JAMAICA Field Study

GOODBYE

2009-07-22T17:36:00.000-07:00

Saturday June 6, 2009
Well today is it we head home. Dale stopped by early to say goodbye because he was heading out of town to go to school that he goes to every Saturday for computers. We talked for awhile and then gave each other a hug and said we would see each other when I return. I have everything packed and did one final sweep of my room. Went and had breakfast and took my time eating. After breakfast I found Pauline our wonderful housekeeper. I gave her the cell phone that had been issued to me and a few bags that I had left along with razors for her and her girls. I gave her a big hug and told her that I would miss her. I then took the remaining bags to the restaurant and passed them out. Everyone was so appreciative and the workers were giving us all hugs. I went back to the Thatch House and brought my luggage downstairs. The van and car arrived to take us to the airport. Boomblast was there and would not let anyone pick up the luggage. He carried every bit of it to the car and gave us all hugs before we loaded into the van. He informed all of us that he would miss us but it was not goodbye only see you later. Two vehichels one for the luggage and Libby and the van for the rest of us. Much better then just the van for the arrival - we actually had room. As the van pulled out onto the street the tears started. I will truly miss this place and the people that I have met.

I hope you have enjoyed following me on my field study. This has been one of the most amazing experiences that I have had. It has made an impact on my life in ways that even at my age will change my view of things. This is what a true field study involves being one with the community you are working with. Till my next trip – Peace.
ONE LOVE

Friday - The Big Party and Last Supper!

2009-07-22T17:35:00.000-07:00

Friday June 5, 2009

Well I did not sleep good last night – I am thinking it is because I have so much going around in my head. Our time here is almost over and I have to say I will really miss this place, my roommates, the friends I have made and my instructors. I went to breakfast and after eating Rebeckah and I head to town to shop. We walked first to stop at a shop that Dustin had told us about for candles. I picked up a few there and then we caught a taxi. We went into some shops tee shirts, hats, shot glasses, beach towel, beach bag (which I used to carry everything in), Rum cake, and rum, that took care of buying for my kids and husband. Power shopping is what we did. The only thing that I brought for myself was the beach bag which was large enough to put everything into. After yesterday I felt as though I did not need anything for myself. We made it back to summerset in time to change and leave for our party. We made it to Chances which is right on the beach. Leon was already there and the students started arriving. The pizza’s were order and while we were waiting on the pizza’s we all got together and each of us took our turn call our students up to hand them their gift bags with their story in them. It was emotional with hugs given by everyone. Once we gave our gifts out our students presented us with a magazine Jamaican Eats which they will be selling as a fundraiser for the school. It was a great day we set and ate pizza and the students read their stories. Nikki had some corrections for hers and I felt bad that I did not have the time to spend with her. I should have made time to set down with her even if it was after the day we were doing the final review to see if the corrections that I had made were correct. Dustin worked with her and got the corrections made that she wanted and we had a few corrections to do on Kerean’s but it was minor compared to Nikki’s. I met Otis who was a student from last year who came to the party. We took lots of pictures and even some with the students in the Jamaican Bobsled that was setting at the entrance of Chances. I talked to the Reverend for awhile and listened to her about a book she wants to do. It sounds really interesting because she wants to find out why women from other countries come over here and hook up with a Jamaican man who takes them for everything they have and then leaves them. When she puts her mind on a project she somehow makes it happen. I will be watching for her book and she was trying to think of a title that would catch the eye such as the Devil in Paradise. I will try to keep in touch with her to find out if she has started the project. After eating and visiting Jennifer, Dwayne, Otis and I headed to town because I promised Dwayne that I would by him a pair of shoes before leaving. We walked to town – yes I said walked, it took a good hour or at least that is what it seemed. We made it to the shop before they closed and he picked out a pair of tennis shoes – promise kept. We headed back and when we got to the round-a-bout I informed them we were taking a taxi. Back to Chances we headed. Some of the students had left but there were still some there. Ian and the cook had shown up while we were gone. We said our good-buys to the remaining students and I think Dave had the hardest time. We were both crying and hugging each other. We all started walking down the beach – am I crazy or what more walking! We made it to the round-a-bout and all of us had decided to go the Naturals for our final dinner in Negril. We were setting in front of the bank because Rebeckah was in line for the money mover. Both of the Dwayne’s, Otis, Ian and the cook went with us. We contacted Dustin and Libby and they were watching their last sunset and would meet up with us. We had our complete group together for our final dinner in Negril. It was truly a great night. I left with Jennifer and headed back to Summerset giving hugs before leaving. Once at Summerset I helped Dale set up a facebook account and sit and talked to Boomblast for the last night. I will defiantly miss Boomblast and the mangoes he would bring me. The girls sat on the veranda and talked to Ian and the cook and I decided that I needed to start to pack. I went up stairs and pulled out my luggage but decided I was not ready. I played my Jamaican mixed CD and sat out on the veranda from my room for awhile. Around 1:00 am I started packing because I could not sleep. Got that done! - Well tomorrow I will have to say good-buy to this place that I have come to love. One Love

Thursday - Free Day !

2009-07-22T17:32:00.000-07:00

Thursday June 4, 2009
Slept well – after all the walking over the last two days and pushing myself to the limit I am really feeling good today. Got up and set on the veranda for a while then went down to the restaurant for breakfast. I decided to just lay out by the pool for the morning. The temperature is hot that is about all I can say for being so early in the day. I plan on meeting Dustin and Dwayne at Theodora to go see Dwayne’s house at noon. No one was ready to go into town so I did not have a buddy to go with. Dustin called and told me to go ahead and come on my own. We have a rule and no one leaves without a buddy so I was relieved when I got the permission to go. I took a taxi to the round-a-bout and made my way up the road to Theodora. Dustin, Dwayne and I went and got lunch and then headed to Dwayne’s house. We walked up the road – yes after all the walking I did the last two days I am doing it again and it is up hill. I am not sure what I was thinking but I told Dwayne that I wanted to see his house. We went through a neighborhood and passed a cemetery where a group of individuals were there to dig a grave. After walking a good half hour we made it up the road to where the water tower is on the left. Dwayne said to turn around and I was just blown away by the view. This is what he sees everyday walking to school. The beautiful blue ocean and the beach can clearly be seen – I could wake up to this every morning. We walked further up the road and off to the right was a dirt road that we took and finally made it to his house. He built it with his own hands going to the jungle to cut trees to use. He had a small shack on the land that he had captured and individuals from the school help him with getting some of the material that he needed such as zinc. The house was a faded blue with a veranda that he had built like a ladder to get up to it. He still needs to build steps but this works for now. It is just one room with a bed on one side of the room. He is so proud of this I am just amazed that he was able to build this with the few tools that he has. I met his dog Charlie who has markings that resemble a Dalmatian. He has some beautiful flowers planted and is trying to grow a garden for food. For him to wash his clothes he walks down the road to the water tower and uses the hoses that are hook up to the outlet. He does not have running water or electricity but he has manages. I realize how materialistic things that we take for granted are truly a luxury here for some individuals. I think this has changed me in so many ways. I believe that I will question myself before buying things from now on. Do I really need this or not. We headed back a stopped by the water tower. Dustin climbed up the ladder on the side of the tower and took pictures of the view. We then headed back and took a taxi back to summerset. I relaxed for a while and spet some time with Boomblast. He took me around the grounds of Summerset which in all the time I had been there I never wonder around and only seen it from the Thatch house. There is another section of Summerset across the street and we walked over there and then around the back side of the property where we were staying. He showed me the mango tree – now I know where the mangos are coming from. He explained the different trees and what fruits they would bare or what nut they produced. He has come along way from what I understand from last year and I will miss him. Around 7:00pm we all met at the Thatch house to do gift packs for the students. Tomorrow we are having a party at Chances a pizza restaurant on the beach. My office donated backpacks which we used to put all the gifts in. Between all of us we had razors, toothbrushes, toothpaste, deodorant, pens, pencils, calculators, playing cards, post-it, and tee shirts. It started getting comical trying to figure out how to fill the bags so we laid them out with the number of students and then started laying the gifts on top of them. We were short a toothbrush so that one got two tubes of toothpaste – we hope they have a toothbrush. We tried to make sure they were as equal as we could get them. We also had folder for each one of them which we put their story in that was printed. We all worked together to determine the size of tee shirt that our students would need. Once we got that completed we sat and talked for awhile. It is hard to believe that we will be leaving Saturday morning. I still have not done any shopping so I hope to go first thing in the morning before our party with Rebeckah who has already been shopping and can point me to some shops. Peace for now – tomorrow will be a sad day having to say our good-byes to the students and the Reverend and teachers.

