June 29, 2013. After the past few hectic days, it was very nice to have a day to relax and prep for our upcoming week at Allman Hill Primary School. After waking up early in the morning, we had a delicious breakfast of cornmeal porridge, boiled eggs, corn beef hash and toast with guava jam. It was a very interesting experience due to the fact that I had never eaten porridge.
After breakfast, we had a very eye opening discussion with Mr. and Mrs. Bennett about the schooling system in Jamaica and about how different it is compared to the schooling system in the United States. I soon realized that I am very fortunate to go to school in the U.S because it is much more organized and everyone has an equal opportunity to excel.
Soon after that, Selena, one of the instructors at KBC, came and taught us about various aspects of Jamaica, such as the variety of food, the interesting language and the rich culture of this community-like country. I found it to be very refreshing that everyone here, no matter their ancestry is welcome as a Jamaican. I also am very excited to try all of the foods she explained to us! Overall, it was nice to gain more knowledge about this amazing country.
Later, we played numerous games which we will later play with the students at the primary school. We started off with a game called I seek common ground where we each say something we like or do, and everyone who also shares that same liking has to switch places. I personally found the game to be a great way to share our likes and interests with one another. We also played domino and other games which will help the students academically. We also talked about how we will “teach” the students, especially since we will have a limited amount of materials.
When we were finally finished with all of the discussions, we had a tasty lunch which consisted of soup with yam, chocho, flour dumplings, turkey neck and a variety of vegetables. We also tasted Coca Bread which is sometimes made from coconut flour. The lunch was very different from typical American meals and it was a new experience for me since I have never had the dish.
Finally, after our delicious meal, we rested for a few minutes and then headed to the pool which we were all very excited for. We all quickly got changed and jumped in and could not stop laughing! I found that not only was it nice to have some free time, but we all bonded with each other and became closer. I personally find that very important because during this trip we were kind of separated into two groups, but today that changed, we all became one as we laughed with each other and posed for silly pictures with each other. I am glad to say that this trip has been going great and I cannot wait to experience the rest of it!
Mashaba R., Woodson High School