...and a dead cat on the doorstep
My journal of our Peace Corp adventure from 1982 to 1984
Introduction
What this represents is the journal I wrote while we were in the Peace Corps from October 25th, 1...
The beginning
We ended up in the Caribbean but the journey wasn't smooth
Oct 26 1982
Just got back from the clinic. Funny how its been what I have dreaded and hoped for for these las...
Oct 29, 1982
Things have been moving rather rapidly around here. The two additional days of comprehensive stag...
Oct 31 1982
Jamaica was at first, just what I knew it would be: Hot, humid and sunny with showers off and on....
Nov 1
I was talking about money & currency because I didn’t have the energy. Energy is hard to come by ...
Nov 2
Dogs and more dogs. And things are mellowing a bit. I should say something about our ‘host’ famil...
Nov 7th
Went to church today at the Anglican church. 7Am is a bit early to be wanderin around Spanish Tow...
Nov 9, 1982
The ride up to the training center is quite an experience. The road between Spanish Town & Sligov...
Nov 12 1982
Even though we learn more & more each day, it becomes less and less distinct from the rest of our...
Nov 13 1982
That restlessness is tempered somewhat by excursions into the countryside. Today Deb & I (with Ju...
Nov 17 1982
The weekend in Port Antonio was well worth the time and expense. The night was cool and very quie...
Nov 21 1982
It’s peculiar how I’ve been preoccupied with enjoying ‘the comforts of life’. I’m afraid its cult...
Nov 24 1982
Well, I successfully passed my 27th birthday without complications. We had a morning at the UWI a...
Nov 30 (week to date, Embassy & T-Day, Man showin house)
The last day of training! I thought I’d never see the day. I realized I had been quite remiss in ...
Dec. 1 [The end of the beginning]
For the last day in Jamaica, it’s been rather trying . Got a letter from Gram saying that Dad was...
Finding "home"
The next step in the journey was to get official sworn in and then find out where we were going t...
Dec 9
Its been quite some time in between entries. I’m concerned that it will become the rule rather th...
Dec 11
We had a confused and brief swearing-in ceremony at the P.C. office in Bridgetown. The reception ...
Dec 21
Its been too long again. Much has happened. Much of it positive. We decided to take the house in ...
Dec 27th
Bank holiday today (Boxing Day whatever that is…) so Deb and I are lethargically wandering about ...
Jan 4 1983
Well, we’ve made it into the new year. The days pass so quickly when I look into my journal and s...
Jan 6 (Epiphany!)
Never mentioned Christmas in terms of Christ (like the unthinking, pagan sinner I am). Now on Epi...
Jan 17th
EGAD Already!? I can’t believe that it has been so long since I written. Much, much has transpire...
Jan 20 1983
I’ve spent all day just sitting and reading. In fact, the last two weeks have been an exercise in...
Jan 24 1983
We had a real ‘up’ weekend so I wanted to write it down quick! Seems like mostly negative stuff g...
1/25/83
The first thing I wanted to sit down and write. The weather is cool & rainy. Buckets have been fa...
Settling in...
After a month or so, Deb and I began to get a little more settled. We would still experience som...
28/1/83
Not feeling 100% just now but wanted to finish out the week on a positive, constructive note. Wor...
Jan 31 1983
Monday mornings. I hate em. I am unusually lethargic and unmotivated. I should go see Mr. Gaines....
Feb 4
End of week. Peculiar perspective having both first and last Impressions on this first week and a...
Feb 8 1983
Busy day yesterday. Busy weekend I wish the weeks would pass as quickly as the weekends. It seems...
Feb 11 1983
Friday! Afternoon yet. I'm glad to be done with this week. A new low in productivity. It's such a...
14/2/83
Valentine's Day and a Monday. I hate Mondays for the usual reasons. Even more so for my tremendou...
28/2/83
I will return to Sufriere later. It's been nearly (actually exactly) 2 weeks since I last managed...
1/3/83
It seems as though as soon as I find myself starting to enjoy myself here, something comes along...
4/3/83
Not being totally confident about being in St Vincent I'm amazed I said that. Some things that se...
Culture Shock sets in
It's been our companion for almost 6 months and shows little sign of abating...
14/3/83
Another forever gone by. Seems that I just wrote, now it's the 14th. Well, I've been talking to G...
