Jamaica Pegasus 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 ...

... game of dominos which seems like the hardest game ever. They would firgure out who won by what was already played long before i was anywhere near finished with the game. after 30 min of playing i finally won a game and we promptly stopped playing. I finally went to bed around 10 long before the party ended. Which leads me to something i should have talked about while ago. Jamaicans all have gigantic sound systems and most of them play it at all ...

... 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.

... ones so we wouldbe less of target for crime.  I talked to a guy about international rates and apparently there not bad for callingfrom jamaica to the US.  It is J$1000 a month for 1000 minutes also did i mention my phone has a flashlight on itI also asked the guy how much of the budget it eats up and he said that the payment staff must be drunk or somethingb/c they recieve alot more than the typical jamaican and that they are also due for a raise b/c inflation ...

... abated, it is a very proud time in the country. (**Disclaimer of Future Fickleness: If Jamaica does make it to the Cup and competes against England, I will quickly move to the Queen's side of the stadium. I've been a Rooney fan since his first European Cup. Hearing of his record-breaking 5 goals for England in these preliminary stages has already made me smile and murmur, "Roooooooooonnnnaaayyyy...." For now and until fickleness overrides, though, it's all about ...

... with the author of one of our cultural texts. All of them seek unique ways to introduce new material. Most encourage us to relate our assignments to our dissertations. For the most part, I have felt like I've gained information or insight from each assignment and have been proud of what I've submitted (save, honestly, one paper, that would've gotten more use if it were rolled around a miniature cardboard tube and placed in a lavatory). By December, we are ...

... on a wide sheet of plywood; a business man talking loudly on his cell phone, several school-age children, an elderly woman and a man with an interesting sales pitch. (Tap, Tap, Tap) I turn to find above-mentioned salesman, grinning wide and holding up several Hanna Montana DVDs. "Wannna buy DVD's"? Smiling, "No, thanks." I turn back around. (Tap, Tap, Tap) I turn around again. The same man is holding up his cell phone, indicating the international sign for "Can ...

... opposing Jamaican political parties come on stage and shake hands. This is considered a monumental event in Jamaican history. (Despite the popularity of Rastafarianism, most Jamaicans are Anglicans. Like so many places populated by former African slaves, churches often combine African and European religious traditions and many Jamaicans believe in withcraft, evil spirits or "obeah" and ghosts or "duppies".) We also took in the grounds of nearby Devon ...

... pretty amazing. During our stay, our duties included helping to feed, take care of, and entertain the kids while working on a few projects -- painting classrooms, and reorganizing warehouses and storage rooms. We stayed at Sophie's Place, shown in the pictures above. On our first day we were bused to Mass, then we visited Matthew 25:40 (housing for kids with HIV) and Mary's Child, (housing for teenage ...