Sorry
Wow, sorry it has been so long sicne an update!
First...
here is what I thought of Jamaica (sorry its really long)
No Problem Mon! This statement sums up the way Jamaicans live. We were told that “In Jamaica there are no problems; just situations.” This is truly what the Jamaicans believe. They are the happiest, friendliest, and most laid back people I have met. They don’t have much, but they would give you whatever they do have to make you happy.
The first day there was just a time to relax and get everything in order. We stayed at Fairview which is a hotel for missionaries that come and work in Jamaica. The girls stay in the third floor room which is actually two rooms, both holding four beds, connected by a small room, holding two beds, in the middle. We had a balcony that went off from our room that gave us a beautiful view of the ocean and So, once we were unpacked all the kids went swimming in the ocean that was right across the street from Fairview. We saw a lot of interesting wildlife. There are sand crabs all over the place and geckos climb the walls. A few of the kids went out farther than I did and snorkeled. They saw quite a few different fish species including blowfish and jellyfish.
Our second day there, I have to say would be the one that really opened my eyes. First we visited a nursing home. The people there were so sweet. They loved to just sit there and talk and sing with you. We had one lady who just kept singing to us, weather we were singing or not. It was really hard to see the condition some of them were in. One man there was no bigger than the average twelve year old. But, I think each one of us made a connection with someone there and they were just happy to have people who cared enough to sit and talk with them.
After the nursing home we visited the hospital. The hospitals there are run like prisons. The guys had to go through a security scanner to get in, but the girls were just allowed to walk right in. There were security men waking around with machine guns. We also learned that you are not allowed out of the hospital unless you can afford to pay your bill. So, your bill will keep pilling up each night that you stay there until your family can afford to pay the bills. My group went into the men’s surgical ward. Most of the men there were missing at least one of their limbs. I started talking to this one man who didn’t have either one of his legs and he told us that if it wasn’t for God he wouldn’t be here. He was so happy despite the condition he was in, he was singing with us, prayed with us and asked Brent to read him Psalm 135. We had wordless bracelets to hand out to people there and I gave one to a young girl around my age and started to tell her what each bead represents. By the time I was done with story I had about five other girls around me and I ended up telling the story of Jesus to all of them. There was one point when we were at the hospital that was a little scary. We were standing at the bottom of the stairs waiting for the rest of the group when a security guard came walking down with a big gun and a prisoner in front of him and the guard pointed at Tanya at which point she just started to play a song…I’m not even sure if she knew what she was playing. It just shows that no matter what they are doing Jamaicans love their music,
We also had our first day of Vacation Bible School that day. We were at Bird Mountain Church which was definitely up in the mountains. The drive up there was beautiful but a little frightening. We were driving down a very small road that didn’t look like it could fit our bus in some areas. We had a rock wall on one side of us and steep hills on the other side of us. At some points we were looking down at the top of trees. But the drive there wasn’t all about the scenery in fact it showed me how Jamaicans really live, most of the houses there were no bigger than my shed, in fact my shed was probably in better shape then most of the houses. Most of them live among rubble and trash It was a small church that had two rooms. We were a little disorganized and I think the kids were bored with our singing. But, by the end of the day we were beginning to get to know the kids a little better and how to keep their attention and I could already see some of our group connection with certain kids. I was working with the middle group and our first day we had about 9 kids between the ages of eight and eleven. It was hard to understand what some of the kids were telling us because not all of them spoke English. Most of them spoke Paitu which is a mix of broken English, French, and Spanish. I felt like I couldn’t connect with our kids and felt like I wasn’t doing what I was meant to do there. But, by the time we got to our bible verse I realized that the kids are really paying attention to what we are teaching them and our group could all say their bible verse and answer questions about the lesson by the end of the day.