Wednesday - Caledonia

2009-07-22T17:24:00.000-07:00

Wednesday June 3, 2009
First one to bed and the first one up, and I sat and just listened. You could hear the animals but no traffic it was so peaceful. I had a cup of tea made from what I believe she called lemon grass – it was lemon flavor - vert soothing. Libby and I walked down the road and got buns and a pineapple for everyone for breakfast. Walked along the road right by the ocean, amazing! We went back and waited for the others to get up. We met Ian along our walk and he came back with a young man who has been there for almost two years working with the Peace Core. He has another six weeks and then he leaves. We had a really good talk that morning with everyone about all different subjects. But it was time to travel on. Now Dustin told us that today would be nothing like yesterday that we would not be walking through the bush like that. I still wore long lightweight pants. I am not taking any changes today. My shoes were still a little wet so I waited till we got to Caledonia before putting them on. The drive was crazy – all the hairpin curves driving up the mountain but along the way the view was something else. We made it to Caledonia and we stopped at the place where Dustin had stayed while he did a semester long study abroad. The land is just beautiful and the view is breathtaking. After making our way back through the field we walked across the street to a path that would take us further up the mountain to where Rocko lives. We made it up the mountain and seen a house that was on top of the cliff that we were walking on. Dustin yelled for Rocko and we headed up the limestone steps that led up to his house. Rocko is a Rosta who has hosted students at his place and Dustin got to know him during his semester long stay when he was an undergraduate student. We met up with him and climbed up the cliff behind his house. There he has two small huts built for student to stay in. They have a front and back door with a veranda that has a view that you would not believe. Two beds and a hammock hangs that can be used hangs in the corner. If you want to get back to nature and experience total peacefulness this is the place to go. We then grouped together and started our hike to where he farms in the mountain. Up and up we go taking a path that becomes narrow with a straight drop to our left. I thought I was in shape but it was difficult for me to keep up but I was determined to make it. I was not the only one who was having trouble keeping up so I did not feel so bad. I am not sure this was easier then the walk in the bush – after all I am not the youngest student. We made it to his farming area. We tasted cucumbers off the vine – amazing. I cannot imagine what it takes to farm in the mountain. In the area that he farmed he had it laid out to get the most value out of it. There was a small shed for shelter for when the rain comes. After with him about his process we headed further up the mountain to an open field and took a seat on the ground. We listened to him talk about their way of life and took in the view that we were given the privilege to see. A ganga field could be seen in the distance – it was a young field. After our talk we headed back down the mountain to his house where they had made lunch for us. We had cucumber juice which was very different but I liked it. We said our goodbyes and thanked him for his hospitality and headed back down to our ride. We headed back to Negril to Summer Set. After being in the peace and quite for the last two days it seemed so hectic when we made it back to Negril but seeing the big letters spelling out Negril made me feel back at home. Totally exhausted I had dinner and stayed at the Thatch house working on catching up on my blog. Totally frustrated I think I may have deleted pictures that I wanted to post so I will have to do some serious searching on my computer. Tomorrow is a free day and I hope to go see Dwayne;s home. All I have is goodnight –I know I will sleep well tonight.

Tuesday Belmont

2009-06-05T05:30:00.000-07:00

Tuesday June 2, 2009
Today we traveled to Belmont. We left Summerset around 9:30 am and said goodbye to Pam, Cody and Carrie because their flight leaves on Wednesday. The remaining seven of us loaded in a van driven by Bigger whose place we will be spending the night at. The drive was the same route that we took to Mayfield falls except for a different turn after going through Savlamar. The scenery was as always gorgeous but the poverty could be seen all around. Along the way their were small road side shacks that were bars, stores, souvenir shops, and homes; which ranged from some very nice homes to some shanties. We reached Belmont which is a fishing village and the ocean is right there. The first thing that I noticed was the quietness of the place. We are use to all the hustle and traffic around Negril that when we arrived it was like getting back to nature. No one hassled you to buy anything it is a very quite community, and so relaxing. During our visit we did a bushwalk to see how the Jamaicans farm. It was quite interesting, Ian was our guide, he is a Rasta who farms in Belmont. We walked to his farm which was mostly flat but it was still mountain climbing. It is interesting that if the land has any fruit tree on it you cannot farm the ground because that means that it belongs to someone. So they use machetes and axes to clear the land. The problem with the land here is that there is so much limestone so clearing an area can be difficult. During the eight hours we spent in the bush – and I do mean eight hours, the walk to his farm was close to an hour walk. Along the way he pointed out different fruit bearing trees, herbs that they use for different elements, a charcoal burn pile; which they sell for money, and a natural spring. The path getting to his farm was fairly easy and you will understand why I say this after I explain the entire trip. Along the way we saw ganja growing one for seeds the other was just female plants. It was just amazing going up the mountain, but I did not realize what a mountain was yet. As we walked there are paths that we were able to follow which made this part of the journey much easier – again just wait. I had to stop along the way as these legs just are not as strong as they use to be and the elliptical did not get me in shape for this. With sweat dripping from me from places I never new I could sweat we made it to the flat areas of his farm and all I could remember is that he does this about two to three times a day – no wonder these mountain people are in such good shape. He had banana trees, yams, ackie, pumpkin, squash, watermelon, bread fruit trees, pimento trees which are the only tree that they use every part of, and so much more. He had one of his friends up at the site with a fire going with bread fruit roasting. A small protection shelter was built to keep cover during rain, which we had while we were there so we all huddled up to keep dry. The cook made some of the most amazing soup and some of us had tea while other tried the fresh squeezed lime juice. The soup was made from everything from his garden. It had pumpkin, yams, potatoes, carrots, bread fruit, boiled in water. Coconut milk was added and then we made dumplings to drop in the soup. I loved it he had a pepper in it that gave it a little kick but he took it out before serving. I do not think I have ever had soup that was hot all the way to the bottom but this was. We talked about the barrels that he has which he catches rain water in order to water his crops; otherwise, he carries water from the natural spring in order to keep his garden growing. They do not use the same land each year when farming because they do not want to pull all the nutrients out of the land so each year they have different land that they try to clear but as long as the land has a fruit tree on it another farmer cannot farm that land, so they always have another part that had been cleared in an earlier year to go to. Now although I say the land was flat it was not a smooth surface at all. You had to watch every step and as we walked I kept seeing these large holes I finally asked about them because I was not sure what was living in them. Crabs are what I formed these holes and we were to go crabbing later in the day so I was wondering exactly how you go crabbing. After the rain stopped we headed out. He took us a shortcut – so he said – and we walked through the bush with him using his machete to cut down as we walked. It is amazing that he knew where we were going because we walked for miles. We were all wondering how this could be a short cut but we got the full experience of what they go through. This is a path that he takes but he had not been this way in over two years so imagine the overgrowth. I had a few choice words along the way especially getting caught in a sticker bush. We were all trying to help each other and it was truly a team bonding experience. We made it to the road after what seemed to be twice as long as it took to get to his farm. My leg was bleeding from scratches, but I was not the only one and we kept wondering how this was a short cut. We walked down the road a little way and came to a small river that runs from the mountain. So down to the river we went and I tried to walk on the river bed but the rocks were killing my feet so I put my tennis shoes back on and got them soaking wet. There were some amazing places that you could place yourself along the different falls get totally relaxed. The water in some of the areas was ice cold but it was like getting a massage and it felt wonderful after the bush walk we just had. As we started up the different levels there were two local having sex against the full body fall. She at least put her clothes back on while we passed. After going through the water Libby called Bigger to pick up us. We were so relieved. We got back and we were all exhausted. Bigger’s wife made dinner for us which we all enjoyed. Crabbing out of the question I don’t think any of us had the energy to walk any further. I was the first to turn in for the evening; all I can say is what a day. – RESPECT (so appropriate for this experience as I have all the respect in the world for what they do on a daily basis). Tomorrow Caledonia.

Mayfield Falls

2009-06-04T05:47:00.000-07:00

Monday - Free Day

2009-06-04T05:35:00.000-07:00

Monday June 1, 2009
Today is a free day all day. I chilled out at the Thatch house all morning trying to get caught up with my writing. Had breakfast and went back to writing. I had lunch here and then Pam, Cody and I caught a cab and went to Margaretville. This was the same cab driver that we had going to Mayfield Falls so it was great. We decided to be tourist in the smallest of ways. We met up with Libby and Carrie who had left earlier that morning. We were given a lounge chair and chilled out watching the boats pull couples doing parasailing. They had trampolines out on the water which of course we had to try. Spending time on the beach with the beautiful blue water is fantastic; I don’t think I have seen water this clear and blue before. A rain shower started so we went up and took a seat in the cabana. Cushions and pillows – it was so comfortable. We had a Jamaican man who came up to us wanting to sell us bracelets and rings. He was making them out of telephone wire and it was quite interesting to watch him. He gave us each a ring to say welcome to Jamaica and in turn we all gave him a 100j. Pam, Cody and I stayed until the sun set and then we walked the beach back to the roundabout to catch a taxi. The walk was wonderful. Hardly anyone was on the beach, the waves coming to shore, the music playing and the lights of Negril shining in the distance. I could get so use to this. We made it to the roundabout and caught a taxi – I got dropped off at brown sugars because that is where Dustin was. We stayed at this little shop for a while. Ms. Mae – who has had a stroke, runs it. We talked to a local that Dustin had become good friends with when he was an undergraduate student. In the early 1990’s there was little traffic here and very few taxis. It is hard to imagine how much things have changed here in such a short amount of time because the cars are everywhere now. You use to ride bicycles to get around and now I would be scared to death to try and ride a bicycle down the main road. The talk was quite interesting and I loved listening to him. Libby, Dustin and I were the last to leave, we caught a taxi and back to Summerset we headed. Was really tired and still had to pack for our next two days. We leave around 9:30 – 10:00 Tuesday morning for Belmont and then on to the mountains on Wednesday. A change of scenery will be nice but I will miss our house and the people we see everyday. New journeys are always interesting so I am looking forward to it. Peace.

