Last week I found out that I would be leaving Mandeville early and moving to Kingston for my remaining time in Jamaica. The last week has been very difficult for me as I've had to say goodbye to some people and places that I've come to love dearly.
I have spent the last few days taking in all of the sights in Mandeville that I never took the time to appreciate. I'm going to miss the beautiful green mountains that surround the area. I'm going to miss walking down Manchester road with Danae, working our way through the crowd of Jamaicans trying to get our attention and sending every cat call in creation at us. I'm going to miss Mandeville Market, where we go almost daily to get all kinds of fresh produce. We go so often that the vendors know who we are and know exactly what we have purchased from them in the past. I'm going to miss having access to fresh fruits and veggies whenever I want them.
Yesterday I said goodbye to Knockpatrick school for the Deaf. The principal and the teachers there were sad to see me go. I said goodbye to the missionary families that work there and have been watching out for us since we arrived. We visit their house once a week for a home cooked meal and play with their three adorable children. The worst part was leaving to the kids I have come to love so dearly. They all hold a place in my heart and they will forever. There is little Paris, with one brown eye and one shockingly blue. There's Kyle, who runs up to me every time he sees me and signs "friend." Damion, the little rascal who's always trying to play tricks on me. Britannia, the hyperactive nine year old who is constantly vying for my attention. Seneca, who doesn't have a lot of language and is perfectly content to sit next to us before she gets in line for lunch every day. And, last but not least, four year old Nikayla who I have spent the most one-on-one time with. She doesn't have a lot of language either, but she is so eager to learn to communicate in sign. She will point to things and when I show her a sign, she looks at me and does her best to copy the sign exactly as I signed it. Every time she sees me her face lights up. She loves hiding behind anything or anyone she can, just so she can pop back out and smile at me again.
I have made friends with some wonderful people in Mandeville. Friday night they all came in and we enjoyed a last night out together before I left. It was a great way to end my time here but it was tough knowing I wouldn't be seeing them again. Last night, Danae, Ewan and I made an enormous Jamaican style Thanksgiving feast for my last night in Mandeville. We made roast breadfruit, bammy and pear (avocado), chicken, fried plantains, festival, complete with bag juice to drink.
This morning I woke up and packed everything to head to Kingston in a few hours. Today I say goodbye to the apartment and the town I have come to love living in. I say goodbye to Danae who has become one of the best friends I could ever ask for. I'll look forward to reuniting with her in Montego Bay at the end of service. I say goodbye to friends I'll never forget. I hope that my time in Kingston goes well, but I'm more than ready to head home and spend some time with my family.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Negril: Round Two
Last Saturday, Danae and I went to Negril with our friends. We checked into the place we were staying, a yoga center not far from the beach. We all decided we didn't want to waste any time and headed straight down to the water. The weather was perfect and the water was so clear and beautiful, we couldn't have asked for a better day. We started off by having a practice snorkel session, which was totally pointless because it was Negril's Seven Mile beach, meaning all we saw was white sand. It was still fun though and I was happy for a chance to practice snorkeling without having poisonous and deadly creatures surrounding me. After that, we went for a walk up the beach and spent the next few hours walking a few steps and then stopping to take pictures as the sun set over the water.
The next morning, bright and early, we headed down to the beach to meet the man who offered to take us out to the reef in his glass bottom boat. The boat ride was about twenty minutes. It was quite the sight, because all 8 of us were sitting around the glass looking down at the ocean floor. We arrived at the reef and I started to panic as I remembered Brittany's incident with the sea urchin. However, I wasn't about to miss such a wonderful opportunity and swallowed my fear as I put on my snorkel and flippers and jumped over the side of the boat.
There was a school of fish right beside the boat, and I squealed and swam away as quickly as possible. I was nervous but the reef was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. Sign language came in handy as we explored. We would point at different things and sign or fingerspell to each other, making things much easier for us! We saw many different kind of fish, jelly fish, and sting rays.
