Orientation Day

Well, my first full day in Jamaica was pretty good.  Jamaica is much different then I had been picturing, even though I had researched the area!  When you think Jamaica, I bet that you think of beautiful beaches and nice resorts.  There are some of those, but beyond those "nice", touristy places is the real Jamaica.  I am staying in Montego Bay, Jamaica and the beaches are beautiful, there are wonderful views, but there are also run down homes, buildings, and roads.  During my orientation day, I began to really recognize how different it was.

The first thing I did on my orientation day was to ride a route taxi to Downtown.  Route taxis are taxis but they only go on one route/path and they cost less money, a typical route taxi in Montego Bay costs around $100 Jamaican Dollars or about $1 US Dollar.  Route taxis are almost all very broken down and old.

This is a not so great picture but a good example of what I would call an average looking route taxi.

While downtown my project coordinator Shaneil gave me a little tour, which I can honestly say that I remember very little--it was very overwhelming!  After the tour she took me to the bank (Scotia Bank) to change my money into Jamaican Dollars.  The line was so long, it seemed as though everyone was at the bank!

After meeting in her office for a little while to discuss some of the expectations and things like that, she took me on the taxis that would lead me to my placement at West Haven Children's Home.  I tried to keep track of what taxis we were taking, Downtown, Clock, and Copse but it was all so foreign and confusing to me.  The home is in the country so it took us a while to get to, about 35 minutes.

When we arrived I was able to get a short tour of the home.  It is different then what i had pictured but there were many children and young adults with disabilities.  I didn't get to help out or really meet any of the kids today but it was good to get to see where I was going.  We then took the taxi back into town and got lunch at Jerky's.  I ate my first Jamaican jerk chicken, it was delicious!

After that Shaneil rode in a taxi with me to Doctor's Cave which is the beach where we go.  It is more touristic but a very nice beach.  I met up with the volunteers and was able to relax on the beach until heading back to my host's house.  For dinner we had chicken, salad, potatoes, and rice.

Overall today was an exhausting and overwhelming experience.  I learned a lot but am worried about finding my way on my own tomorrow.  I am sure it will all be okay, but we will see how it goes!

Enjoy the gorgeous view, I sure am!