Wed. 15/ 08/ 2012- Last Blog Post
Sun. 09/ 09/ 2012- Arrived in Jamaica!
Mon.-Thurs. 10-13/ 09/ 2012- First 4 days of training in Kingston.
Thurs.-Sun. 13-16/ 09/ 2012- Site Visit (Our house in White River, Birnamwood Primary School, Port Antonio for a wardens mtg., and Buff Bay Beach Cleanup)
Mon.-Wed. 17-19/ 09/ 2012- Final 3 days of training in Kingston.
Wed. 19/ 09/ 2012- Swearing In Ceremony at US Embassy by Deputy Chief of Mission Dr. Raymond L. Brown and then returned to site.
Wed.-Sun. 19-23/ 09/ 2012- Unpacking at Site and My 28th Birthday!
Mon.-Fri. 24-28/ 09/ 2012- Project Design and Management Workshop and Early Service Conference in Ocho Rios.
Fri.-Sat. 28-29/ 09/2012- Hanging in Oracabessa with some other Volunteers and travelling back to site.
Sun-Tues. 30/ 09-23/ 10/ 2012- Settling in at Site.
Wed.-Fri. 24-26/ 10/ 2012- Hurricane Sandy and Clean-up (Lost power and water 24/10)
Sat.-Mon. 27-29/ 10/2012- Oracabessa for Halloween Party and showing Pat and his family/friends around the Buff Bay Valley on Monday.
Tues.-Mon. 29/ 10-05/ 11/ 2012- Still without power and water. Spent weekend with friends in Port Antonio.
Mon-Tues. 05-06/ 11/ 2012- Got power back Monday night and water back Tuesday afternoon. Also acquired a puppy we named Spot and Barack Obama was re-elected president of the USA!
Fri.-Sun. 09-11/ 11/ 2012- Spent Friday in Port Antonio and our friend Jackie came to spend the weekend with us. Our First Visitor and outside sampler of Tom's Deep Fry Friday tradition.
Fri.-Sat. 16-17/ 11/ 2012- Second visitor, our friend Kate came to check out Birnamwood Primary School and spent the night!
Sun.-Wed.(today) 18-21/ 11/ 2012- Writing my CASI (Community And Sector Inventory) and preparing for Thanksgiving/ the All Volunteer Meeting in Kingston starting tomorrow.
Its been a crazy last 74 days but I hope to post a more "fun" blog post soon. However this is the gist of the my last 2.5 months!
~ Chelsea
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
The Countdown Officially Began Monday 8/13
As the rays of sun flickered in my window Monday morning I awoke to the sound of screeching jake brakes from I-90 and thought..."Oh how I won't miss that sound if I ever get back to Jamaica." I groggily rolled over and turned on my iPod, hoping Tom would be online so we could Skype, and dozed while it booted up. No luck. Tom was already out and about for the day which wasn't a huge surprise since it was about 10:30am in Jamaica. I then checked my email and waited anxiously as that little spinning circle went around and around while data streamed through the interwebs to my little electronic friend.
Ding!
Oooh, I had mail. As I clicked on that little word INBOX I prayed to whatever deity felt like listening that either Jenny Mayo (my country desk officer) or Wes Moses (Director of Programming and Training in Jamaica) had emailed me with information detailing the specifics of my return. Well I guess somebody was listening because there it was! Jenny had emailed me! Wahoo!
So, September 9th is the date! Exactly 26 days from today.
In some ways Tom and I both feel worse. Maybe its because we thought it would be earlier than that and 26 days feel like such a long time.
I'm so anxious. I just want to wake up and be there already. But in the mean time, I'm helping my mom move into a new apartment (hopefully this weekend). Then next weekend is the River City Roots Festival and my cousin may come to visit too. We are hoping to travel to Absarokee for a visit over Labor Day weekend and then my Dad is coming on Sept. 4th. So if I'm lucky the time will pass super fast!
