Day 7

Me and Mary forgot to set alarms so we woke up to Miss K calling "Mary! Mary!" Our breakfast was PB&J with guava jelly, festival, and salted fish. We also had hot chocolate, which was delicious. We met up with the boys and walked down to the clinic, where we started working on fixing up the clinic. We fixed a wobbly bench, a cabinet, the door to the computer lab, and added a door to separate examination rooms. Jon and Joh walked to the Minto School to meet with the teachers. They talked with Tessa and had a call with the MSOE team. It poured all afternoon, and the building took a long time. By the time the boys got back from the school around 5 pm, we had only just finished the door with help from some community members.

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.

Day 5

On Day 5 we woke up around the usual time and met at the clinic at 9 AM to start our day. We were headed to Minto Primary School again to teach the other grades about math and science. We met with Euton and Vanessa as well as Hannah and Tia (nurses at the clinic who were joining us up in Penlyne later in the day). When we got to Minto Primary school, they were on their break so kids, once again, came running up to the truck so excited to see us. A few even said "Are we going to get marshmallows today?!". Once in the computer lab, we started to get ready for day 2 of lessons. We planned to meet with the 3rd and 4th graders today to talk about chemical reactions. We walked into the 3rd grade room and it was silent. All of the children were calmly sitting one by one in three aligned rows. There eyes were beaming as we started to tell them about what they were going to learn. We talked about all 3 states of matter and the outcomes of different reactions. We then showed them a demonstration showing them what each of them would be doing in their teams. We had a few empty bottles that we funneled vinegar into. We then put baking soda into a balloon and fit the end of the balloon over the water bottle and dumped the baking soda into the bottle with vinegar. You could then see the vinegar reacting with the baking soda which created a gas that filled the balloon. Each group got to try this on their own and each time their eyes were wide opened when they saw the balloon filled. After cleaning up the fallen baking soda and some spilled vinegar, we gave each student a balloon of their own as a reward for being so well behaved. Immediatly afterward, we headed to the 4th grade room to teach them a lesson. Once again, we walked into a very well behaved class, which was in stark constrast from the day before. Since we had leftover vinegar and baking soda, we decided to show the 4th graders the same balloon experiment we showed the the 3rd graders. Afterward, we taught the students about the the states of matter and chemical reactions. For the 4th grade students, we made lava lamps using oil and water inside a plastic bottle. First, we showed the students what happened when we tried to mix water and oil together (Spoiler alert: They don't mix).Then we dropped food coloring into the bottles and put Alka-Seltzer into the bottles to show another chemical reaction. The Seltzer made the liquid inside the bottle bubble, and the kids were so amazed! Before leaving, we gave the kids leftover pipe cleaners as reward for answering questions. While we were at Minto, a group called RADA (Rural Agricultural Development Association) happened to be there too. They were creating a garden on the hillside (it was so steep!) next to the school to demonstrate farming techniques as well as provide a garden to supplement the school lunch operations. RADA showed community members how to clear the land and use tires to create steppes so that the steep land could be farmed. Euton then drove us to Penlyne Castle Primary School where his nephew attends. We talked with the first grade teacher, Miss Jackson, and her son, another teacher, as well as Principal Watson about potential improvements at the school. It seems fencing and water are issues faced by many schools up in the mountains. As Penlyne Primary School is built at the top of a cliff, it's important to have fencing so students don't climb down the cliff to retrieve lost soccer balls. We happened to come on Career Day, a day where the students all dress up in an outfit of what they want to be when they grow up. They were dressed as soldiers, nurses, teachers, doctors, and a pastor. We watched as the children performed skits to show what their profession does. The highlight was a girl who dressed as a vet and then proceeded to "treat" a goat. The poor goat was so panicked as the girls put a bandaid on its nose! After leaving Penlyne school, we talked with other community members in Penlyne including a shop owner Ms. Nerma and a coffee farmer Mr. Bennett. Mr. Bennett, who hosts homestays for BMP, was particularly optimistic about future projects involving the Penlyne community including renewable energy and exporting dried herbs or fruits. He was incredibly passionate about his community and described it as tight-knit and collaborative. He also described the contrast between Hagley Gap and Penlyne. Penlyne is a self-sustaining farming community, whereas Hagley Gap depends much more on Kingston for supplies. Finally, we met Euton and drove back down to Hagley Gap. He brought us the coffee beans we wanted to buy and they smelled so heavenly. Unfortunately, on the way down, we noticed Euton's truck giving off a lot more black fumes and dripping oil. Just after we got home, his truck actually broke down!