As I got more comfortable, I realized that I could have spent all day exploring the reef. However, it was time to head back to the boat. When I approached the boat, I ran into the same school of fish that was there when I jumped in. This time, I wasn't scared and I let them all swim up to me, touching my arms and legs. I took one last look at everything around me and everything felt completely surreal. Sometimes Danae and I still have a hard time believing we're in Jamaica!
When we reached the shore, it started to pour. Danae and I took one look at each other and decided to jump in the water and swim in the rain. One by one the guys followed us and next thing we knew we were all swimming and splashing around in a torrential downpour. It couldn't have been a better weekend :D
Love and miss you all,
Linds
The next morning, bright and early, we headed down to the beach to meet the man who offered to take us out to the reef in his glass bottom boat. The boat ride was about twenty minutes. It was quite the sight, because all 8 of us were sitting around the glass looking down at the ocean floor. We arrived at the reef and I started to panic as I remembered Brittany's incident with the sea urchin. However, I wasn't about to miss such a wonderful opportunity and swallowed my fear as I put on my snorkel and flippers and jumped over the side of the boat.
There was a school of fish right beside the boat, and I squealed and swam away as quickly as possible. I was nervous but the reef was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. Sign language came in handy as we explored. We would point at different things and sign or fingerspell to each other, making things much easier for us! We saw many different kind of fish, jelly fish, and sting rays.
As I got more comfortable, I realized that I could have spent all day exploring the reef. However, it was time to head back to the boat. When I approached the boat, I ran into the same school of fish that was there when I jumped in. This time, I wasn't scared and I let them all swim up to me, touching my arms and legs. I took one last look at everything around me and everything felt completely surreal. Sometimes Danae and I still have a hard time believing we're in Jamaica!
When we reached the shore, it started to pour. Danae and I took one look at each other and decided to jump in the water and swim in the rain. One by one the guys followed us and next thing we knew we were all swimming and splashing around in a torrential downpour. It couldn't have been a better weekend :D
Love and miss you all,
Linds
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Service Begins
Last week, Danae and I started our service assignment at Knockpatrick School for the Deaf. We are very excited to be there and love working with the children. They are so much fun and are all so excited to see us every day. They all stand around us and ask us our names, our name signs, and then tell us theirs. It's so hard to remember all of their name signs! So far, we have been teaching about one class a day. We were really hoping for more one-on-one interaction with the kids, but there isn't much that can be done about that. Lately we've spent most of our free time cutting construction paper to create a new bullitin board in the school. We enjoy staying at Knockpatrick after school lets out and socializing with the kids. They dance and play and are eager to show us their dance moves.
We live in Josh and Rachel's old apartment, since they have moved to Kingston. We love it there. We are disappointed that we're missing out on the time to socialize with the kids and the teachers at the school, but it's nice to be able to retreat back to our place for some peace and quiet. It has been interesting though. I spent the last six weeks being spoiled my Mrs. Robertson's delicious Jamaican cooking, and now I'm eating pasta and pb&j sandwiches every day.
It's hard to believe that October is almost over. It's hard to imagine that it's cooling off at home and the leaves have fallen! It feels like summer here, so I can't help thinking it's summer time. The weeks are flying by and I'm sad that my time in Jamaica is coming to an end. This weekend, Danae and I are heading to Negril with some of our friends. Not sure if I'll jump off the high cliff again or not!
Love and miss you all,
Lindsay
We live in Josh and Rachel's old apartment, since they have moved to Kingston. We love it there. We are disappointed that we're missing out on the time to socialize with the kids and the teachers at the school, but it's nice to be able to retreat back to our place for some peace and quiet. It has been interesting though. I spent the last six weeks being spoiled my Mrs. Robertson's delicious Jamaican cooking, and now I'm eating pasta and pb&j sandwiches every day.
It's hard to believe that October is almost over. It's hard to imagine that it's cooling off at home and the leaves have fallen! It feels like summer here, so I can't help thinking it's summer time. The weeks are flying by and I'm sad that my time in Jamaica is coming to an end. This weekend, Danae and I are heading to Negril with some of our friends. Not sure if I'll jump off the high cliff again or not!
