Them dumb!

We've learned a few important cultural lessons lately.

Before we came to Mandeville, our taxi driver said he would come pick us up "soon come." That was at 11:00 AM. He arrived at our villa at 2:00. Soon come can mean anywhere from a few minutes to...forever. After that, we stopped at a market place in Ochie. We were walking around, browsing the shops. Tourism is the main way that people make money here, so the vendors are generally pretty aggressive. Some of us girls were signing to each other, and some vendors came up to talk to us and then immediately started saying "Oh, them dumb!" and started mocking us.

It was painful, but a good lesson for us to learn. We went from being seen as "rich, white tourists" to being dirt, nothing, "dumb." Deaf people are treated very poorly here, called dumb, seen as having no language and no education. It's so sad, but it was good to put myself in the shoes of a Deaf Jamaican, if only for a minute.

The ride to Mandeville was 2.5 hours on a winding, narrow road filled with potholes. I slept most of the way because I wasn't feeling well. We arrived at our local coordinator's house and she fed us a delicious "American" meal, which definitely hit the spot. We had a quick orientation and then were sent off to our host families' houses.

Kayla and I feel blessed to be staying with Mr. and Mrs. Robertson and their two "children." We were excited to learn that we have a host brother and host sister, both are in their 30s. Our house is wonderful, nice not only by Jamaican standards, but American as well. Kayla and I share a room off the house, we each have our own full size bed, and we have our own bathroom. Our mom feeds us VERY well. :)

Today was our first day of class. We met Felicia, a local Deaf woman who will be teaching the ASL 201 students. We then went into Mandeville and ate lunch at "the best Jerk place around." Then we went on a tour of the city. So far, so good. :)

Love and miss you all,
Lindsay and Kayla