The 6^th graders were taking their test today so we couldn’t go to the primary school.  We went over to campus 2 which is middle school aged to teach/observe.  Morgan ended up teaching haikus, so Clarissa and I joined in and wrote several.  I feel sad when I look at how little the schools have compared to the ones I’ve interned at in the U.S.  One little boy sang to us before we left and it was beautiful.  Per usual, we had lunch in town and had time to do some shopping.  I hit up the grocery store to get some gifts for back home.  I had just enough Jamaican $ for it – I was pretty lucky. We went to the infirmary for the last time. I sat on the porch and read more and made him a bracelet.  I also sat with Karla and talked to Lloyd (?)  who was really fun.  It was so sad when we had to leave.  I got my picture with Valentine – I think it’s my favorite picture of the trip.  Blayne came back over and we all sang some more songs.  My mango was finally ripe so we attempted to cut it and eat it, but ended up peeling it and eating it like that.  The boys found it really comical that we ate it like that.  We helped Mrs. Edwards sort the school supplies which was a task in itself.  I like that she treats us like family – she even lectured for my sunburn today :/

Day 8:

Tourist day! After spending the whole week being immersed in Lucea’s culture, Donny took us to Negril for the day.  The beach we went to was beautiful, but it was strange because locals weren’t allowed to be on it.  We sat on it and read, got drinks at 10 in the morning, swam, and drank more.  At one point a local came over to perform tricks and the owner came over and kicked him out and threatened to kick us out.  It was crazy.  After lunch some of went snorkeling.  I’ve never been so I wanted to give it a try.  It was neat seeing the fish and a stingray.  One of our guides who stayed with Jessica found a conch shell after he found my snorkel when it fell off.   I kept inhaling the salt water which was awful -  I almost got too close to the reef.  It was fun, but I’m not sure I’d do it again.  After burning horribly in the sun we went to the market.  It was so sad because all of the shops were the same and they all begged you to come in.  I’m not used to such aggressiveness, so I felt pretty uncomfortable throughout our time there.  I got a couple souvenirs there and headed back home.  After dinner we played Apples to Apples with Le’Rone who was a hoot.  I’m so sad it’s my lst night with him. He’s a great kid.

Last Day:

I hated waking up today knowing that it was the day to leave.  Everyone was getting ready for church so Morgan and I cleaned up our room and got all our bags out of the room.  Mrs. Edwards made us a delicious breakfast of pancakes made from scratch.  I love sitting around talking with her and Mr. Edwards.  I stopped by the Grants again to chat a little more and they always give me more food J  It was so hard to say bye to my family – Le’Rone was so quiet and sad and Mrs. Edwards started to cry.  They were so wonderful this week – I’m thankful they were my host family.  I’m going to miss them.  The airport line was crazy – it took us ages to check in and luckily got to skip part of the security line.  We were lucky that our flight was delayed 20 minutes so we had time to use the bathroom before boarding.  I ended up sitting behind a man who kept leaning his seat back, a woman who kept hacking, and right next to the bathroom.  Lovely.  When we landed in Charlotte, we barely had any time before our next flight started boarding.  We had to get our bags, go through customs, and security. Somehow we made it on the plane before it took off – but boy were we cutting it close.

First day of school!  I taught 4^th grade teaching/reviewing angles in Mrs. Henry’s class.  I played the angle song that I used for my TFA interview.  The kids LOVED it.  I think we listened to it at least 6 times.  It was hilarious. I finished faster than I thought I would so I helped the teacher with some grading.  Some of the kids took me around the school to show me around – kids here aren’t shy!  Lunch was in town – more meat patties and coco bread! We walked through the market.  It’s such a small desolate-looking place. Morgan and I got some honey bananas which ended up not being quite ripe so it was an unpleasant taste L  We headed back to the infirmary where we made new nametags and talked with the residents.  They’re all so nice and it’s so sad seeing them there.  Mr. Edward’s class invited us up to the high school for culture night.  The students sang to us, showed us some of their cultural dances, and even tried to teach us how to dance.  That failed horribly for us, or at least for me.  The singers were unbelievably good.  And the dancers left me speechless.  Their dance was pretty sexual – something I would expect to see at a party but not performed in front of a teacher!  I got dragged out to dance, and boy did I feel awkward.  It was a lot of fun anyway.  We sang Mango Time to them which cracked them up. “Me no drink coffee tea mango time (mango time).  Don’t care how nice it may be (Mango time). At the height of the mango crop when the fruit turn a ripe and drop-wash your pot, turn it down, Mango time.”  This morning I saw a huge bug in the shower and it freaked me out.  Tonight we were hanging out with some of the cousins and convinced them to get rid of the bug for us.  Blayne pulled out a machete and walked in the room with Blair and Yannick.  Blair took one look at the bug, screamed and jumped on Yannick’s back.  Yannick ended up using a napkin to grab it, dropped it in the living room and then crushed it in his hand. On our way back home today a huge truck flew past us scaring Clarissa.  She screamed and nearly tackled me trying to get away. Such a diva!  Mrs. Edwards fixed us bun and cheese – DELICIOUS.  The electricity went out as Le’Rone was making a smoothie.  He added a TON of syrup and served it to us.  “When life gives you syrup, make syrup juice!”  Morgan and I managed to finish constructing our lesson plan in the dark.  We even cleaned up the giant mess-winning!

