Market/Beeston Spring

On Friday, after breakfast, we all traveled to Savanna-La-Mar(Sav) to the market. Imagine a farmer's market, but they sell lots of stuff. After we got off the bus, we walked down the street to a big building with fruit stands out front. We wandered through the building toward a few women that seemed to know Scott and Carrie well. They looked at me and my brother and were pretty surprised at the similarity. We bought callaloo, beans, onions, oranges, peppers, pineapple and bananas from a variety of stands. The big building reminded me of a 4-H cattle barn at the county fairs, with a smell not to unlike the cattle barns as well. We wandered through the meat section of the market, with carcasses hanging from the walls, flys on some of the cuts of meat, and a man cleaving a goat head in half. After the market we walked through a few stores in Sav, and caught a bus home.

We we got home we put the groceries away and headed out to Scott's community of Beeston Spring. We took buses and taxis, stopping along the way for a curry chicken patty, a flaky crusted calzone like bread pocket with curry chicken inside. The patty is like the fast food cheeseburger here. We got up to the community and stopped by the well house where Scott's project is. He is helping to install a new water tank and shower house for the community. All the houses on the surrounding hills get their water from one source, and Scott is working on helping to engineer a new tank, spring house, and showers for the community. The cement work was coming along well. We paid our driver and walked up the road toward a place called the 3 R's. Scott's community is very happy with him and love to treat him and guests. We arrived and met Ossie who gave us cold beer and then talked with us about the great island. We were treated to Ackee and saltfish, the national dish and roasted breadfruit. Joan, the bar's owner was very hospitible and told us to each as much as we could. We then were treated to roast steam fish that was amazing.

We were going to tour Ossie's farm, when a rain storm hit, so we were stuck in the bar. Ossie poured more drinks and we talked about education, the community, etc. When the rain quit Ossie offered to drive us (a treat compared to public transportation) to our next destinations. We stopped at Rolbert's house. Rolbert is an architect that helped design the spring house and holding tank. He talked with Scott for a while then led us around the biggest house I have seen in Jamaica. It was partially finished, but will be a great space when complete. We then walked around his yard as he gave a tour of his garden.Astil, the community president approached me at one point and asked, "When did Scott get fat?" I have never been bigger than my older brother and many of my friends back home would laugh at the fact someone mistook me for a fatter version of my older brother. After a year of sweating and walking, I can understand how Scott has lost the weight. We left with a gift of bread fruit, and mangoes!

We finished the evening with a movie on the laptop.

Ocean and Literacy Class

We have been without internet the last few nights so I will catch you up slowly.
The first night we sat around and talked about Jamaica politics and how Scott and Carrie feel about their Peace Corps Work. Nothing big or exciting. The night time does not cool down much. I slept without a sheet and a fan blowing on me constantly. The next morning we were awaken (I should say, Marie was awakened) by lawn mowers right outside our window. I slept well and did not feel the need to get up, even after the mowers went by. Scott and Carrie went to work and Marie and I made ourselves breakfast. Scott returned shortly and we tried our first time in the sea. Marie brought out the snorkel and fins, Scott goggles, but I just wanted to get used to the water. The ocean is salty. Duh. BUT, it makes it very easy to float. With little effort I swam for a long time without tiring. This is no little feat for me. I am the most inefficient swimmer in the land.
After sunburning my shoulders, Carrie came back and we ate a small lunch.

Scott and Carrie teach a literacy class Tuesday and Thursday for adults in the community. Marie and I sat in on their class. The class is suppose to start at 4, but as everything in Jamaica, the schedule is a little laid back. The first student arrived around 4:45 and by 5:15, Carrie had three of her students. Scott did not get any, but we play the newspaper crossword. It was fun to watch Carrie and the students. The class is volunteer for Scott and Carrie and they charge nothing for it. The adults love Carrie and her kindness and willingness to work with them.
I will write more on the Jamaica school later.

After the class, we walked around the town of Bluefield on our way home. It was a powerful experience. This is an experience few Jamaican tourists see. There is one road that goes up the hill and eventually curves back down to the highway. On this road the houses are at all angles, and distances from the road, completely separated by rainforest like plants. The upper class, middle class, and lower class all live in the same space. They can live off about a mile from the road and still be in the community although to a Westerner like me, it seems they are very seperated. All the houses are built of cement. They are in different stages of construction. When Jamaicans get enough money to add on, they do, so every house looks like it is half finished. Most all of the yards have goats or dogs running around, and everyone has a large smile for you. The kids play in the street, and usually they are making up variations on Cricket or soccer. It was a great experience to walk along the road.

We came back home and turned in early on Thursday. Scott fried up black bean burgers that were very delicious. We watched two episodes of Arrested Development on Scott's Laptop and went to bed.

