I can’t believe it. I only have 25 days left in Jamaica. Things have been getting hectic as I try to fit in last minute travel plans. I’m writing tests and preparing for graduation on June 27 (the day before I leave). Last week I had a great Jamaican experience. I went to a “final year show” at Edna Manley School of Visual and Performing Arts. A final year show is the equivalent of a senior recital only completely different. Students in their final year at Edna prepared and created a concert/show to perform and be judged. I heard all sorts [View Full Entry]

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It’s a normal work-free Friday afternoon. Today I want to describe a normal walk to the store from the convent (less than five minute walk). I left the convent and closed the gate behind me and headed down the street dodging the bigger potholes and dog feces that gathers only at the corner of the street. By the time I had reached half way to Mannings Hill Road (the main road) a car had passed me slowly (everyone drives slow on our street due to the potholes) and I greeted them with the normal “good afternoon” and continued walking. Within [View Full Entry]

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It’s Party Time! Carnival Season is here! Carnival in Jamaica is an opportunity to party, party, party, and party some more. I took advantage of this party season for one day only, Carnival Sunday. Carnival Sunday is the epitome of this party season. On Carnival Sunday people flaunt crazy costumes and dance through the streets of Kingston ending at the National Stadium for a free concert. Some friends and I headed out after church to meet the parade and masses of people near Devon House. From Devon House we paraded for about five hours all the way through the streets, through [View Full Entry]

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Only 12 weeks to go! With only twelve weeks left in Jamaica I really feel like I need to see everything here I possibly can. So, I’m hoping to have good trips for the rest of my time here. This past week I’ve been very lucky and made it out of the convent on a couple of nights. Last Sunday I had the pleasure of going to a jazz concert with my friend Dwight. Dwight was performing (he’s a musician). The music from the whole night was awesome. I really enjoyed listening. Probably one of my most exciting outings was this [View Full Entry]

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The last couple of weeks Jamaica has been engrossed in the recent political party elections. Prime Minister PJ Patterson resigned thus sparking the party elections. There are two dominant political parties in Jamaica: The People’s National Party (PNP) and the Jamaica Labor Party (JLP). Currently, the PNP has control of the job of the prime minister and the government. So, whoever is president of the PNP party is the prime minister. PJ Patterson, PM, and former president of the PNP is now passing his torch on the new president, Portia Simpson Miller. That’s right, it’s [View Full Entry]

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Love is in the air in Jamaica (don’t worry Mom I’m not running off to Vegas;) haha). I can tell that it’s soon to be Valentine ’s Day here in Jamaica because there are an abundance of horribly ugly fake flowers lining the streets for loving buyers. Who ever thought fake flowers could be popular? I’m really looking forward to this Tuesday. I’m taking Meaghan out to eat. We are both really excited to be visiting our local Subway (yes, we have the sandwich shop in the city of Kingston). We haven’t been to Subway yet, so we are both [View Full Entry]

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Wow I’ve had fun over the holiday. First, my family came to visit Jamaica. Charlie, Betty and Kelsey made there way to Kingstontown where we had a grand ole time. Right away we packed up and headed to Ocho Rios and Oracabessa to relax and spend some time on the beach. Of course we went to Dunn’s River Falls where my mom proudly climbed the entire falls…way to go Mom! We also went snorkeling in Oracabessa. Albert, our guide, took us to the reef in his glass bottom boat, so mom could watch from above. My mom really bonded with Albert. [View Full Entry]

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I am currently sitting in Norman Manley Airport waiting for a flight back to the USA. Per customary Jamaica my flight has been delayed two hours and I have about at 1.5% chance of making my two other connections back to Wichita, KS. Some of you may be wondering why I am on back to Kansas… my Grandpa Clouse died on Friday, December 16, 2005. I am going home for the funeral and will be returning to Jamaica on Christmas Eve (flights were much too expensive on other days). I haven’t been able to sit down and write my blog in [View Full Entry]

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It’s been a good couple of weeks. I visited Hellshire(pronounced Helsure) Beach for the first time. Hellshire is the public beach in Kingston and was quite nice by my Kansas standards. Jamaicans consider it to be not very nice. I, however, was pleased to be at a beach where there were only Jamaicans and no one that just stepped off of a cruise ship. The beach was Caribbean heaven. Their were shacks with palm leave roofs all along the beach selling fresh fish, men offering rides on horses on the sand, and kids playing football(soccer) on the beach…and then their was [View Full Entry]

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I’ve seen more white people in three days than I have seen in my entire time in Jamaica this past week. This week, 30ish some Naples, Florida residents came to work at St. Pius. Most of them were retired and loved to play golf….you know the type. They did some good work. They ran an eye clinic, and saw over 350 patients in 3 days. It was quite the system. They provided glasses/medicine/eye exams for people, and charged them approximately $500 ($9US) for a new pair of glasses, custom fit, and custom made just for them. I lost my glasses [View Full Entry]

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