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| Sanjay and I at the lunchtime Concert on Open Day! |
We all woke up exhausted from the day before. All of us lamenting about a pain here and pain there. But nevertheless we had a job to do so we trudged on.
We arrived at the school and jumped right in. I opted to paint today because it was less painful than tile removal and drier than washing windows. I quickly gained white freckles that I never had before.
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| There are common mangos everywhere and one of the older boys knocked us one down. So yummy! |
Midway through our day lunch arrived. And it was from the school's cantina this time. (So much better! Apparently the last group that came did not care for the food so they did not want us not to eat. Well, we were so excited about local food that we wanted to try everything.
Today's lunch was rice and peas (Jamaicans call beans peas) and fried chicken that was in some sort of sweet and sticky sauce. I was really hungry and inhaled the entire thing, so good.
The principal told us about Open Day at the school where all the parents are invited to basically a show case of what students have been doing all year. The chairman over Seaview came, another principal to a neighboring school, two political figures, and several parents and guardians.
It was a wonderful time watching the children perform and celebrate. Alot of the dances I believe to be the precursor to Jamaica's 50th Anniversary Celebration coming up in August (the 6th to be precise).
I have videos uploading now, so hopefully they will be ready later tonight because videos are not as easy to get up.
It was wonderful seeing the parents and seeing the children perform. We made lots of friends as we sat and watched the performances. Children in Jamaica are much more obedient and poised in nature. Restful to authority at just about all costs. But we were also outsiders, so that respect came and went depending on what we were doing.
We got an opportunity to go inside the school to see all the work that had been done.
The children and just as well as the teachers were just tremendously talented. Turning ordinary things like a pop bottle into a woven piece of art. It was amazing seeing all the different art that they were doing.
Once we finished looking around, we went back up the hill to the cottage to finish for the day. After much painting and more washing, the ceilings had been primed and the windows were ready for the professional spraypainters.
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| Crystal and Rachel |
It was odd to think that we wouldn't be there to see what happens after we leave. But so goes service learning sometimes. Although your contribution may seem small, it still offers alot of potential.
One other thing, we met a Peace Corps volunteer, her name was Crystal. Guess where she is from?
Sandwich, IL! And she actually said the Chicago area. How odd the world actually is small!
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| The principal made goat soup, it was pretty good but I forgot to take a picture before! |
I have to say it was a very overwhelming day for me personally. I have hit my introvert point and all I wanted to do is work isolated and trying to negotiate that with 14 people is nearly impossible. It can be difficult when everyone is so different and extremely extroverted and I come from a very introverted family and live alone.
Going to the beach and hunting for seashells with Rachel was very relaxing to me.
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| Emily was not happy that the "fries" were actually yucca not potato! |
We were invited to go out to a club that night, the Wild Onion but I preferred to just say in for the night. We pulled and heard "Let's Hear for the Boy". Most people were not feeling up for the experience. We later found out that the DJ had been arranged for us and we all felt guilty but wish someone had told us because we would have gone in.
After a round of cards that Ryan struggled to teach us but then we all became competitive to play, it was time for bed.
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