Today started our journey to Jamaica at about 2 PM on Sunday afternoon when I drove, with three others from my group, from Pullman, WA to Seattle, WA. In Seattle we met up with Stephanie, a former YMCA Program Coordinator, and we enjoyed a delicious dinner with her and her mother. Later Sunday night we were dropped off at the Seattle Airport, where we started our series of flights to Jamaica. We flew from Seattle to Detroit, Detroit to Atlanta, and then Atlanta to Montego Bay, Jamaica!!! For the most part our flights went very smoothly, but we had about an hour delay in Detroit which caused us to only have 22 minutes in Atlanta to get from concourse E to A. Needless to say we got on the plane and had a splendid flight into Jamaica.
Once we arrived to Jamaica it was a balmy 78 degrees and sunny….it was AWESOME! After waiting in line at customs, and two members of our group almost being stopped because they didn’t have a contact number for the orphanage we were working at, we grabbed our bags and began looking for the rest of our group from Indiana. After about an hour we found the other 50 members of our group, loaded up buses, and headed to the Moorlands Camp, which is a Christian Camp that we are staying at for the week. Before leaving the airport I had a delicious chicken patty, sort of like a spicy chicken and bean quesadilla, which was my first introduction to Jamaican food. It was very satisfying and I can’t wait to eat more Jamaican food!
The bus ride consisted of a 3 bus caravan driving for 3 hours to the Moorlands Camp. Throughout the bus ride I was snapping photos right and left of the beautiful ocean scenes, the residential areas, the slums, and the scenery along the road. The drive was really exciting because we got to see a good portion of Jamaica while riding in a bus driven by a crazy local. I say crazy because driving in Jamaica is very different compared to America. For one, they drive on the opposite side of the road, their roads are also the width of a single lane, and you don’t really need to drive on a specific side of the road. Often times a two lane road turned into a three lane road or a one way road. Honking is another thing that was very different, they used the horn for three main reasons: 1) to warn someone that you would be passing them 2) when you almost get hit by someone or you are going around a blind corner 3) to say hello to friends in other cars or on the side of the road. While the driver was crazy, the drive way very exhilarating for our whole group!
Once we arrived to the camp we were greeted by some of the staff and fed a delicious spaghetti dinner. Shortly after dinner the group split with some people going straight to bed and other people exploring and looking around the camp.
Overall the first day consisted of many hours of traveling, meeting many new people, eating some great food, and experiencing a new, relaxed, way of life.
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