The third day there we visited Blossom Gardens Children’s Home which is an orphanage for kids between the ages of newborn and nine. This isn’t your typical orphanage where all the kids can be adopted. Most of the kids were either taken away from their parents or were given away because their families could not afford them. Either way their parents will not sign papers to give the orphanage permission to adopt the kids out. My group was with the school age children and the minute we walked in we had kids run right up to us wanting to be held. There was one point when I sat down to read a story to the kids I had 9 of them all on me. We were all out numbered about 9 kids to one of us. They loved to feel your face and your hair and were very interested in gum or “ chewing gum” and the kept calling it. I had a piece in my mouth and this little boy tried sticking his finger in my mouth trying to get the gum out. We handed out wordless bracelets and the kids ( boys and girls alike) loved them. They kept having us put them on their ankles, wrists and then back on their ankles again. Each kid had about three and wanted more but they would share with each other for the most part. They had a lot of toys but most of them were old and broken but they thought they were the best toys they could have. Tanya had her guitar with her so she played for the kids and the rest of us danced and sang with them. They loved it when you held them and danced with them. At one point I was holding two kids and had one pulling on my leg wanting me to pick her up. Towards the end I got to go into the baby room and hold a little girl who had beautiful brown eyes and just kept smiling. It was the hardest place to leave because the kids would watch us leave through the windows and we could hear some of the kids crying. It was one of those times when you just had to walk away and not look back or you would never be able to leave.
When we arrived at Vacation Bible School that day a few kids had already arrived and my group had grown doubled to eighteen kids. My group taught the kids a game called “Race Car” in which you cant show your teeth and have to make engine sounds to the person next to you, try and make them laugh and show their teeth. The kids adored this game and it was hilarious to watch them play. It was the one game where we were able to get all the kids to join in. You could tell that we were all connecting with our kids. We had them dancing and singing by the end of the day and most of them would talk with us and knew our names. Two of the kids ( Miche and Akinee) were really quite in the beginning but when we were closing up and singing they were dancing, clapping, and singing nice and loud. When Jamaicans sing you can tell that they are really singing from the heart. They even taught us one song called “I am Blessed” and when they sang the lyrics you could tell that they really meant it. It went like so… “ I am Blessed, I am Blessed, Everyday of my life I am Blesses, When I wake up in the morning or lay my head to rest , I am Blessed, I am Blessed.” While we were on this trip God has taught me how truly blessed I am to live in the United States with my family.
Thursday, our fourth day was a work\ free day at Fairhaven. The girls got our hair braided and we all also got to go on a glass bottom boat ride. Joe ( the captain) took us out to the coral reef and let us get out and snorkel. Now this was a big step for me because I am afraid of fish. But, I worked up the courage to get out and I swam in a school of sergeant majors which are black and yellow striped fish. I also swam with trumpet fish, baby jelly fish, electric blue fish, clown fish, and neon yellow fish. I also swam under the boat and got my picture taken through the glass and I think you can see some of the coral below me. It was a completely different world beneath the water and it really made me appreciate God’s creation. Then he took us to “ Jimmy Buffet’s Margativille” where there was a water trampoline outside and we got to jump on that and into the water.
Vacation Bible School was a lot of fun that day. For crafts we had the kids paint jewelry boxes that had tops like sun catchers. I don’t think the kids had ever seen anything like it before and most of them I think it was their first time painting. Even Pastor Wright stayed outside fascinated and just watched the kids paint and kept commenting on how “iriee” the boxes were. It was Kelsey’s turn to give the bible lesson today so she did puppets and I did the voice for the puppet. I think that really helped to get the kid’s attention and it was one of our most important lessons because it was about Pilot and the choices people made about Jesus’s crucifixion. At the end of the day the kids could almost tell us the story so I think it really left an impact.
Our fifth day there we went to Garland Hall Children’s Home which was an orphanage for kids from the of eleven and up. There were not many kids there, in fact there wasn’t even enough kids for each of us. A couple of the guys took a few boys out and played soccer and us girls stayed inside to read and play with the other kids. One girl…Cassandra came up to me and handed me five books she wanted me to read to her. She was about 12 but couldn’t read anything more than “See Spot Run”. But, she loved to have me to read to her and she would try and read a few pages to me and the look on her face when she finished a book was unforgettable. She never wanted to stop…even when we started to sing she kept on reading. Junior (one of the boys there) tried to teach me Paitau but I was butchering every word he tried to get me to say, mostly because I couldn’t even understand the English word he was telling me. But, I did learn Wawon means “hello”. He then preceded to play thumb war and arm wrestling with me. On the bus ride home we found out why there were not so many kids there. The parents would drop the kids off at the orphanage when they could no longer afford them and then pick them up when they could. So, the kids would spend a few months in the orphanage and then a few months at home and it would continue like that for a very long time.
