in Jamaica

in Jamaica. Arrived safely here three weeks ago this wednesday, and things have been a whirlwind ever since.

Training was greatly accelerated (thank goodness). The amount of time given to health and medical in Ghana is about the same amount of time given to safety and security here. The reason is pretty obvious: Generally speaking, in Ghana the people will not harm you but the environment can kill you. Here it is safe to drink the water and there is no real risk of malaria, but the violent crime statistics are astonishing. So I had an accelerated crash course on getting by in Jamaica, and one week after arriving in country I got to site and settled in. This was the first time in six months that I unpacked and was not living out of a backpack. It felt amazing.

Working at the Port Royal Marine Laboratory and things are peachy. I love the people I work with and the work I am doing. The lab is in the middle of building a sort of visitors center, and one of my primary projects for the next while will be developing interpretive media and programs for visitors. Right now though we are still putting things together so my time has been spent out at sea collecting some live specimens (and sand, and rocks, and coral). A lot of my time has also been spent reading about the local marine ecology. And a lot of my time has been spent trying to plumb a particularly ornery sand filter. I am covered with bruises and cuts from being tossed around on boats, and for a couple days my hands were dyed blue from where I spilled PVC cement all over them. Life is good.

I am living in Port Royal (the wickedest city in christendom) and it is fantastic. The community is small, close-knit, and proud of its heritage as a city once governed by the pirates--locals proudly claim that one of the cultural remnants of the pirate days is their fluency in profanities. This town is a a little fishing town. It is possible to buy fish straight from the dories every morning. I love it.

I have a lot to say about Ghana too. Given a little time and space I am developing a different perspective from the one I had when I was in country. To be honest, I miss Ghana more than I expected I would. I think part of this is missing people. But Ghana really is something special. The pages of my journal are filled with observations to this point, but I need to organize them into a more reasonable bit of writing before I go spouting stuff all over the internet.

A closing thought: Pulling a dead 10' hammerhead shark from the water is a pretty extraordinary way to start a day.

Lastly, I posted pics from Ghana on my flickr page. http://www.flickr.com/photos/razi enjoy!