There's only 18 minutes left on our computer time for today and so much to tell. Some ups and downs to report. Our camera is broken so no more pics until we get one in Novemeber when we return for Thanksgiving. John and his girfriend, Ashley, visited for a long Columbus Day weekend. They had a whirlwind tour of western JM. They spent 2 days in Chapelton, two in Negril and 2 in Rose Hall at that Ritz. They saw the full range of Jamaican life. It was wonderful to have them with us, albeit too brief. We've struggled to help the hospital get a major fundraiser off the ground; the second effort was just canceled but we're ever optimistic that the next effort will be the right one. They desperately need things like reliable water, a washing machine to launder the linen, computers for the records room, garbage bags for the garbage. Items you and I take for granted in the most basic hospitals. Hopefully, we're on the right track this time. Gary's writing more grants to get toilet facilities for homes and schools. I'm preparing to teach certificate programs to teachers and parents in Healthy Lifestyle Living. A few friends have indicated they may or will visit us in the winter. We'll be glad to have more American's around. Many of the volunteers who started with us and who are still here are counting the days until they come home. Although we're still busy and doing meaningful work we too are anxious to come home next summer.
Keep everting crisp, Margaret
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Friday, September 4, 2009
Wickets, Overs, Bowlers, and the White Witch
Two weekends ago (August 23) one of the coaches that Margaret is tutoring in exercise physiology decided that it was time to go on a day trip to a part of Jamaica we hadn’t visited. So on Sunday morning we took off at 8 am (scheduled for 7am) and headed to the south shore to a place named Alligator Pond…the beach was called Little Ochi (named after the north shore town of Ochi Rios). The beach was pleasant, not crowded and different in that the sand was black…the picture attached to this blog doesn’t really show the color very well but believe me it was black. After an hour or so beach walk, some lazy Sunday morning lounging and some wonderful shrimp and Red Stripe for lunch we ventured back on a little different course and stopped off in Mandeville (a town nestled up in the mountains and always cooler than wherever else we’ve been) to take in a cricket match.
I will not bore you with the details of the match except for a few common-like features that were similar to baseball. It really didn’t matter who the match was between…we were trying to decipher which were the offense and the defense because they all wore the same color, except for the umpires. The “pitch” (similar to a baseball field in that it had an outfield and an area that was representative of a diamond – although not a diamond but a rectangular shape) was the playing field. The “bowler” was the counterpart to the pitcher. The main difference with the offense was that there was no such thing as a foul ball…everything hit was in play….and that balls that were hit and rolled past the outfielders and past the limit of the outfield were scored as 4 runs and balls that were hit over the limits of the outfield (like a homerun in baseball) were counted as 6 runs. Anyway we finally got the knack of the game after a couple hours…the winning team won 102 – 101 in a game that had a limit of 15 overs for each team. Each “over” consisted of 6 deliveries by the bowlers of each team. GOT IT?!!!!
Last weekend (Fri) was my birthday. We celebrated by playing two rounds of golf in Kingston and staying in our favorite hotel which had the last of its “summer specials.” It sounds crazy but we were in heaven and enjoyed a king size bed, air conditioning, wonderful Jamaican breakfast buffet, pool, and gym…in a quiet area of Kingston called New Kingston (which BTW is where the Peace Corps office is located). My present from Margaret was six books…I’ve already read 17 books since we landed in Jamaica……that’s essentially a result of no night life after 6pm.
Summer is basically over, just as in the US but you’d never know it with regard to the temperatures….(not like the temps I noticed on the NY channel we get which showed 50s and 60s for nighttime lows near the end of August). Children go back to school after Labor Day, just as in the US, but it’s not called Labor Day here…that was back in May.
