Day 6

Today, we split into two groups since Euton's car can't carry us all to Kingston. Jon, Joh, and Sam went to Kingston to buy materials to do some fixing up at the clinic. Minh, Mary, and I stayed at the clinic to work on documenting all the things we've learned this trip. As we were collaborating on a Google doc, we realized just how much we've learned and how many wonderful people we've met - it took us 3 hours to write it all down! We headed to lunch with Vanessa and Hannah at Gramp's, which is a shop on the hill near where we live. We had fried chicken, rice, and tried different juices. After lunch, we went to see Vanessa's friend Naldo's workshop. We followed him into a shaded, forested area on a path. Then, to our surprise, there was a beautifully crafted wooden dining room table in a clearing! Naldo then took us into his workshop and told us about the master carpentry work he does. Naldo took two years of shop in high school but learned all the rest on his own. He built everything in his workshop himself including the building and the wiring! We were blown away by his work and how beautiful it was. Naldo's friend Sean was also at the shop goofing around. Sean also works at a shop in the Square where we get snacks and drinks. After spending a while in Naldo's shop looking at pictures of his work and watching him demonstrate some wood-working techniques, we walked up to the square for a snack before heading up to Kerrick Hill. While in the square, we were so surprised when a petite Korean woman walked out of the bar and came toward us! She was traveling alone and asked us which side of the mountain is the most beautiful. She said she had already gone near the peak. We called Ron to come be her tour guide, but soon after, the woman abruptly grabbed a taxi back to Kingston where she was staying. It was so bizarre! Hannah, Vanessa, and the three of us headed up toward Kerrick Hill. It was torturously hot and we hiked up non-stop steep inclines. The view from the walk was beautiful, though, and well worth it. About half-way up the path, we saw a small goat that had gotten its back legs tangled in its rope. We tried to untangle the goat, but it was scared of us and jumped down into the bushes. The funniest part was when the goat started pooping and Vanessa said "You literally scared the poop out of that goat!" Finally, we gave up and kept going up the hill. At the top of Kerrick Hill, Vanessa and Hannah said only around ~50-100 people live in this farming community at the top. We walked for a long time but only saw a handful of people among expansive coffee and banana farms. The farms are not how you expect to see them. In the states, farms are kept in neat rows that seem to go on forever across flat land. Here, the coffee trees grow on the mountain sides where I can barely stand straight let alone do work! The trees are planted in a mix of bananas (to give shade) and coffee but not at all in rows. At first, we didn't even know what we saw were farms since they didn't look like American farms. At the top of the mountain, we could see everything in the valley so clearly. We were even able to point out our individual homestays! Walking back down the hill, we stopped at Steve's shop where Vanessa stopped for salted fish. We talked with Steve about the water and infrastructure problems he sees. He told us about the politics behind the roadwork and water piping. Finally, we hungout in the square for a little bit before me and Mary headed down to the river for a swim with Vanessa and Hannah. The first place we wanted to swim in was occupied - by a man bathing and an aggressive donkey! We went further back to a small pool between these huge rocks (they looked like we were in Jurassic Park). The small waterfall was actually pretty strong, and the current was pulling me and Hannah down if we didn't hold on. The waterfall created so many bubbles just like a little (cold) Jacuzzi. After bathing, we all walked home for dinner. Miss K made her specialty - chicken chop suey with potato salad. After dinner, we all headed to the square with some of the kids. At Sean's shop, the boys tried some Jamaican drinks. One flavoring they have which I've never seen is a sweet herb called sorrel. We also tried some snacks and me and Minh got addicted to eating these cheese puffs called Big Foot snacks. They were so good! Finally, we all walked home and hungout in Joh and Sam's condo where we demolished Jon's bag of trail mix. We immediately picked out all the m&m's and ate them all. I am craving chocolate and dessert so badly here - SOS. The other day I woke up dreaming I was at Kroger and eating oreos and yummy chocolate brownies and birthday cake. The first thing I'm doing in Miami is finding as many sweets as I can and eating an enormous juicy burger. Joh told the kids he'd buy them a steak dinner if they ever visit him in the states but all the kids want is beef jerky (they love beef jerky!). Anyway, tomorrow is going to be a big day of building so ta ta for now.