LIfe in Jamaica!

I want to give you a little taste of what life is like here in Jamaica!

Last Sunday I woke up about 7:30 a.m. to get ready for church. 8:45 a.m. I left for church, which started at 9. There was lot's of singing and a loud sermon by a wonderful preacher. Church ended around 11 or 11:30. After church David and Debbie and Chris and I went off to Doctor's Cave Beach to relax on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. We stayed there as long as we wanted, which ended up not being very long. It was wonderful to sit in the cool ocean water and then bask in the warm tropical sun.

Last Friday a bunch of us women staff went to Val's house to watch Anne of Green Gables. It was fantastic. While we were doing that some of the men staff were at another home watching "manly" movies. When us women were done watching the movies we had to walk past the house which the guys were still watching a movie in. We decided that we wanted to play some sort of prank on them, maybe get them scared a bit. Nearby the house there is a breadfruit tree. If you don't know what breadfruit is, it's a very common fruit that grows on a tree and is about the size of a small coconut or a big grapefruit. If you warm it up and put butter and salt on it, it tastes like potatoes. It's delicious! But back to the story. So Emese and Olivene and I decided we would pick a breadfuit from the tree and throw it at the door of the house and hopefully get some screams! Emese was trying to get the breadfruit out of the tree, eventually she got a hold of it and pulled down with all her might. Instead of just getting the breadfruit down, she ripped the whole branch off the tree. We all burst out into laughter, because it was so unexpected, and then we just kept on laughing because we were trying to be so quiet. Finally we got the right breadfruit and Emese chucked it at the door and it made a loud thump. As soon as she threw it we all ran and hid. It ended up it didn't scare them at all and they knew exactly what we had done. It didn't fool them at all! But it sure is fun for Emese and Olivene and I to reminisce about.

The other day I went into town by myself to get something. I'll give you a detailed description of what a normal trip into town is like for a young white Canadian girl. First thing, I have to walk down the private road away from the YWAM base, to a busier road to catch a taxi. As I wait on the side of the road I look for cars with red license plates. When I see one heading my way I hold out my hand with one finger up. If there were two of us i would hold out two fingers, and so on and so forth! Sometimes it takes a while to catch a taxi, because often times they are already full and so I must wait until one comes by that has space. When a taxi sees me, but is full they will flash their lights to indicate so. Once I get in the taxi, the seatbelt law is not abided by, often times there just aren't any. So I just squeeze in and pray that the driver gets me to my destination safely. Often the taxi drivers drive very fast, and there is alot of honking. They honk for many different reasons here, but that's whole different story.
I have to know where I'm going when I get into the taxi, but I usually don't have to tell the driver anything because they always end up near where I need to go anyway. When I get close to where I want to be dropped off I nudge the driver's shoulder and give him 50 JA's (less than a dollar canadian) and tell him where to drop me off. That adventure is over now, but walking the streets of downtown MoBay is a whole new adventure. White women are rare on downtown streets so I stick out like a sore thumb! I hear alot of men calling at me..."pssssst" "hey white girl" "whitey!" "taxi?" "hey baby, you want a black man?!" This is so common that I ignore it most of the time. But I feel so rude ignoring them so sometimes I stop and see what the gentleman might want, sometimes he asks me where I'm from or if I live here or if I have a boyfriend. I've never been attacked or anything, the guys here are just very straightforward. If they notice you, they let you know. So I just continue walking down the streets and finally reach the store I needed to get to and purchase what I need. Oh and waiting in line is not always necessary, half the time there's just a crowd trying to push there way to the front of the line, depending on what type of store you are at. I always take my cell phone with me in town, cuz you never know what might happen. On this certain occasion I don't have any credit on my phone, I don't pay a flat fee every month for my phone. I just buy phone cards and put credit on my phone, like those long distance phone cards. There are always numerous venders on the side of the streets and many sell these phone cards. Other vendors sell underwear, belts, sunglasses, slippers (which us Canadians would call flip flops), tank tops, candy and beverages, and a bunch of other things. Once I'm finished running my errands I head back to "Courts" where there are taxis that head back to Reading, which is where the YWAM base is. You have to know the name of the place you're going to, and you have to know the right place to catch a taxi. It's not like in New York, where you can catch any taxi and tell them where to take you. Each taxi has a route that it goes. So I head to Courts and I stand around a while waiting for a taxi to come, sometimes there are cars around and so I just go up to the driver and say "Reading?" and they always know what I'm talking about. If that's their route they say yes and I hop in the car and the journey home begins!

That's just a tiny taste of what life is like in Jamaica. If you would like to hear more, then leave a comment stating so and I will write about more of my adventures! I wish I had pictures to go with it,but maybe later. I also can't really explain all of the different smells, so you'll just have to come here one day and experience it for yourself.
Peace out, Kristen