We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of our first guests (John and his new girlfriend, Ashley) scheduled for Columbus Day weekend (US). We plan to show them around Chapelton for a day or so and then venture to Negril (the capital of “chill”) in the far west of Jamaica. We’ve not been there yet so it will be an experience for all four of us. They will be treated to Jamaican taxi and minibus transportation on the way. After chilling for two days we will end the long weekend in Rose Hall (Montego Bay) with a round of golf at the White Witch Golf Club…which is named after the ‘White Witch’ of Rose Hall…an old sugar cane plantation back in the 1800’s…Rose Hall is the name of the main house located on the plantation, where the White Witch (Annie Palmer) lived and supposedly murdered three of her lovers (husbands and slave lover)…it was burned down by the slaves during a rebellion and then restored in the mid 1900’s by an Englishman. The course is now located on part of the old plantation grounds and is supposed to be very scenic overlooking the Caribbean on many holes. Johnny Cash’s Jamaican home is very close by on the grounds of Cinnamon Hill Golf Course [it does sound as if we only play golf in JA, trust us, that’s not the case, it’s an escape on the occasional weekends we have nothing to do].
Till next time…walk gud!!!
I will not bore you with the details of the match except for a few common-like features that were similar to baseball. It really didn’t matter who the match was between…we were trying to decipher which were the offense and the defense because they all wore the same color, except for the umpires. The “pitch” (similar to a baseball field in that it had an outfield and an area that was representative of a diamond – although not a diamond but a rectangular shape) was the playing field. The “bowler” was the counterpart to the pitcher. The main difference with the offense was that there was no such thing as a foul ball…everything hit was in play….and that balls that were hit and rolled past the outfielders and past the limit of the outfield were scored as 4 runs and balls that were hit over the limits of the outfield (like a homerun in baseball) were counted as 6 runs. Anyway we finally got the knack of the game after a couple hours…the winning team won 102 – 101 in a game that had a limit of 15 overs for each team. Each “over” consisted of 6 deliveries by the bowlers of each team. GOT IT?!!!!
Last weekend (Fri) was my birthday. We celebrated by playing two rounds of golf in Kingston and staying in our favorite hotel which had the last of its “summer specials.” It sounds crazy but we were in heaven and enjoyed a king size bed, air conditioning, wonderful Jamaican breakfast buffet, pool, and gym…in a quiet area of Kingston called New Kingston (which BTW is where the Peace Corps office is located). My present from Margaret was six books…I’ve already read 17 books since we landed in Jamaica……that’s essentially a result of no night life after 6pm.
Summer is basically over, just as in the US but you’d never know it with regard to the temperatures….(not like the temps I noticed on the NY channel we get which showed 50s and 60s for nighttime lows near the end of August). Children go back to school after Labor Day, just as in the US, but it’s not called Labor Day here…that was back in May.
We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of our first guests (John and his new girlfriend, Ashley) scheduled for Columbus Day weekend (US). We plan to show them around Chapelton for a day or so and then venture to Negril (the capital of “chill”) in the far west of Jamaica. We’ve not been there yet so it will be an experience for all four of us. They will be treated to Jamaican taxi and minibus transportation on the way. After chilling for two days we will end the long weekend in Rose Hall (Montego Bay) with a round of golf at the White Witch Golf Club…which is named after the ‘White Witch’ of Rose Hall…an old sugar cane plantation back in the 1800’s…Rose Hall is the name of the main house located on the plantation, where the White Witch (Annie Palmer) lived and supposedly murdered three of her lovers (husbands and slave lover)…it was burned down by the slaves during a rebellion and then restored in the mid 1900’s by an Englishman. The course is now located on part of the old plantation grounds and is supposed to be very scenic overlooking the Caribbean on many holes. Johnny Cash’s Jamaican home is very close by on the grounds of Cinnamon Hill Golf Course [it does sound as if we only play golf in JA, trust us, that’s not the case, it’s an escape on the occasional weekends we have nothing to do].
Till next time…walk gud!!!
Monday, August 3, 2009
Margaret's turned 65
Tidbits from the Caribbean
Happy Birthday to me; I’m 65 today and “everting bi crisp” [all is well]. We’re going to Ocho Riios tomorrow for a weekend celebration. It’ll be decadent American style: an all inclusive hotel with a king sized bed; restaurant; a gym; and air conditioning! Common place for most of you but a great luxury for us. We’re playing golf twice over two days. Although a standard for Gary before we left, I haven’t played two days in a row since we golfed in the British Isles four years ago.
