Blogs from Kingston, Jamaica, Central America Caribbean - page 4

Get up this morning. Eat breakfast -- get excited because we think its the vegetarian meal (my favorite so far) -- turns out there is fish hiding amidst the veggies. BOO! So dissapointed. Jeff the other guest joins us for breakfast -- he announces that he is moving to Houston, TX. I share how much I hate Houston...(I got stuck there last summer). Rocky arrives early. Go to work. Go downstairs to meet with our supervisor for the Ministry of Health to go with him over to the psychiatric hospital (the only one in all of Jamaica). We arrive and both he and his secretary are MIA. Sit awkwardly in the middle of a hallway on folding chairs (mine is broken and the seat is collapsing). They eventually arrive. We sit there for 45 minutes before ... read more

Got up this morning, and had breakfast -- Keith and I decided that it is ground up corned beef and cabbage (it most closely resembles raw ground beef -- which I am a HUGE fan of) -- this is actually the second time we have had this meal, and its one of my top two favorites for breakfast! I try to focus on the flavor not what it looks like. We eat breakfast with the other guest we have become friends with, Jeff (a late 50's American born in Pittsburg, PA that works IT and has spent the last 20 years living in Bermuda). I sit uncomfortably at the table while he recounts tales of the weekend that might include a night at the strip club(?)/lack of employment/history of depression/insomnia/and advice seeking on IT jobs in ... read more

Let me preface this all by saying, It's been a long day. Got up early and rushed to breakfast to try to eat before our 8:30am pick-up time. Breakfast is running late, and the driver is running early. See a car accident. Get to the office -- go to the Children's Hospital for meetings all day to determine what projects we can work with the Ministry of Health on. Try to figure out where all of the pieces/projects/me/keith fit into everything. It's 3:30pm and Keith and I still have not had breakfast -- so hungry. Talk about food for a while. Our driver picks us up and takes us back to the office -- we grab lunch (KFC is the only place open -- I HATE EATING AMERICAN when I'm overseas but the hanger (hungry anger) ... read more

Wake up early in the morning to get ready for the internship, we are told Clifton will arrive at 8am to pick us up, it's a big morning down at the MOH/PAHO because it's World Blood Donor Day and it's lots of festivities down at the office. In an attempt to eat breakfast before our ride, I make a soy drink from powder I bought at the market the other day (Bannana and Pineapple flavor) -- looks like cloudy yellow in my water bottle -- tastes like -- interesting -- drink it down. Wait out on the porch for our ride. 8:00am. 8:05am. 8:10am. 8:15am -- Clifton arrives, the woman who runs the guesthouse realizes our ride is here and tells us we need to eat the hotel breakfast before we go -- she talks to ... read more

I made it to Jamaica but not without adventure... Keith (my travel buddy and fellow Intern) nearly missed our flight from Ft. Lauderdale to Kingston -- I was planning on stalling the plane as long as possible. Then we are waiting to depart and are told that our plane has mechanical difficulties -- It's okay though, we're still going to fly! (Comforting!) We land in Kingston, and are clearly directed to go to the "Visitors" side as we were two out of five white people on the flight. I get through customs fine and Keith on the other hand looks suspicious so they hold him there for a while. He finally gets through and we go to claim our bags only to find out they couldn't get one of the baggage compartments open so we don't ... read more