Love and miss you all,
Lindsay
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
End of study/start of service
Wow, time flies. It's been over two weeks since I last updated. It's been a very busy two weeks. We wrapped up our regular SST classes and our interpreting class and focused on learning Jamaican Sign Language so we would all be ready (or at least better prepared) to enter the Deaf schools.
We didn't have any field trips the last two weeks of study, instead we spent our free Wednesday's at the Garrett's house, or "Goshen house." We had to spend some of that time catching up on homework, but we didn't mind.
Friday night, we had our host family thank you party. Mrs. Robertson, our host mom, and Miss Hanna, our local coordinator, prepared the food. They made chicken, rice and peas, cheesy scalloped potatoes, sweet and sour fish, and salad. We also had a wide variety of desserts to indulge in :). It was an amazing last homecooked meal before we head out to the Deaf schools and miss out on all the good food. We enjoyed socializing with our host families, drivers, guest lecturers, teachers, and all the people who have helped us out since we got here. When we were done eating, we performed a few skits and signed a thank you song for our families. Our skits were focused on differences between American and Jamaican culture. Some of the skits were Jamaican driving, college classrooms, cat calls, and rain. The party wrapped up with picture taking and goodbyes. It was bittersweet. We are definitely going to miss our host family, our bedroom at their house, and Mrs. Robertson's delicious cooking.
This weekend, Kayla, Danae, and I decided to make the trek to Ocho Rios for Heroes Day weekend. We were a bit worried about making the trek alone, three white girls travelling in route taxis on Heroes weekend sounded a bit scary. We had to take a total 4 taxis to get to our destination, where we met some of our friends. We only had one minor setback, which was a Rasta man trying to steal me while Kayla and Danae watched and laughed at me. It was interesting.
We arrived in Ochie excited to hit the beach. We couldn't believe that the apartment we would be staying at was just a short walk from the villa we stayed at when we first arrived here. We went down to the beach and immediately got in the water. Later that night we went into town to get some food. We went back to the apartment and were too tired to go out, so we just went to sleep. There were nine people there and only one bed, so some of us ended up on the tiles on the kitchen floor. Needless to say, we didn't get much sleep!
Sunday we went straight to the beach and stayed there for hours. The weather was perfect, we couldn't have had a better day at the beach. Later that night, after walking around town a bit, we decided to head back to the apartment and just hang out there. It was a great time, and luckily that night I got a spot on the bed. We were sad to leave Ochie and the beach but we had to head back. We made the trek back to Mandeville yesterday and were happy to be able to settle into our new apartment.
Josh and his family moved to Kingston, so Danae and I have been fortunate enough to be able to move into his former apartment. We will be taking a taxi into Knockpatrick every day when we start working at the Deaf school tomorrow. MY MAILING ADDRESS WILL BE THE SAME, so no worries there. Kayla and Carrie are staying with us until they head to Montego Bay in on Thursday or Friday. We are sad to be separating from the group, but look forward to working with the children.
Love and miss you all,
Lindsay
We didn't have any field trips the last two weeks of study, instead we spent our free Wednesday's at the Garrett's house, or "Goshen house." We had to spend some of that time catching up on homework, but we didn't mind.
Friday night, we had our host family thank you party. Mrs. Robertson, our host mom, and Miss Hanna, our local coordinator, prepared the food. They made chicken, rice and peas, cheesy scalloped potatoes, sweet and sour fish, and salad. We also had a wide variety of desserts to indulge in :). It was an amazing last homecooked meal before we head out to the Deaf schools and miss out on all the good food. We enjoyed socializing with our host families, drivers, guest lecturers, teachers, and all the people who have helped us out since we got here. When we were done eating, we performed a few skits and signed a thank you song for our families. Our skits were focused on differences between American and Jamaican culture. Some of the skits were Jamaican driving, college classrooms, cat calls, and rain. The party wrapped up with picture taking and goodbyes. It was bittersweet. We are definitely going to miss our host family, our bedroom at their house, and Mrs. Robertson's delicious cooking.
