I live here. Just saying.I am done with the caring too much post. It was originally going to end on happy notes but I was so damn tired I couldn't write anymore.On to happier times: There are so many things to be happy about! The blog I wrote about last night was my attempt at externalizing something unsettling that I was making a conscious decision about. But there really is nothing I can do

Says my brother. Apparently, I am sensitive. Ya think! I care too much. I am too sensitive. I know these things. But, at the same time, I don't think that I want to not care. Maybe I couldn't accomplish as much if I were more apathetic. At the same time, my regulator seems a little out of whack.Case in point: There is a dog next door. Bubbles/Sophie/Spot. She is this sweet little dog

Man, sometime it gets away from me and I don't even realize it until I say something so stupid and insensitive. I am not a poor Jamaican. By Jamaican standards I am not a poor American in Jamaica. However, by my American standards, I am a poor American in Jamaica. Since I am American, although I try to be as open to learning and culturally aware as possible, I can make the stupid and

Market in Lucea, Hanover (pronounced Lucy)There are two ways to look at yesterday.1.) Little sleep happened. Stupid roosters at 2am. I could murder them, I really could, although I guess all I really fantasize about is finding them and kicking them, so maybe I wouldn't be able to kill them. A good kick. Stupid fucking roosters. On my way to work a car sped around Church Corner and narrowly

Ashley and ILiza, Me, Ashley, MeganMy weekend was awesome. Lots of play with lots of friends! My highlight was definitely the 15 mile bike ride along the ocean on back trails through the West End. It was me, Ashley, Keith, and Lindsay out for a day of adventure and adventure we had! We had to plow through giant scary cows that we felt threatened by, we got to lift our bikes over giant rock

Here I am, Thursday morning. Taking my time (should be getting to work in 7 minutes) getting ready. Half the time no one is even there until almost 9:30. The culture of late. Now I make it a point not to get in until 9:30 or so. A girl can only wait outside her work for 20 minutes so many times. The sun is out, not a cloud in the sky. I am sitting here listening to Ryan Adams, made some hot

Things I am grateful for:water pressurethe ocean across my streetaccess to grocery stores in my townmy fanmy hot water heaterblendertoasterroof space to hang my laundrydumb ass yard dog Lucky (keeps my bike from getting stolen)People here that look out for mefriends back home that listen to me and my ranting and ravingmy increased ability to stand up for myselfi can cookthe ten books on my shelf

Negril is soon to RECYCLE!I am sitting here eating whole wheat/festival mix/bran pancakes and sipping on my breakfast tea while listening to Derby on my awesomely loud speakers and typing this post online. I wonder if sometimes the reason I am going crazy is that this is all a tease of the life I used to live. Maybe if I didn't have all these amenities, I wouldn't feel so deprived of others!

A house on my walk to work. He listens to the radio all day and sells bag juice for $15 (about 20 cents) to kids. Bag juice is well, bags of juice that are sealed and you bite the corners and suck out the sugar and syrup water. TMISecrets...I don't really have any. Not really. I hate how they make me feel. I feel like of all the people I have and know in my life, if you put them all together

I should be sleeping, considering I only got three hours of sleep last night, but I am mixed with angst and excitement for my adventure to come! This is something that has never been done before. The Wallis clan...the Glaint, and the Wam, hitting the road for 5 whole days! We are going to see parts of the island that I haven't even seen yet. We are going to brave driving on the wrong side of

I have not blogged in a really long time and I have good reason. I have been busy! A busy little beaver. Because I have so much to report on, bare with me. I am going to have headers so you can come back if you need to!Wedding in Port Antonio, Portland, Jamaica, West IndiesThe first weekend back in town from my trip back home, I had to travel to the other side of the island to Port Antonio.

