Sunday, July 8 – Today was our final day in Jamaica. We first celebrated by going to church in the morning. You should have seen the looks on our faces when we were told we were going to church! But it turned out that going to church was great because I got to experience my religion in a different country and experience something new. Then we stopped for lunch at KFC and it was off to our final activity: the beach! The beach was different than what we were expecting. The water was really high so there was no dry sand. The waves were also pretty big, but we all got in with the other Jamaicans. When we got back we had dinner and then right before the meeting, all the power went out for 15 minutes. It was so dark, and all of us ran outside to play a game of tag. After the lights came back we had our last evening meeting and did final reflections on the trip.
For me, Jamaica has been great. At the beginning of this trip I didn’t know anyone but the students at Paul Public Charter School. When preparing for the trip at the Saturday meetings the travel leaders would motivate us to communicate with each other. Even though we started sharing a bit about ourselves, we still didn’t get too comfortable. I remember when we used to get called on to answer questions we froze up like icicles. We were all shy young leaders.
Before we actually started to travel, I was mostly just excited. I reminded myself to trust the process, and that it was going to be an adventure. But I was also a little nervous. I couldn’t believe I was going to get on a plane and go to a new country with people I barely knew. It was my first time getting on a plane or leaving the country and, I’m not going to lie, as we arrived to the airport I couldn’t believe I was going through with it after all the scary exaggerations I’d heard. My legs were shaking, but I accepted that I had to do this because there was no turning back. As the plane lifted up off the ground I felt my body getting tired and dozing off, with music blasting in my ears, and air blasting around the plane. The ride wasn’t as bad as I was expecting. We had a 30 minute layover in Miami, and I remember walking around the airport and experiencing what it’s like to be a traveler and be in airports. On our next flight I met a wonderful, motivating woman, and we had great conversations about Jamaica and travelling.
Once we arrived in Jamaica I was in shock. It was a totally different surrounding , and it was like we had a spotlight of attention walking through the airport. I remember being worried that the Jamaicans wouldn’t like us because we were Americans. Personally though, I knew I would be okay because I know how to survive the hood. Once we got outside, it felt like I was in a room that caught on fire – and I was trapped in the middle of it – because it was so hot.
Another big learning experience for me on this trip was when we first arrived at our lodgings. As we explored our living space we couldn’t believe this was it. There was no AC and low water pressure. We quickly realized that we were going to have to get used to this because we were living here for 2 weeks, so I said, “unpack them bags boys and get comfortable!”
My favorite project of the trip was working at Mona Heights Primary School. I remember the first day we were nervous because the environment was new, and we couldn’t understand the students’ accents. But when we walked through the door the students stood up and gave us a warm welcome, and I knew it would be okay. There was one young boy in my class, Kyle, who reminded me of myself. Kyle was a ladies man. We had a lot in common like rap music, playing sports, and flirting with girls. He flirted with all the girls, and I laughed to myself thinking about how he was probably the ‘cool’ kid in his class. When it was time for lunch, we enjoyed how polite the students were. I liked that they prayed as a class before lunch.
Overall, the kids were so excited to meet new people, especially new people from a different country like the US. They see the US as freedom land and the land of the rich. Even though we know some of us come from not so great neighborhoods in DC, we realized that we have more than others. I learned to be grateful and remember that there are people less fortunate than me and there are always ways I can help.
Jerome M., Paul Public Charter School