This weekend, Kayla, Danae, and I decided to make the trek to Ocho Rios for Heroes Day weekend. We were a bit worried about making the trek alone, three white girls travelling in route taxis on Heroes weekend sounded a bit scary. We had to take a total 4 taxis to get to our destination, where we met some of our friends. We only had one minor setback, which was a Rasta man trying to steal me while Kayla and Danae watched and laughed at me. It was interesting.
We arrived in Ochie excited to hit the beach. We couldn't believe that the apartment we would be staying at was just a short walk from the villa we stayed at when we first arrived here. We went down to the beach and immediately got in the water. Later that night we went into town to get some food. We went back to the apartment and were too tired to go out, so we just went to sleep. There were nine people there and only one bed, so some of us ended up on the tiles on the kitchen floor. Needless to say, we didn't get much sleep!
Sunday we went straight to the beach and stayed there for hours. The weather was perfect, we couldn't have had a better day at the beach. Later that night, after walking around town a bit, we decided to head back to the apartment and just hang out there. It was a great time, and luckily that night I got a spot on the bed. We were sad to leave Ochie and the beach but we had to head back. We made the trek back to Mandeville yesterday and were happy to be able to settle into our new apartment.
Josh and his family moved to Kingston, so Danae and I have been fortunate enough to be able to move into his former apartment. We will be taking a taxi into Knockpatrick every day when we start working at the Deaf school tomorrow. MY MAILING ADDRESS WILL BE THE SAME, so no worries there. Kayla and Carrie are staying with us until they head to Montego Bay in on Thursday or Friday. We are sad to be separating from the group, but look forward to working with the children.
Love and miss you all,
Lindsay
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Kingston
Thursday morning we met in the shopping center and headed off to Kingston. The ride there wasn't too bad, but most of our Ipods were dead because of the lack of power the last few days, so we just had to make do. Mandeville was still without power from the storm, but we were happy to find that the convent we were staying at in Kingston had power. We dropped our stuff off and headed out in hopes of adventure.
However, one thing we learned was that when it storms like that, everything shuts down. Many of the things we had planned to do on Thursday were closed, so we had to improvise. Our first stop was Devon House, the home of a Jamaican millionaire. We toured the house and then headed out to the shops on the property for some Devon house ice cream. It was delicious. :) After that we went to Emancipation Park which is famous for the large statue of a man and a woman standing in the nude rising out of the water, symbolizing their rise to freedom. Let's just say the large body part on the man has earned the park another name as well...Unfortunately it started pouring just as some of the members of the group started a jog around the park. We headed of to TGI Friday's for some American food, and then headed back to the convent to relax.
Friday was the first day of October, and none of us could believe how quickly September flew by. We were supposed to meet with JAD-Jamaican Association of the Deaf, but it was canceled because of the rain, even though it really didn't rain that day. We headed into the city and attemped to go to a zoo and gardens, but they were closed because there was so much damage from the storm. We were able to go to the home of the late great Bob Marley. We toured his home and grounds and learned a lot about him that most of us didn't know.
After that we met with J-FLAG, an underground organization for gays and lesbians, since the act of sodomy is illegal in Jamaica. We met with a panel of gay people, both hearing and deaf, and listened to the stories of their struggles living in a homophobic society. We met some very interesting people, along a boy who calls himself Miley Cyrus. After that we went to Half Way Tree and did some shopping for a few hours, then headed back to the convent.
Saturday was a wonderful day. We woke up early and headed out to Lime Cay. We parked our bus and had to take a 15 minute boat ride to the island, which is only about the size of a football field. We were all ready and excited to snorkel, and we wanted to get started right away in case it rained. We hopped in the water, but unfortunately, as we expected, the water was too murky from the storms to see anything good. All we saw was a large school of tiny fish and some sea weed. The best part of the snorkeling was the current. We literally didn't have to swim at all, we could just float and the current would carry us down the coast of the island, where we eventually got out. We only went once and then had to find other ways to entertain ourselves.