Day 6:

Morgan and I taught 2^nd grade today and focused on fall/winter.  We showed them pictures of where we’re from and told them how they’re different from the season they experience.  We started with winter and had them decorate paper snowmen.  They were so funny with it since they don’t know what it’s supposed to look like.  “Miss! Teacher look!”  Once we attempted (and failed) to sing Frosty, we showed them how to make paper snowflakes which was a feat in itself. There weren’t enough scissors to go around so they were all fighting over them.  Trying to control a group of 30+ second graders who are clamoring for your attention because you’re a whitey is hard to do.  We took a picture of the whole class and their flakes so we could say it’s snowing in Jamaica.  The kids got a kick out of it.  After break we made jack-o-lanterns with them, and watching them try to draw the faces was so funny. I was so worn out by the time I got finished!  For lunch we went back to town where I had coco bread and cheese with a pineapple.  Delicious.  Weenie Wednesday came next.  We read books to the little ones and colored pictures with them.  While in there it started to pour so in a little break we ran over to the infirmary.  I passed out devotional books and ended up reading a bunch to Wilbert who really seemed to enjoy them. We put up a bunch of streamers and balloons to help brighten the place up. Gladstone Allen seemed to like the balloon we put near his bed.  I went into one of the death rooms and while the rest of the infirmary was sad, these rooms were even worse.  I felt bad that I couldn’t understand what one of the men was trying to say to me.  After dinner we spent the evening with bossy-pants Le’Rone and headed over to the Grants where we played/learned dominos with Le’Rone, Blayne, Blair and Yannick.  It was absolutely hilarious.  Blayne was my coach until I lost so then Yannick replaced him.  He’s so shy, but I’m glad he spent the evening with us.  We were supposed to spend the evening with the Harvey  sisters, but they mixed up the evenings and couldn’t make it.  Instead, Mrs. Grant spoke of her father, Flavius, who we had read about in Lorna’s book.  I still can’t believe we have connections to the Harvey family – Mrs. Edwards is Mrs. Grant’s daughter – so she’s related too. Crazy!

Today was our trip to the Black River and YS Falls.  On our way we stopped at yet another picturesque beach to wade and succeed.  Naturally, I slept the whole way there.  At one of the little stands there was a big sign with lots of ingredients.  Morgan kept trying to order it, but the woman wouldn’t let her.  Apparently it’s “man juice” which gives the same result as Viagra.  It would have put some hair or Morgan’s chest!  At the Black River, our tour guide’s name was Marshall. We all agreed that he is quite attractive.  He taught us all about the vegetation and showed us some of the crocodiles that are around.  We met Patricia and Charlie Jr. The red and white mangroves were so neat looking with the roots growing down to the water.  When we got to Charlie Jr., Marshall pulled out a bag of chicken to lure him over.  Then he started playing with it! It wasn’t until he said it could jump on the boat that we freaked out.  He taught us what to do if we were ever bitten.  You have to relax your arm and massage its neck and it will release.  I think my first reaction would be to freak out and punch it.  Some of us went swimming in the croc-infested water.  The water looked really dark but when Marshall filled up a cup, the water was completely clear – all the peat moss makes it look much darker than it actually is.  After our tour we ate and then headed to YS rainforest.  I’ve never been to a rainforest before, and it was beautiful.  The water was really cold but nice once emerged.  Karla, Laura W, Alex and I swam under the small fall while some did the rope swing or zip line.  Everything at the rainforest was too pretty for words.  We stopped at a town for dinner and as we pulled away, a man walked up to the bus and kissed my window.  We joked that it was because I’m a sumo wrestler in training and they find bigger women more attractive in this culture.  Mr. Edwards took us down the road so we could take pictures of the moon over the water.  He took goofy ones of us too.  I enjoy the time we get to spend with him.