Mangoes are almost gone but fortunately Mrs. Rumble has a late bloomer in the yard that’s still providing us with those luscious treats. The days are “hot-hot”, as the Jamaicans would say. We’re soaked 200 yards after leaving our house [literally dripping sweat]. There’s a slower languid pace about the days right now.
My community exercise class has grown so large that I’ve had to close it to new participants, at least until a few stop coming. For those who haven’t taken a class from me, it’s individualized for each student so I’m running around at a frantic pace trying to meet everyone’s needs. There’s a wide range of participants: one young man, three 13-16 year old girls, four women in their 20’s, four middle-aged women and three 60 and over, so you can imagine how varied each workout must be.
The computer center at the Community Center may open for operations this fall. We’ve gotten: free internet and phone service from an island provider [met a company VP playing golf and voila!]; six stable 6’ tables and 15 very strong metal and wood chairs from Food For The Poor; money’s been raised to secure the site; and the computer funding looks like a go from a government agency. The latter did an inspection of our site and their representative seemed impressed and indicated he would support action on the request for ten computers and all the necessary hard/soft ware, equipment and supplies at an upcoming meeting. Of course Jamaican semantics for ‘action and upcoming’ are not the same for Americans.
We’ve come to accept that rarely does anything go as planned or expected. For instance, the huge August 1 Emancipation Day Fundraiser the hospital had organized and planned for three months has to be postponed. Five days ago we got a response letter from the Parish [county] manager telling us the event couldn’t be held because, according to our letter to him dated June 1 announcing the event, it would be sponsored by friends and staff of the Chapelton Hospital. Government employees cannot raise money for government use. Fine, but did he have to wait until July 24th to respond??!! He claims he only received the letter July 20th, yet interestingly others in the same building received theirs by June 5. So, now it will be held October 19, Heroes Day. People were really looking forward to this event but, like so many other aspects of their lives, expectations are just “mashed up” [Jamaican for defeated or crushed].
I’ve been asked to develop a parent seminar course on Healthy Lifestyles for a nearby All Age School [gr. 2-9]. They want it to be a certificate program whereby the parents graduate from it. It sounds like an interesting project that I should enjoy.
If you’ve read about my recent foray into emergency medicine and dentistry you’ll realize that Jamaica is two worlds, the developed and developing. Some parts of the urban areas in Kingston and MoBay are, in many ways far ahead of the American standard, whereas the rural areas may as well be halfway around the world. It’s hard to believe that this small island [50 miles X 175 miles] has such variation. We step aside for oxen teams, donkeys, goats, and cows on a daily basis. No water, electricity, shoes, etc for large numbers of the rural people. And then I get world class medical treatment. By the way, it looks as if the speedy, skilled medical action has led to my tooth reattaching. Who would have thunk it??!!
Happy Birthday to me; I’m 65 today and “everting bi crisp” [all is well]. We’re going to Ocho Riios tomorrow for a weekend celebration. It’ll be decadent American style: an all inclusive hotel with a king sized bed; restaurant; a gym; and air conditioning! Common place for most of you but a great luxury for us. We’re playing golf twice over two days. Although a standard for Gary before we left, I haven’t played two days in a row since we golfed in the British Isles four years ago.
Mangoes are almost gone but fortunately Mrs. Rumble has a late bloomer in the yard that’s still providing us with those luscious treats. The days are “hot-hot”, as the Jamaicans would say. We’re soaked 200 yards after leaving our house [literally dripping sweat]. There’s a slower languid pace about the days right now.
My community exercise class has grown so large that I’ve had to close it to new participants, at least until a few stop coming. For those who haven’t taken a class from me, it’s individualized for each student so I’m running around at a frantic pace trying to meet everyone’s needs. There’s a wide range of participants: one young man, three 13-16 year old girls, four women in their 20’s, four middle-aged women and three 60 and over, so you can imagine how varied each workout must be.
The computer center at the Community Center may open for operations this fall. We’ve gotten: free internet and phone service from an island provider [met a company VP playing golf and voila!]; six stable 6’ tables and 15 very strong metal and wood chairs from Food For The Poor; money’s been raised to secure the site; and the computer funding looks like a go from a government agency. The latter did an inspection of our site and their representative seemed impressed and indicated he would support action on the request for ten computers and all the necessary hard/soft ware, equipment and supplies at an upcoming meeting. Of course Jamaican semantics for ‘action and upcoming’ are not the same for Americans.