Sunday Service

2009-06-04T04:16:00.000-07:00

Sunday May 31, 2009
Up early – no surprise. Today we are going to church as there is a special presentation for Reverend Doctor Fowler. She has completed her Phd degree and is being honored. We leave Summerset at 10:30 and head to the church which is right by the school. A small church made of stone – nothing fancy. Services finally start and we are all welcomed, everyone was so nice and accepting of us. The service was a little longer then what I had expected. A walk down the isle to shake hands with everyone, singing of hymens, following scripture reading, we made it through the service and after words they had a big buffet put out for the occasion. A lot of the students that we had been working with came so we got to spend a little more time with them. We headed back to Summerset and the time was around 3:30 so the service and lunch had taken up most of the day, so we went back to Summerset and relaxed before going out for a group dinner. Dwayne came and went down to Yvonne to make fish and crackers, since we were having a group dinner I had to pass but asked him to bring some back to me because I really wanted to try it he is an amazing cook. We went to a small eatery not far from us on the main road. I am about the only one on the trip eating meat so I had the fish and as always it was excellent. As we were setting there Dwayne, Pam and Cody were walking by and he dropped off a container to me – fish and crackers – when I got back to Summerset I shared them with Boomblast. It was really good to my surprise – the crackers are steamed with the fish to make them soft but they hold up somehow and you put the fish on them. I ate a few and let Boomblast finish it. We talked for awhile, and then I turned in for the night. Learning about culture by immersing yourself into another culture and being accepted by that culture to let you into their lives if just amazing. I have come to know so many people here and I am already realizing that with less then a week to go it is going to be hard to say goodbye. Yah Man!

Mayfield Falls - Saturday

2009-06-01T22:51:00.000-07:00

Saturday May 30, 2009
Mayfield falls today. We left around 10:30 and drove for about an hour and a half. Driving towards the mountains was just beautiful. We had a van and a car that took all of us. Pam, Carrie, Cody and I all went in the car with the other six in the van. The sites were something else and we went through several small towns. The one thing that I noticed is that they still use the really large dish here for their televisions. They do not have the small dishes like we now have for Direct TV or Dish TV and they seem to be everywhere. We seen small shanty’s all along the way along with some beautiful homes and one that was built in a tree that someone actually lives in. Our driver was great and pointed out the different trees that they get food from such as Bread Fruit, Mango, Banana Trees, Pecan Trees, Orange Trees and so many more. He explained so much to us and his wife was from the area that we were traveling through in the mountains so he seemed to know everyone. We seen pineapple growing along the road and Pam made the comment that she thought they grew on trees; I have to admit that I too was unaware of them growing on the ground. We all had a good laugh. Air Supply playing and we were all singing along and having a great time. We passed farming land where you seen sticks in neatly arranged rows with vines growing on them along the hillside. They were yams and they do this to keep the vines from spreading. We went from a paved road to a gravel road that every once in a while had some more pavement. Along the way the drivers pulled off to show us the pumping stating that pushes the water to the people. A lot of the community members in the mountains do not have water running directly to their houses so we seen a lot of them carrying large jugs to the water spout to get their water. Many of them go down to the creek to bath. There were about 15 or so as we were leaving getting ready to get into the creek. Finally a sign the states This Way to the Real Mayfield Falls. Up a gravel road to the top the scene was just amazing. We all loaded out of the vehicles and headed down a steep hill to the collection of small buildings. Going down was easy but I was dreading the walk back up. We paid for our entry fee and I rented water shoes. They now have Crocks that they rent out which Dustin said is much better than what they had last year. After changing and having all of our belongings locked up we headed out with two guides and an individual who was taking pictures and video taping us. We walked across a bamboo bridge which was quite interesting and then down some very narrow steps. We made it to the riverbed. There is so much tree cover that you did not need to worry about sun screen. The water was cold but once in it felt great. We made our way up the river through all the rock bed. There were some large rocks so you had to really watch your footing. The power of the water would push you back as you tried to mover forward. As you walked it would get deeper and before we knew it the water was over our heads in some places. We stopped at an area were we could jump off a small hill into the water – oh I tried everything. There were spots that you could try and hold your position while the water flowed down on top of you. It felt great on the neck but trying to hold your place was difficult because the current of the water coming down was so forceful. One of our guides was crazy, but he knew where every deep spot was and he would take off running and dive in. The amazing part about him was he did not wear any shoes I guess he was just use to it. We came to a spot where they had two different platforms in a tree. One of the platforms was at a reasonable height but the other one actually scared the crap out of me watching these guys jump. I know it was a deep pocket of water but it is still a river bed and rocks were close to the area that they were jumping and diving into. We then got to another area that has small caves you can swim throw and yes I had to try this also. I had my contact in so opening my eyes was out of the question so the guide counts to three pushed you under the water and then gives you a shove through the rocks and follows behind you. So much fun we were all laughing and cheering each one on. Not everyone tried it all but we loved watching each other. This would be the perfect first trip for a group coming because it builds team work you are constantly helping each other through the river bed and up small inclines to move forward. We made it to the biggest falls where you can walk under them and then come out with the force of the water all around you. We were able to get everyone behind the falls it was great. On the walk back Rebeckah, Jennifer and I were walking with one of the guides and he was showing us all the plants that they use as herbal medicine and explained what they were used for. There is one plant it looks like a really small fern that when you tough it the leaves close up towards the stem. He explained that owners of slaves would put this around their property and if a slave tried to run off it gave them a direction of where to go and they could follow these plants to capture the slave. Ganja growing wild and then we stopped and he went and picked us some apples. They were red apples but completely different from what we have at home. They are a pear shape and have a completely different texture and are tart similar to a Granny Smith. Had a blast at Mayfield falls and we decided to get the Video and Pictures that they took. Between all of us it will only be $10.00 a person so that is not too bad. One the drive home the driver stopped and we talked to a lot of locals. They had had a funeral and a lot of them were walking back home. One of the little girls just wanted to touch me, I don’t think they see many white people in the mountains. It was and amazing trip but we were all exhausted as walking through the current of the water just really wore you out. We relaxed coming back to Summerset then left for dinner. The walk was long and we passed several places that we had ate at before but tonight we went to Three Dives, and along the walk we were on one side of the road and passed by a few bushes and trees. As I went past one tree I realized that there was someone sitting on the wall, I only caught a glimpse of him out of the corner of my eye, it was really eerie. But we made it and as always the local food was excellent and I am so hooked on the jerk seasoning. I ordered two pounds of it from Gladstone and when he delivered it on Friday the smell of it was everywhere. I gave one pound of it to Dwayne one of the students at Theodora who is an excellent cook – after all he made the fish tea which is soup here. We made the long walk back to Summerset and in for the night. Tomorrow we will be attending church because they are having a special service for Reverend Fowler as she is now addressed as Reverend Doctor Fowler. Two weeks it is hard to believe – the time is passing so quickly!

It's Friday :)

2009-06-01T21:45:00.000-07:00

Friday May 29, 2009
The final day working on the project has finally come. We are all expected to stay at Theodora until all the editing is completed. You know the routine by now – so let me tell you what we see during our drive. We are one block from the Ocean and the road we take runs along the shore line so we see it all the way through the building and small shacks. Some of the taxi drivers are crazy drivers on the roads, passing with cars coming towards them. Bicyclers and walkers on the road that is barely big enough for two cars. When trucks unload they are on the road because there is not a lot of room for them to pull off. With all the people on bicycles I am really glad that I am not driving – some of you know my driving record with individuals on bicycles! We arrive at Theodora and it is just us with no students. We all head into the computer lab and start buckling down. Once we have a draft done we give it to two students to edit. Look through the edits and make corrections where we feel they need to be made. We want to make sure that the student’s story is told in their own words so it is a struggle when trying to correct because what we believe is proper language is not the way they would say it in Jamaica. We took a break about 2:00 and Libby and Dustin brought pizza and drinks for all of us. By this time a few of the students had dropped by. I had given Nikki my camera to take pictures and she showed up about noon. We went through the pictures that she took and picked out the ones that she wanted in her story. I had not read her story until this morning, and did a lot of rearranging, but kept it as close to her words as I could. Pictures were added and around 4:00 we completed the final story. Dustin and Libby will be going back on Sunday to do their final edit on all the stories along with Lynette and the Reverend. We were told we rocked and Dustin & Libby got good reports on all of us from the Reverend and teachers of Theodora. We headed back to Summerset and took showers before heading to a group dinner just down the road. We went to Bella Donna’s and she put out a buffet for us and as always it was excellent. Bella was a wonderful host and makes a mean rum punch. Had three of them-- and by the third one the girls were laughing because she brought out the whole jug. It was a great day, with a lot accomplished. Some of us wish we could have done more but I think we all pulled together to get it completed. Tomorrow we are going to Mayfield Falls so will be gone all day. I am having problems accessing the internet so will try to keep updating when I have access. Just hang in there I will have some postings and pictures (hopefully) to come. Peace to all – I am out for the night.

