Daily Life - Take it iizy mon!

I have found the term "Take it iizy" (some spell it different in Patwa we of course spell it "easy") to mean something quite different that it first appears. To most it means relax and enjoy life. To me, it has meant different things.

First and foremost, it has meant for me to slow the heck down. In Jamaica if I'm rushing around like I do in America, it means that I might step in a puddle, mud, poo, gross bug or any number of things. It means to look for people around you to greet in the morning as to not look like a stuck up American. It means to keep an eye on my personal safety for some of the less savory characters I might pass in my travels. Maybe more importantly it means to slow down and think before I speak. The sense of humor here is different here than in the good ol' USA. Sarcasm doesn't fly much as well as some of the antiquated pop culture references that I find myself making (the younger volunteers here don't get them either!). In this way, Jamaica has been teaching me many lessons that I have been wanting to learn. My brain often works faster than my mouth and I tend to get ahead of myself. "Taken it izzy" has been a great mantra.

Consumption. This is something that we all need to "take it izzy" on. I find that living on a very small living allowance has "encouraged" my cutting back on consumption. I thing it's appropriate that I'm learning these lessons while there is a world economic crisis going on. I bought a whole chicken the other day and am using every part! OK, well maybe with the exception of the guts that I donated to my host family who could use them better, I'm not that brave yet..... but I've made four meals out of that sucker. The first meal was a treat. I had the other PCV (Peace Corps Volunteer) in my town over and we made a feast of the chicken breasts pan cooked with a little oil, garlic salt and pepper, then some pasta with pesto sauce. YUM! Simple dish back home but was flavors I haven't had since I was back home. Left over pasta and the legs and thighs are covering two more dinners, and the chicken "back" as it's called here will make me some soup. I made an investment of buying some pots and pans here out of personal funds and am very happy with my purchases. Nothing sucks more than wanting to cook something, having the food stocks but not being able to cook it properly. Another point on less consumption is paper products. Good toilet paper and paper towels here are REALLY expensive. More than it costs in America. For instance a four pack of the quality kind of toilet paper cost me $10 US. I have been conserving more than ever and it works. If you put your mind to something, you can really do it. I'm afraid my good friend Andrea would have major money issues here... You know what I mean Ann! (and Joe!)

I had a great weekend this last week, where I traveled to the southern island. After a LONG journey squished up ("Smalled Up" as they say here) in a bus, I arrived in a nice town with many amenities. My friend there was a wonderful host and though it was raining we just "Took it izzy" Laughing a lot and sharing our peace corps experience. No beach, no sun, no major excitement = just right. Don't get me wrong, I like a beach day (shocking for my friends who know that I usually don't like the beach) but I also enjoy just chillin (not shocking for my friends who know I LOVE a lazy day). The weekend was great because for the two previous ones, I found myself holed up in my room doing the traditional lazy day of bed, computer and TV. Luxuries I never thought I would have here in Jamaica, but have found to keep me sane for the meantime. One of my goals of coming here was to ween myself off these things a bit, so that is going to be more challenging than I first imagined.

For those new volunteers coming to the island. Feel free to send me a note with any questions you may have. I also hope to put together a short packing list of the things I have found useful.