Day 4:

We headed over to Chambers Pen today to spend time with some little ones. We read Penelope Jane and sang songs with them.  We blew bubbles for them which they loved.  They taught us songs from their culture and some games.  We brought them school supplies, flip flops and toys, and they were in heaven.  We were served a delicious meal that never seemed to end.  My favorite was the sweet potato pudding – I inhaled it.  We walked down the hill to Harvey River which is where Lorna Goodison’s book is set.  We were given a tour by Mrs. Grant and other family members.  I wish I could have seen Harvey River as it was in the book – they said it has changed a lot.  The little boy my host family lost last year was buried there as well.  We headed to the infirmary for the first time.  It was a horrible situation, but I think I had pictured much worse, so it wasn’t as bad as I expected.  I helped give out supplies and spent most of my time in the women’s ward.  I painted nails and applied lipstick.  One woman threw her arms around me and gave me a big kiss on my neck leaving a lovely lipstick print because she was so excited about everything.  As a refresher we took a dip in the ocean which was much needed.  I found some pretty shells and loved watching the weaves hit the rocks.  After dinner we went to town for game night.  Le’Rone came with us and was hilarious.  He told me I look like Edward Cullen when I had my eyes closed in the van.  It was fun playing with everyone and having a good time.  This morning we had pineapple at breakfast.  I’ve never liked pineapple but figured I’d eat it anyway. I loved it! It tastes so much better than what I’ve tried before.

Failing. Duh! Instead of flying out in the morning like we were supposed to, we sat in the airport for 12+ hours because our flight was delayed because they were “trying to fix something” and then it got cancelled (the weather was perfect).  We ended up getting another flight to Charlotte that evening, but would have to spend the night in a hotel and fly to Montego Bay in the morning.  We ended up going to the mall to waste time and get out of the airport.  We finally landed in NC and then had to collect 24 bags to load on a shuttle.  It took us 2 trips to get to the hotel.  A few of us ordered pizza and I ate half of one, setting my expectations high for the trip.  Finally, hours later, after getting all of our stuff, we passed out.  After sleeping on the airport floor, the pull out couch felt amazing.

Day 2:

We finally got out of Charlotte today, but had to wake up ridiculously early to do it all again.  I managed to sleep the whole way there but I’m glad I woke up for the descent because it was absolutely beautiful.  I was the only one who made it through customs without being searched.  We waited for Donny to pick us up and then loaded our bags for the umpteenth time.  Because we were already a day late and exhausted, our plans were changed so we went to drop our stuff off and meet our host parents. The Edwards are so nice! Morgan and I moved into the room we’re sharing and changed into our swim gear.  We met up with the group and headed on a tour of the area.  We got to see the huge hill we’ll be hiking to get to the primary school and where everyone is living for the week, as well as town.  Then we headed to Bulls Bay-it was BEAUTIFUL. It looked fake to me. While we were there a man started walking up and down singing the whole time we were around.  He went up to Clarissa and Mercades and took a liking to Mercades. His names was Ja Prince-the Jamaican version of Prince?  The water was perfect to swim in and the word “success” was coined when Karla peed in the ocean and Mercades swam through it. I loved swimming and then lying out in the sun to dry off – so perfect.  We headed back to the house for dinner and family time.  The food Mrs. Edwards fixed was delicious.  I’ve made a pact to eat anything put in front of me or at least try it.  I succeeded in doing that today – lunch was my favorite – I had a chicken patty and coco bread and Ting.  DELICIOUS.  Everything tastes so good!  We went outside to look at the mango trees with Mrs. Edwards and her nephew Nicholi who’s in 1^st grade.  We saw that we thought were ripe mangos, so I lifted Nicholi up to pick one.  Neither were ripe, so I climbed the tree in my skirt to pick another, which was another fail.  We talked with the Grants (Mrs. Edward’s parents) for a while and tried other delicious fruits from the trees in their yards.  The party with the Rotary Club was tonight where we met lots of people.  The food was quite tasty.  The mannish water was interesting, but I loved the boiled bananas in it.  We danced with everyone and had a great time.  Red Stripe is yummy too.  I danced with a couple of the little girls who were absolutely adorable!  I napped a lot today which is weird for me. Hopefully that’ll end soon.