Thursday - One Love

2009-06-01T21:37:00.000-07:00

Thursday May 28, 2009
Today we are doing a big push to get the students to complete their stories. Once they have them completed we will start the editing process. As usual we eat breakfast and then at 9:00 am we all load in the van. We arrive at Theodora and I was given permission to finish typing Leon’s story. So to the computer I went. We were also waiting on Dave to come in – he did have my camera! He finally showed up about 10:15 and I was relieved to see him. The camera needed to be charged and once we started saving his pictures I started laughing because he had taken 187 pictures in one night. No wonder the camera needed to be charged. Dustin said never give your camera to a Jamaican because they love to take pictures. He was right! Carrie walked with Kerean to take pictures for her story, she has been working on editing hers which has been a great help. Once I completed Leon’s story I asked another student to do some editing on it. I then went to help Nicola. She has been pretty much working on her own and has had help from some of the teachers. I felt like I had to spend most of my time with Leon and failed with really helping the other two. But we had all the stories typed and ready for editing by noon. I felt much better and I know tomorrow we will all be there to do the final editing and inserting pictures they took into their stories. A feeling of accomplishment and relief I think was felt by all of us. After working I left with Dwayne and Cody and we went fishing off the cliffs. We stopped and picked up shrimp to fish with. I am not sure how far we went but I can tell you flip flops were not the best thing to be wearing. We were at a place that looked as if it was damaged by one of the hurricanes and had not been repaired. A lot of damage could be seen along the shore line of the cliffs, but we also walked by a new hotel on our way to the fishing spot. We walked across jagged rocks that had remnants from the ocean embedded in it from years of formation. Again flip flops a bad choice. I sat and watched them fish as we only had two fishing poles. Cody caught a few small fish that had to be thrown back. I was only there to watch and take pictures. I think it may have been on of the hottest days we have had or at least it felt like it. The water started getting choppy so we decided that we need to go further down the shore line. We were walking to the Light house which was about a 15 minute walk and I was just dripping with sweat. I must have looked bad because Dwayne kept asking me if I was OK. I just informed him I needed something to drink because I had already drank the water that I took with me. We stopped at a little store and we all got something to drink then proceeded to the light house. We walked through the gate and around to the back of the Light House – yes more jagged rocks, I really should have worn tennis shoes. While there both Cody and Dwayne caught a fish. Cody caught a colorful red fish – not sure what name of the fish is and Dwayne caught a goldish yellow colored one. Nothing like I have seen back home. At about 4:00 we decided to leave to take a break. I need to go to the bathroom and Dwayne wanted to cook fish soup for us. We took a taxi down to Miss Yvonne’s house which is not far from Summerset. Yvonne and her husband both joined the Peace Core and were assigned here in Jamaica. They are from Alaska but she grew up in Texas and Brian grew up in California. They have lived in Alaska now for over 20 years. They are a really neat couple and allowed Dwayne the use of their kitchen. Dwayne and Cody were in the kitchen making the soup. When it was done a bowl full was brought out to me. They used a lot of things from their garden and I have to tell you it was some of the best soup I have had. I was just amazed. Dwayne walked us back to Summerset and he took Cody back down to fish as I was done for the night. A cold Red Strip hit the spot after a few large glasses of water. A few games of dominoes and to bed I went. No problems sleeping. Tomorrow we are at Theodora until we have the stories completed.

Wednesday - With Respect!

2009-06-01T21:26:00.000-07:00

Wednesday May 27
Up early again – that internal alarm clock just will not shut off. 5:00 am here 6:00 am at home so I don’t feel too bad about it. Love the quite time because the other students have to set the alarm on the cell phones to get up. We all ate breakfast then loaded up in the van to go to the beach. We meet Captain Mike on the beach and he had his crew bring the glass bottom boat to where we were on the beach – yeah not much walking! We all got on the boat one at a time and then headed out. We were going really slowly but we found out why - they were waiting on another boat that had the mask and snorkels. Yep we definitely need them! They turned around and meet up with the other boat and off we went. The glass bottom boat has like a six pane window in the bottom of the boat. We seen all sizes of star fish, jellyfish and someone saw a stingray. We made it out to the reef and got our mask and snorkels. Off the side of the boat we went and as we jumped in we were in a pool of tiger fish so beautiful. The colors were just amazing – fish in a bright blue, some gold, red, and striped. We saw a snake on the bottom of the ocean and I have to tell you the colors were just amazing. Although I loved the scuba diving the snorkeling was a blast and we seen so much more color and actual fish and creatures of the ocean. After spending an hour snorkeling we were taken back to the beach and dropped off at Travelers so we could shower off and change in order to head to school. After we all showered outside together we changed and headed of to grab something to eat before making our way to Theodora. I worked on rewriting Leon’s story so he could type it. Carrie helped me with Kerean and Nikki was typing her story on the computer. I think we are going to make the Friday deadline but we still have a ways to go. I gave Dave my camera so he could take pictures to put in his story. I told him to guard it with his life and to be sure to bring it back Thursday morning. The one thing I have had to get use to is everyone calling you Miss. I know it is their culture to do this and it shows respect but I just want the students to call me by my name. I just associate this with all the slavery that they also endured but I am getting use too it and it is not bothering me nearly as much as when we first arrived. We wrapped up at 3:00 pm and headed back to Summerset. Libby left after snorkeling to get everything set up for our trip to Belmont so Dustin had to deal with all the ladies. We had a group meal planned for dinner with Gladstone. He is a Rosta who is a coffee farmer (Blue Mountain Coffee) and he also makes his own jerk seasoning. We had dinner as Sips N Bites and Gladstone talked to us about what the coffee farmers are going through. His talk was so informative about the culture and history of the Jamaican people. He talked a great deal about the troubles and up rising of the people; when one individual was killed who was an activist for the local farmers. We had a great group meeting and got to place orders for coffee and jerk seasoning. We headed back to Summerset – more dominoes and then to bed. This laid back life is great! But the immersive learning is even better!

It's been a while but I have internet connection again!

2009-06-01T21:21:00.000-07:00

Tuesday May 26 2009
I wake up to watch the sunrise out on the balcony. So quite in the morning with a few dogs barking in the distance, birds singing and just totally enjoying the moment. We all eat breakfast load up in the van and head to the school. I worked with Leon and we finished his story. Chelsea started printing it so as soon as we were finished I sat him down at a computer for him to start typing it. Checked with Nikki and she was almost completed with her story and she will start typing hers tomorrow. I am feeling really good about getting all three completed. Kerean has been typing hers and she should have it completed today or tomorrow. As the students get their stories typed we will start the editing part. This will be difficult because you want the story to be in their own words so we have to be very careful in how we edit it. Dustin said this was also a problem last year. You want it in proper English but you also want the student to tell the story in their words. Challenges definitely lie ahead. At lunch Dave came up to me and said Miss I cannot eat another juicy pattie would you buy me lunch. Now I think the patties are great and it is a very cheap meal. It is wonderful that the school is able to buy their lunch a few days of the week. But since I have such a big heart I took him Kerean and another student down the street to Burger King. This was Dave’s choice and I brought them all lunch. I did not eat because I decided that once I was here I would only eat at local establishments, after all I can get Burger King any time. We headed back to Summerset had lunch and relaxed for the afternoon we walked down to Negril Escape and went swimming in the ocean. Cody wanted to jump off the light house and asked me if I would. Sure – as I have no fear (ha ha) but he would not even get in the water so Pam and I decided before leaving Jamaica we would definitely jump from the light house. I climbed up it later that evening and I would have to say it is comparable to a High Dive maybe a little taller but what the heck we only live once. Libby showed up with Carrie and new student from IU working on her Phd who just arrived. We talked and as we were walking back to Summerset she said she was relieved when she met us because she thought there would be quite a few young kids. Pam, Cody and I headed back down to Negril Escape to watch the sunset. Boomblast and Dale tagged along. We then stopped by Ros Rowdy to get dinner – festival and soup was enough for me. I am having a blast – eating a lot but walking a lot so really burning off the calories. My ankles are getting back to normal and I am keeping a close eye on them, placing ice on them at night if they start to swell. Back to Summerset – played dominoes and then went to bed. Tomorrow morning snorkeling!