We’ve come to accept that rarely does anything go as planned or expected. For instance, the huge August 1 Emancipation Day Fundraiser the hospital had organized and planned for three months has to be postponed. Five days ago we got a response letter from the Parish [county] manager telling us the event couldn’t be held because, according to our letter to him dated June 1 announcing the event, it would be sponsored by friends and staff of the Chapelton Hospital. Government employees cannot raise money for government use. Fine, but did he have to wait until July 24th to respond??!! He claims he only received the letter July 20th, yet interestingly others in the same building received theirs by June 5. So, now it will be held October 19, Heroes Day. People were really looking forward to this event but, like so many other aspects of their lives, expectations are just “mashed up” [Jamaican for defeated or crushed].
I’ve been asked to develop a parent seminar course on Healthy Lifestyles for a nearby All Age School [gr. 2-9]. They want it to be a certificate program whereby the parents graduate from it. It sounds like an interesting project that I should enjoy.
If you’ve read about my recent foray into emergency medicine and dentistry you’ll realize that Jamaica is two worlds, the developed and developing. Some parts of the urban areas in Kingston and MoBay are, in many ways far ahead of the American standard, whereas the rural areas may as well be halfway around the world. It’s hard to believe that this small island [50 miles X 175 miles] has such variation. We step aside for oxen teams, donkeys, goats, and cows on a daily basis. No water, electricity, shoes, etc for large numbers of the rural people. And then I get world class medical treatment. By the way, it looks as if the speedy, skilled medical action has led to my tooth reattaching. Who would have thunk it??!!
Monday, July 6, 2009
Arizona...no! Southwest Jamaica
We just returned from the aptly named, Treasure Beach. What a wonderful find for anyone with modest means. Unsullied by commercialism and tourists, this place in the southwest corner of Jamaica is really something to “treasure”. It has a climate and vegetation unique from the rest of the island, hot and arid. Rainfall is low because the Santa Cruz Mountains to the north and east block most of it from reaching the area. There are loads of cacti varieties and relatively little vegetation compared to the rest of the island. Even though it’s hot, there is a constant cooling breeze from the time the sun dawns at about 6 AM until it sets at 7 PM.
We spent 4th of July weekend there to gather with our fellow volunteers for a one year anniversary celebration for those of us who have survived thus far. From the original 52 who arrived with us a year ago (July 3rd) only 63% are left; 33 hardy souls remain.
But, back to Treasure Beach and its wonders: Peace and quiet; no loud music or barking dogs, day or night. Just a few healthy looking dogs wandering the streets, but, like the sheep of Wales; goats wander freely about the community. They all seem to be tagged and owned by someone and each one appears to know to which herd it belongs and where they collectively coalesce. No beggars. No sexual harassment or innuendos. In 48 hours we were only greeted with friendly ‘hellos’, ‘good mornings’, and the Jamaican “good evening” which is ‘good night’. Relatively little litter, probably not more than we see in America. The highlight of Saturday morning was a six mile walk where only three vehicles passed us. One was a small pick-up truck carrying large fishing pots out to the beach (see pix). The walk took us down a peaceful winding road that was above the Caribbean Sea all the way until it gradually made its way down to the sea…as we walked west the sea was on our left; to our right the land rose fairly dramatically with limestone outcroppings all along the way. Great restaurants with affordable prices; we ate at Jakes, probably the most well known, where the tail of a two pound lobster cost $15. Very private beaches and [it seems] beautiful beach front and ocean view properties still available.
All in all it was the first locale in JM (that really looks like Jamaica – and not a US resort) that we both agreed we’d like to go back to. It allows the visitor to simply relax as if they we’re visiting a private island, but at an affordable price. The cost of a round trip flight from NYC to Montego Bay is now $250 and with bus and taxi fares visitors can get to Treasure Beach for under $1,000 JM/person [~$12]. At the lovely guest house where we stayed it was $60 US/night and included an ocean view, a few rides to area locales, king sized bed in a large room, delicious English breakfasts [the gracious owner, Roger, is from the UK] with a Jamaican touch, internet service, and enough DVD’s to keep you entertained for months.