Kayla, Carrie, and I walked to the other side of the island and found a secluded place to sunbathe in the surf. We definitely enjoyed the experience. :) Eventually, we started to notice the ominous storm clouds that were quickly approaching. We called for our boat to pick us up, but it was too late. We knew we were in for a wet ride. Not long after we got in, the skies opened up and we were getting pelted in the face by huge rain drops. We were soaking wet, but instead of being miserable we all went crazy yelling and singing and laughing. It wasw a wonderful experience :)
We went back to the convent and took showers and got ready for some nightlife. The girls all enjoyed getting ready together, doing each other's hair and makeup. We started off by going to a food court that had nice restaurants for supper. Half of us had Italian and the other half had sushi. It was a nice, relaxing dinner and we felt like we were in the states again for a short time :)
After we ate we headed to Little Theater for an Ashe performance. Ashe is a group that uses music, dance, and drama to teach high schoolers about safe sex and HIV/AIDs. It was quite educational. The second half was more just a free for all song and dance kind of thing, and we all really enjoyed some of the traditional African dances to the drums.
Next, it was time to head to Club Fiction for some nightlife. We got there extremely early so there was literally no one there. After a bit a few of us started dancing, and next thing we knew the entire group, including Josh, Rachel, and the more reserved members of the group, were dancing. Eventually the music got better, more people showed up, and we all had a great time. I enjoyed showing some of the others some dance moves. My favorite pupil was Laura, one of our most reserved SSTers. :)
The next morning we woke up really early for Deaf church, and ended up getting there over an hour before the service actually started. We were all tired and grouchy, but enjoyed the service...at least until a hearing woman who literally cannot sign attempted to deliver a sermon. After church, we all enjoyed socializing with the members of the church. They were all very friendly and wanted to get to know us. After church, we headed back to the convent for naps, and then to T.J. and Christa's house (friends of Josh and Rachel) for a delicious Amerian meal!
We hadn't planned on staying until Monday, but since we missed out on JAD, we decided to stay and meet with them on Monday. We had a meeting with some of the people that work there, both hearing and deaf, and were able to ask them questions and learned about what they do for the Deaf community. We then toured the JAD facility and then had the opportunity to tour the JAD schools and socialize with the Deaf children. They were all very eager to know who we are and had plenty of hugs to go around.
After that, we went to pricemart, like Sam's club, and stocked up on food to take to service with us. We learned that Kayla will be going to Mo Bay with Sarah, and I'm going to Knockpatrick, either alone or with two other people. We will keep you updated as we find out more information!
Love and miss you all,
Linds and Kayla
However, one thing we learned was that when it storms like that, everything shuts down. Many of the things we had planned to do on Thursday were closed, so we had to improvise. Our first stop was Devon House, the home of a Jamaican millionaire. We toured the house and then headed out to the shops on the property for some Devon house ice cream. It was delicious. :) After that we went to Emancipation Park which is famous for the large statue of a man and a woman standing in the nude rising out of the water, symbolizing their rise to freedom. Let's just say the large body part on the man has earned the park another name as well...Unfortunately it started pouring just as some of the members of the group started a jog around the park. We headed of to TGI Friday's for some American food, and then headed back to the convent to relax.
Friday was the first day of October, and none of us could believe how quickly September flew by. We were supposed to meet with JAD-Jamaican Association of the Deaf, but it was canceled because of the rain, even though it really didn't rain that day. We headed into the city and attemped to go to a zoo and gardens, but they were closed because there was so much damage from the storm. We were able to go to the home of the late great Bob Marley. We toured his home and grounds and learned a lot about him that most of us didn't know.
After that we met with J-FLAG, an underground organization for gays and lesbians, since the act of sodomy is illegal in Jamaica. We met with a panel of gay people, both hearing and deaf, and listened to the stories of their struggles living in a homophobic society. We met some very interesting people, along a boy who calls himself Miley Cyrus. After that we went to Half Way Tree and did some shopping for a few hours, then headed back to the convent.