Almost 50 and still trying new things!

2009-05-28T05:18:00.000-07:00

Monday May 25, 2009.
Today is a big day – SCUBA DIVING--- we were picked up at 9:30 and taken down to the scuba shop to complete paperwork, watch a video and then get in the pool there. We learned three of the basic techniques removing the regulator from the mouth blowing out a little and then replacing it, simulate running out of air and using the instructors secondary regulator and clearing water from our mask. We did this in groups of three as the pool is fairly small and with three we were still running into each other as we were under water. Once we all completed the task to the instructors’ satisfaction the scuba equipment was loaded up in the vehicles and we were drove back past Summerset to a resort called Seascape where we did our diving. The resort was beautiful - so colorful as everything her is. The bar is called Ivans because it was completely destroyed by hurricane Ivan. Pictures were hanging up all around to show the damage before they rebuilt. We went down to a one of the lowest spots on the cliffs where we are at. The first group got ready and in the water they went. We stayed along the side and watched as one by one the first three disappeared into the ocean. We followed their bubbles for a little bit because we stay in the cove area for a little bit before venturing out further into the ocean. Simon one of the instructors started getting the tanks ready he seen the bubbles coming back, so I was our turn to get ready. Flippers on, tanks strapped to us while we sat on the ledge. Weight belts around our waist and in the jackets to help us sink. We spit in our mask and wiped it all around once in the water we rinse them out. This keeps the mask from fogging up. The first three Mona, Rebekah and Cody are out and we line up for our jump into the water. Chelsea goes first then I follow. We watch the instructor because he is watching the waves coming in and tells us when to jump. He gives me the nod and in I go I push on the red button that fills the vest with air and I come back to the top of the water. Jennifer is the last to jump in and once we are all in we are ready to descend into the depths of the ocean. There is a buoy with a rope that we follow down, the anxiety was a little overwhelming and as I started the descent I was wondering if I could make it. After relaxing a little bit it was a piece of cake. We got down to the bottom and swam around the cove for a little bit and then it was time to follow the instructor. We gave the signal that we were OK and off we went. I had give the underwater camera to the instructor when we first went down so he got pictures of us in the cove he then passed the camera back to me and I was just in aw at everything that I was seeing for the first time. The fish right there with you the large shell that he picked up with the creature going back in. Although the reef that we were swimming around was not very colorful the experience was amazing. We went about 150 yards out from shore and were about 40 feet down and now I can truly say I swam the ocean floor. We were out for about a half hour and before I knew it we were back at the cove. What and experience. The only problem I am have from it is my right ear I have been having problems getting the water out and have an echo when I talk – but I picked up some swimmers ear and hopefully that will help. We walked back to summer set and I spent the afternoon by the pool thinking about what I had just done. That evening we had a group meal so we left around 5:00 walked down to Xabia and watched the sun set and talk about how thing are going. My only concern at this point is having everything done by Friday, I explained that on Tuesday we should have Leon story finished and I have Kerean on the computer typing her story out and I am sure that Nikki will be able to complete her story because I think she was going to work on hers over the weekend but I am going to have to rewrite Leon’s story so it is in print for him to read. Some of the other students brought up some other concerns but I think after talking we all feel much better about it. We then headed over to Just Natural where we were having dinner. All of the eating places that we have been to are outside and Just Natural is no different. A beautiful yard with lights and a few tables put together to seat all of us. The food was amazing and we have found another place to go eat at a reasonable price. We are all starting to feel independent and are so much more comfortable getting around and dealing with individuals. Back to Summerset and to bed! School tomorrow morning and a very busy week ahead since it was shortened by the holiday. I miss everyone back home but I am having a wonderful time. I will try to get caught up on the days and get some pics posted but I am usually doing my writting and posting early in the morning so have not had a lot of time to go through the pictures to get posted. One Love

Family Fun Fest Day

2009-05-27T04:56:00.000-07:00

Sunday May 24, 2009
Today we are volunteering at Wavz for the family fun fest. The first group was to leave around 8:15 but it was raining so they just had to wait till the rain stopped. I used this time to get caught up with my journal that we are to write for class. I spent the whole morning after breakfast on the balcony writing and reflecting about my experiences here so far. Most of the locals are getting very familiar with us so it is nice to walk down the street and not be hassled as much. The rain finally stops and the first group leaves. This means that the second group does not need to be there until l:00 which includes me. We get ready to leave all dressed in our volunteer tee shirts that has STAFF on the back. We catch a taxi to take us directly there. We are dropped off at the front gate. After waiting we finally get through. The first thing we saw was the blow up rock climbing wall, beyond that was a small and I do mean small Farris wheel, there are three different bounce-a-bouts and a blow up water slide. The clowns are at a booth as you walk down a little further and they are doing face painting and rub on tattoos. We met up with Lynette who was going to be placing us at our stations. I was first placed in a kitchen and let me tell you it was hot….. I was just wondering if I would be able to make it for the two and a half hours that we were going to volunteer, but Dustin to the rescue. He asked the chef if he could take me because Kendra needed someone to take her place. So we walked down and I ended up at the ticket booth. I thought this would be great until all the kids started coming up yelling miss, miss, miss. I kept saying one at a time. I would here ticket for the water slide or the bounce-a-bout and some would even say for the roller coaster which really threw me because there was no roller coaster. I worked with a very sweet girl who had the patients to deal with all this. The tickets were $50 j’s each and the some of the rides required 2 tickets and some required 1. They could also get tickets for the snow cones and pop corn from us. Now I have been using Jamaican money for now over a week but trying to keep it all straight was just crazy, all the kids leaning on the table say miss, miss and trying to keep straight what they were giving you was just crazy. We would drop the money in a five gallon bucket and when someone gave you $1000 j you had to dig through all the bills trying to find a $500 j in order to make change. Plenty of money coming in for a good cause but I have to say when Libby showed up to see if I was ready it did not take me long to jump to my feet to get ready to go. However the gentlemen who relived the women I was sitting with said I needed to stay until she got back. I don’t think he wanted to deal with the kids. So back in my seat I went and waited while still selling tickets. She finally returns and I let her know that it was really nice working with her and out from the table I went. Rebekah got placed at the water slide and she said after that experience she diffidently does not want to have any kids. Then we went to get Jennifer who got placed serving food so she ended up from where Dustin had pulled me. We were given meal tickets for doing the volunteering and Jennifer said after working there she really did not want to eat anything from there. We had a few good laughs about our experience and while we were there they had Granny on stage a commedian that was just hilarious. He had the kids up there and the crowd was just going crazy but after awhile we decided it was time to leave. We started walking back on the road and finally caught a taxi. I was the same gentleman who had dropped us off. I had picked up curry goat for Cody because one of the organizers said he wanted to try it so she had given me his meal ticket. During the ride home the juice ended up down the front of me. We are dropped off at the end of our road and walk down about a block and a half back home to get to summerset. Here I am with curry down the front of my white tee shirt – not a pretty site and then the dogs are all coming after me, you see there are cat yards and dog yards here in Jamaica, Summerset is a cat yard but down the road is a dog yard. I was holding the containers up high and thank god we had Dewayne with us because he used some of his food to distract the dogs so I could go ahead. Dropped off the food and went straight into the house to change my clothes and soak my clothes. Not many places were open today to eat so Pam, Cody, Boomblast and myself walked down to De Bar to have dinner. I am so loving the Jerk Chicken here I will definitely be bring this spice home with me. We talked quite a bit to Eddie and Joseph who runs the place. It is great talking to the locals and listening to them talk patwa their native language is interesting. There are some things that I can pick up on but I am having a difficult time following it. I guess I have not yet been around it enough to be able to follow along. Back to summerset to go to bed in order to awake for another beautiful day tomorrow and my first time scuba diving. Can’t wait.

Realized I forgot to Post Friday!