Jamaica

After pretending to sleep in Fort Lauderdale for a couple of hours, Marie and I boarded a plane for Montego Bay. We arrived and filled out our customs and immigration cards, but lapsed in our judgment. While talking to my brother, I never knew what his address was or the exact place where he lived. While the customs lady took my brother's phone in back and then made a phone call, Marie and I waited patiently sweating.

We got through and only declaring Cheetos on the customs card, we stepped outside into a mob of taxi drivers anxiously awaiting our rich American money. My brother stood among them trying to fight for our attention and I did not recognize him. My brother has hair now. I do not think I have seen hair from Scott since he was in the fourth grade.

After hugging our hellos and stepping into the sun, we shouldered our packs and set to walk downtown Montego Bay. As we walked, the taxi drivers tried to honk and ask if we needed a ride. My brother and his wife were very nice about waving them on. We walked by the touristy areas with a Jimmy Buffet Margaritaville where most patrons were from a cruise ship docked in harbor. We walked past tons of Bob Marley souvenirs and lots of Rasta gear. We then ducked into a dark walkway and into a health food store that sold little Calzone like wraps filled with vegetables. As we ate we noticed the nice selection of goods, including Bob's Red Mill flour from Oregon and Air Matresses. I am not sure who needs that when shopping for health food, but hey, there they were. We then walked through the downtown area, NOT touristy and found a public bus to take us to Savanna La Mar, or Sav.

We packed the bus, which is not much bigger than an Astro van wide, and a 15 passenger van deep with 18-19 passengers. Four to a row, with make shift benches to fill space. We were not quite on top of each other but fairly close. Buses are as you can imagine, Hot, sticky, no personal space, and the driver drives as if it were a video game. We passed many a school child on the road, orange groves, sugar cane, mule pulled carts, goats, little wooden buildings selling goods, tiny shacks that I am sure served as houses. It was an amazing cross section of Jamaica in a few hours.

We arrived at Sav and went into a grocery store, not unlike a small Safeway in the US, but less decorated. We walked out with some neccesities and tried to find a bus to Bluefield. With 2 white people that work on the island, it is somewhat easy to find a taxi. With 4, and carrying luggage, the drivers only want to take us to Negril. "Where you go, Negril? I give you good price." or "HONK HONK- Negril taxi you want ride mon?" Finally Marie and I held our bags farther down on the sidewalk as our local hosts hailed the correct taxi going the opposite way of Negril. We again piled in with lots of school children and working class Jamaicans.

We arrived at Scott and Carrie's house and enjoyed a chance to sit and rest. After a good visit we walked around their yard which contains many fruit trees, a pirate cave (could have belonged to Mr. Morgan himself), coral reef, a garden and a nice lawn. The yard is shared with their landlord and a few relatives. It is a gated lawn but their house has three rooms. A bedroom, bath, kitchen and living room. Very tiny quarters but it will serve us well on the island. Marie and I are working on jet lag and minimal sleep, but I think we will have some curried vegetables and sleep well tonight.

The City of Angels

We woke up to a great breakfast of huevos rancheros. Nancy also made some great potatoes. After filling our stomachs we went for a hike in Temescal Canyon. We did a three mile hike and enjoyed the sunshine as well as the views of downtown, and the ocean. We hiked back down and made our way back home for leftover Italian for lunch.
In the afternoon we went to the Getty Museum. It is a great art gallery. We saw work from Raphael, Monet, Manet, Degas, Von Gogh, etc.  We went on a great architecture tour that described the different aspects of the museum and research centers grounds. We spent a great long afternoon there and just returned. We are getting ready for a dinner of homemade salsa and potatoes. Marie and I fly out tonight at 10pm for Ft. Lauderdale, FL. With the time change we will get there at 6am, and then fly out for Jamaica at 1o am. LA far than exceeded my expectations and I actually look forward to returning here in the future. Photos to come.

Our journey begins

Sunday started off by Marie and I packing the last of our bags. We received a ride to Portland from Marie's college friend Anne and her husband Josh. We stayed at their house that evening and celebrated summer with a mini-beer tasting festival. Friends came, there was a barbeque and great food. Marie and I woke up early to catch our flight to LA.

In LA, we met up with Marie's old college roomate Nancy. For being the first part of our trip, I had anticipated little when it came to LA. I figured it was just a jumping off point for Jamaica. We flew in around noon and went straight to Venice Beach. The mix of people there is incredible, and we all put our feet in the water. We walked around for a couple of hours enjoying the sunshine. We then went to a great little Italian restaurant and filled up on great pasta. On the way back to the house we stopped by an Irish pub, the only place in LA that was happy the Celtics won. We settled in on a futon in the living room and spent another night. I will have pictures to accompany this post soon.