On another front Margaret was in Montego Bay two weeks ago for three days of training on “exclusive breast feeding”. The Jamaican Ministry of Health has made it a priority to get every mother to exclusively breast feed for the first 6 months and to continue breast feeding with complimentary feedings until at least age 2. Their purpose is to improve the health of both mother and child and reduce the ‘Nestle Impact’ which will also save precious $$$. It was three days of intense training with 38 very motivated and knowledgeable health professionals. These people will become the trainers of trainers throughout the island.
On the second morning Margaret went for a run at 5:30, tripped on one of the frequent rough spots in the sidewalks [she’d just picked up her pace in a modest attempt to challenge herself for the impending National Seniors Sports Day Championships], fell with her hands missing the street edge of the sidewalk where she was located, landing face first on the curb edge and rolling into the street. She hit the curb’s corner edge on a diagonal across her face from the right eye to the middle of her mouth. She broke her upper right front tooth, it passed through her lip, she had a knot the size of a golf ball above her right eye and lots of blood. But otherwise she was fine.
The Peace Corps sent her to a private hospital where she got standard American treatment in the emergency room AND THEN she went to a dentist office near the hospital for further care. That was an unbelievable experience! The dentist, John Gordon, had all the highest-end technology. Within minutes of entering the dental chair the doctor took an x-ray with a hand held camera; it appeared instantly on an adjacent computer screen and showed the clear break above the gum line of the twisted tooth. He told her what he could do in the long and short term which would involve seven long 5-6 hour one-way trips to Montego over 6 months in order to replace the tooth with an implant because the break was too high up for him to do a root canal and crown. Then he emailed the x-ray to “the Caribbean Endodontist”, Dr. Shasha Nallapati in Kingston. Three minutes later they were discussing the options over the phone and Nallapati said he’d have no problem doing the crown on a root so short. They decided to push the tooth back in place and splint the tooth using a thin wire [looks like a retainer] and clear laminate to hold tooth in place. The wire and laminate are now placed over the front four teeth until she heals and meets with Nallapati on July 7.
The story gets even better after that. Gordon then sewed up her lip with 8 stitches on the inside and one on the outside. He lasered the outer stitch and all the severely abrased areas on her face. He told her not to expect any scarring. Not only are there no scars, some of her wrinkles and age spots are gone [of course on only one side of her face]. One Peace Corps Volunteer who saw her two days after the accident and then at Treasure Beach a week later said she wants to start doing whatever Margaret is doing to heal so fast.
As a close to this saga, on our way to Treasure Beach Friday, Dr. Gordon called to see how she was doing. Never has a dentist done that for either of us in the USA. As a further example of how caring Jamaican’s are, each of the 37 other conference attendees [who had never met her before], at some point in the remaining day and half [she made it back for the afternoon session that day], made it a point to check on her and let her know how concerned they were about her. So, for a while she looked like a domestic abuse victim [when Gary first saw her the next day his first words were “you look horrible”-in JM they call it Mashed Up]; but with great treatment and lots of ice she’s nearly back to normal.
Wak Gud, Margaret & Gary
We spent 4th of July weekend there to gather with our fellow volunteers for a one year anniversary celebration for those of us who have survived thus far. From the original 52 who arrived with us a year ago (July 3rd) only 63% are left; 33 hardy souls remain.
But, back to Treasure Beach and its wonders: Peace and quiet; no loud music or barking dogs, day or night. Just a few healthy looking dogs wandering the streets, but, like the sheep of Wales; goats wander freely about the community. They all seem to be tagged and owned by someone and each one appears to know to which herd it belongs and where they collectively coalesce. No beggars. No sexual harassment or innuendos. In 48 hours we were only greeted with friendly ‘hellos’, ‘good mornings’, and the Jamaican “good evening” which is ‘good night’. Relatively little litter, probably not more than we see in America. The highlight of Saturday morning was a six mile walk where only three vehicles passed us. One was a small pick-up truck carrying large fishing pots out to the beach (see pix). The walk took us down a peaceful winding road that was above the Caribbean Sea all the way until it gradually made its way down to the sea…as we walked west the sea was on our left; to our right the land rose fairly dramatically with limestone outcroppings all along the way. Great restaurants with affordable prices; we ate at Jakes, probably the most well known, where the tail of a two pound lobster cost $15. Very private beaches and [it seems] beautiful beach front and ocean view properties still available.