Saturday was a wonderful day. We woke up early and headed out to Lime Cay. We parked our bus and had to take a 15 minute boat ride to the island, which is only about the size of a football field. We were all ready and excited to snorkel, and we wanted to get started right away in case it rained. We hopped in the water, but unfortunately, as we expected, the water was too murky from the storms to see anything good. All we saw was a large school of tiny fish and some sea weed. The best part of the snorkeling was the current. We literally didn't have to swim at all, we could just float and the current would carry us down the coast of the island, where we eventually got out. We only went once and then had to find other ways to entertain ourselves.
Kayla, Carrie, and I walked to the other side of the island and found a secluded place to sunbathe in the surf. We definitely enjoyed the experience. :) Eventually, we started to notice the ominous storm clouds that were quickly approaching. We called for our boat to pick us up, but it was too late. We knew we were in for a wet ride. Not long after we got in, the skies opened up and we were getting pelted in the face by huge rain drops. We were soaking wet, but instead of being miserable we all went crazy yelling and singing and laughing. It wasw a wonderful experience :)
We went back to the convent and took showers and got ready for some nightlife. The girls all enjoyed getting ready together, doing each other's hair and makeup. We started off by going to a food court that had nice restaurants for supper. Half of us had Italian and the other half had sushi. It was a nice, relaxing dinner and we felt like we were in the states again for a short time :)
After we ate we headed to Little Theater for an Ashe performance. Ashe is a group that uses music, dance, and drama to teach high schoolers about safe sex and HIV/AIDs. It was quite educational. The second half was more just a free for all song and dance kind of thing, and we all really enjoyed some of the traditional African dances to the drums.
Next, it was time to head to Club Fiction for some nightlife. We got there extremely early so there was literally no one there. After a bit a few of us started dancing, and next thing we knew the entire group, including Josh, Rachel, and the more reserved members of the group, were dancing. Eventually the music got better, more people showed up, and we all had a great time. I enjoyed showing some of the others some dance moves. My favorite pupil was Laura, one of our most reserved SSTers. :)
The next morning we woke up really early for Deaf church, and ended up getting there over an hour before the service actually started. We were all tired and grouchy, but enjoyed the service...at least until a hearing woman who literally cannot sign attempted to deliver a sermon. After church, we all enjoyed socializing with the members of the church. They were all very friendly and wanted to get to know us. After church, we headed back to the convent for naps, and then to T.J. and Christa's house (friends of Josh and Rachel) for a delicious Amerian meal!
We hadn't planned on staying until Monday, but since we missed out on JAD, we decided to stay and meet with them on Monday. We had a meeting with some of the people that work there, both hearing and deaf, and were able to ask them questions and learned about what they do for the Deaf community. We then toured the JAD facility and then had the opportunity to tour the JAD schools and socialize with the Deaf children. They were all very eager to know who we are and had plenty of hugs to go around.
After that, we went to pricemart, like Sam's club, and stocked up on food to take to service with us. We learned that Kayla will be going to Mo Bay with Sarah, and I'm going to Knockpatrick, either alone or with two other people. We will keep you updated as we find out more information!
Love and miss you all,
Linds and Kayla
Friday, October 1, 2010
Tropical Storm Nicole
Tropical Storm Nicole
The next day, the rain let up for a little bit, but the power was out, so class was canceled. We'd planned to go to the market and have a "Goshen Day" where we all go up to Josh's and relax, contact home, eat a delicious meal prepared by Rachel, and hopefully work on some interpreting. We planned on celebrating the birthdays of Brittany and Gary, our driver, so we were all disappointed about missing out on cake.
Since the rain had stopped, Kayla and I decided to head into Mandeville. Everything was fine until later that evening, when the rain picked up again. The streets were flooded and some of the roads even turned into rivers, the water was rushing down so quickly. Many of the streets were impassable and taxis weren't running to and from Mandeville. We finally made it home safe and spent time with our family in the candlelit house.
We had no power and the cell phone had no service, so we had no idea of the amount of damage caused by the storm. The whole island suffered from the flooding and wind damage, and over 100,000 people were left without power. Six people died and there are still about 16 people missing that are presumed to be dead.