Day 3

We woke up a little earlier today and were out of camp by 10 am. We had five miles back to the car. I was sore and my planters fasciitis was starting to act up. We reached the car at 12:20 and returned to Eugene by 2:00. After a delicious burrito we headed to Corvallis to drop off Ryan and then made our way home to Carlton. Marie has been graciously waiting on me, as every step is painful. I will sleep on it and hope it will leave with time over the weekend.
At the end of our trip we saw multiple snakes, lots of birds, a deer, squirrels, skinks, and many wildflowers. On our hike out today there were more campers and the trail ran into full campsites that were empty on our hike in. It was a fullfilling few days and nice to get out in nature.
Tomorrow we will set about cleaning the house and tying up our final loose ends.

Day 2

As teachers we are used to a fairly early start to our day, but give the teachers a little taste of summer, and we will milk it for all it is worth. We ate breakfast around 10 am the next morning and created a plan for the day. Ryan and I filled water bottles as Marie and Carolyn packed the lunch and we were ready to look for Moon Point trail. We started at noon and hiked out to the highway and along it to where our map showed a trail, but all we found was a forest service road. Marie had thought she saw online that the trail started from a campground farther along the highway so we hiked on. At secret campground we found a nice sandy beach along the river. We ate peanut butter, jelly and tortillas for lunch then entertained ourselves with naps, reading, and retrieving old and lost fishing gear from the beach and trees. Ryan showed his survivorman capabilities and was able to attach hook, line, sinker and bobber to a willow pole. Unfortunately with only 3 feet of line, it is hard to snag any trout.

We hiked along the highway down past campers flat campground and found the trail that led back to camp. We hiked the 5 miles back to camp quietly and with a certain drive to get back before the bugs came. We got back at about 5:30 and went about relaxing. I went to sit by the water and take in the loveliness of being done with a year of school. As Marie came down to join me, my camera slipped out of my pocket, bounced a couple of times and landed, , in the drink. I tried with a stick to retrieve it but ultimately I had to jump in to water that was about 35 degrees and bellybutton high. Needless to say, I don't have pictures to post.
To get my mind off the wet camera, Ryan and I played yahtzee as Carolyn and Marie read. Maybe it was karma for losing a camera, or maybe it was just luck, but I rolled 3 yahtzees in one game and scored 466. I have never seen a game quite like it.

We then ate a great dinner of Red beans and rice and had pudding for dessert. We played a few more games of yahtzee in the tent to avoid the bugs and Marie and I tied with a score of 221 for the last game of the night.
This is the last photo my camera took. It then slid into the water. :(

Backpacking day 1

We decided to hike the middle fork of the Willamette. We hiked out of Sand Prairie campground, and hiked a leisurely 5 miles. We camped near the river on a little rocky out crop. We did not see much wildlife, except a snake that slithered over Marie's foot, and as she jumped back, her foot took the snake with her. There were lots of nice wildflowers on the trail and it was nice to have the area to ourselves. We finished the night with a delicious beef curry stew and a game of crazy 8's.

Marie and I have graded our last final, submitted our last grades, and checked out of our classrooms for the year. The final days at school were hectic. Get the kids in, give em' tests and then get out! I managed to check out on Friday a little bit after 1pm. I am done with my first year and I feel good. I am coming back in the fall to the same high school and department which has welcomed me warmly and I enjoy working with them. This week our goal is to clean and pack Monday and Tuesday. On Wednesday, we are going to try and get a last taste of Oregon and go on a two night backpacking trip. We will be joined by our friend Ryan, who graduated with us last year and is a fellow science teacher, and Marie's sister. We are trying to find trails that are not snowy and it is difficult. We are looking at the Umpqua river, Middle Fork of the Willamette, or McKenzie river.

Summer...sweet summer

Marie and I are fortunate enough to have a job that extends only for 9 months. The other three, (more like 2.5) we have off. We don't get paid, but that is ok too. This year, it allows us to travel. We are taking advantage of all of our wonderful relatives around the North American Continent. We have one week of school left and then we embark.
We will travel to Jamaica first to visit my Brother and his wife as they finish their first year of service for the peace corps. Our journey will take us next to my other brothers residence in Washington DC to view our capitol as this nation celebrates its 232 birthday this July 4th. A china town bus will hopefully place us in Manhattan next to visit my cousin Patrick, as he is between rotations and tests this summer, for a view of the largest city in our nation. We will then venture back south to Philadelphia to visit my mother's brother Bob and his wife Kathy to view the nations first capitol and enjoy a brief stay there.
We then will visit Marie's relative, her mother's sister, who is a nun in Stubenville Ohio. It is near Pittsburgh and we will be her first visitors from Marie's generation of her family. Then our goal is Rockford Illinois to visit my Grandmother and my aunt Julie and her family. After a few days in Obama's home state we will once again depart to Minneapolis to visit my Mother's sister Elizabeth and husband Bill. Our last destination will be the farm in Montana where we hope to find a couple of friends, just married, from our teaching co-hort and travel to Glacier National Park. From there, it will be back to Oregon to begin our second year of teaching at Mcminnville schools. This will hopefully serve as a journal/update site for our family and our hosts.