Christar Villas Kingston

Jamaica was my very first missions trip. I went with Shayna and Chad for one week and we had an amazing and eye opening experience. The water was beautiful and we went to ocho rios and climbed the waterfal too-it was so beautiful! We also witnessed poverty and need in ways that we had never seen before. We were able to minister God's love to people but honestly I think we all took away much more from this experience than we could ever give!

... learn about various species of animals and plant life along the Black River. We took an hour boat ride along the Black River where we got to see crocodiles, the safari's biggest attraction. I know that the children enjoyed it and I think that they learned as well. From the Safari we went to Y.S. Falls another popular tourist site. At the Falls, we had lunch, viewed the Falls and swam (well the kids and the teachers that came on the trip ...

... why to me and i couldnt really figure out why since there was a guy smoking illecit substances in the corner of the party. I think it has to do with jamaicans associtating themselves as either christians or not. As far as i can tell not being a christian isnt bad as long as you dont expect to get a important job like a teacher. All the volenteer have recommended that if you do drink do it somewhere other than your community. I also had my ...

... dont really know what im doing this weekend, going to spend most of it with the host family. Ill try to take pictures and post them on a reall website soon, hopefully ill get some of this house but i need to ask the host family first.

... something like 25%.  They also talked about the political parties here and how one group had training duringelections.  Apparently jamaicas murder rate is so high b/c the two political parties go around killing eachother.  So during elections things apparently got crazy and they were not allowed to wear green or orange b/c thoseare the colors associated with each party.  Sounds fun right?   day 2went to the US embassey residence building for training today.  Its a ...

... The past three weekends have seen my roommate and I bent over our laptops, punching out papers and presentations for courses, scanning journal articles, reviewing historical texts, and drafting new dissertation introduction drafts. The latter, for me, shifted pretty dramatically this past month. Upon finding out that media tools are not as much inaccessible in Jamaica as under-utilized in the country, my original dissertation topic (re: the impact of media on ...

... in front of me. Damien, a young man that had helped me on a rainy afternoon with a ripped bag of groceries, jumped out. "Heather, it is so good to see you." "Damien, what are the odds that you would be driving by -" "We work in customs actually. I see you've picked up a package. How much did they charge you?" "Forty-five U.S." "Forty-five! Mention our names in the future. You won't have to pay another fee. My boss, Carl...he's a ...

... of study ahead.  My peers are worldly, funny, welcoming, smart, kind, and joy-filled.   There are eight of us in the Masters program and two undergraduates attending the University of Technology in Jamaica through a semester abroad program.  My roommate is a Canadian from the province of Alberta.  A retired teacher and mother of four, she is now pursuing a dozen-year dream of obtaining her Masters at 45.  I very much like her. The rest of the students range in ages ...

... black people and not white. We discovered that most of the residences in the area have dogs for protection. It was a nerve-wracking walk to a restaurant each evening with dogs barking non-stop and lunging at us behind six foot walls. We counted as many as five dogs in every yard. Every morning we joined Valerie for tea in her garden. She is working on adding a spa to property. Each time we see her she is busy with a project of some sort. We learned ...

Painted a classroom PINK today. After our project was finished, we went to a Mustard Seed meeting. Every 5 years they gather to go over accomplishments and goals. It is amazing how much the organization has grown since its beginning. They now have an adoption/ sponsor program for some of the children which ensures that they receive the food and medicine they need. Then we ate curried goat. Good day.