22/3/83
A week passeth….. my initial reluctance to move was overcome. I find myself breaking up all the t...
29/3/83
Visions of home and Christmas…..seems much too early for such things yet a few powerful reminders...
5/4/83
April – already? I won’t dwell on the fast/slow movement of time in this place but the agonizingl...
12/4/83
Well my nose didn't fall off and though we are peeling now, it was nice (in retrospect_ to soak ...
18/4/83
Seems I'm always tired. it's Monday (wonderful) and I'm plugging along. Deb and I had a very inte...
22/4/83
Friday is always a cause for celebration. After a dismal and shaky start, the week has ended up o...
3/5/83
Two weeks. OECS training consumed the last week. It was a nice break. It was very nice to be with...
19 May 1983
Been busy with training last two weeks so I haven't had time to make entries. Not a whole heck of...
25/5/83
I always like to begin the week with a surprise. This morning I found out that my boss has been t...
27/5/83
Been leafing through this journal of 6+ months. Our 6-month anniversary is next Saturday and I've...
30/5/83
Had a nice busy weekend. Friday night there was a wine tasting & Cheese party at Cal & Joanne's. ...
Shaken and stirred...
There are many realities to living in a developing country and some of them can be frightening.
6/6/83
I'm sitting here like the usual vegetable that I am on Monday mornings. Not exactly sure why I am...
13/6/83
We spent most of yesterday trying to assure her of that. Guy & Marion called a special meeting of...
24/6/83
Time to catch up. Deb & I got back yesterday from 4 blissful days sailing in the Grenadines. It w...
6/7/83
Wow! time has flown. I'm still reeling from the intensely pleasurable sailing trip but also feeli...
11/7/83
Monday first things first. Still riding the tide of optimism. My phobia about the phone calls I n...
19/7/83
With the manpower inventory project behind me I once again face an uncertain future. I'm feeling ...
27/7/83
Still fighting but more in terms of boredom than anything else. The fact is, as it always is, tha...
Business as Usual
Eventually, even the "foreign" becomes the new routine.
12/8/83
Back from conference seems long ago already. Brief. Different and my anticipations never found fr...
22/8/83
Deb is fully recouped and is busily back at work. I too have been busy. What was so recently a sl...
31/8/83
A double ear infection has kept me off the phone for the training and employment survey in the ho...
12/9/83
I'm slipping and I've noticed that my journaling has fallen by the wayside. I do hope it doesn't ...
19/9/83
For the instant, job concerns are on the back burner. I hope to get a letter out this week to Mr ...
26/9/83
The beginning of the last week of Sept. How far we have come (and it seems 11 weeks is too long t...
9/30/83
End of the week. Not a real fulfilling one. I kept hoping that the return on our questionnaire fo...
4/10/83
Tuesday morning and I'm a vegetable. We had Jim Rutherford over for a “farewell” dinner last nigh...
5/10/83
Something I haven't mentioned but has been growing on me over the past few months is that I'm not...
10/10/83
Monday morning and I'm “veg’ed” out. we had a busy but surprisingly relaxing weekend in Troumaca....
17/10/83
God did bless me the rest of the week (as I had prayed He would). I plunged in and contacted almo...
20/10/83
The situation with my job is deteriorating further. Fact is that on November 1st I'll be transfer...
31/10/83
One year plus has passed since the first entry in the journal. Hooray? THE milestone. I had hoped...
1/11/83
Surgery's done and I'm trying to get organized. To back up a bit…. we celebrated our one year awa...
8/11/83
Travel on my mind. This time to Barbados. Some quick talk and pressure got me into the BAS sponso...
Home for the holidays
11/17/83
And cheaper still when it's only 4 weeks away! Things have gone extremely well in the past weeks....
21/11/83
Still counting down and I'm feeling impatient to go. Just 22 days now but it seems forever. We ne...
29/11/83
Countdown to ecstasy? I'm not exactly sure what to expect on arriving to the states. There is a c...
5/12/83
So a year has come and gone here. I am amazed. And giving credit where credit is due, let me say ...
15/2/84 !!
Almost two months have elapsed since the last entry. Christmas has come & gone (Gads what a joyfu...
17/2/84
Not exactly exciting stuff but at least we had a chance to slow down and enjoy ourselves which wa...