Hurricane Dean and His Aftermath: My first weeks in Jamaica

Well I have to say that my first couple of weeks in Jamaica have definitely been interesting. I arrived right before Hurricane Dean and have seen first hand the immediate aftermath of a hurricane. Unlike a tornado which just comes up on you, when a hurricane is coming you have a bit of time to prepare. Because of this, my host mother, Mrs. Rattray, had already gotten lots of water and coolers full of ice for us. She also took us (my roommate Rocsy and me) to the grocery store within the first twenty minutes of our arrival on Saturday so we could “stock up.” The day of the hurricane (which was Sunday, August 19) was a real eye-opener for me.

It was pretty windy when I woke up on the day of the hurricane. I asked Rocsy, who is from Puerto Rico and has experienced hurricanes, if this was the hurricane. She laughed and said that it was just the beginning. As the day wore on the wind blew harder, the rain came down heavier, and the true “hunkering” down began. Rocsy and I live in a little apartment off the back of the house so when Mrs. Rattray brought us food around 2 pm she said, “I’ll see ya tomorrow.” We lost power and water around 4 pm and I would say Dean truly greeted us around 6 pm or so. The wind was so loud that we were basically yelling at each other in order to be heard. The curtains were blowing in the wind despite the fact that all of our windows were shut. The rainwater was coming in under our front door so we had a little pond as well. I fell asleep to the sound of Dean around 9 pm or so. I woke up a few times trying to gage where he was and I would say around 9 am the next day things we much calmer—storm wise at least.

Monday started the long stretch known as the “aftermath” which we are still dealing with. Our electricity was restored on Thursday and our water on Friday. I am told that I should consider that a miracle since the last time a hurricane hit Mrs. Rattray was without either for two months. There are still many areas on the island without water and about 30% still don’t have electricity. We still don’t have our phone line back and thus no internet at home. All of the internet providers were down for about a week, but there is a delightful little coffee shop close to my house which has the internet I am now using.

School which should have started this week will officially start next week. I am getting excited to get going and also am fairly nervous. It has been a while sense I have been in school! I have been out to my agency once and will also start there next week. They have a website, so if you want to check it out here ya go:

http://www.jamaicansforjustice.org

I want to thank everyone who sent me emails regarding the hurricane. I promise I will get to all of them as soon as I have more reliable internet. I will also try to get into my habit of updating this site weekly.

Ok, my internet time is up, so I will email you all soon.

A new adventure...

So here is the happy post I promised. It is going to be pretty short as I need to unpack and get ready for this Hurricane-thingy that is heading Jamaica's way. I had a great week at my M.A. Orientation in Atlanta this week. My classmates have proved to be great people thus far. They are very inclusive which is awesome! I also met a couple of my profs and I am quite looking forward to learning from them. I also have to give a shout-out to Martha and Romelle (who has answered all of my million questions) from the International Partnership of Service-Learning. All around a great group.

I am in Jamaica and with my host family. Kingston is interesting as it is somewhat developed with fast-food restaurants but there is also a lot of poverty. And this is just from my trip here!

I'll post a lot more details later once I have had time to process them!

Saying Good-Bye...

I waved good-bye to my life in Kansas yesterday. It is hard to believe how fast two and some years go by. It was in 2004 around this time I started contemplating becoming a VISTA and moving to Leavenworth. It is amazing how much things have changed since then--after all I have found something I can be passionate about! I never thought three years ago how long I would end up staying in Leavenworth or how attached I would become. Yes, to Leavenworth, and especially all the people.

So here is where I tell you about all the hard things of the past few days. It was really hard to tell Monica (my Little) bye. I met her when she had just turned 5 and now she is 6 and half and going into first grade. It was one of the more difficult things in my life. It was hard to finally turn in my keys for Saint Mary and truly have that phase in my life over. It was hard to tell Kymberly and Justin au revior, my two constant friends. It was hard telling the other KC kids bye. It was hard to move out of Annie's and realize that we won't be around each other for the first time in two years. It was hard to say bye to Lexi when it seems like she just got back from Africa. It was hard telling everyone I have formed relationships with the past two and half years bye, those of you from USM, BBBS, and the other various places I met you! Heck, it was hard to tell my Starbucks and Cingular co-workers cio-abunga. I'm going to miss good ol' KC and I am definitely going to miss my Chipotle!

So this blog is all about my good-byes, because gosh darn it, I have spent the majority of the last few days either crying or wanting to cry. I promise the next blog, which will be soon, will be much happier. That's because it will be all about new beginnings and the next adventure I will be facing. After all, I was sad to leave all my St. Louis friends and my family two years ago and look what happened. I had a great time, grew personally and professionally a whole lot, and well, met a lot of new friends.

So to all of you friends I was blessed to meet while I was in the Kansas/KC area, I love you and I will miss you! Keep me in your thoughts and/or prayers and keep in touch. You are fabulous people.

See ya!

I'll Miss You Harry (and Ron and Hermione)

Well it is done. The last Harry Potter book has come and gone and there will be no more. I was so excited for the book, but I was also a little sad. As I read the last pages I was more sad than happy, not because of the ending of the book, but because the books were over. The more I have time to think about it the more I like it. I would say that I loved the first third and the last third of the book. The middle was a little slow, but I just think J.K. Rowling wasn't quite ready to let go either. Anyway despite what I didn't like, it was a great series and a great book. And I will definitively will miss you Harry, Ron, Hermione etc. Three Cheers!