ALL FRUITS RIPE! (Everything is going well) from Nancy:)

---

My first week of work has completed, and today, Monday, October 17, 2005 is National Heroes Day (also Kelsey’s birthday) in Jamaica. This means that it is a holiday weekend and there is no school today! Sr. Sophia, Meaghan and I had planned to make our way to the Kingston Beach however; Mother Nature had another plan for us today. I didn’t sleep well last night, our dog, George, began yelping around 2am. I figured the neighborhood cats were in our yard and he couldn’t chase them since he was chained up. Around 4:30 AM, I was awakened by George again and looked out my window to find George being enveloped by water. Mind you, it is the rainy season and it rains every day, but it has rained almost continuously all weekend. So, early this morning, I wake up Meaghan asking here what exactly we should do about the water that has taken over our yard. I was a little concerned we would have to climb onto our roof and wave for help. The water was still about 2 inches below our door but it was still raining. Meaghan and I snuck George into our house (Sr. Paola would shoot us if she knew). He had nowhere to go. Sr. Sophia woke up and heard us moving around downstairs and kept us company. Thankfully, the water began to recede by 6:30am. However, it has not stopped raining and roads are closed or blocked in Kingston and all over Jamaica. There are a few reports of buildings collapsing into gullies. I’m sure the roads are almost completely impassable (they are almost impassable when there are short rains in the afternoon). I’m sure we will recover by tomorrow; we just have to give up the beach today. The rainy season has gone wild here. Go away tropical depressions!!!!!

Other than that, I’m doing very well. I’m finally getting into the swing of things. I teach math on Monday’s and Wednesday’s to the “red” group. I have taught numbers, and simple addition so far. One apple, plus two apples equals three apples and so on. I have about 15 students in my class. While Meaghan, is teaching multiplication and division to about 35 students. Tuesday’s and Thursday’s are English days. I’m teaching about 10 students their alphabet and letter recognition to sound. Meaghan is teaching the “yellow” group (approximately 35 students) about the four types of sentences, and subjects and predicates etc. I create all the lesson plans for English and she makes all the plans for math. Meaghan will hopefully have two helpers in her class to help answer questions. Attendance is not taken in their class, so there hasn’t been a day when less than 4 of the students are not in class. I create my lessons from two English textbooks, and a couple of old workbooks that have been donated to St. Pius from people in Naples, Florida. We use a lot of chalk to prevent lots of paper copying. I’m not sure what to expect from the students (we haven’t collected any of their homework yet). But it is promising when a number of students have asked for extra work to do. They want to learn!

I am tutoring one girl before school to practice for her CXC exams. From what I understand, they are Caribbean school entrance exams. I need to do more research on them to know what level she needs to be at when she takes the tests. I also spend an hour with three, 6th grade boys, who either need help with their reading, or need to learn to read. I haven’t figured out how exactly, you can make it all the way to 6th grade without learning to read. Perhaps, it has to do with the number of students in the school, 1,800 students seems to be pushing it. Children start school very young here. It is not uncommon for us to see 3 yr olds in uniforms walking to school with an older sibling. I guess this may be like pre-school.

On Friday, I went to one of Jamaica’s maximum-security prisons. It was a very interesting experience. I have never been proposed to so many times in my life (I guess I’ve been proposed to until Friday..haha). From the outside, all you see are deteriorating walls with barbed wire on top, with the occasional watchtower. It would be hard to distinguish from any other building except for the watchtowers…most businesses have tall walls with barbed wire. Our car and bags were searched, however, no one checked my pockets (which I didn’t mind). Once we entered, I was standing in what I would call a square filled with men, walking, standing, or hanging over the verandas on the second floor. The Jamaican government doesn’t provide uniforms for the prisoners; so all the men wear street clothes. I never felt like I was surrounded by criminals, or men who were doing time for murder(s). By the way, Jamaica is currently the murder capital of the world. Last year, from what I have heard, they were in second place behind Colombia (which makes it a little more scary). I know of at least 4 murders this week (three police officers, and one 15 yr. Old girl who was scheduled to testify in court against her rapist). The violence is currently, and very sadly on a rise. Back to the prison, we held a prayer service for any men who wanted to come. I don’t know if I will want to go back for a couple of reasons (some rather vain). 1. Bad Breath (you have to get very close to the prisoners to hear what they are saying to you, and I don’t think all of them have toothpaste), 2. It is rather intense when men begin telling you when they will be getting out of prison, and want to know where you live so they can contact you. 3. I also really didn’t feel like I had much to contribute there, other than having a young girl to see in the prison. Sure, I’m sure the prison ministry is a very good thing, but I don’t think it’s for me.
One good thing about going to the prison on Friday is that we met two other American volunteers. Lyndsay and Terri, both around my age, are volunteering through the Passionists. They are living with 3 other volunteers at Stony Hill, which isn’t’ too far from where we are in Havendale (all sections of Kingston). We exchanged phone numbers and I hope to visit them soon.

On a side note, I have an approximately 4 inch long ground lizard living in my closet and sometimes under my bed. He isn’t a lizard that can climb walls, so I’m not too worried that he’ll end up in my bed. He can stay as long as he eats all of the mosquitoes in my room!

A la prochaine (that’s my French), and Walk Good (that’s Patois)!
Nancy😊

---

Comments

[MVP 2005 2006]

Mmmm.....Colgate-y Goodness
yay nancy. thanks for making me laugh. i was thinking...maybe we could bring toothpaste with us if we DO go back to the jail?