Day 4

Monday morning we woke up around 8 AM to start off our day. We each had breakfast with our host families which ranged from fried sweet potatoes and coleslaw to very sweet oatmeal and fresh bananas. After breakfast, we were sure to apply our DEET and sunscreen and then we started our day at the clinic at 9 AM where we met Vanessa and Eutin to head up to Minto Primary School. When we got to the school, the young kids came running out excited to see us and see what we would teach them that day. We went straight upstairs to the computer lab to get organized for the lessons and get settled at the school. After we were all organized, we went downstairs to greet the first graders and teach them more about engineering. We went over which shape is stronger: a triangle or a square?. Then, we revealed the activity we would be doing that day. As we took out three large bags of marshmallows, their eyes light up like we have never seen before. We split in to six teams of three and the challenge was to use the marshmallows and toothpicks to create the strongest building possible. The winning team was to get ten marshmallows to eat as snack. Yea right, as if that was going to work. Immediately as we started building, we looked around to see puffy cheeks as children were shoving marshmallows in their mouth. The cuteness took over and even though they were eating every other marshmallow, their structures still looked great! When it was time to test them, "All-Mighty-Joh" came to shake the tables to act as an earthquake. All structures survived and we left the classroom feeling proud of what we taught them about buildings. We then enjoyed a nice lunch at the Minto School provided by the Minto School Chef. After a few good conversations with Vanessa over lunch, we began to get ready for our next lesson with the 5th and 6th graders. Mary, Jon, Sam and Minh handled this lesson while Joh and Connie talked to the 5th and 6th grade teacher in regards to the possibility of a computer program to help the kids get ready for the GSAT. When we entered the room, it was chaos. The kids were so excited they could not sit down. When they finally sat down, we began to teach them about Newtons 1st and 3rd law. They were able to answer a lot of our questions and certainly impressed us when it came to forces. Then we passed out material to make their own toy car to race against each other. But, when the balloons came out, the kids broke lose. Balloons began to fly everywhere and popping left and right. While some actually made a toy car to race, others jsut had fun blowing up the balloon and watching it deflate. So while it may not have gone as planned, the kids still had fun and learned about Newtons Laws. After leaving the Minto School, we went to see Eutin's farm and to meet his parents in Penelyn Castle. We treked up and up the mountain and could feel the temperature drop. Standing in the farm, the cool breeze stroked our arms and we sat and listen to Eutin talk about how he started his very own (and successful) coffee farm. Afterwards, we went back to Eutins parents coffee farm and tasted a sweet banana. This was not just your regular Kroger banana, this banana tasted as sweet as a pineapple; very weird. Then, Eutin took us to taste a grapefruit. In the US, grapefruits are usually a bit sour and bright pink, right? But not here in Jamaica, these were THE BEST grapefruits I have ever had. They were perfectly sweet and refreshing. Eutin even gave us a few to take back to our homestays! To wrap up the day of taste, Eutin took us to his house where his wife had a jack fruit ready for us to eat. Connie and Minh love jack fruit and have tried it before coming to Jamaica. The jack fruit was so sweet it nearly tasted like a sweet tart candy. Eutin kept dishing out pieces and everyone seemed very happy with what they were tasting up in the mountains. We eventually made our way back down to our homestays to have dinner. And just like any other night in Jamaica, the boys played soccer (or should I say futbol) with the locals and the girls played some cards with the kids. After a long day, we went to bed anxious for the next day at Minto Primary School.

