Grape-Nut Ice Cream

  Bull Bay, Jamaica
Monday, August 25, 2008

Dear Friends and Family:
Thank you so much for writing emails in response to the first entry on the blog and posting your comments on the site.  It has been great to hear from all of you and to keep in touch.  I have definitely missed the familiarity of home (friendships/relatives) over the past couple of weeks.  Luckily, so much has been happening that I've been distracted and positively overwhelmed by life here.
 
This past week, our first paper was due. We were required to write about our specific aims and goals for the Masters program, and to provide a preliminary idea of our dissertation topics.  It was a lot to consider so early in the year, but yesterday, I received a really positive note from the Dean of our program in response to my completed paper (which was great).  I'm really looking forward to forging ahead, and beginning the fieldwork and university classes.
 
In the meantime, life in Jamaica has definitely been unique.  ;)
 
Some interesting info about life in Kingston, Jamaica...
- Fish dishes (such as salt fish and mackerel) are commonly served for breakfast here.  In some Jamaican fast food chains, like Juici Patties (http://www.juicipatties.com/gwContent.php?sectionid=a134), you cannot order fish for anything _but_ breakfast.  
- Olympic fever is HUGE in Jamaica. ;)  In churches, classrooms, conferences and taxi cabs, medals are counted off and celebrated, forgiving commentary is made about Bolt's exuberance and nearly every third person on the street wears a combination of the Jamaican flag colors. ;)  

On not such a positive note...
- It is unusual to see windows and doors without bars in Kingston.  
- When you leave the university via car, guards routinely check your backseats for stolen computer equipment and school supplies.  
- Armed guards protect the entrances to downtown supermarkets.  

And, on a more comical note...
- Grape-nut ice cream exists.  
- The head of the security at the University, a well-known officer within Kingston, also plays a corrupt cop on the Jamaican soap opera, Royal Palms.   
;)

Speaking of the cast of Jamaican's Royal Palms...
I had the opportunity to stay at the surf camp, Jamnesia, this weekend in Bull Bay, a small town (not yet known to tourists) on the southeast end of Jamaica.

Billy "Mystic" Wilmot, Lion and I

Billy "Mystic" Wilmot (world-renown surfer, lead singer of the 70's reggae band, Mystic Revealers; and regular actor on the above-mentioned soap opera, Royal Palms) owns the camp with his family.  Saturday involved surfing on a 7'5" board on Saturday in (an unbelievable) 80-degree ocean with several of the Jamnesia crew and five friends in the Masters program.  Despite the sea urchin warning and coral reef shore, it felt really great to be back in the water and to be paddling out without a wetsuit or booties.  
 
On the way back to the camp from the surf spot, we stopped on the side of the road to purchase coconut water and chunks of sugarcane.  A large, elderly woman speaking incredibly fast Patois (with what sounded like exclamation points in between every few words - ;)), expertly sliced open coconuts, one after another, with a dripping machete on a makeshift table.

On Way Back from Lighthouse Surf Spot

One gentleman tried to hack apart his own coconut and was teased by those around, as it was evident that the woman was far more skilled with the knife.  He laughed and insisted that he was not going to give up, despite that each unsuccessful slice resulted in more teasing.  Finally, he found the center of the coconut and with an expression equivalent to "See?  I told you I could do it!" smiled with relief...and then, returned the machete to its rightful owner. ;)  As she took back the knife and each of our coconuts were sliced to their centers, we were given straws to suck the water from the fruit.  Chunks of sugarcane were bought and as the skies darkened with the threat of rain, I used chunks of the cane to scoop out and eat the white jelly lining from the center of the coconut.  Standing there on the side of the road, it was a surreal moment to consider what I would normally be doing on a Saturday afternoon in America.
 
After we returned to the car, Billy gave us a tour of the damages caused by one of the past hurricanes on the island. 

Hurricane Damage

  As he took us down a street particularly hard hit, he told stories of cars being lifted up and re-parked by the rising tide.  Along the shoreline of the street, carcasses of homes lay on the beach, their steel-reinforced and rust-stained concrete toppled and crumbling. Pieces of personal items (once in those homes) still remained, strewn about in the sand and dried seaweed.  The sweet taste of the coconut and sugarcane quickly dissipated with the reality and sorrow of such events.
 
We returned to Jamnesia in the late afternoon and each retired to our own activities.  I went swimming at the beach behind the camp, trying to take advantage of the close proximity to the water as much as possible (knowing that we would be returning to Kingston's 80% humidity on Sunday).  The best experience of the day happened at sunset.  A small group of boys were playing soccer on the sand and I was asked to play (to even out the number of players on each of the teams).  

Gate to Jamnesia Beach

Sans flip-flops, I joined my teammates, Bob and Sharme, in their attempts to pummel our ten-year old opponents.  It was a comical undertaking and very fun.  Shortly thereafter, a group of children excitedly gathered to look at a small octopus that had glided onto the beach.  The sea creature had tapped the foot of a young girl with its tentacles.  Her resulting yelp and kicking legs scared the octopus so much that it had scrambled back into the surf.  As we stood together on the beach, watching for evidence of the octopus in the water, the youngest of the children snuck in between us and tickled our legs.  Each of us jumped whenever he did this, thinking that the octopus was actually back on shore and "coming right for us".  It was awesome to be laughing with the kids and having harmless fun, as the sun dipped farther behind the Blue Mountains and smeared shades of fuchsia across the horizon. 
 
At 10:30 that night, Jamnesia held their 1-year anniversary party.  It consisted of a free, high-end poetry slam and acoustic show.  Each act was worth a hefty admission ticket, with participants (many of them from the Wilmot family) playing R&B/reggae/alternative music or reading poetry under a string of two bright light bulbs.  It was incredible to see so much talent on one stage.  At the end of the event (at 3:30AM), a 5-foot bonfire was held on the beach.  Some stayed on the beach until the sun rose.  I crashed in my tent around 4:30AM and upon returning home from Bull Bay yesterday, was asleep by 7:30PM.   ;)
 
I awoke today, ready to start the week.  Today, many of the Masters students went to visit their preliminary service agency placements.   I am currently awaiting a placement and should know by next week where I will be volunteering and gathering fieldwork data for my dissertation.  As it stands, it is likely (but not for certain) that I will be working with an orphan care agency.  I may even be working with several if it is found conducive towards my dissertation.  As I mentioned in the previous entry, I am excited about settling into an agency or agencies and moving forward.  I feel like the students in our Masters program are becoming a part of the community by living in Kingston and attending the local university.  Serving in the nonprofit sector will only accelerate that integration and allow us to take our education, fieldwork, and service experience to the next level.   
 
Until then, classes begin on Wednesday and everyday continues to be an adventure.
I'm developing pictures from the past couple of weeks and will include them soon.
Lots of love to all of you, and I'll talk to you later,
;)
Heather