I sense a kindred spirit in the frequency of honey usage! And lemongrass tea... ah...

I love Jamaican tamarind balls, but they are way less appetizing when I consider that tamarinds are also a sort of monkey.

It is too bad that the demonym for Munich is not Münchkin. Münchner is definitely cool, but not as cool as the alternative.

This post will be long. So I’ve broken it up into some sub-headings! trip home and matan’s wedding what I’ve been up to in Jamaica, generally speaking. Some more abstract thoughts on development politics politics politics Parting thoughts Trip home and Matan’s Wedding So, not long after posting my last “real” post (if posts about [...]

Every single day I see chickens. And every single day I see them crossing the road. And every single time I see this I think to myself, “why?”. (I sincerely apologize for the lameness of this joke and promise a real post soon).

Don't mind me. I'm just being frustrated by my own thesis, and reading little posts like this amuse me.

As of this week, the first of my training group are starting to close out their service in Ghana. It is really surreal seeing facebook status updates about their close of service. I guess it is really weird because an entire post will get “cos energy” when a group closes out, and even though no [...]

I am now the proud owner of the world’s most awesome toaster. It is possibly the cheapest toaster ever; also quite possibly the ugliest. But I made it, and I am very proud. First I went to the hardware store and purchase some galvanize steel wire that they call “rafting wire” because the Rio Grande [...]

I’ve done some more thinking about the Donald Trump–Oompa Loompa overlap, and I’ve stumbled upon something that I find quite remarkable. Granted, I have only once seen a single episode of “The Apprentice” but from this episode I gathered that the show follows this basic plot: A bizarre and eccentric capitalist who is prone to [...]

Good lord Donald Trump is an orange, orange man. Compare and I would like to see his long form birth certificate. I wonder if original surname was “Trumpa-Loompah”. The resemblance is, in any case, striking. Also, I think my pac-man boxers were swept up in the rapture. This makes me sad.

Today is Norwegian Independence Day. I’m not Norwegian, but growing up in Seattle, I’ve come to know and love no small number of Scandalnavians. Mostly though, today reminds me of the opening passage of Kon Tiki, a passage that I believe ranks as one of the greatest book openings of all time. It goes, Once [...]

Camden! This is a good story. The thing is, coming from Seattle, where rainy usually also implies chilly, it is hard to explain to people in the tropics that getting wet here is not that uncomfortable. Really.

Once upon a time, when I was studying in Mexico, I had a similar bus experience. It was at the very end of our trip, and I was en route to Mexico City, from which I would fly home in a few days. During the bus ride, it began to rain, and the rain slowly turned into a light drip-drip-drip onto me. (It remained a light dripping; it was not an ass-soaking flood like yours.) I looked around to see if there were other open seats, but there was only one, in the very back of the bus, far away from my friends with whom I was traveling. I'll be honest: I would have preferred not to get wet. But frankly, I didn't care that much. I mostly wanted to continue sitting with my friends. That's why I decided to stay where I was. But at one of the stops, the bus attendant noticed the leak and informed me that I was allowed to move. I said thanks, but I'd rather stay. Let me point out that this conversation was happening in Spanish. While my accent may be atrocious, my comprehension level at the end of that trip was fine. I understood every word he was saying, and my answers couldn't have been that difficult to understand. Still, Mr. Attendant dude decided that I didn't understand him, so he told me again, louder, that I could move. (Tangent! If someone can't understand you because they don't speak your language well enough, please try speaking slower, not louder.) Dude: You can move to another seat. Me: No thanks, I'd rather sit here. Dude: You don't understand. There's water dripping on your head. Me: Yes, I do understand. There is water dripping on my head. But I would rather sit here than any of the open seats. Dude: No, you don't understand. There is water dripping on your head. It's not going to stop. Move to a different seat. Me: Of course I know there's water dripping on my head. But I'm staying. Dude, authoritatively: Move. Me: No. Dude, angrily: You don't understand... Me, interrupting: Oh yes I do. At this point the guy threw his hands in the air, made an exasperated huff, and started storming off. And then, a miraculous thing happened. You see, it turns out that there is a crazy alpha male buried deep inside of me. He doesn't come out often, but he's there, waiting. Usually it takes an argument with my father to bring him to the surface, but for some reason that day the insinuation that I was getting wet because I was ignorant was enough to unleash him. Unfortunately, my inner alpha male doesn't speak Spanish. So... yeah. As the dude was walking away from me, I got up and attempted to "communicate". It went something like this: Me: Sí, yo enTIENdo perfectaMENTE, you STUPID ! HOW DARE YOU TREAT ME LIKE A CHILD! YOU ! You will leave me alone and… Of course by this point the entire bus was staring at the completely crazy tall white dude who was allowing himself to be dripped upon and screaming obscenities in English. The dude's eyes were wide and he was backing away from me as though I might attack him. And my friends literally grabbed me, pulled me back into the seat, and told me to shut up. My anger persisted through the next several minutes as I mumbled obscenities under my breath. But eventually I regained control. And the attendant didn't speak with me again.

It was a component of a mid-service conference and In-service training for the group that swore in a year ago. It was a training in identifying strategies for developing communication that could effect certain types of behavior change. We looked at condom use as a case study and critiqued different outreach materials and methods that are part of the safe sex campaign. We then worked in groups to think about behaviors we would like to change in target groups. Examples were getting people to properly dispose of plastic bottles, getting coffee farmers to use organic fertilizer instead of chemicals, getting teens to practice family planning, etc. Despite some issues, the workshop as a whole was pretty valuable. It ties in nicely to my extension project. And thinking for two days about reducing plastics in the environment definitely focused my approach a little bit.

Funny story, but that's beside the point: WHAT is a behavior change training?

