Jeremy visits Jamaica

Jeremy arrived the day after I sprained my ankle so I got to meet him at the airport on crutches with Marcus, Jenny's boyfriend. We spent the first couple of days taking it easy at Jenny's site, helping her with murals in the computer room of her school and making the rounds in her community.












Me on crutches, taken as we were heading out to the coast.












Ms. Gwen, Jeremy, and Jenny at the school












Jeremy painting












Marcus painting












Jenny Painting












Bernie Painting












Jeremy eating fried fish at the restaurant in Manning's Hill












Playing dominoes at the restaurant

On the weekend we traveled to the northeast coast of Jamaica, which is known for good beaches and little tourism. It wasn't polished, but it was beautiful. Along our way Jenny, Jeremy, Marcus and I stayed with one of Jenny's good friends, Ron, in Buff Bay. Ron put us up for the night then we were all off for Port Antonio.












Me and my bag stuffed into the front of a taxi












Ron at his house near Buff Bay












Jenny and Marcus trying to avoid the spray of a water truck as were heading into Buff Bay.












The group of us at bar in Buff Bay before heading to Port Antonio












Traveling to Port Antonio along the coast

Port Antonio is said to have the most charm of any city in Jamaica. I wouldn't call it charming on the whole, but it had a nice feel, interesting history, a great location on the water. We stayed there a few days going out at night and exploring the area during the day.












The oldest most architecturally interesting buildings in Port Antonio












The view from our guest house overlooking Port Antonio.












Jeremy and Jenny Playing Soccer at the Marina












Swimming at sunset

On one of our days in Port Antonio Jenny, Marcus, Jenny and I went rafting on the Rio Grande River not far from town. It was a beautiful 3 hour ride through a lush river valley on rafts made of bamboo.












Starting out on our rafting trip












Rafting down the Rio Grande












Jenny and Marcus rafting through the rapids

After the weekend we traveled further east along the northern Coast of Jamaica to Long Bay. Here we stayed in a comfortable guest house right on the water with a beautiful beach in front of us and a full moon at night.












Beach in front of our guest house in Long Bay












Full moon at Long Bay

From Long Bay we made our way back to Port Antonio, then to Kingston to get Jeremy back for his flight the next day. It was a wild drive back on the same twisting, turning mountain roads, but we made it in one piece and had another great trip together.












Boat on Boston Beach, coming back from Long Bay

Kingston, Jamaica and Jenny's Peace Corps site

My first day in Jamaica was a whirlwind to say the least. My sister Jenny, who is a Peace Corps volunteer in Jamaica, was waiting at the airport to pick me up, and it was so great to see her. As we were looking for a bus into Kingston we saw a Peace Corps vehicle driv by and scored a ride directly to the Peace Corps headquarters.












Jenny and me in front of Peace Corps headquarters

From Peace Corps we made our way through the noisy, frenetic hustle and bustle that is Kingston. Jenny threw me in headfirst as we visited and bought vegetables from some of her people in the local market. The scene was a shock coming from idyllic and polished environs of the Florida Keys and Miami, but I kept up with jenny as I took in the craziness.












Taking a minibus around Kingston












Street life in Kingston












Kingston marketplace












Market woman

Later in the afternoon we made our way to Jenny's Peace Corps site, located about 45 minutes north of Kingston towards the interior of the country in the mountains. After fighting traffic out of town and dealing with the insane drive up the mountain roads it was nice to make it to Jenny's quiet community. It was great to see Jenny's place, and finally rest for awhile – we needed it for later that evening. About midnight we walked about a mile down the road to a “sweet sixteen” birthday party, and it was just beginning to pick up. It was unlike any other dance party that I've ever seen. After a crazed dance exhibition by a couple of women, an older woman halted the music to bless the party and the birthday girl – It was after 1:00 in the morning before the cake was cut and the party continued. The DJ, an important part of any Jamaican dance party, was Marcus, Jenny's boyfriend. He made the party interesting to say the least and I can say that I've never seen dance moves like I saw that night. I left a little after 5:00 in morning as the sun was rising, and the party was still going strong.












Jenny and the birthday girl.












Marcus on the mic, keeping the party going.












Some of the tamer dance moves.

Jenny works as a youth development volunteer in a school about 100 yards up the hill from her house. Most of her work is with literacy, information technology, and classroom murals. The next day Jenny took me to meet the students and teachers at her school.












Jenny and the mountains around her community












Students gathered for morning devotion












Students reciting the Jamaican pledge of allegiance

The next day we went to go visit with people in Manning's Hill, the community that Jenny first lived in, about two miles back down the road towards Kingston. Manning's Hill larger community with more businesses and people out in the streets, but far from her school.












A colorful “container” shop that sell basic food staples












Playing cricket in an open lot












Jenny and the chefs of Jenny's favorite restaurant in the Manning's Hill












Jenny and me eating outside at the restaurant












Girl behind her house as seen from the restaurant












Boy rolling a worn bicycle tire with a stick












Jenny walking through her community with the boys and their tires












One of the families that we visited












Jenny and Mickey, one Jenny's favorite people up the road from Manning's Hill












Waiting for fried chicken back in Jenny's community near her house and school

It was so great to see Jenny and her community, school, and Peace Corps experience. Soon we would doing more to see the rest of Jamaica with my friend Jeremy, who was coming the next day, but I had to make things a little more interesting. As I jumped over the fence to Jenny's school I crushed my ankle on the landing and sprained it badly. The next day my ankle was black and blue, but I managed to get around on some borrowed crutches and made it to the airport with Jenny's boyfriend, Marcus, to pick up Jeremy anyway.












Sprained ankle

Everglades National Park

On our way back from the Keys to Miami Jim and I decided to take some time to explore Everglades National Park. We drove all the way through the park, stopped in to the visitor's center and hiked a couple of trails to get a feel for the everglades. One of the things that I learned was that the Everglades are not a swamp, but a very slow moving river that once drained all of southern Florida to the Gulf of Mexico. Less than a third of the of the original everglades exist today due to development, agricultural use, and the redirection of water away from the Everglades watershed. Besides all of that the alligators were cool.