Day 3

Sunday morning had a very interesting start for Joh and Sam. We woke up to a nice fat spider. Honestly, the biggest spider I have ever seen. When I say big, I am talking BIG. Like the size of a small mouse. Joh screamed like a little girl when he saw it. Sam was a tough man but he didn't want to touch the spider. We had one of the kids in the community get it for us. But after that whole ordeal was dealt with, our day was a lot more calm. We start our day with a nice fat breakfast. The breakfast was the same as day 2. You know the saying laxy Sunday? Well this Sunday was pretty lazy in the morning. We hang out with the kids talking about many different topics. Then around 11:30 AM we trek up to the top of the square to attend Church with the locals. Wow. Talk about singing, dancing and praising the Lord. These Jamaicans know how to celebrate Sundays. After Church, we went back to our homestays and played with the rambunctious children until lunch was finally served! Lunch was chicken sauteed in a mild curry sauce with pasta and potatoes. After lunch, we met Vanessa and a local community member, "Yellowman", to begin our hike to the river pool waterfall. In the Jamaican heat, we started up a steady uphill to the waterfall. Right off the bat, it was clear that we were not conditioned for these types of hikes. As Vanessa and Yellowman were chatting and telling stories about the Blue Mountains, we were struggling to keep up and conquer the hike. But as we neared the end, we began to see the waterfall. All six of us turned to each other and said "This is sweet." Minh and a local kid from the community we stayed in raced to the top. Let's just guess who won... At the top of the waterfall was a small pool that people began to jump in to. Little did they know that the water was in fact freezing cold. Yet, it was refreshing after a long hike. After playing around for a while, we took our first (and only) bath. The locals laughed at us, but we washed our hair and faces and felt all squeaky clean for the hike back. As we began to hike back, the rain started to come down pretty hard but the only way to shelter was the way we were walking. About half way through the walk back, we noticed all the kids running towards a tree. Before we knew it, the oldest of them was at the very top of the guava tree. He began shaking the entire tree, and I mean SHAKING THE TREE. The younger kids would be underneath picking up as many guavas as they could to bring back to their homes. It was a pretty crazy scene if I must say. When we got back home, we ate dinner with our host families and came back outside to play with the kids before bed. We brought out speakers that Minh had brought and started to play popular American songs. The community went wild! They knew all the Justin Beiber and Rihanna songs. It was like a little neighborhood concert. Everyone was laughing looking at us dancing and we were laughing hearing them sing these popular songs. Around 9 PM, we were asked to settle down as the kids had school tomorrow and our busy week was about to start.

Day 2

"Bang! Bang! Bang!" The sound of our host family knocking on our doors echos throughout our rooms. "I'm going to serve breakfast now!" they say. Slowly making our way to the eating table, we plump ourselves down and wait for breakfast. The pungent smell coming from the kitchen reaches our curious noses. Once breakfast is served we scarf it down within seconds. We eat like a group of Parana’s feasting on a fat piece of meat.  Safe to say it was a phenomenal meal! Breakfast here usually consists of eggs, toast, and a sweet orange.

Upon finishing breakfast we prepare our selves for the day. Most importantly we "DEET up." We all gather outside Sam and Joh's house and excitedly walk down to the clinic. We reach the clinic and meet our friends Vanessa and Euton. We pile into Euton's truck and make our way up to our farm tour. We tour the farm of a sweet lady named Marg. She takes us along her farm path showing us all the different fruits and plants growing on her farm. We stopped numerous times trying each different fruit she had to offer. At times it seemed like she was our mother feeding us our daily fruits. But actually, she would hold up the fruits to our mouths and we would take a bite. The fruits were the most sweet succulent tasting things that we have ever had grow from the ground.

After about an hour of touring the farm we find our sweet Euton and continue our journey up the mountain to visit the school. The school was a ghost town because it was a Saturday, so school wasn't in session. We take a quick tour and then make our way back down the mountain to the clinic. Once reaching the clinic we find ourselves in a discussion circle around Vanessa who starts our orientation. We mainly go through our schedule for the week, but also discuss possible topics our club could potentially cover and learn a little Patio. We talk for about 2 hours discussing with Euton and Vanessa and then we talk to Sheldon, who is a student at the University of Kingston getting his PhD in physics who grew up in Hagley Gap, for about an hour about future project ideas. Once our discussion is finished we take our information filled brains to our houses and prepare ourselves for dinner. Dinner is placed at the table and it's even better than breakfast. We eat the food like a pack of Hyenas feasting on a nice antelope.

