This probably wasn't so much fun to read. I am going to try and post again soon. Since I will begin to conduct my interviews for my thesis in the following weeks, I am sure I will have a lot to comment on. Also, I am leaving soon, and I am sure I will start reflecting more and more with each passing week.

That's all I have for now. More soon come, though!

What's been happening

Hello! Sorry it has been a little while since I posted, but things have been really busy. First off, we just came off a holiday weekend. Whee! I went to the parish of Portland on Friday and Saturday, which is considered the “undiscovered” portion of Jamaica. It is pretty untouched my tourists and it is gorgeous. I stayed at a great lodge called Great Huts, which has several African-themed huts to stay in. I got to take an outdoor shower that you may recall was one of my favorite experiences in Malawi. The lodge has a beautiful beach surrounded by a bunch of cliffs. I actually jumped off one (that was pretty low). It was completely safe, but I had a moment of freak out. This was after I had actually jumped and was heading toward the water. My scream was truly authentic and a quite exhilarating.

One of the unintended byproducts of my trip this weekend is a great appreciation for the American infrastructure. This is something I have realized before, but after a very bumpy long ride to Portland, I was once again singing its praises. And if I ever want to talk about how “bad” Missouri roads are I better at least think twice before seeing it.

The past couple of weeks before break were pretty difficult, mentally. I took a statement from a gentleman whose brother was shot and killed by the police. Listening to him say that “the police will pay for killing me brother” nearly brought tears to my eyes. If I hadn’t been trying so hard to keep it together I would have. It is so sad because I have heard that in the past four years not a single cop has been convicted of killing someone in Jamaica. I don’t hold out much hope for Asquit’s (the brother), and it broke my heart watching his brother demanding justice that may never come.

I have also been learning so much about colonialism in Jamaica, and its aftermath. Slavery really did a job on the island, and the people are still trying to recover. When the slaves were emancipated they were given no training or compensation, and many of these former slaves’ descendents have not advance economically. I am also learning firsthand how the United States economic policies have negatively affected small islands like Jamaica. I always knew intellectually how IMF and World Bank loans keep developing countries in a revolving door of debt, but to see how the United States benefits from this was hard. I don’t know how we as citizens can change this, but I know we have to keep trying.

Today I was at the Bob Woolmer inquest. Woolmer was the English coach of the Pakistani Cricket World Cup Team. The day after they unexpectedly lost, at the Cricket World Cup, which was partly held here in Jamaica, he died. At first Jamaican officials claimed it was foul play, and later said it was of natural causes. Jamaicans for Justice had me in attendance to help keep notes and monitor what happened. We also passed out flyers stating that there are over 4,000 cases in backlog in Jamaica, but because this is a rich white foreigner it has been pushed ahead. It was interesting to say the least, and hopefully it can provide a template for getting through these backlogged cases.

I am still working on getting my pictures on-line. My photo library got corrupted (ok, well I am messed with some files, and I some how corrupted it), and I just got them back. Now I have to go through and re-put them in photo albums and then try to PhotoCast them. Hopefully, time willing, this will happen soon.

Other than that I am traveling to Montego Bay and Negril next week so I get to take a week off from JFJ and UTech. It is will definitely be a well-needed break! I will write again when I can!

My semester is half over, so wish me luck in getting everything in on time. Hope to see you over Christmas. My pictures won't load on the blog right now, so once again, I'll put some up when I can!

If you have 30 minutes...

I am posting a video report here that is on Jamaica. I ended up having to embedded it here from You Tube, so there are three separate posts dealing with it. The video is from a 3-part series called Unreported World which airs on England's Channel 4. This video gives some insight on many of the problems facing Jamaica currently. It will take you less than 30 minutes to get a glimpse at what I am hearing about pretty often here. In order to give all their due credit here the link you can click on to read about the video and Channel 4. Since I'm not profiting from it, I don't think they'll mind.

I will warn you that this is not pretty; in fact it is pretty depressing. If you watch the video take notice of the political rally. The young woman the reporter talks to is named Tameka and I work with her at Jamaicans for Justice. The video looks at violence in respect to gangs, political parties, and police brutality. The police brutality is one of the main things Jamaicans for Justice deals with. The story you will hear about the brutality is like so many stories I have heard since starting work at my agency.

I do want to stress a few things however. Although this video discusses violence it is in relation to the "garrison" or inner-city districts. I live in a very middle class area and am quite safe. I take general precautions such as not walking alone at night, but I don't deal with this level of violence. I mainly just hear about it. The other thing is that although this video paints certain aspects of Jamaica in a negative light, some parts of it are wonderful. It is truly beautiful here and the people that I have run across have some of the gentlest souls I have ever known. All of my profs, co-workers, and my host family have been wonderful. The language and music is inspiring, and the literary works I have been reading are great. So please (please) don't think that this is all there is to Jamaica. It is so much more than this, but unfortunately the violence is so glaring it tends to overtake everything else.

I will post again soon because I lot of things have been happening. I need a little bit of time to process it all but you'll hear from me soon.

Unreported World: Jamaica: Guns, Votes and Money Part 1 of 3

Here is the first part.

Unreported World: Jamaica: Guns, Votes and Money Part 2 of 3

A now for Part Two!

Unreported World: Jamaica: Guns, Votes and Money Part 3 of 3

Here is Part Three!