Now that we are in Kingston, we have power, and have been able to contact our families and watch the news. We saw that many places on the East coast are being hit by the same storm system that hit us a few days ago. We are praying for those who are suffering from the effects of the storm. We are told that more storms are heading our way, so pray for our safety as well.
So far Kingston has been an interesting experience, as many of the places we'd planned to go have been closed due to the storm.
Love and miss you all,
Lindsay and Kayla
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Catching up
Wow, we've been so busy I haven't had a chance to update!
On Wednesday we took a field trip to Appleton Estate. We arrived and were each given a taste of Jamaican Rum punch, one of the most popular drinks here. The locals all say that it's very strong and will knock you out, and I believe them. It was really strong! We watched a video about how rum is made and were then given a tour of the factory. We saw ways that rum was made in the past, and a few of us even did the work that donkeys used to do to extract the juice from the sugar cane. After that we toured the distillery where it is made today and saw the store room where the rum is kept in oak barrels to age. After the tour, we were turned loose in a little pub with 8 different types of rum to sample. We were told that we could have as much as we wanted, and to call the bartender if we ran out of one type so he could restock it for us. Of course, we didn't go too crazy, but we enjoyed sampling some of Appleton's best rum.
After that, we headed to YS Falls. It had been raining quite a bit, so the water was too heavy to swim in. We still enjoyed swimming in a spring fed pool. The water was ice cold but it was so crisp and clean that we didn't care. Some of the other students went on a zipline over the falls, and said it was an amazing experience.
Thursday night we went to a local "club" to watch Mark Stephenson, one of our local presenters, play reggae violin on stage. It might sound weird, but he is a wonderful musician and very fun to watch. We all enjoyed the experience of local nightlife and had a great time dancing.
Yesterday we took a trip to Knockpatrick School for the Deaf. We had a tour of the facilities and then took some time to play and interact with the kids. There are children that are very young all the way up to around 20. We enjoyed playing with the kids and they loved having us there. It was also quite sad for us to get our first look at how deaf people are treated here. There is a huge lack of qualified teachers here and the because of this, their education suffers greatly. We all look forward to moving to the Deaf schools and doing what we can to make a difference in the lives of these children.
We love and miss you all,
Lindsay and Kayla
On Wednesday we took a field trip to Appleton Estate. We arrived and were each given a taste of Jamaican Rum punch, one of the most popular drinks here. The locals all say that it's very strong and will knock you out, and I believe them. It was really strong! We watched a video about how rum is made and were then given a tour of the factory. We saw ways that rum was made in the past, and a few of us even did the work that donkeys used to do to extract the juice from the sugar cane. After that we toured the distillery where it is made today and saw the store room where the rum is kept in oak barrels to age. After the tour, we were turned loose in a little pub with 8 different types of rum to sample. We were told that we could have as much as we wanted, and to call the bartender if we ran out of one type so he could restock it for us. Of course, we didn't go too crazy, but we enjoyed sampling some of Appleton's best rum.
After that, we headed to YS Falls. It had been raining quite a bit, so the water was too heavy to swim in. We still enjoyed swimming in a spring fed pool. The water was ice cold but it was so crisp and clean that we didn't care. Some of the other students went on a zipline over the falls, and said it was an amazing experience.
Thursday night we went to a local "club" to watch Mark Stephenson, one of our local presenters, play reggae violin on stage. It might sound weird, but he is a wonderful musician and very fun to watch. We all enjoyed the experience of local nightlife and had a great time dancing.
Yesterday we took a trip to Knockpatrick School for the Deaf. We had a tour of the facilities and then took some time to play and interact with the kids. There are children that are very young all the way up to around 20. We enjoyed playing with the kids and they loved having us there. It was also quite sad for us to get our first look at how deaf people are treated here. There is a huge lack of qualified teachers here and the because of this, their education suffers greatly. We all look forward to moving to the Deaf schools and doing what we can to make a difference in the lives of these children.
We love and miss you all,
Lindsay and Kayla
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