2009-05-26T05:53:00.001-07:00

Friday May 22, 2009
Today is a big day for us because we are taking all of the Theodora students to the beach after we work with them on their stories. As usual we all ate breakfast then loaded into the van. Today we made it without running out of gas! We worked with the students till noon and since it was a free day some of the students came in later. Kerean started typing her story on the computer and Neon who I finally found out is really named Leon worked on his story. Today is the first day that Nikki worked on hers. She wants to tell about the problems for the youth in Jamaica and what needs to be done. I told her to start writing and we would go through it and rearrange it and add to it once she got her thoughts out. She was just not sure where to start and Dustin told her to start anywhere she could just write and the story would be created. Dustin and Libby are just great to go to when you have questions or do just not understand what the students are saying. I have gotten smart though because I will call for Dewayne who is the oldest student that they have and ask him to translate for me. He is very good with English and listens to the student once and then translates it. As they walked into the school some of the students had their children with them and they are so cute. I gave some of the crayons to the mothers to give to their children. Kerean left to go get her little girl and as soon as she got back we walked with all of the students down to the beach were the locals go to. The park is there but it does not have a lot of playground equipment for the kids. Kerean’s little daughter is just adorable and Nikki brought her son Jay who is five. Jay latched on to Cody really quickly and I spent the afternoon with Kerean’s daughter who is one. Although Kerean told me that she talks she did not the whole time we were there but I did get her smiling and her smile would just light up her face. We took a cooler that had drinks and some bags of chips. Then the Pizza’s arrived and everyone got two slices. The weather has been holding out for us as today was just beautiful for the beach. Since there is a bar right there we also had music and the students were dancing and singing. I was great watching them. Most of our students do not own a bathing suite. The girls would where their bras and shorts or just shorts and a sleeveless top. However they thought nothing of it as you can walk along the beach and see women topless and men completely naked. I have not seen it but the other students have, and it was when we were all together so I guess I was not paying much attention to my surroundings. The beach was a great bonding experience for us with the students. We had a really great time, took pictures, which the students love it when they get to take pictures with our cameras, and wound down the afternoon around 3:30. We said our goodbyes and exchanged phone numbers in case they wanted to call us over the long weekend because we will not meet back up until Tuesday. We walked down to the roundabout and caught a Taxi back to Summerset. We were suppose to go down to Ricks Café on the cliffs. This is where the platforms are for jumping off of. But the rain rolled in and we all just ate at the restaurant at summerset. Dewayne had stopped by and one of the rules that were made this year is that the students were not allowed at summerset because of some issues that they had last year. But Dewayne formed a bond with Pam last year and they had kept in touch. I believe he is jealous of Dale a worker at summerset that Pam will ask if he wants to go eat when she has also invited Dewayne. So we had a few small issues tonight and as I was walking up to the house Pam called out the Dewayne wanted to talk to me. We were outside the gates by the sidewalk talking and Rebekah came out wondering what was going one. We explained to her what had happened and we both sit out there talking to Dewayne. Rebekah is his partner and he really has not opened up to her and she is concerned about his story. Dewayne told us a lot about his life and since I knew Rebekah would be fine just at the gate I excused myself, and went to the house. It has been a great day and I am ready for bed, we have a busy weekend so I will try to keep up with giving all you back home updates.

One week in Jamaica HARD TO BELIEVE!

2009-05-26T05:42:00.000-07:00

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!

The happenings on Thursday

2009-05-23T07:38:00.000-07:00

Thursday May 21, 2009
I slept in this morning so I did not get a chance to write before going to Theodora and that is why this posting is a little late. I also had to get my clothes ready for Pauline to pick up – she is the house keeper and if we lay our clothes out on the bed in a laundry bag with a US $20.00 bill she will pick up the laundry and do it for you. So just bare with me because as we were explained prior to the trip everything is done on Jamaican time which means it could take a long time so I would like to officially say I am now working by Jamaican time. We have breakfast every morning at Summerset prior to leaving for Theodora. This meal is included in the stay so it is a time that we are all usually together. I know the menu by heart – continental breakfast which consists of all the amazing fruit here, pancakes, French toast, Spanish omelet, two eggs with bacon, and they are all served with the juice of the day, toast and all the coffee or tea you can drink. After breakfast we loaded in the van a routine that we are all getting use to--four of us pile in the back seat, four in the middle seat and one in the passenger front seat. Off to Theodora we go, about half way there the van ran out of gas, we heard "oh no" from Bunny the driver and we coasted for the longest time. Cody, Pam’s son was just amazed at how far we went without gas. Sinclair stopped and picked up a gas can and brought gas back to Bunny. Bunny explained that the gage did not work for the gas, once the gas was in Bunny tried to start the van but it would not turn over so they start to push the van with all of us in it – he is able to pop the clutch and we were on our way once more, so we were a little late to Theodora but since there was rain that morning Dustin told us the students may be late or may not even come especially if there is lightning. We found out that Theodora has been hit by lightning before so school is usually canceled if the weather is bad. As we walked in only a few of the students were there. Neon was one; he is always one of the first ones there. Due to the drawings that he showed me I gave him the colored pencils that Suzie gave to me (thank you Suzie). I told him if he wanted to do a drawing we could scan it and include it in the book. He thanked me and immediately started looking for drawing paper. Kerean came in and we reviewed her story. My concern is that she is using her name and places she has lived. Dustin came over to read the story and explained to her it took a lot of guts to write such a powerful story so to make sure she would have no back lash from the community he recommended that the names in the story be changed and possibly even the towns or parishes that she mentions. She understood and started changing her story. She has now given the Jamaican girl in her story the name of Terry (I am so honored). Neon and I sat down and started rewriting his story. I worked on the order that we needed to go in last night so I was just asking him to give me more information about each topic that we had written down the day before. He wanted to tell his story about his Path to Theodora. I have to remember the culture that I am in here and that many of the Jamaicans consider these kids bad kids because of them not finishing school but when you hear their stories your heart breaks. I go into the school each morning with hugs for each and every one of them and knowing the details of some of there stories I have to have a strong will to hold back the tears.
Since next Monday is a holiday and there is no school and we thought we would take the kids to the beach this Friday after we worked on the stories in the morning. Friday’s are an optional day for the kids at Theodora so we are not sure how many will show up so Dustin explained that we needed to meet on Friday because of no class on Monday and that after class we would take everyone to the beach and buy lunch. That means everything to these kids otherwise they would probably not eat. As we got ready to leave Thursday, Kerean came up to me and asked if I could give her money for lunch – this is one of the days that Theodora does not provide lunch. I had not broken a large bill yet but I gave her $200 Jamaican dollars which should get her a juicy patty and a drink but I wanted to do so much more. Pam and I walked to the beach with her son Cody and Dewayne another student from Theodora. We found a bench where we took a seat and talked for a little over an hour. We than grabbed a Taxi and got the same driver as the day before. He goes by Mr. T or that is how everyone knows him by and he is a wonderful person to talk to. He has dreadlocks and is very talkative, which is a great way to find out more about the Jamaican culture. We got back to Summerset and got ready for scuba diving lessons in the pool. Mona has met a guy who is from England. Him and his father run a scuba diving course here and he was willing to come down to see if we liked it. TOTALLY FABULOUS – I loved it. Dustin and one of the girls had a hard time with it but the rest of us thought it was just amazing. Some of us really want to do the scuba diving so we have a group of five that on Monday will get to scuba dive in the ocean – I can’t wait – have my underwater camera ready to go – Thank you Kyle and Jen. The evening dinner was on our own so Pam and I took Dewayne, Boomblast, and Dale out to eat at Alice’s I really like the food there and very reasonable. We returned and played dominoes until Midnight. I turned in but had a difficult time sleeping not sure why but only got about 3 hour’s total of sleep. Oh well I have made it through the day on less than that.

Better Late than Never!

