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...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...

Settling in...

After a month or so, Deb and I began to get a little more settled. We would still experience som...

Culture Shock sets in

It's been our companion for almost 6 months and shows little sign of abating...

Shaken and stirred...

There are many realities to living in a developing country and some of them can be frightening.

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