Vacation Bible School that day is where I really surprised myself and I think others. When we arrived there it was pouring down and when we started to sing about rain it hit us even harder. I thought the rain was going to collapse the church or the lighting was going to split the mountains but it didn’t even phase the kids. During one of our songs Mrs. Johnson came up and asked me if I would like to give the lesson sense I was the one planning to do it for the middle group. Amazingly I said yes without any hesitation at all. So, I got up in front of 63 kids and gave the lesson on salvation…that’s when it hit me that missionary work is something I might really consider. I love travel, I love God, and I love working with different people. Everyone told me that the kids were paying attention for the most part even little Yournes and in the end they could answer questions. I lead the kids in prayer to close up and that was the best feeling ever. At the meeting Thomas gave me “props” which made me feel a little better because I had been worried that I didn’t do that good of a job and that they were disappointed in me. For crafts we had the kids decorate paddle balls and again I don’t think they had ever seen anything like them and we had to show the kids how to play with them but I think they loved them. Some of the older kids had the leaders and us sign their paddle balls. They threw us a party at the end, with ice cream and cake, and gave us a plaque and key chains. The kids were so sweet, they would stand inline for a half an hour and then see that you didn’t get any ice cream and give you theirs. It was very hard to say goodbye. They were standing outside when we were leaving and waved goodbye. Almost all the girls, including myself cried. The guys just kind of sat there in silence and then asked if we needed Kleenexes.
On our way home we saw a group gathered around a bunch of cars and police with machine guns. We never did find out what happened but Byron ( our bus driver) turned on the lights so they couldn’t see us in the bus.
Day six was our free day. First we went to a market and went shopping. I have to say I don’t really enjoy shopping there because you have to bargain and people keep trying to get you into their shops and then its hard to say no. We ate at a little Jerk Shop (Jamaican Fast Food) and had jerked chicken and bread. It was an interesting place to eat because it was all out in the open and all Jamaican food...definitely not a place tourists would hang. Next we went to Dunns River Falls, where I climbed a waterfall TWICE. Angela, Alissa, and I climbed it together. First time we did ok…there was only one part where I couldn’t see at all as I was climbing up. The water was pushing down on you while you were trying to force your way up. Then we did it again and this time we decided to take the harder way up. Well, this time we had a few accidents. First, Angela slipped and we thought she broke her arm and then I slipped and fell far! First I hit a rock with my hip then I continued down and hit my back but if I didn’t hit that second rock I would have continued. But, I think Brent and Andrew had it worse, Brent had his and Andrew’s money in a plastic bag and lost it…it was over $200! Then we did reach the top our group was already on the bus and we had to walk through the craft market by ourselves and these guys were following us and talking to us but I had no idea what they were saying. We were very thankful when Mr. Johnson showed up. But, it was all worth it and I would do it again in a heartbeat. We stopped at a little park on the side of the road afterwards called “Columbus Park” where they had artifacts left over from battles between the Spanish, French and British.
After the falls, went to Glistening Waters for dinner. I had curried chicken, steamed vegetables, and rice. We even had dinner music, two Jamaican guys came up and one played guitar and sang and the other played an African Bass. The sang “Welcome to Jamaica” and “Daylight come and I wanna go home”. While we were eating Byron was making fun of Kenny and Kenny was throwing paper wads at him and it his hand down on the table one time and flipped a plate over and it broke all over the ground. Then Kenny ate lasagna and Byron told him that if you eat beef the fish will attack and you wont glow but if he ran and sweated it off he would glow. So Kenny did six laps and was very angry when he found out that it was all a lie. Then I went swimming…and glowed! Special Microorganisms live in the water because it is where the fresh and salt water mix, so any disturbance in the water makes it glow. So anytime a fish swam by it glowed and when we got in and swam around we glowed. It gives of a bluish, greenish light. I’m glad they didn’t tell me how many fish were in the water and that I didn’t see them until after I got in the water or I would probably have never got in. We also saw trees full of herons, hundreds of them.
Day 7 we went to Hillview Baptist Church where their church service was not a lot different than ours at home. It was cute because the sermon the Pastor gave was about how we are all sinners on the inside no matter how different we may appear on the inside. And he was like look around some of us here are not dark. The service ran a bit longer than ours but only because they spend more time singing then we do. Then we went back to Fairhaven and picked up our stuff to take it to Chattham Cottages where we would be staying for our last night in Jamaica. It was almost like having our own house. We had three bedrooms, two with bunk beds and one with a queen size bed, a living room, three baths and a little kitchen. The best part was air. After we settled in we went shopping along the hip strip and to my surprise most of the people who owned the stores there were Arab not Jamaican but other than that it wasn’t much different then shopping at the market.