All in all it was the first locale in JM (that really looks like Jamaica – and not a US resort) that we both agreed we’d like to go back to. It allows the visitor to simply relax as if they we’re visiting a private island, but at an affordable price. The cost of a round trip flight from NYC to Montego Bay is now $250 and with bus and taxi fares visitors can get to Treasure Beach for under $1,000 JM/person [~$12]. At the lovely guest house where we stayed it was $60 US/night and included an ocean view, a few rides to area locales, king sized bed in a large room, delicious English breakfasts [the gracious owner, Roger, is from the UK] with a Jamaican touch, internet service, and enough DVD’s to keep you entertained for months.
On another front Margaret was in Montego Bay two weeks ago for three days of training on “exclusive breast feeding”. The Jamaican Ministry of Health has made it a priority to get every mother to exclusively breast feed for the first 6 months and to continue breast feeding with complimentary feedings until at least age 2. Their purpose is to improve the health of both mother and child and reduce the ‘Nestle Impact’ which will also save precious $$$. It was three days of intense training with 38 very motivated and knowledgeable health professionals. These people will become the trainers of trainers throughout the island.
On the second morning Margaret went for a run at 5:30, tripped on one of the frequent rough spots in the sidewalks [she’d just picked up her pace in a modest attempt to challenge herself for the impending National Seniors Sports Day Championships], fell with her hands missing the street edge of the sidewalk where she was located, landing face first on the curb edge and rolling into the street. She hit the curb’s corner edge on a diagonal across her face from the right eye to the middle of her mouth. She broke her upper right front tooth, it passed through her lip, she had a knot the size of a golf ball above her right eye and lots of blood. But otherwise she was fine.
The Peace Corps sent her to a private hospital where she got standard American treatment in the emergency room AND THEN she went to a dentist office near the hospital for further care. That was an unbelievable experience! The dentist, John Gordon, had all the highest-end technology. Within minutes of entering the dental chair the doctor took an x-ray with a hand held camera; it appeared instantly on an adjacent computer screen and showed the clear break above the gum line of the twisted tooth. He told her what he could do in the long and short term which would involve seven long 5-6 hour one-way trips to Montego over 6 months in order to replace the tooth with an implant because the break was too high up for him to do a root canal and crown. Then he emailed the x-ray to “the Caribbean Endodontist”, Dr. Shasha Nallapati in Kingston. Three minutes later they were discussing the options over the phone and Nallapati said he’d have no problem doing the crown on a root so short. They decided to push the tooth back in place and splint the tooth using a thin wire [looks like a retainer] and clear laminate to hold tooth in place. The wire and laminate are now placed over the front four teeth until she heals and meets with Nallapati on July 7.
The story gets even better after that. Gordon then sewed up her lip with 8 stitches on the inside and one on the outside. He lasered the outer stitch and all the severely abrased areas on her face. He told her not to expect any scarring. Not only are there no scars, some of her wrinkles and age spots are gone [of course on only one side of her face]. One Peace Corps Volunteer who saw her two days after the accident and then at Treasure Beach a week later said she wants to start doing whatever Margaret is doing to heal so fast.
As a close to this saga, on our way to Treasure Beach Friday, Dr. Gordon called to see how she was doing. Never has a dentist done that for either of us in the USA. As a further example of how caring Jamaican’s are, each of the 37 other conference attendees [who had never met her before], at some point in the remaining day and half [she made it back for the afternoon session that day], made it a point to check on her and let her know how concerned they were about her. So, for a while she looked like a domestic abuse victim [when Gary first saw her the next day his first words were “you look horrible”-in JM they call it Mashed Up]; but with great treatment and lots of ice she’s nearly back to normal.
Wak Gud, Margaret & Gary
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