Sunday, March 22, 2009

Field trip (yay!)


Woke up early for some yoga then went jogging. (Making some good habits) Plus all we've been doing is sitting in class all day and eating a lot- the meals are really hearty here so I need to do something drastic asap. I can't wait to be in control of my own diet...


My mosquito net last night did absolutely nothing, I’m scratching in agony right now... though I probably just need to find a way to suspend it instead of using it as a cover.


Went on a field trip today to some botanical gardens about 40 minutes north of Kingston/in castleton. The ride up was kind of crazy because it’s a two lane road up a winding hill with no guard rails and a huge drop… with people passing other cars in front, but I guess Froggy (our bus driver) is awesome and hasn’t had a crash in 26 years of driving for peace corps.


We piled out of the bus, walked past the post office which was a tiny orange house and crossed the street where everyone zips by at 50 miles per hour. There was a small make-shift stand to the left selling coconuts with a hole chopped in them for a straw (I got one on the way out for J$60, the guy whipped out a machete and skinned it for me on the spot). In the center was a small bar and on the right was a stand with one woman grilling. Our APCD took orders for lunch.. I decided to try curry goat which ended up not being that great because it was mostly bone..


I still can’t get used to eating meat the way they serve it here but "you get used to it".


I'm open to everything anyway..


Two of the volunteers from Peace corps group 78 were there/this was their post, which is absolutely beautiful. I talked to the guy (they’re an old couple) for a bit.. he’d been at another post and they got moved there/have been working on organizing the place/labeling plants because most of them were missing labels, working with RADA (farmer's association) and doing a bunch of other things in the community, including starting a community based recycling project.


She was so excited to show off the bottle collection :)


The place is so peaceful, the air is perfect and the river that runs through the area is really clean/gorgeous. We climbed some of the boulders and stuck our feet in the water.. imagine a collective sigh of contentment from the environmental sector...


I wandered around a little bit on my own and got some really good shots (still up on the photography, there are a lot of areas I would kill to paint... I really, really wish I would have brough a sketch book but I guess that'll be a trip into Kingston at some point, assuming I can avoid the really dangerous areas).

I was getting pretty close to a tree/getting a shot of this really cool looking rusted-out lock/chain when out of nowhere a lizard popped in front of my face, startling/making me supress a startled scream. Luckily no one noticed...

Got back from the gardens and took a walk down to some fields near a water sewage plant right near hellshire, supridingly it didn’t smell… I guess a huge crocodile lives in there. Not really an animal I've ever had to deal with.


Actually I've never even been to the tropics before this, and definitly couldn't tell you what a plantain is but so far I love all of it.


Anyway we watched “net ball” which is sort of like basketball but as soon as you have the ball you can’t move/have to pass it.


Chilled out for a bit then went to another volunteer's birthday party. Got to see him attacked with/covered in flower which is what I have to look forward to on my birthday…


Then went to bed. I'm actually getting sleep, and my mom told me she could even hear a difference in my voice.

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