As we were driving around Byron gave us a “narrated tour” where I learned a lot. So, these are just a few little thing I learned on some of our trips. For example bamboo grows three inches everyday. There is a disease that spread to Jamaica from Miami in the air and killed all the tops of the palm trees. So, there was a couple spots where there were just stalks of trees. We also saw a McDonalds on wheels! It was McDonalds in the back of a truck that would drive from location to location. Fish Tea is a very popular drink there. They boil all different parts of fish and then strain it and drink the broth, its supposed to be good for you. Each town has its own clock tower so that’s how you know if you have gone into a different town. Cricket is like baseball for Jamaicans. Limestone lines the street and is sued for toothpaste, casts, roads, and filtering water. Festival is a fried bread stick and coco bread is like a sweet pita bread. Rose Hall is this huge house that used to be one a sugar plantation and the owner “loved 6 husbands to death”. It is said that she still haunts that house to this day and there are tours given daily. Half Moon is the most expensive hotel in Montego Bay. It has its own golf course, equestrian center, shopping center, doctor, restaurant and much more. Last but not least there are 120 rivers in Jamaica.
This was the best experience I could have ever had and God has shown me so much. We made really strong connections with the people there and I will never forget what I saw. We all came back with such good testimonies that our church is actually thinking of having us go back next year. God taught me so much while I was there but I think the thing I will always remember is how blessed God has made me and how he brought out the leadership with kids in me in some of the most unlikely situations.
Second:
GUESS WHAT! I am going to be working (internship) at Dunkels for a month! I am so nervous guys so keep me in your prayers! This is a great foot in the door! Wish me luck!
Third:
Lately, I feel like I have been falling away from God, I dont know why but I do. I think its because there is so much goign on with school that I have started to put that before God. But no more of that! God comes first and thats final!
Forth and last I promise:
If anybody has the pop tops from pop cans (the little metal things you open the cans with) could I PLEASE have them? My cousin has acute leukemia and the money his hospital gets from collecting these goes towards new equipemtn and research for his cancer! So, it would be great if you could collect them from everyone you know and give them to me!
Ok Im done!
Thanks for taking time out of your day to read my ramblings..
Love and God Bless
Kendra
Dream of licorice and gummy bears!
First...
here is what I thought of Jamaica (sorry its really long)
No Problem Mon! This statement sums up the way Jamaicans live. We were told that “In Jamaica there are no problems; just situations.” This is truly what the Jamaicans believe. They are the happiest, friendliest, and most laid back people I have met. They don’t have much, but they would give you whatever they do have to make you happy.
The first day there was just a time to relax and get everything in order. We stayed at Fairview which is a hotel for missionaries that come and work in Jamaica. The girls stay in the third floor room which is actually two rooms, both holding four beds, connected by a small room, holding two beds, in the middle. We had a balcony that went off from our room that gave us a beautiful view of the ocean and So, once we were unpacked all the kids went swimming in the ocean that was right across the street from Fairview. We saw a lot of interesting wildlife. There are sand crabs all over the place and geckos climb the walls. A few of the kids went out farther than I did and snorkeled. They saw quite a few different fish species including blowfish and jellyfish.
Our second day there, I have to say would be the one that really opened my eyes. First we visited a nursing home. The people there were so sweet. They loved to just sit there and talk and sing with you. We had one lady who just kept singing to us, weather we were singing or not. It was really hard to see the condition some of them were in. One man there was no bigger than the average twelve year old. But, I think each one of us made a connection with someone there and they were just happy to have people who cared enough to sit and talk with them.
