One week in Jamaica HARD TO BELIEVE!

Saturday May 23, 2009
Well I can’t believe that we have been here for a complete week. It has gone by so quickly. I am sure the next two weeks will go by just as quick. The locals somewhat know us now or at least know who we are and we are not hassled as much when we walk down the street. We stop and talk too many of them and always acknowledge them as we pass. Today we are going to the beach to the Travelers which is a small resort hotel on the beach. We are meeting with individuals with the NEET which stands for Negril Education Environment Trust; their goal is a book in every child’s hand and a computer in every classroom. They are having a Family Fun Fest tomorrow in order to raise money to pay the Jamaican import tax on the computers that have been donated and shipped; they will have rides, foods, game room for the children, a talent contest and more. We met with Mr. Winston a very nice man who came back to Jamaica to give back to the community. Another man that introduced himself is from New York City and he comes to Jamaica about four to five times a year. He was an engineer for the new New York Yankees baseball field. He is originally from Jamaica and he wants to give back to the people so he works with NAAP and makes his several trips a year. As we walked through Travelers to get our volunteer tee shirts we were just in ah of the place, hotel rooms on one side and small cottages on the other. The entry to the lobby just gorgeous! They had very reasonable prices on the food in the restaurant which is where we ate for lunch. BLT and french-fries a little taste from back home but on the best bread I have had. We were told that we could come there anytime which means it is a safe place for us to leave our belonging and use their facilities such as pool and showers. We were planning on doing the glass bottom boat but as we sat there watching the ocean down the beach from where we were setting a storm has rolled through. It was as dry I could be where we were but you could just see the wall of rain as it moved across the island into the ocean. We decided to reschedule for Wednesday morning because we seen some dark clouds coming over are way and we wanted to make sure that we would be able to see when we got out to snorkel. We were informed that we had free time so I volunteered at Travelers along with Pam and her son Cody wrapping gifts for the grab bag so every child will have a gift to take home, fishnets, marbles, pencils, pencil sharpener, plastic watering buckets and so much more. After doing this for a little over an hour we headed back to the roundabout in order to catch a taxi back to Summerset. Went down to the cliffs and went into Ricks Café, this is where a lot of tourists go and for me it was a little uncomfortable and I was ready to leave. Pam went to the bathroom and when she came out we left and went over to where the Jamaicans usually are looking into Ricks and we can see the divers while listening to the music. I took a few videos and some pictures of the divers so I hope to get some pictures posted soon with all the writing for the journals and the blog I have not had time to link anything. Saturday night dominoes getting pretty good learning how to count and block, the locals are amazed. Busy day tomorrow doing the volunteer work, we are splitting up into two groups with half of us going in the morning and the other half going in the afternoon and will be volunteering to work three hour shifts. I took the afternoon, not sure if the is going to be a wise choice or not. Well off to bed more about the weekend to come!