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Published: December 15th 2005
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All Hail The King
Kemo salutes the camerawoman during the St. Pius Brunch OUT OF THE MOUTH OF BABES....
Sunday mass the first week of Advent and Fr. Burchell is fully involved in one of his hour-long homilies. It wouldn't be so dreadfully painful if the church wasn't 105 degrees, but the Jamaican sun is absolutely merciless. So about 20 minutes into his homilizing and he gets the grand idea that he will quiz the children in the parish to see what they learned about Advent that morning in Sunday school. He picks out Kemo, (see accompanying picture for visual aide) one of the students from the grade school who everyone knows and, most of the time, loves....when he's not chasing other kids with the cricket bat. So the conversation ensued a little something along these lines:
"Were you at Sunday school this morning, Kemo?"
"Yes, Father, but I was running late."
"That's okay," Burchell says, " you still should have learned about Advent. So what is Advent in the church?"
His face lit up because he knew the answer to this one. "It's a time when we are supposed to prepare for the coming of Jesus Christ."
Burchell is impressed by the answer and, in hopes of attaining an equally knowledgeable answer,
All Aboard!!
We found these kids ransacking the car. They broke all the windows, threw glass at Nancy, then smiled for the photo. Okay, so the car was already broken...they were just playing around. continues to quiz Kemo. "And how do we prepare for Advent?"
Kemo's eyes rolled into the back of his head like they always do when he's thinking really hard. "Pray," he finally answered.
Burchell is even more impressed at this point, since Kemo's attention span usually hovers right around that of a wasp, so he decides to continue the questioning. "And did you pray before you came to church this morning, Kemo?"
His eyes drop to the ground. "No Father."
"And why not, Kemo?"
"I already told you, I was running late!"
"You were running too late to pray, Kemo?" Fr. Burchell inquires.
"Yes, Father."
"And what were you doing that made you so late you didn't have time to pray?"
"Sleeping, Father."
TROUBLE AT THE VATICAN....?
Two Wednesdays ago Nancy and I were geared up for another afternoon in Rome, so-named because it's the sketchy neighborhood surrounding St. Elizabeths - the Roman Catholic Church in the area. We called Fr. Peter to see what time we should meet him. His secretary, Kamika answered the phone. "Oh no, don't bother. There have been 'incidents' in the neighborhood this week. Maybe next week." Now, Rome is a rough
Friends, Romans, Countrymen....
Okay, so friends and Romans, but they're definitely city kids. Inner city, to be exact. The kids from Rome are definitely a unique bunch and MAN are they good dancers! neighborhood, so by "incidents" one can only assume that she means gunshots and gangfights, which are more than norm than not. I'm starting to think maybe we should just steer clear of Rome? Then again, we've got great international health insurance that covered dismemberment or, if need be, the insurance will pay to ship our lifeless bodies back to the United States in case of death. I mean, you can't beat a deal like that! The kids in Rome are adorable, though...(See accompanying photo for visual aide)
PLANT A MUSTARD SEED AND WATCH IT GROW....
Had an "interview" over at the Mustard Seed compound to see about the possibility of working in their children's AIDS hospice. The "interview", or rather, my meeting with a crazy lady named Wendy, went quite well, aside from the fact that I haven't heard back from them yet. Apparently the Mustard Seed organization has 11 different homes constructed around Jamaica, housing children with AIDS, abused mothers and their children, disabled children and adults, elderly patients, etc. They're in the process of opening a brand new home for children with AIDS in downtown Kingston and they said they'd be willing to utilize
Christmas Elves
The weather's so nice that we "bare"ly know it's Christmastime! We did receive quite a few raised eyebrows during our photoshoot. my Communications major in the setting up of the new home. As far as I can gather, that means begging for money, writing press releases, calling people, and all that borning mumbo jumbo which my degree has qualified me for, but which I'm not entirely interested in pursuing. SO, Wendy also mentioned that they'd be able to provide transportation for me to and from the children's AIDS hospice and that I could help to organize some type of Art program -- and that is WAY more my cup 'o tea.
THE BEACH BOYS HAVE NOTHING ON US
Nancy and I went to Hellshire beach for the first time several weeks ago and have since returned several times. On our first trip, we had intended to bring along 1 tour guide, because we didn't know how to get there. As it turned out, we ended up going to the beach with 9 people instead of 3. Our tour guide, one of our students, ended up bringing a nephew, a brother, and an aunt, then we wound up bringing 3 of our other students. It was quite an enjoyable time, really. Our second trip to the beach a week
Hellshire Beach
Nancy and I went to the beach on Saturday with our guide, Latoya. Our guide just happened to bring 6 friends, so there were 9 of us crammed into our little Nissan. What a trip! ago was equally enjoyable, on we went with Tommy and Dr. Pedro and Nancy and I took our Christmas pictures...(see accompanying photo for visual aide).
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Amy McCarthy
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Great Pictures!
I miss you Woog! Great Pictures! Have a wonderful Christmas in Jamaica!!!! Keep writing! I look foward to your blogs!