After the nursing home we visited the hospital. The hospitals there are run like prisons. The guys had to go through a security scanner to get in, but the girls were just allowed to walk right in. There were security men waking around with machine guns. We also learned that you are not allowed out of the hospital unless you can afford to pay your bill. So, your bill will keep pilling up each night that you stay there until your family can afford to pay the bills. My group went into the men’s surgical ward. Most of the men there were missing at least one of their limbs. I started talking to this one man who didn’t have either one of his legs and he told us that if it wasn’t for God he wouldn’t be here. He was so happy despite the condition he was in, he was singing with us, prayed with us and asked Brent to read him Psalm 135. We had wordless bracelets to hand out to people there and I gave one to a young girl around my age and started to tell her what each bead represents. By the time I was done with story I had about five other girls around me and I ended up telling the story of Jesus to all of them. There was one point when we were at the hospital that was a little scary. We were standing at the bottom of the stairs waiting for the rest of the group when a security guard came walking down with a big gun and a prisoner in front of him and the guard pointed at Tanya at which point she just started to play a song…I’m not even sure if she knew what she was playing. It just shows that no matter what they are doing Jamaicans love their music,
We also had our first day of Vacation Bible School that day. We were at Bird Mountain Church which was definitely up in the mountains. The drive up there was beautiful but a little frightening. We were driving down a very small road that didn’t look like it could fit our bus in some areas. We had a rock wall on one side of us and steep hills on the other side of us. At some points we were looking down at the top of trees. But the drive there wasn’t all about the scenery in fact it showed me how Jamaicans really live, most of the houses there were no bigger than my shed, in fact my shed was probably in better shape then most of the houses. Most of them live among rubble and trash It was a small church that had two rooms. We were a little disorganized and I think the kids were bored with our singing. But, by the end of the day we were beginning to get to know the kids a little better and how to keep their attention and I could already see some of our group connection with certain kids. I was working with the middle group and our first day we had about 9 kids between the ages of eight and eleven. It was hard to understand what some of the kids were telling us because not all of them spoke English. Most of them spoke Paitu which is a mix of broken English, French, and Spanish. I felt like I couldn’t connect with our kids and felt like I wasn’t doing what I was meant to do there. But, by the time we got to our bible verse I realized that the kids are really paying attention to what we are teaching them and our group could all say their bible verse and answer questions about the lesson by the end of the day.
The third day there we visited Blossom Gardens Children’s Home which is an orphanage for kids between the ages of newborn and nine. This isn’t your typical orphanage where all the kids can be adopted. Most of the kids were either taken away from their parents or were given away because their families could not afford them. Either way their parents will not sign papers to give the orphanage permission to adopt the kids out. My group was with the school age children and the minute we walked in we had kids run right up to us wanting to be held. There was one point when I sat down to read a story to the kids I had 9 of them all on me. We were all out numbered about 9 kids to one of us. They loved to feel your face and your hair and were very interested in gum or “ chewing gum” and the kept calling it. I had a piece in my mouth and this little boy tried sticking his finger in my mouth trying to get the gum out. We handed out wordless bracelets and the kids ( boys and girls alike) loved them. They kept having us put them on their ankles, wrists and then back on their ankles again. Each kid had about three and wanted more but they would share with each other for the most part. They had a lot of toys but most of them were old and broken but they thought they were the best toys they could have. Tanya had her guitar with her so she played for the kids and the rest of us danced and sang with them. They loved it when you held them and danced with them. At one point I was holding two kids and had one pulling on my leg wanting me to pick her up. Towards the end I got to go into the baby room and hold a little girl who had beautiful brown eyes and just kept smiling. It was the hardest place to leave because the kids would watch us leave through the windows and we could hear some of the kids crying. It was one of those times when you just had to walk away and not look back or you would never be able to leave.
When we arrived at Vacation Bible School that day a few kids had already arrived and my group had grown doubled to eighteen kids. My group taught the kids a game called “Race Car” in which you cant show your teeth and have to make engine sounds to the person next to you, try and make them laugh and show their teeth. The kids adored this game and it was hilarious to watch them play. It was the one game where we were able to get all the kids to join in. You could tell that we were all connecting with our kids. We had them dancing and singing by the end of the day and most of them would talk with us and knew our names. Two of the kids ( Miche and Akinee) were really quite in the beginning but when we were closing up and singing they were dancing, clapping, and singing nice and loud. When Jamaicans sing you can tell that they are really singing from the heart. They even taught us one song called “I am Blessed” and when they sang the lyrics you could tell that they really meant it. It went like so… “ I am Blessed, I am Blessed, Everyday of my life I am Blesses, When I wake up in the morning or lay my head to rest , I am Blessed, I am Blessed.” While we were on this trip God has taught me how truly blessed I am to live in the United States with my family.
Thursday, our fourth day was a work\ free day at Fairhaven. The girls got our hair braided and we all also got to go on a glass bottom boat ride. Joe ( the captain) took us out to the coral reef and let us get out and snorkel. Now this was a big step for me because I am afraid of fish. But, I worked up the courage to get out and I swam in a school of sergeant majors which are black and yellow striped fish. I also swam with trumpet fish, baby jelly fish, electric blue fish, clown fish, and neon yellow fish. I also swam under the boat and got my picture taken through the glass and I think you can see some of the coral below me. It was a completely different world beneath the water and it really made me appreciate God’s creation. Then he took us to “ Jimmy Buffet’s Margativille” where there was a water trampoline outside and we got to jump on that and into the water.
