I made it here safely, though the journey was not without its own difficulties. but this view out my front window is worth it:
I may not have said that when I got up at 3:30 yesterday morning; it wasn't like I had really slept well the night before, thinking about had I forgotten to pack anything (most definitely no!). It took about two minutes to check in and check my bag! I told Mom she better not forget to pick me up in April, and that was that (anything more and either one of us would probably have started crying). In security, I was randomized into the check your hands for explosives line (!) but the nice thing about that line is that you don't have to take your shoes off, put your toiletries in the bin, etc. So that was beneficial since I don't always wear socks (I've had to walk barefoot through the airport before and that just grosses me out).
The most ridiculous thing was that this was for a flight to Dulles. It's handy to go through Richmond because of the abovementioned quickness, but the ascension and immediate descent in Washington was silly. I think it was 39 minutes total.
There was a problem in Dulles though--a connecting flight from Chicago with 30 people on the flight to Montego Bay was delayed, so they delayed our flight. The plane was there though, so we loaded and got out only an hour and a half late. I ended up next to a pair of honeymooners, and we chatted as we got closer to Jamaica, so that was nice.
The views flying over the Caribbean are unbelievable. Suddenly it's turquoise, not blue. And the little islands! They pop up, little spits of sandy shapes. The underwater ones are absolutely the most beautiful though--you know how sand dunes get when the wind's been blowing, partially golden and then partially black where the wind's been? The underwater islands are like that, except aqua instead of golden.
Immigration...mmmmm, herding cattle. The couple behind me joked that it was 27 degrees when they left Milwaukee, and 27 degrees arriving in Jamaica--a play on the difference between Fahrenheit and Celsius. I talked with them a little, and it was super cool--they had been talking about Doctors Without Borders, and the conversation came around later to the fact that I was doing something similar and they thanked me! It was different. Cool. Like I was a military member offering service to country, except I'm not as awesome as the soldiers.
I got through after awhile, but hundreds of sweaty bodies have a distinct smell, particularly when it's not sticky hot but just hot. Cell phone use was strictly forbidden, which lends its own distinction to a crowd. It was nice.
I had a driver from Projects Abroad waiting--he shook my finger, which was cute--I had my passport in one hand and was pulling my suitcase in the other. There were two other Americans being picked up too, so we all trudged out to the car in the heat. Jamaicans drive on the other side of the road, and the driver's side is not where we all assumed, as we piled into the car--the girl in the front did a stop and start when she started towards the car.
It's a 2 and a half hour drive through the mountains to Mandeville, in the center of the country. Mountainous like West Virginia, but imagine--no guardrails, no signage to guide you that you're approaching a switchback, and potholes in washed out roads. Also, no giving room to pedestrians or cyclists. It was like riding the Knight Bus from Harry Potter. My hair was blowing everywhere since there's no a/c, and I felt like a bobblehead. Lots of eyes closed moments as we approached pedestrians or other cars with not enough room (although there was always enough room!). The irony of all this was that leaving Montego Bay airport, there's a sign with the number of traffic fatalities over the last few years...with their driving style, I am absolutely shocked there aren't more!
But we made it. We also drove through the Bamboo Avenue, which I couldn't get a picture, but it's a broad highway with bamboo trees the size of Redwoods on either side of the road, and they grow over the road and make an archway over it. Fabulous.
Also spotted along the route--Mormons. Recognizable the world over. Enjoy your mission in Jamaica, elders!
I made it here, and my host family is very nice. Ingrid, my host mom, showed me around, and I met Earl, the host dad, this morning. His accent is much stronger than hers, but we'll get along well. I have my own bedroom, for now, and bathroom too. There's another American coming next week, so I'll have a roommate soon enough.
I passed out asleep not long after getting here and unpacking, because between it all, I was exhausted. I also lost an hour--they don't have daylight savings here.
Would you have all laughed to know I woke up to the sound of rain? Sunny, sunny Jamaica! Also, a rooster. A ROOSTER.
8 am, got picked up and taken on a taxi to the Projects Abroad office. The thing about Jamaican taxis is that they're called "route taxis" and they follow a specific route, so you can pick them up at a specified place around your house and go to the town center, and vice versa. But since fares and whatnot are set (and no tipping!), they cram as many people in them as possible. As in four grown adults in the backseat of a Toyota sedan. I was luckily the first one in, and I managed okay by shifting my shoulders and hips as best I could when the others got in. The taxi driver quipped "Welcome to Jamaica" when we expressed concern over getting a fourth adult in the backseat.
We made it, got a tour through the town center, walking around and pointing out landmarks. Changed some money--$100 USD gave me $10,500 Jamaican. It's baffling to do the conversions. A taxi ride costs $100JD. Approximately $1USD.
Made it to the PA office, where we took pictures and got debriefed.
This is me and Helena, a journalism volunteer from Sweden. Just finished walking across town, so forgive some of the flushing. I soon got taken to the hospital, where the PA staff member walking with me and I got sent to the matron's office, because they thought I was a nursing student. Meanwhile, I was shocked to walk in the "emergency" entrance, which clearly wasn't like any ER I've been in. It was a vestibule of sorts, and filled with people with casts, in wheelchairs, on crutches, and even one man on a gurney. Absolutely filled with sick, poor people. It was rather heartbreaking, an exquisite reminder of the developing country I was in. We eventually got sent along to the right person, and I'm starting tomorrow. Scrubs and white coat, which I am apparently quite safe to walk through town in (though I probably won't wear the white coat until I get in). I was already hit on multiple times; as a white person, you stand out exactly for what you are--not Jamaican. But there's apparently a bunch of American medical students who started recently, so I'll make some friends.
Speaking of making friends, apparently the PA volunteers from all over Mandeville spend their afternoons, after finishing work, at the "food court." I was confused a little by this term, but it made more sense this afternoon when we ate lunch there. It's an open air mall, with a similar type of mall food court like you'd see in America. Not American food...I had saltfish and ackee, and I was not a fan of the ackee. Also, boiled bananas and boiled potatoes, which don't taste nearly the way they do in America (maybe it's because we don't boil bananas in America?). Also, fried and boiled dumplings. Those were good. Something made me nauseous, but I'm kinda hoping it was the ackee, since I don't plan on eating any more of that.
But so the plan is to head to the food court in the afternoon and make friends, because that's how you travel out on the weekends--with the other volunteers. As the only hospital volunteer right now, I was a little concerned, but we'll figure it out. Regardless, tomorrow is volunteer vs staff Olympics, so I'll meet more people anyway.
Either way, the freckles on my nose are already starting to stand out.
and oh yeah, trying to explain the match to Jamaicans was impossible. I had NO cell service, so had I even wanted to turn the data on my phone on to check it, I couldn't've. I eventually ended up on a computer in the office, about three hours after the news had been released, and checked in. Matched!
Happy St. Patty's Day everyone--a nonexistent holiday here!
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