In other news. I had a lovely visit with Sarah and Crystal (2 of my closest friends from college) on Friday. We had a lovely meal, talked about boys and well boys, and sang a little karaoke too. Then on Saturday Tom and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary. Not much of a celebration, we chatted on Skype and around noon Grandma Nancy Chandler arrived with a gorgeous bouquet of roses. Tom had been sneaky and had her pick up and deliver them for him. It was so sweet! They are gorgeous too. A lovely pale pink with some of the outer petals a darker fuchsia. He's such a great guy! I just can't wait to get back to him and hug him soooo tight!
Till then....~ Chelsea
Ding!
Oooh, I had mail. As I clicked on that little word INBOX I prayed to whatever deity felt like listening that either Jenny Mayo (my country desk officer) or Wes Moses (Director of Programming and Training in Jamaica) had emailed me with information detailing the specifics of my return. Well I guess somebody was listening because there it was! Jenny had emailed me! Wahoo!
So, September 9th is the date! Exactly 26 days from today.
In some ways Tom and I both feel worse. Maybe its because we thought it would be earlier than that and 26 days feel like such a long time.
I'm so anxious. I just want to wake up and be there already. But in the mean time, I'm helping my mom move into a new apartment (hopefully this weekend). Then next weekend is the River City Roots Festival and my cousin may come to visit too. We are hoping to travel to Absarokee for a visit over Labor Day weekend and then my Dad is coming on Sept. 4th. So if I'm lucky the time will pass super fast!
In other news. I had a lovely visit with Sarah and Crystal (2 of my closest friends from college) on Friday. We had a lovely meal, talked about boys and well boys, and sang a little karaoke too. Then on Saturday Tom and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary. Not much of a celebration, we chatted on Skype and around noon Grandma Nancy Chandler arrived with a gorgeous bouquet of roses. Tom had been sneaky and had her pick up and deliver them for him. It was so sweet! They are gorgeous too. A lovely pale pink with some of the outer petals a darker fuchsia. He's such a great guy! I just can't wait to get back to him and hug him soooo tight!
 |
| Flowers from Tom for our 5 year Anniversary! |
Till then....~ Chelsea
Monday, August 6, 2012
Soon Come...
Well...its been awhile...and I am still in the ole USA. Since I last wrote I began physical therapy in DC, went back to Montana on May 20 to continue PT there, was released to return to work from the orthopedist here in Missoula on July 6, and achieved the ever illusive medical clearance from OMS on July 27. Now I am just waiting for PC Jamaica to give the country desk at PC HQ in DC an exact date for my return and then I can begin the reinstatement paperwork. When I last spoke to my country desk officer she said that it was looking like the end of August or the 1st week of September. So I appear to be on the down slope of my hiatus at home but that doesn't make it any easier, especially with my and Tom's 5 year anniversary coming up this Saturday, August 11th.
Physically I am doing very well. I can do just about everything I could before the injury just not for the length of time I could before the injury. However, its all still very encouraging that I've regained so many of my normal abilities.
The time I've had at home without Tom has had its ups and downs but there have been blessings in disguise, some with thicker disguises than others.
Ups:
1. Getting to attend Neil Lehner and Sarah Huguet's wedding at the end of June.
2. A 3 day trip to Absarokee where I got to spend time with my inlaws, float the Yellowstone, and visit with my darling Abby.
3. Rector Family Reunion at my grandmas house and going bike riding and kayaking with my dad.
4. Having Emma and Hannes come to Missoula and getting to take them to the water park.
5. Many evenings and weekends with my mama.
Downs
1. My grandfather past away at the end of May. His funeral was sad and difficult but I did get to help my dad and grandma take care of things and I felt blessed to be able to do so. I even wrote the obituary with their help of course but doing so gave me some closure.
2. Boredom...excessive boredom.
3. Anxiety over when I'll ever get to go back...(though that is now much less).
Currently my days are spent exercising, reading, watching the Olympics, and catching up on reruns of my favorite '90s TV shows on Netflix.
This week I am looking forward to the Western Montana Fair. Mama and I shall be attending the PBR show on either Tuesday or Wednesday and then on Thursday I am making her go with me to adult night at the local water park. It shall be fantastic!