Vacation Bible School was a lot of fun that day. For crafts we had the kids paint jewelry boxes that had tops like sun catchers. I don’t think the kids had ever seen anything like it before and most of them I think it was their first time painting. Even Pastor Wright stayed outside fascinated and just watched the kids paint and kept commenting on how “iriee” the boxes were. It was Kelsey’s turn to give the bible lesson today so she did puppets and I did the voice for the puppet. I think that really helped to get the kid’s attention and it was one of our most important lessons because it was about Pilot and the choices people made about Jesus’s crucifixion. At the end of the day the kids could almost tell us the story so I think it really left an impact.
Our fifth day there we went to Garland Hall Children’s Home which was an orphanage for kids from the of eleven and up. There were not many kids there, in fact there wasn’t even enough kids for each of us. A couple of the guys took a few boys out and played soccer and us girls stayed inside to read and play with the other kids. One girl…Cassandra came up to me and handed me five books she wanted me to read to her. She was about 12 but couldn’t read anything more than “See Spot Run”. But, she loved to have me to read to her and she would try and read a few pages to me and the look on her face when she finished a book was unforgettable. She never wanted to stop…even when we started to sing she kept on reading. Junior (one of the boys there) tried to teach me Paitau but I was butchering every word he tried to get me to say, mostly because I couldn’t even understand the English word he was telling me. But, I did learn Wawon means “hello”. He then preceded to play thumb war and arm wrestling with me. On the bus ride home we found out why there were not so many kids there. The parents would drop the kids off at the orphanage when they could no longer afford them and then pick them up when they could. So, the kids would spend a few months in the orphanage and then a few months at home and it would continue like that for a very long time.
Vacation Bible School that day is where I really surprised myself and I think others. When we arrived there it was pouring down and when we started to sing about rain it hit us even harder. I thought the rain was going to collapse the church or the lighting was going to split the mountains but it didn’t even phase the kids. During one of our songs Mrs. Johnson came up and asked me if I would like to give the lesson sense I was the one planning to do it for the middle group. Amazingly I said yes without any hesitation at all. So, I got up in front of 63 kids and gave the lesson on salvation…that’s when it hit me that missionary work is something I might really consider. I love travel, I love God, and I love working with different people. Everyone told me that the kids were paying attention for the most part even little Yournes and in the end they could answer questions. I lead the kids in prayer to close up and that was the best feeling ever. At the meeting Thomas gave me “props” which made me feel a little better because I had been worried that I didn’t do that good of a job and that they were disappointed in me. For crafts we had the kids decorate paddle balls and again I don’t think they had ever seen anything like them and we had to show the kids how to play with them but I think they loved them. Some of the older kids had the leaders and us sign their paddle balls. They threw us a party at the end, with ice cream and cake, and gave us a plaque and key chains. The kids were so sweet, they would stand inline for a half an hour and then see that you didn’t get any ice cream and give you theirs. It was very hard to say goodbye. They were standing outside when we were leaving and waved goodbye. Almost all the girls, including myself cried. The guys just kind of sat there in silence and then asked if we needed Kleenexes.
On our way home we saw a group gathered around a bunch of cars and police with machine guns. We never did find out what happened but Byron ( our bus driver) turned on the lights so they couldn’t see us in the bus.
Day six was our free day. First we went to a market and went shopping. I have to say I don’t really enjoy shopping there because you have to bargain and people keep trying to get you into their shops and then its hard to say no. We ate at a little Jerk Shop (Jamaican Fast Food) and had jerked chicken and bread. It was an interesting place to eat because it was all out in the open and all Jamaican food...definitely not a place tourists would hang. Next we went to Dunns River Falls, where I climbed a waterfall TWICE. Angela, Alissa, and I climbed it together. First time we did ok…there was only one part where I couldn’t see at all as I was climbing up. The water was pushing down on you while you were trying to force your way up. Then we did it again and this time we decided to take the harder way up. Well, this time we had a few accidents. First, Angela slipped and we thought she broke her arm and then I slipped and fell far! First I hit a rock with my hip then I continued down and hit my back but if I didn’t hit that second rock I would have continued. But, I think Brent and Andrew had it worse, Brent had his and Andrew’s money in a plastic bag and lost it…it was over $200! Then we did reach the top our group was already on the bus and we had to walk through the craft market by ourselves and these guys were following us and talking to us but I had no idea what they were saying. We were very thankful when Mr. Johnson showed up. But, it was all worth it and I would do it again in a heartbeat. We stopped at a little park on the side of the road afterwards called “Columbus Park” where they had artifacts left over from battles between the Spanish, French and British.
