"Waiting is going to cost you extra"

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I get up early this morning -- the earliest I've had to wake up yet. 5:30am.
Start showering.
No water pressure.
Get out, only slip once. Ask for them to turn on the water pump.

Get downstairs at 6:30am and our taxi is already waiting. Rocky couldn't meet us this morning so he sent "Double Zero."

We start heading to Spanishtown bypass, where we were instructed to head to meet the woman from the Ministry of Health. She said we should call her in the morning on our drive there and she would give us further instruction.
I call her as we pull out of the guesthouse -- leave a message, ask for a call back.

15 minutes later still no word from her. Keep driving.

20 minutes. No word from her. Keep driving.

I call again. No answer.

Keith asks if I have called her. I tell him twice, without any answer.

30 minutes. NO WORD FROM HER.

35 minutes we arrive to the end of the Spanishtown bypass.
We pull over on the side of the road.
Double Zero tells us it's not safe to be here. He says that just on the other side of the bush is a "political ghetto" (I remember all of the news stories about Spanishtown -- I remember being told by the UN that we should not be here).

I call for a third time, she answers as though nothing is wrong. I pass the phone to Double Zero, he starts arguing with the woman. There is some confusion regarding where we are to meet her and where she is coming from. We wait on the side of the road. She is on her way.

Double zero tells us that waiting will cost us extra. Keith asks about standing on the side of the road...

She finally arrives. We leave with her. We drive west along the coast and through the hills. We arrive about three hours later in Black River at the Hospital. There is some confusion as to where the mental health clinic is...Keith and I get introduced to the entire emergency room. We walk over to the clinic that is the mental health center on Thursdays. It's dark, overcrowded, and understaffed. They are doing the very best they can with the resources they do have.

I see posters on the wall of how to give Risperdol injestions provided by the pharmaceutical companies. I think of all the free lunches and dinners I've received from these same companies.

Keith and I notice two HUGE boxes of condoms -- "MADE IN CHINA" and "STORE IN A COOL DRY PLACE" stamped across the box. The air feels thick and damp, Black River is the swamp lands of Jamaica, they are known for their bamboo trips down the river to spot alligators. I wonder if these condoms are still any good... The country has such a high STI/HIV/AIDS rate...

We leave there and head back east to Mandeval and Manchester. We stop in at the Health headquarters for the Southwestern region. It's a huge building with air conditioning and desks that aren't rusted -- and GLASS windows (a rarity in Jamaica). We are at a higher elevation, and the air feels refreshing. We discuss a research proposal to study the trends in mental health in children in this Parish.

We get back in the car headed back to Kingston, we stop at Juici Pattie's for lunch. I get asked if I am going to get married any time soon.

We get back to Kingston, and are headed to New Kingston to get dropped off, since Keith and I spent a bit of money this morning taking a 30 minute taxi ride and then 20 minutes waiting...while driving a Police suv zooms past with its lights and siren on. It catches my attention because I notice its sounds different than the ones back in the states. Keep driving. Another police suv (or perhaps the same one?) zooms past with its siren on also. A few moments later we pull up to a stop light with the police suv about 10-15 feet directly infront of us, lights still on. The back left passenger door opens and a woman police officer steps out with what looked to be an AK-47 (or something similarly HUGE and SCARY). Then the passenger door on the front left steps out also with his HUGE gun. Then the back right door opens and a 3rd police officer steps out with HUGE gun. At this point the woman from the ministry of health that we have been with all day (the one that's driving us) pulls closer to the police car, and starts changing lanes to the right turn late (directly next to the police suv). It's at this point I realize that the police smashed into the truck right in front of them, and the driver of that truck has gotten out and is approaching the police. The police officer driving the car gets out with his HUGE gun also and starts yelling at the driver of the truck. Now, we are pulled up next to the cop and the truck driver and they are all of 4 feet away from our car. A crowd of people has started to surround the whole scene...including our car. Some people are holding hammers, others are just getting very close and interested. The woman driving our car starting saying, "PLEASE DON'T SHOOT HIM. PLEASE DON'T SHOOT HIM."

If anything breaks out we are stuck right in the middle and locked in by other cars and the crowds forming around the car...its getting more and more tense. Do I look away? Do I watch? Do I hide? Duck for cover? Jump out of the car? Run away screaming? The light turns green, we drive away.

Get dropped off at home. Turn on the a/c, watch Stranger Than Fiction.
Walk to the ATM. Drink OJ, eat a muffin, watch a movie.

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