June 28, 2013. We woke up early in the morning and packed our bags to leave the homes of our host families and the Blue Mountains all together. We had breakfast and moved our luggage into the back of the pickup truck. Along with my roommates, I walked to the main road and got into the back of a pick-up truck and we began our journey to Kingston and the home of Mr. and Mrs. Bennett. Along with the many other experiences I had in the Blue Mountains, I can add riding on the back of a pick up while standing to that list. After a long ride down the mountain we finally made it into the city.
Upon arrival to the city our bus driver made a pit stop at a local fast food restaurant called Mother’s, where we ate beef patties. Everyone agreed that the patties were “on point.” I enjoyed them so much that I went on to get more beef patties later in the day during our tour of the city. After the patty pit stop we made our way to the KBC Learning Center, one of LearnServe’s partners in Jamaica. At the headquarters we met some of the students that we would be working with over the next few days. We also had an opportunity to look around the KBC headquarters. After a brief tour of the school we headed off to Mr. & Mrs. Bennett’s home for our second home-stay in Jamaica.
The Bennetts’ estate was a palace compared to our home-stays in the Blue Mountains. The Bennetts have a cook, a maid, and so many other luxuries that weren’t in the Blue Mountains. I unpacked my bags and relaxed on my bed, appreciating the contrast between the two sides of Jamaica and acknowledging my reliance on luxuries. After a large lunch with some of the best mango juice and lemonade I’ve ever had, we went back on the bus for a tour of Kingston.
We stopped by the Bob Marley Museum and took a trip to the gift shop. We then continued on to the University of the West Indies, where we had a quick tour and learned the history of the college. After a while we got off the bus and walked around Devon House, which was the home of the first black millionaire in Jamaica. That was where I got my second patty of the day, as well as a taste of the third best ice-cream in the world, thanks to Mrs. Bennett. After relaxing and taking a stroll around the memorial we went to a local homework center where we watched a moving documentary.
The documentary, “Songs of Redemption”, was a look into the world of Jamaican prisons and the different forms of rehabilitation that the men there undergo to help them cope with the stress of living in prison. The documentary was meant to be an opportunity to show us a different side of Jamaica, and it also proved to be a great way to end the day. It gave me a chance to end the day with a glimpse of the struggles that Jamaicans face and insight into how reggae music has affected not only the people of Jamaica, but also people worldwide.
Today was a day where I got to see such contrasting sides of Jamaica. I went from the rural Blue Mountains to the luxuries of the Bennetts in Kingston – from the freedom of embracing nature in the mountains to the claustrophobia the men in the prisons face every day.
Mahlet M., Wheaton High School