2009-05-23T07:32:00.000-07:00

Friday May 22, 2009
As I write this on Friday morning at 5:30 am I am trying to remember everything that has been going on. So many places we have visited and so many people we have met. The last time that I wrote I was setting at the cliffs because we did not have to volunteer/work until 1:00 pm so lets start on Wednesday May 20 2009 as the group heads to Theodora. We are taken to Theodora in a van driven by Bunny there are nine of us that load in the van. We all fit but we are a little snug however the drive is only about 15 to 20 minutes so it is not too bad and he takes us directly to the school. The school is what they call a container building. It is built using two semi tractor trailers which is the base for the outside wall and where the trusses set. A computer lab is in one of the trailers and the other is being used for storage for now. Between these two trailers a large room has been built where they hold most of their classrooms. It has a large white board at one end that assignments are written on and behind the white board are three restrooms, in the very back is a small room with a sink, small refrigerator and a microwave. It has a front porch that is the whole length of the building and if you walk out the back door you can climb up the limestone to the safe house that they are building. It is going to be magnificent when it is completed and the Reverend is very proud of it. I can tell you that when she envisions something she somehow makes it happen. We got together with our students and as promised Dave took us for a walk in Red Ground where the school is located, so we would know where his church is. It was about a 15 minute walk from the school and Neon, Kerean, Jennifer and I took the walk with him. It was a very interesting to go through the small neighborhood, and I am sure the individuals living there do not see many white people walking in that area. After finding the church we turned around and headed back to the school where we started working on the stories. Kerean has two stories already written and as I read them I am just amazed at what she has gone through and still has a somewhat positive out look, although she does talk about killing herself which I talked to her a great deal about. Her story is very personal and I think she wants to get it out. We talked about how she could combine the two stories together so she would have enough pages for one complete story to publish. Neon and I work together the whole time because he can not write English very well and I do all the writing. When we get ready to type the story he will be typing what I have written for him. We started by out lining his story as we talked he gave me a lot of information that was all over the place but I think we will have a great story. At times it is difficult to understand him but I have to tell him to slow down and talk louder - I keep using my age here by tell him I can’t hear as well as I use to. I have to ask him to explain some things like the shadow past, which he saw after his grandmother died. When the shadow passes it means that the spirit is leaving. Nikki is studying to take the heart exam so I have not had a chance to work with her yet but I know she will have no problem with her story. Her exam is Thursday (tomorrow) and we all told her good luck and to remember that we were all thinking about her and that we knew she would pass with flying colors. At 3:00 we left Theodora and spent a little time on the beach before heading back to Summerset. We all met up for a group dinner. Dustin and Libby found this really nice local place called De Bar that has an open bar area under a large Thatch circular roof and all open on the sides. Behind the bar area are several tables in an open area of the ground with a fire going every night. The table was large enough to hold all ten of us. The meal was vegetarian, with a boiled green banana, yellow sweet potato, rice and beans, veggie chunk, and a few other thing that I am not sure of, but that did not matter I ate every bit of it. We talked about how everyone was feeling with the students and problems that anyone was having. A good discussion with everyone gave us all an ideal of what everyone else was having problems with. It also made us all look closely at the problems that we are having and we discussed ways in handling them. This year we have some very personal stories that will be told and we want to make sure that we protect the students so they have no repercussions once the book is published and it is out in the community. After finishing dinner we headed back to Summerset, I had a Red Strip and learned how to play dominoes – I think I am hooked – slamming them on the table and winning some games. Maybe beginners luck not sure but it was really fun. Sinclair who is a driver in Jamaica was one of the locals teaching me to play. A few times I had to be corrected because I was not seeing the dots correctly – yep trying to play without my glasses or contacts – not a good ideal. After playing dominoes I headed to bed for the evening with another day awaiting us tomorrow.

2009-05-20T13:05:00.000-07:00

Tuesday May 19, 2009
Well as I write this on Wednesday morning I am setting on the cliffs at the edge of the ocean. The group walked down to Negril Escape where we can go swimming without being hassled by someone trying to sell you something. Today we don’t go to Theodora until 1:00 so are free time is in the morning. I could sooooo get use to this. Yesterday we set down with our groups. I took Neon and Kerean up to the church and we talked about what they wanted to write about. Kerean wants to write about child abuse. She has gone through it and I think she has some scars on her from this. She informed me that she thinks it is very important to let people know about the stories. I found out she wants to focus it towards young men before they have children so I think her abuse may have come from her father. I am sure I will find out more as we start her story. I am sure I may have some tears as we write her story. Neon is so sweet he came up to me as I arrived and informed me that he had something for me. He gave me a bag and said Mangoes and let me tell you they are three of the largest mangoes I have seen – delicious…. All I can say is the fruit her is completely different from the states so many flavors coming from them. Neon is not sure what he wants to write but I know I will get a story from him. After we talked we met up with Jennifer’s group. She has Michele who wrote a story last year about a dream of being a professional pool player so we walked down the road and there was a small bar that yes had a pool table in it. I played a game with her and David the other student that Jennifer is working with. Michelle lit up at the pool table. Jennifer stated that is the most that she had said and she and I just hit it off. She looked at me and said you really know how to play pool and totally had a smile the whole time. She want me to go with her on Friday night to play pool and I had to let her know that I was not sure what are schedule is like but we will get together one night to do this. After the pool game Nicola the other student that I am working with joined us. We stopped by the store and I brought drinks and snacks for everyone. They all grabbed a small bag of chips but when I told them they could get the large back they put the small ones back and was trilled to get the large bag. Lay’s potato chips, they say they really like the American chips but they don’t get them very often because of the cost. We walked down to the craft shops where Nicola grandmother has a shop. I met her grandmother and aunt and got to see the craft shop that she has. This is the only income that her grandmother has and there are so many shops in this one compact area. From there we walked down to the beach. During this entire walk I had given my camera to the student and told them to take pictures of what ever they wanted. This way if they are having problems with a story we can look at the picture and ask why they took that picture. We stopped on the beach under a tree and talked there for a good hour. David has had a really rough life. He is so positive though and he is living with Nicola’s aunt so there is a very strong bond between them. He had been abused as a child and both of his parents have died. He has been moved from relative to relative where the abuse continued and is now with a wonderful family. He invited us to go to church with them on Sunday. As soon as we find out our schedule we will know if we can commit to activities with the students. It was just a great day with the students, I think that on Wednesday we will walk to the church they are wanting us to go to and I may get to see Kerean’s daughter. After leaving Theodora we walked down the beach quite a way to get to Niah’s to have her patties. They have been the best so far. I could go there again and again. After eating lunch we returned to Summerset and hug out by the pool. Pam, her son and I, along with Dewayne a student from Theodora walked down to the cliffs, further down from where I am writing this blog. We watched the divers which was amazing. I want to go back and take the camera because the things they were doing totally blew my mind. We stopped to eat on the way back at a road side shop – could totally go vegetarian here with no problem. We returned around 9:00 pm and set and talked till around 11:30. As I said at the beginning of this post I am at the cliffs and could totally get use to this. It will be hard coming back to reality when I return.

Getting Started

2009-05-19T10:28:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the delay in getting my blog started. No Internet at Summerset but they have wireless at Theodora so I will be trying to upload from there. So here I go.

Saturday March 16, 2009
WE ARRIVED! We landed in Montego Bay and it took almost 2 hours to get through immigration and customs but we finally made it. The plane ride was good and as we arrived the rain started. Before going through customs we exchanged some money. We only exchanged a small amount so I exchange $40.00 and received bills and coins that I did not understand $1000, $500, $100, $50 and coins that had 1 dollar, 5 dollar and 10 dollar. I figured that I would learn once I started to use the money. After getting through customs Dustin, one of the instructors on the trip, went to check to see if our ride was here. He had been waiting on us since 1:00 and it was nearly 4:00. Our driver went to get the bus and as he pulled up I realized that what they call a bus is actually a van. So here are the seven of us with all our luggage – and literal no room in the back of the van for luggage. So try to picture a narrow van with the long seat in the back where four of us piled in – yes we were literally setting on each other. In the two middle seats one had a student while the other we managed to load our luggage that we stuffed everywhere we could. Only two suitcases fit in the back of the van so the remaining seven were stacked to the top of the van with all of us holding our carry on luggage. Dustin got the front passenger seat and Libby, our other instructor, got to set in the middle between the two front seats. Windows fogging up quicker then you could clear them we were off! With the rain it was difficult to really see everything as we drove to Negril, remember we had suite cases piled to the top of the van so as we drove, those by the suit cases had to hold on to them so they would not slide and knock our driver out. The drive was a little over an hour to get to Summerset Village. A few bumps along the way got us laughing in the back, part of the reason was I think we felt everything in the back of the van, and I was on the end and partly setting on some type of bar that was part of the seat. We tried to adjust ourselves every once in a while so that required us all to lift up while one got situated and the others followed – we kept asking each other are you good. So that was the adventurous ride from the airport. As we drove we followed the ocean, the streets are very narrow and people are always walking in the streets mainly because there is no other place to walk. Vehicle horns beeping all the time, to give warning to the pedestrians that a car is coming. As we drove through different towns it was amazing to see the different homes that were built. You had some beautiful homes right next to others that are like shacks. Dustin pointed out that you will see this all through Jamaica they do not worry about class status here. We also seen the resorts that were along the Beach and very few are locally owned. Most are owned by individuals from other countries and are run by individuals that they place there from that country. The Jamaicans are only hired for jobs like housekeeping, security, cooks so the money does not stay in Jamaica which is one of the reasons we are staying at Summerset it is locally ran by Jamaicans and the money stays here. Upon arriving we checked in. Since there are only five students on the trip and we were all staying in the Thatch House we were told that we would each have our own bedroom and one would have to take the loft, which I volunteered to take. The Thatch house has a large front porch; upon entering you have the living room and dinning area in one large room containing a sofa, two chairs, a TV, a long dinning table and a refrigerator. To the left and right of this room are two bedrooms that have a bathroom between each of them. Each of the bedrooms has a full size bed and a twin bed and plenty of closet space. The kitchen is through the back door and in another building. The room is large with two gas stoves but if we want to use them they will have to get us propane tanks, they keep the kitchens separate from the living area incase of fire. Going back into the house near the back door there is a set of steep stairs that take you to the loft area. To my surprise there is a beautiful wood carved king size bed in the middle of the room, a dresser and two side tables. It has a large closet and a half bath. There is a door that opens to the balcony that has a small table and white wicker chairs. Yes volunteering can have its advantages. After settling in we walked down to the cliffs to watch the sunset. We then went to Alice’s to eat we listened to music and the smell of ganja is everywhere, restaurants, walking down the streets, everywhere. Since we all had and early start we were exhausted and we turned in around 9:00 for bed.

