Your pencils are creating a health hazard. I could fall and pierce an organ

Peace Corps training is brutal. There is so much material to cover that we spend damn near 12 hours a day at the training area. We do get some breaks but overall the days are grueling. I understand that there is a ton of material to get through in a short time, but it doesn’t make the days go by faster. In fact at times I feel like Bill Murray in Groundhog’s Day because the scenery doesn’t really change, much of the information is repeated, etc. But all of the PCV (Peace Corps volunteers) say that training is the worst part of the experience. If that’s true Erin and I should have a pretty fun time.

Also I should not say all of training has been horrible. In fact most of our nights have been split up playing football (the soccer kind) with some Jamaicans, playing poker, and hanging out with new friends. In fact last night we ordered Dominos buy one get one free pizza, drank a Guinness, and watched Boondock Saints on the wall of our dorm courtyard on a projector we borrowed from PC staff. On the subject of Guinness… it is very different here. It is still dark and delicious, but the texture and taste are both different from other Guinness I have had. Red strip makes a stout called ‘Dragon’ something or other. It is not my favorite beer but its alcohol content is like 9% or something crazy which could account for the 'different' taste. I would like to note that here in Jamaica people don't really drink to get drunk. That would be socially unnacceptable. So I would just like to elaborate that we (Erin, Patricio, and the rest of our group 78) have been drinking responsibly, mainly just sharing a 6 pack amongst a few people to cool off from the heat.

There was a lot of debate before I left as to whether or not I should bring my nice sport coat. Well I ended up with it but will probably never wear it. At the end of August we will be swearing in and I will probably be dressed in a salmon-colored three piece suit with matching snakeskin shoes. I’ll give everybody a minute to come up with the visual… Alright so maybe not the salmon color but another volunteer Ryan, from KU, and I are heading to a tailor on Saturday to have suits custom made. And the remarkable thing about this is that the guy who had this done last year said it only cost about $5500 J (which is the equivalent of about $80 US). So I am pretty excited about showcasing my primo style at the $72 million dollar US embassy. I am actually posting twice tonight because I wrote the first one the day after Erin posted. Since then Prime Minister Portia Simpson-Miller, aka Sista P, announced elections. Erin and I should be able to wear green again by the middle of September. Woo Hoo!!

Patwa Lesson 2: There is no plural suffix for nouns. In English we would add an ‘s’ to the end of most words. But in Patwa they follow the noun with dem to show that it is plural. Here are some examples:
carts kyaart dem children pikni dem
boys bwai dem
Hope you enjoy the Patwa. I miss you all. “And that’s all I got to say about that”
Patricio