Now I'm sure everyone's wondering about the night life in Jamaica. The night life in Jamaica is "LIT." Tonight we head back up to the square with Vanessa. We notice a lot of drinking, dancing, and music playing. We reach the square and find a little nook we can hang out in. As soon as we get comfortable a flock of children surround us. With the good vibes and music, our very own team member, Joh, breaks out some famous dance moves. Granted he doesn't have the smoothest moves, but the kids still love it. He teaches the kids the shopping cart, the bow and arrow, and the sprinkle. They become pro's within seconds. Teaching everyone around them it becomes a hit. However, the dance moves only last about 30 minutes before we feel the tiredness hit us. At this time we make our way back to our homes and have our daily reflection. We basically get deep in our feel's. Thankfully no one has had any problems and are enjoying there stay thus far. This lasts for about an hour and then we hit the sack. We prepare our selves for another fun-filled day.

Day 1

The owls "who'd." The late night walkers finished their walk of shame from the library. The steets were silent. Then out of no where six students, all carrying a plethora of luggages,slowly stroll through the streets. Half asleep we gather at the michigan union. We patiently wait for our ride, prepping ourselves for this incredible journey. Like a big family, we one by one pile into our cars.The journey to airport was short and full of dreams. Upon arriving to the airport we see many other curious faces pondering about the journey ahead of them. Joining this crowd we walked at the pace of snails stroling into the airport. The first thing we notice is this incredible line. Out of nowhere Mary yells "Oh Shit, that's the security line." Sam responded, "Mary watch your language there are children around." But she was right. The line was like the line to Ben and Jerry's on free cone day. We eventually make it past the security line and head towards our gate. We board the plane and take off for Miami.None of us remember the plane ride because we all slept through it. We arrive in Miami and find our plane to Kingston, but no one needs to know about that. As a group we get off the plane and head towards customs. We get questioned briefly and just like that we enter the country. We all exchange our money for Jamaican money and grab our bags from the luggage pick up area. We find Vanessa, the coordinator of our trip, and head out of the airport. We glide out of the airport like hockey players on ice and then it hits us. The HEAT WAVE. It nearly kills us all. We immediatley start drowning in sweat. The first thing on our minds was ice cream. We immediatly drive towards Devon's house where we get this glorious ice cream. It's like god cried into these cones. After devouring our ice cream we embark on our next journey. "OHHHH", "AHHHHHH", "OUCH" is all you could hear coming from within this van. The bumpy roads tossed us around in this car but the scenary was stupendous. Unlike anything any of us have seen before. Some of us even compared it to Jurassic Park. After many twists and turns following the curved road through the mountain, we finally arrive in the famous town they call Hagley Gap. We thank our driver, "Jeffery", and go out to meet our homestay families. We unpack our beloved belongings and then head out to meet the community. The boys immediatley hit the soccer field and safe to say we got our butts kicked. The girls happily watched us get our butts kicked. Even as the sun went down they continued to play and we conitnued to lose. At this point, we started losing even worse becuase it was like playing soccer with no eye sight. It was miserable. Eventually we stopped after the score hit 77-2. We then head back to our homestays and cooled down before hitting the square. Around 8:30, Vanessa took us to the square but the trip was not an easy one. Without many street lights we stumbled and crawled our way into the square. If someone were watching us, it probably looked like a group of drunk people trying to find an ice cream store with blind folds on. But despite the lack of vision we eventaully made it to the music popping, people dancing town. There weren't many shops and bars but the ones that were there were filled with people drinking, playing cards, eating, and overall "JC'ing (Just Chillen')." A great man in our group, whom is not going to named, said that the Jamaican people seemed to be the most relaxed group of people he has ever encountered. In other words, "They JC'd mad hard." We went from store to store, checking out what each store had to offer. The many eyes staring at us with every movement frightened us a little, but we found out a little later it was nothing to be afraid of. The people of the community were extremely welcoming and kind-hearted. They were just curious as to who these people in their community was. However, our stay wasn't very long because of our weak legs and fatigued brain. At about 9:30 we embark back on the dark and treachous journey to our homestays. We make it back with a little more ease because we knew what was coming. We say our "Goodnights" and our "I love you's" and each go to our respective home stays. We prepare for bed and as soon as our heads hit the pillow we are out cold. We dream of the incredible journey we have planned for the next day!