Sunday May 17, 2009
An early wakeup for me, I think my internal alarm clock is still on. 5:00 am I up and enjoying the warm weather and beautiful colors of plants and buildings while sitting out on my balcony. Around 6:00am I went to the restaurant and got coffee, while waiting on the others to get up. We had breakfast then headed to the beach. We split into two groups so we could learn how to catch a taxi, which is really no problem because they are everywhere, everyone wanting to give you a ride. We just need to make sure that they are not a tour taxi because they charge more. On the way down to catch the taxi we got stopped by Charlie’s, a Jamaican who has his own souvenir shop down from Summerset. Before I knew it he had put a bracelet on me, which I brought for $500.00 but that is Jamaican money so it was under $5.00. He tried to put shirts on me sell me beach towels, just a little bit of everything. I finally told him, “I am here for three weeks and I have plenty of time to spend my money.” As soon as we got to the main road a taxi stopped ask if we needed a ride. He drove us to the roundabout which is as far as we wanted to go because any further than that the cost goes up even if it is a block, His name is Richard and he gave us his cell phone number and told us to call him at anytime. As he stated it is good to have someone you can trust and help you with the local surroundings.
We went to the 7 mile beach and we walked, and walked, and walked. At the beginning of the beach is a park where the locals go. The beach starts there and as we walked down Dustin pointed out the yellow sign, explaining that this was a separation point from the local beach to the tourist beach. The individuals wanting to sell you something was all along the beach, beautiful paintings that had the traditional Jamaican colors, red, green, yellow and black, wood carvings, colorful clothes and all types of eating places and bars. The water is so beautiful, the turquoise color from very light to a darker blue color as it goes out. Music everywhere and individuals wanting to sell drugs approached a few of the other students. Some really dark clouds were rolling in so after some time in the water we were told we had better start heading back. We stopped at a local eatery which is just a shack behind the medical building, a Jamaican woman gave us our options and everyone got the vegetables but me, I had the fish. Not sure what type it was but it was excellent. We walked back to the roundabout and caught a taxi back to Summerset. We had our first class meeting to discuss culture, what we are expecting to get out of this trip, what is applied anthropology, and what do we use to observe culture. A really good discussion started with our group and having two Anthropology majors also helps. Rebekah and Kendra are both Anthropology majors, Jennifer is doing a double major in Biology and Chemistry, and Chelsea is doing a major in photography and a minor in creative writing. So we have a very diverse group here to work on this project. The Reverend came to meet us and discuss the Theodora project. She is from Scotland and is an amazing person with some crazy stories to tell. After dinner I walked down to DJ’s the market down the street and brought a small bottle of Red Wine. Yes that it the name but it is a local wine. Libby and I both brought one and as we were walking back we opened them to try it. We decided it had the taste of cough syrup but after the first few drinks it seemed to get better. We set by the pool and discussed some of my fears such as the kids that we will be working with may not open up to me because of my age. Dustin and Libby both assured me that I was not going to have a problem. Around 10:30 we turned in. Tomorrow will be are first day at Theodora and we will meet the students that we will be working with.

Monday May 18, 2009
Today is the big day – we are going to meet the students at Theodora! Once again up early for me but it gives me a chance to write so I can do the blog and my daily Journal. I go to the restaurant and Mr. Glenn, who is one of the workers at Summerset, is there always with a big smile – his smile reminds me of Magic Johnsons smile it just puts a smile on your face. Boom blast is another worker at Summerset and apparently last year he was what they called the crazy man of the neighborhood. Pam one of the students from IU who was on the trip last year said he has done a complete turnaround. He is very friendly and wanting to really talk to you. I always have to ask him to slow down because a lot of his words I don’t quite understand and I need further explanation. We had breakfast and then the seven of us from Ball State pile in a van that will be taking us to Theodora daily. Our way back to summerset is on our own. We arrived at Theodora and the students were in there uniforms and just as curious about us as we are about them. The Reverend had a verse read in John by one of the students and she talked about friends. She indicating that we were friends and that we would be spending the next two weeks together, which will take the place of their English and Communication classes. After the Reverend was done she turned the group over to Dustin and Libby. Dustin spoke about the differences between our cultures asking some very simple questions such as who in this room thinks coco bread has chocolate in it – the Theodora students started laughing but no one in our group raised there hand. And I have to admit I questioned him about coco bread at the airport because I seen it on a sign in one of the stands. Then he asked how many in our group have had a Big Mac. Of course all of us from BSU raised our hands but the Theodora students were not even sure what a Big Mac was. Dustin pointed out that we would both have to teach each other because there are differences in our cultures and we may all need to explain so that there is understanding for all of us. Dustin and Libby then had the Theodora students draw numbers. They had one through seven in a hat and once the seven where drawn he had them line up in order. Collecting the numbers back and putting them in the hat the next seven drew and lined up with the other student with the same number. There were three more students which drew and then it was our turn. Working on this project are the five students from BSU, Pam who was on the trip last year from IU, and Mona, a graduate student from IUPUI doing her internship for her Masters. We broke up into our groups so we could talk and find out what their favorite snack is. I have three students that I will be working with, Kerean is a young mother with a one year old daughter who she informed me is walking and talking. Neon is a male student who is originally from Kingston, and Nicola is the third student in the group that I did not get to spend a lot of time with because she is studying for her test that she will be taking on Thursday. All of my students are very soft spoken but really wanting to open up to me. They all have brothers and sisters and as I asked if they had any ideal of what they wanted to write about they all had a story that they wanted to tell. We discussed what their favorite snacks were and Kerean said chocolate chips, Neon said chocolate potato chips ??? and Nicola likes plantain chips. I was not sure about Neon but Dustin asked again and was told the same thing. We gave our list to Libby and Dustin and as we watched a movie together they went to the store and got as close to the snacks as they could. By the way the store does not have chocolate potato chips, and instead of chocolate chip Kerean got a chocolate candy bar and Neon got peanut M&M’s. We finished watching the rest of the movie and then it was time for us to leave. I got the chance to talk to a lot of the students and hope to continue to do so. We left and walked down to exchange some money. We then went to get something to eat. The small shop we went to is a place where not many tourists go. As we were walking there we heard are you lost. We got to the eatery and they serve pasties beef, chicken, cheese, and vegetables. They are excellent and a very cheap meal. We then broke up into groups. Three went to the beach, Jennifer and I walked with Dustin to meet some of his friends that he has made over his years of visiting and studying here. Libby, Pam and Pam’s son also walked backed to Summerset. The walk was long but gave us a chance to really see things. Dustin explained so many things to us. We seen a soup man on his bike, he had a large pot with a hot plate strapped to the front of the bike with a propane tank on the back selling soup from his bike. The small locally owned shops were all around. The first stop that we made was Ms. Pam who has a roadside shop selling fruit, jewelry that she’s made handbags that she has knitted and some very interesting purses made from different type of shells such as coconut. After leaving her place we stopped at another house right down from there and meet another woman who had a stroke about a month ago. I cannot remember her name but she is very welcoming and hugs were given all around. We caught a taxi for the remaining trip back to Summerset – thank god because the laptop bag was getting heavy. We got back with about a half hour before we were meeting as a group again just enough time to rest my poor feet. I should really lose some weight with all the walking that we are doing. We discussed our first meeting with the students and listened to everyone’s concerns. Afterwards we walked down to the cliffs and watched the sun set and then went to get soup from a roadside stand, but with the size of the group he did not have enough so back to Alice’s we went. The jerk chicken was just amazing – I will definitely be bringing some of this seasoning back with me. We walked back so Summerset went to the restaurant and had a few red stripes while set by the pool and talked to Boom blast and Dale who is another worker at Summerset and talked about the amazing fruit here. I think when I get back I will be so disappointed with the fruit because the pineapple here is just amazing and has a completely different taste then the pineapple back home. I am anxious for tomorrow when we get to really get to know the students that we have been paired up with. Hopefully I will keep this updated through the week for the first two weeks while we are going to Theodora and then I will find an internet café for the final week. That’s it for know will have some stories later of what some of the students have experienced -- more to come! By the way I am having a BLAST!!!

Getting Ready

2009-05-11T11:17:00.001-07:00

May 16, 2009 I will be flying to Jamaica. I am doing a field study that was set up by two extraordinary instructors to work with the Theodora Project through Ball State University. I hope to updated this on a daily basis so that my friends and family can follow me on my adventure. I will be staying at Summer Set Village in Negril, Jamaica http://www.summersetvillage.net. During my 3 week stay I will be spending 2 weeks working/volunteering with the Theodora Projet, a USAID funded non-governmental organization http:/www.theodoraproject-negril.org. The final week will be spent exploring other parts of Jamaica - so follow me on my trip -- that is as long as we have electricity and can get an internet connection!