I thoroughly enjoyed watching the showing of Ingredients. I am fascinated by the concept of local food, and love the idea of becoming either self-sustaining and/or supporting local farmers by purchasing their produce.  Growing up in an area that still has small family farms, I would hate to see our nation lose the small percentage that we currently have left.  This movie talks about purchasing foods from thousands of miles away that have been chemically and genetically altered to stay “fresh” for us until we purchase them at the store.  The line that struck me from the film was “Would you eat garlic that was shipped thousands of miles wedged between sex toys and flip flops?”  It was that moment that I realized how true that statement was and how disturbing it is that we can’t support ourselves as a nation.

Obviously, the whole film centered on food, and focused mainly on the culture in Oregon and how they are expanding their local food movement.  Social justice played in throughout the whole film as the farmers and chefs talked of their attempts to bring in food from local gardens to help educate people who are eating and talking about their food.  They help show that it is possible for Americans to eat food from practically out of their backyard and how much cheaper it can be to do so.  This was also shown when the farms took the extra produce that they grew to soup kitchens and similar organizations to make sure other people in the city who don’t have access to fresh food were able to receive the nutrients they need.  Because of the grocery gap that we are seeing across the nation, farms who are donated goods are helping the gap shrink a little at a time.  This film couldn’t have worked better for our class and the topics that we have been discussing and I enjoyed how it tied them together as well as it did.  It gave me a better understanding of the topic and I find visuals like the movie to be very helpful as well.

The segment of the movie that focused on students coming into the gardens to learn about where their food is coming from and how to garden reminded me of the article that we read about students taking initiative to bring local food into their cafeterias.  I think that for a grassroots movement to continue growing, it is important for the younger generations to have buy-in since we will be the ones to continue the movement.  Watching the movie and then having the opportunity to eat local food afterward made me want to start supporting local farmers and organizations even more than I usually want to.  I’m inspired to have my own little garden once I have my own place, and also hope that the Community Garden here at Hollins flourishes and grows to the way we all want it to be. In Batten I have learned that you don’t always have to be a leader directly in the front, but can lead from example and actions.  I think that this movie shows a perfect example of how that can be done and the difference that can be made because of how people are taking matters into their own hands. I hope that I can continue to grow in my leadership ability to help make an impact like the local food movement that is currently happening.

Day one of Teach for America’s Welcome Weekend! We had workshops about TFA, how to have a successful interview, etc.  I ended up getting interviewed and got placed in a charter school!  I’m so relieved to have a job already.  I already love the support system that TFA fosters.

Jan 9

I mastered public transportation again! This time we took a bus at 8 am to get to the Getty museum.  There only ended up being four corps members that showed up.  I was exhausted and sore from sleeping on a love seat again, which made the experience a little less fun.  I learned this weekend that it is incredibly hard to depend on people for transportation.  Luckily, a lot of people are helpful.  In one and a half weeks I’ve been on planes, trains, trolleys, taxis, buses and cars. Crazy!

Today was my first day of my internship.  I had to take public transportation which was quite the adventure.  I failed both times on the way there and back and learned the importance of asking for directions sooner rather than later.  While observing in the classrooms I noticed that their system is much different than I’m used to me.  They don’t use textbooks but are completely project based.  The teachers let the kids discuss/set rules for the classroom and some use a classroom court to sort out any problems that they have.  I think this is an interesting way to handle classroom conflict. I like the idea of letting the kids have buy-in to what is going on, but I think that the teachers need to have a strong sense of control as well.

Jan 6

Today I observed the lessons and helped students who are further behind in math.  Kids here seem really willing to do extra work to catch up.  I helped supervise the history class while they worked on projects and started their presentations.  Kids gave each other feedback on their presentations to help each other grow.  I really liked that they did that, especially since that’s what we do so much of in Batten.

Jan 10

Today the teachers gave me some hands-on mini-projects.  I helped one assemble a chart for his writing class.  Such little tasks are very appreciated by these stressed teachers.  During math I helped the kids with the game Set.  It takes a lot of focus and concentration and the kids really got into it once they understood the game.  I’m not entirely sure how it helps with math though, but there are a lot of things here that I’m still trying to wrap my head around.

