Nov 2

Dogs and more dogs. And things are mellowing a bit. I should say something about our ‘host’ family. Joan is the head of the household and has a daughter Qun (Kwan). Qun is sixteen. Joan also has a sister who lives in. Her name is Angela. Now, of all of them, Angela is the most open & friendly (at least initially) Deb & I went to church last Sunday with Joan and Qun (Angela doesn’t go, she is kind of a renegade). Anyway, Joan had said that the service was loud and long. The church’s name was “Miracle Church of God” The miracle was that we survived.

Initially it was just the discomfort of being the only white faces in a sea of black. The songs were different and sung in the style of “Southern Baptist” tradition of loud, hand clappin, foot stompin’ music. However, as time went on, Deb and I realized that there was more to this church than it’s music. People were soon jumping and yelling. Speaking in tongues and rolling on the floor It was really quite a display. The service ended two and a half hours after its beginning. We’ll try the community church next week. It, at least, sounds safer.

The training in Sligoville is OK. Not great, just OK. There is a great deal of morale problem. The objectives are not real clear. The presentation is a bit too cold and mechanical. A lot of attention is paid to process but on a rather superficial level. The morale problem should have surfaced by now but the trainers are either unaware or not interested. I don’t know. But there is a lot of talk of dropping a “bomb” on them.

All the trainers are quite friendly and for the most part understandable (I find most Jamaicans unintelligible but I’m getting better). Rudy is the most interesting character. He’s the only American (though he’s black) and I’m glad to listen to him speak with a rather thick American accent. With a full beard and graying afro he is supposedly the most “radical” looking of the bunch. Sensitive and direct, Rudy is my most favorite trainer though he rarely deals with us directly. Winston is the eldest of the staff and his “Queens English” impeccable. Winston used to work for the Ministry of Agriculture before joining CHP. He is a wise, gentle man whos words carry great weight. Especially among “hard core” AG’s. Wish I was involved with agriculture projects. I may yet be.