Having the name “Raz” in the United States (or Jamaica for that matter) has meant that throughout my life, I have not really had much need for nicknames. My name is weird enough as it is and most nicknames are just variations on Raz; Razi, Razeleh, Razzyfazzy etc. But there is one nickname that I [...]

Erev Pesach, 5771. Pesach in Peace Corps is always a little weird. I’m not really wandering or in exile. Nor am I exactly home. This year I’m the quasi-wandering Jew! I could write some long expository post on the nature of exile and diaspora, being as I am in a nation that (for better or [...]

You are most welcome. Ann Silvera called me to say that she also found this post hilarious. I saw nothing funny about this when I posted last night, but given a nights sleep and a morning that dawned as clear and bright as this one did, I'm beginning to find the event hilarious, albeit still disgusting.

Thanks for the early morning humor. My day has started off propa! :-)

I have a pretty peaceful relationship with the various animals (toads, lizards, and most insects) that share my house with me. Mosquitoes I hunt with a vengeance, and animals that are MAJOR disease vectors (rats, mice, kids covered with snot) I make a point of keeping outside the house. I’ve had a pretty good relationship [...]

Blogging in Peace Corps is haaaaaard. (not really. I have no good excuse). Things are going well though. I went to Michigan in late December and officiated one of my best friend’s wedding on New Years Eve in a beautifully decorated greenhouse in Northern Michigan. Then mom and my stepdad came to visit in late [...]

skhizein (σχίζειν, “to split”) and phrēn, phren- (φρήν, φρεν-; “mind”) I’ve never had much cause to use the word “schizophrenia” in any sort of clinical sense. But I find the etymology incredibly powerful. Split mind. Split mind. I’ve been of a bit of a split mind of late. Years ago, I lived right across the [...]

After a very long day of travel following a wonderful whirlwind fortnight in Philly and Alaska to see my mom and brother, I checked my email last Tuesday and discovered that a favorite professor from the University of Washington had died the previous day. As I flew on a red-eye from Anchorage to Minneapolis the [...]

Erev Rosh Hashanah, 5771. I tend to get even more contemplative than usual around this time of year. I think some part of me is still on the academic calendar. Perhaps I simply find autumn a fitting time to reflect. Perhaps the Jewish calendar resonates within me more strongly than I realize. I like to [...]

I’m in Philadelphia visiting my brother for a few days before the two of us go up to Alaska to see our mom for a week. It has been pretty great being here. Full of reverse culture shock and sorta difficult at moments. But also full of serendipity, great interactions with known and unknown people, [...]

About a month ago, my closest neighbors up the valley (a delightful couple named Jesse and Josh) had their close of service and returned stateside. They gave me dibs on their papasan chair and I would have been a fool to not pounce on the opportunity to own such a comfortable piece of furniture. There [...]

Birthday was wonderfully low key. As happened last year in Nkwanta, the weather was incredibly stormy and rainy so much of the day was spent indoors or scurrying around the gushing streets. This weekend is a little get-together at Long Bay for a small group of volunteers. Otherwise. Spent the morning yesterday at the homeless [...]

It is my birthday. Going to porti in the morning to help paint a homeless shelter, hang out with a few volunteers, and meet a new response volunteer. It feels so great so spend this birthday feeling settled and calm. Last year my birthday was the day before I returned to Agou-Fie and discovered my [...]

I swore in a year ago today. I cannot believe it has been a year since that morning when my family gave me a shirt and I took an oath while sweating through the starch. What a crazy year. Raz and Opie wearing our awesome shirts Head swimming with thoughts about decisions made, decisions to [...]

They say of truisms that they are so obvious they are hardly worth mentioning. From a strictly logical perspective, this may well be true. Even so, i think there are some things that merit frequent mention simply because to forget them is to do a major disservice to our humanity. Example: This world can use [...]

By virtue of the weirdness of the phone network here, it is actually cheaper for me to call US and Canadian numbers than it is to call my Jamaican brother across the island. This does facilitate lovely talks with people from home now and again, including a lengthy chat I had with my friend Mackenzie [...]

I sent my first mass email yesterday after almost one year silence on the mass email front.  I think one weird effect of the panoply of communication avenues of the day is that I really do not know how much of me is known by how many. This is to say, I am not sure [...]

I’ve had it with livejournal (sellout) and blogger (lame). So now i am with wordpress. Both my livejournal and blogger blogs are accessible through my blogroll in the sidebar, but I am through with both services. this is much better. Incidentally, all posts older than this on are imported from my livejournal blog (wordpress is [...]

Cross posted with my blogger blog **************************************** A political situation that has been slowly stewing here in Jamaica for almost a year completely exploded last week and has in the past few days made headlines around the world. If you read no further, know that I am safe. Peace Corps always stresses that volunteer safety [...]

If there is hell, I hope there is a special place reserved in hell for the asshole who started the myth that roosters only crow at dawn. I have news for you, urban dwellers who have never been around a cock in your life: Roosters crow whenever the hell they feel like it. I actually [...]

For some reason (laziness mostly) I have kept the predictive text feature on my phone turned on. In the past this has led to some pretty amusing discoveries; such as the time I tried to write “guacamole” but my phone decided upon the term “hubbanoke”. Not knowing what a “hubbanoke” is I nevertheless tried to [...]

Is it bad that I use this blog to publicly ponder random things going on in my head as much or more than I use it to provide a glimpse into the exotic and titillating life of a Peace Corps volunteer? I promise I will write more about Jamaica. But right now I want to [...]

This is my last night as a resident of Port Royal. Tomorrow morning I move to Moore Town in Portland Parish. This is a maudlin occasion. I am excited to get working on my next project, but I am realizing just how settled into the life I have become here. This all got me thinking [...]