After the falls, went to Glistening Waters for dinner. I had curried chicken, steamed vegetables, and rice. We even had dinner music, two Jamaican guys came up and one played guitar and sang and the other played an African Bass. The sang “Welcome to Jamaica” and “Daylight come and I wanna go home”. While we were eating Byron was making fun of Kenny and Kenny was throwing paper wads at him and it his hand down on the table one time and flipped a plate over and it broke all over the ground. Then Kenny ate lasagna and Byron told him that if you eat beef the fish will attack and you wont glow but if he ran and sweated it off he would glow. So Kenny did six laps and was very angry when he found out that it was all a lie. Then I went swimming…and glowed! Special Microorganisms live in the water because it is where the fresh and salt water mix, so any disturbance in the water makes it glow. So anytime a fish swam by it glowed and when we got in and swam around we glowed. It gives of a bluish, greenish light. I’m glad they didn’t tell me how many fish were in the water and that I didn’t see them until after I got in the water or I would probably have never got in. We also saw trees full of herons, hundreds of them.
Day 7 we went to Hillview Baptist Church where their church service was not a lot different than ours at home. It was cute because the sermon the Pastor gave was about how we are all sinners on the inside no matter how different we may appear on the inside. And he was like look around some of us here are not dark. The service ran a bit longer than ours but only because they spend more time singing then we do. Then we went back to Fairhaven and picked up our stuff to take it to Chattham Cottages where we would be staying for our last night in Jamaica. It was almost like having our own house. We had three bedrooms, two with bunk beds and one with a queen size bed, a living room, three baths and a little kitchen. The best part was air. After we settled in we went shopping along the hip strip and to my surprise most of the people who owned the stores there were Arab not Jamaican but other than that it wasn’t much different then shopping at the market.
As we were driving around Byron gave us a “narrated tour” where I learned a lot. So, these are just a few little thing I learned on some of our trips. For example bamboo grows three inches everyday. There is a disease that spread to Jamaica from Miami in the air and killed all the tops of the palm trees. So, there was a couple spots where there were just stalks of trees. We also saw a McDonalds on wheels! It was McDonalds in the back of a truck that would drive from location to location. Fish Tea is a very popular drink there. They boil all different parts of fish and then strain it and drink the broth, its supposed to be good for you. Each town has its own clock tower so that’s how you know if you have gone into a different town. Cricket is like baseball for Jamaicans. Limestone lines the street and is sued for toothpaste, casts, roads, and filtering water. Festival is a fried bread stick and coco bread is like a sweet pita bread. Rose Hall is this huge house that used to be one a sugar plantation and the owner “loved 6 husbands to death”. It is said that she still haunts that house to this day and there are tours given daily. Half Moon is the most expensive hotel in Montego Bay. It has its own golf course, equestrian center, shopping center, doctor, restaurant and much more. Last but not least there are 120 rivers in Jamaica.
This was the best experience I could have ever had and God has shown me so much. We made really strong connections with the people there and I will never forget what I saw. We all came back with such good testimonies that our church is actually thinking of having us go back next year. God taught me so much while I was there but I think the thing I will always remember is how blessed God has made me and how he brought out the leadership with kids in me in some of the most unlikely situations.
Second:
GUESS WHAT! I am going to be working (internship) at Dunkels for a month! I am so nervous guys so keep me in your prayers! This is a great foot in the door! Wish me luck!
Third:
Lately, I feel like I have been falling away from God, I dont know why but I do. I think its because there is so much goign on with school that I have started to put that before God. But no more of that! God comes first and thats final!
Forth and last I promise:
If anybody has the pop tops from pop cans (the little metal things you open the cans with) could I PLEASE have them? My cousin has acute leukemia and the money his hospital gets from collecting these goes towards new equipemtn and research for his cancer! So, it would be great if you could collect them from everyone you know and give them to me!
Ok Im done!
Thanks for taking time out of your day to read my ramblings..
Love and God Bless
Kendra
Dream of licorice and gummy bears!