Life here is a struggle. I know. Look how I started this blog already. What a downer...psych! It is a struggle even when it is good. You know when you get off the phone from talking to a boy and you are all giddy and have to run around the house squealing (maybe I just do this...maybe I don't?). This sort of excitement and euphoria is so intense that you cannot contain it. What about when

On our way to hiking in the GorgeI haven't posted for a while. First, I have been in an emotional lull just trying to sort out why I am here, what I am going to accomplish, losing hope in the Jamaican way of life, etc...blah blah blah. Then, I went to Oregon for an amazing 12 day trip that I am still recovering from. Then, I got back and am getting into the swing of things.I have recently been

Today I wanted a treat and I was sooo thirsty so I went into the Hi/Lo and bought a large jug of sorrel juice. It is delicious and I am sad we don't have it in the states. I have had a few glasses throughout the evening and my last one was poured without enough attention. Apparently the glass had sat long enough to attract some mini ants and I filled it back up and began drinking before

As Grace and I were sitting at Easy Rock Cafe, enjoying our Blue Mountain coffee (my first cup for over a month and it was oh so good) we decided after seeing Rambo, an expat diver, that we also needed a pretty sweet bad ass name. Although we aren't built like Mr. T and don't have the bling, or the tattoos, we are still two intimidating mo foes. Grace said her name would have to be knuckles,

I have spent my Christmases since I can remember either in Oregon, or California. In the last 4 years however, I have spent Christmas in Thailand, Costa Rica, Portland, and now Jamaica. I have found an interesting pattern in my overseas vacations. The pattern is McDonalds, Taco Bell, and Burger King. I remember exactly what I ate. Double Cheeseburger meal at Mickey D's, bean and cheese

So...one of the organizations I am collaborating with is the Negril Coral Reef Preservation Society or NCRPS. When they have funding, and no organizations really have any funding right now, they do about 18 dives per month for coral reef monitoring. I spoke with the head ranger and he said that I could go sometimes if I got dive certified. So...thanks pops, I got dive certified! So I am

My blogs are dwindling. It isn't that I don't have much to say, but rather that I have had outlets recently to share them with so they aren't as pressing to squeeze them out here. Plus, I kind of look like an ass when all my blogs contradict themselves. This life can be an emotional roller coaster and I feel like I go up and down and back and forth, sometimes all in the same day. I'll feel

Last weekend was our Thanksgiving. Not Thursday. Saturday. It was wonderful. Over twenty volunteers made it to Negril to celebrate. I will admit though that my favorite guest was my very best friend Cecilia. Cecilia is officially my first visitor and I have asked her to write a blog that I can share with you that outlines her experiences here. It was a bit nerve racking having her here. I

I think I have learned my lesson. It happens every time. Every. Single. Time. Back story...Living in Jamaica is difficult. Living in Negril is especially difficult. The cultural differences are big. really big. (Side note:power just went out for second time in two days. Thank you charged iPOD and laptop) People talk about different things here. They dress different. They act different.

Me and a student. Tour at the Recycling Center. Something is happening to me here. This lifestyle is changing me. I am changing. It isn't bad. Sometimes it feels bad, but it is helping me transform into the person I know I can be. When you are in a social circle, or many, it is easy to get sucked in. It is fun and comfortable. I did that in Portland. I got cozy in my life and had no

So many things I don't blog about. There are lots of things I don't tell anyone about. They are just for me. Experiences that are so profound that it is amazing just thinking about it. No way to explain how something clicks, or makes sense, or you see something that puts so many things in perspective all at once. It is like a eureka moment on steroids. I dig it. There are things I do and

Probably. Well, yes. I spent the weekend in Santa Cruz with my darling friend Grace and was a little unhappy when I got home and had to deal with moldy clothes in my closet, moldy sheets, and moldy chair cover (which is actually also a sheet). Because it is always so moist, it is impossible to keep things dry (that's what she said) no matter how are I try. So, I spent the afternoon after a

President Obama,To you I pledge:- to support you as president, even in the face of scrutiny- to question your choices and keep myself informed as to the happenings of the world- to remain hopeful and positive even if I want to throw my hands in the air and give up- to do more than I have done and am doing to be a part of the change I want to see in the world- to be the best person I can be,

Here is a cultural lesson for you.America: Wow, Tami, you are getting fat.Me: You are an asshole.Jamaica: You are looking fatter than you were.Me: Thanks, that is so nice of you to say. (Although in my head it doesn't go that way.)In the states, you tell people that they have lost weight to compliment them. In America you want to be thin. Thin is healthy. Thin is not healthy in Jamaica.