Jan 14

I ran all over the place today.  The 8^th graders organize pizza for lunch for the whole school.  They collect the money, tally the orders, and calculate how many pizzas need to be ordered.  Once they did that, Lisa had me drive her car to pick up the pizzas, first from Pizza Hut and then from Costco.  I didn’t check the pizzas that Costco gave me, which I should have, because they gave me the wrong pizzas.  Luckily, I was able to go back and switch the pizzas out.  I still got back in time for lunch, but now I know to check things twice before taking my order!  I was able to put together a lesson plan for Jamaica which makes things less stressful for me.

Jan 18

My supervisor told me I wasn’t allowed to come in today because of the Family Cruise on Rob’s ship.  I went with Rob and his family along with 200+ other people to spend a day with the sailors on the USS Higgins.  It was a long day, but I thoroughly enjoyed spending it with other people who are going through the same thing as me.  This will be my first time going through a deployment, and it’s going to be crazy.  I feel better about it now that I’ve talked to other girlfriends/wives about their experiences.  We saw whales and dolphins while on the cruise, and in port we saw a stingray!  I’m sunburned, but it was so worth it!

In order to accomplish and integrate my beliefs into my life, I have to focus and set time aside.  Prayer and time with God is a must if I am going to stay in the now.  In doing so, I feel refreshed and centered on what is important to me.  In doing so, I have learned that I am being led to serve.  Because of this, I now know that money is not everything right now, as (cliché as it sounds) I have everything I need.  I see people who have little to nothing, and I know that I have the opportunity to serve them.  While at the Soup Kitchen one weekend, I realized that some of my priorities are not as important as I make them and that they can be easily rearranged.  If giving up two hours of my time means that dozens of people get the only meal they will eat that day, those hours are much better spent there than sleeping in on a Sunday.

While serving others benefits them, it also helps me to discover myself more.  Being around such caring people has helped me discover the importance of caring friends.  I believe the best sort of friend is the kind who is inclusive, who goes out of her way to help people out.  It is awful when a group of friends forgets to invite you for the 6^th time in a row, and when they do not try to get to know someone before deciding that they do not like them.  Finding someone who wears her heart on her sleeve and is genuinely giving is a gift.  Friendship cannot be taken for granted, as friends can make any situation improve.

It is easy to blow off helping others in need or even our friends because of our busy schedules.  If we were to go one day without Facebook or whatever else distracts us, I have a feeling we’d find ourselves more productive and more in tune with what we actually want to focus on. Carpe Diem is a phrase that can easily be applied to what I believe in, and sums up everything I am striving for.  In order for me to seize the day, I need to stop, breathe, and focus on the now.

I chose to try modeling because I felt like it would help me increase my confidence, which is something I can transfer into my leadership.  It is important to have confidence, especially when in front of people or working with others. By being photographed, I felt uncomfortable, which is something I tend to avoid in general.  I quickly learned that I do not work well in front of the camera unless the photographer is telling me what she wants me to do.  Otherwise, I felt awkward and like I was doing everything wrong. When I photographed with Mary, I stepped out of my comfort zone and posed nude, something I never dreamed I would do.  I felt comfortable with her as she directed me and would talk to me while she took pictures.

I quickly learned that modeling is not as easy as it looks, and I have a much greater respect for anyone who models.  I discovered that I’m not very good at standing still, as I messed up several frames by moving.  I don’t really know the best facial expressions, as I am used to only smiling in pictures.  As time went on, I felt a little more comfortable with serious expressions, or any expression that is not smiling.  There were many pictures that I didn’t like with a serious expression, but a handful met my approval.  There were some pictures taken that didn’t incorporate my face, but I found myself still thinking about my facial expressions throughout the shoot.  I felt very self-conscious of how my body was positioned, especially because I was playing a male role.  I do not have a masculine body at all, so trying to portray masculinity was extremely difficult for me.

When planning my project, I didn’t think I would have any pictures of anything that didn’t include my face.  My two favorite pictures ended up being of my legs/feet.  One is when I am walking up the Martin Luther King Jr. bridge in downtown Roanoke.  I love everything about the picture – the colors of my dress against the bright blue sky really drew my attention.  The other one I liked was on the top of Tinker Mountain.  I’m just standing in a puddle in my hiking boots, but the picture reminds me of my time as a mountaineer over the summer.  It reminds me to keep an open mind and not stay narrowed in on only one possibility. I find myself in leadership wanting to stick with one thing once I make up my mind.  Some of the best experiences I’ve had happened when I stepped out of my comfort zone and tried something new.  I don’t know why I don’t seem to remember this every time I am faced with a decision. I am hoping that by looking at the product of this project, I can remember this in the future.