I hope all of you out there on the interwebs are doing well and since I have a new computer (wahoo!) I hope to be updating this much more regularly!
Cheers,
Chelsea!
Physically I am doing very well. I can do just about everything I could before the injury just not for the length of time I could before the injury. However, its all still very encouraging that I've regained so many of my normal abilities.
The time I've had at home without Tom has had its ups and downs but there have been blessings in disguise, some with thicker disguises than others.
Ups:
1. Getting to attend Neil Lehner and Sarah Huguet's wedding at the end of June.
2. A 3 day trip to Absarokee where I got to spend time with my inlaws, float the Yellowstone, and visit with my darling Abby.
3. Rector Family Reunion at my grandmas house and going bike riding and kayaking with my dad.
4. Having Emma and Hannes come to Missoula and getting to take them to the water park.
5. Many evenings and weekends with my mama.
Downs
1. My grandfather past away at the end of May. His funeral was sad and difficult but I did get to help my dad and grandma take care of things and I felt blessed to be able to do so. I even wrote the obituary with their help of course but doing so gave me some closure.
2. Boredom...excessive boredom.
3. Anxiety over when I'll ever get to go back...(though that is now much less).
Currently my days are spent exercising, reading, watching the Olympics, and catching up on reruns of my favorite '90s TV shows on Netflix.
This week I am looking forward to the Western Montana Fair. Mama and I shall be attending the PBR show on either Tuesday or Wednesday and then on Thursday I am making her go with me to adult night at the local water park. It shall be fantastic!
I hope all of you out there on the interwebs are doing well and since I have a new computer (wahoo!) I hope to be updating this much more regularly!
Cheers,
Chelsea!
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Pictures of the Valley
Meeting in Cascade
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Our Site: Buff Bay Valley
The Buff Bay valley is a beautiful valley in the northwestern parish of Portland. We will be calling this valley our new home for the next
two plus years. The valley is approximately 30 miles long stretching from the Caribbean
Sea at Buff Bay to the highest peak in Jamaica, Blue Mountain. The valley is
broken into two sections: lower and upper.
The lower valley consists of two towns, White River,
where Chelsea and I call home and Charlestown. Both of these towns are good sized
and have multiple side streets and shops. It gives you the feeling you are
living in a small town in the states, minus the random goats and wild fowl. The lower valley is a hot place due to its
proximity to the coast. Because of the heat we are able to grow Mangos and
Ackee in the lower valley. The river is
not much of a river in this stretch of the valley. In summer it will completely dry up and
go underground. The lower valley has the majority of the
people and could be considered a semi-urban area. The
upper valley couldn’t be more different.
After you pass Charlestown proper you enter the rural part of
the valley. This is where Chelsea and I will be doing the majority of our work.
The upper valley consists of multiple little towns including Tranquility,
Balcarres, Spring Hill, Cascade, and Section. All of these towns are basically
wide spots in the road, with an established town square which consist of a shop
or two and a church. Balcarres is where I have spent most of my time. It is
where Peace Corps originally placed me and Chelsea. The move was necessary due to space constraints but at the same time
it is too bad because I really enjoy the Balcarres area. I plan on continuing
working with the community regularly and especially the Community Development
Committee (CDC). The CDC does community betterment projects and I worked with
them for the last month cleaning up the community and building a new garbage
bin, it has been extremely rewarding work.
Spring Hill is the next community up the road. It is home to Birnamwood Primary school where Chelsea will be working. I have worked with the school
off and on for the last month. Working with the schools can be very rewarding
and very difficult at the same time. We will be spending more time at the
school when school starts back up in September.
Cascade and
Section are at the top of the valley and they are deep in the heart of the Blue
Mountains. Cascade and Section are very vulnerable communities. They are
located on steep hillsides that are prone to landslides due to deforestation. The
group I work with is the Buff Bay Local Forest Management Committee (BBLFMC).
The BBLFMC is in charge of the multi-agency initiative to reforest Cascade and
Section. So I will be working with these communities on a regular basis over
the next two years.
Overall I am enjoying my new home and can't wait for Chelsea to arrive!
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