The day began with quite an early start. We had to be packed and ready to leave our host families in the mountains by 6:00 in the morning. It was a bittersweet feeling knowing that our time there would be over. I think we all had just started to feel comfortable with our host families and we grew attached to them. I know that was definitely the case for me and my housemates. Not only would we miss the people we met during our stay, but we would also be bummed that we wouldn’t be waking up to the incredible landscape and natural beauty that was the Blue Mountains. Throughout our long and bumpy, yet enjoyable, trip down the mountain, we treasured every last moment and we reflected on this once-in-a-lifetime experience. But personally, I was just really excited to be able to have running water again.
Once we came down from the mountain, we stepped into a completely different lifestyle from what we had been accustomed to in the mountains. We spent the rest of the day at Karl and Angela Bennett’s beautiful home in Kingston. It was a total shock for all of us to go from a small, under-developed community in the mountains to a huge house in an urban setting. We were able to see the vast difference in the lives of Jamaicans. We asked ourselves why people have such different means of living when we have seen just how hard both the people in the Blue Mountains and the Bennetts work. And the difference is education. Mr. and Mrs. Bennett talked to us about what we will be doing with their organization, KBC Learning, so that we can help improve education in the schools where we will perform service. We organized our school supplies and packed up donation bags to be given to schools. We then had the opportunity to relax by the pool and meet some students who work with KBC Learning. I was glad that we had the opportunity to interact with them and it was easy to relate to the other teenagers.
Although it was a really enjoyable and fun day, we were able to take away some important and valuable thoughts on education and other lifestyles.
Tanya Silverstein