Thursday

I always procrastinate as long as possible to write the last blog of a trip; it makes it seem like it hasn't ended. I think it's about that time or it'll never happen. (Haiti's blog is still processing........)

Thursday had some definite potential to take a turn for the worst. The team finished all of their work for the week and I scrambled to make a plan of action for Thursday while not entirely sure everything would work out. We were fortunate enough to have received boxes and boxes of gifts from previous teams. Thursday morning, we went to Cynthia's school to deliver the gifts and spend time with the kids. Miss Williams and Cynthia were teaching and as soon as we showed up the kids were distracted by the white people. I walked in the school and asked if they'd sing us some songs- they were beyond excited and each of them sang at the top of their lungs trying to make more noise the child next to them. Our team was pretty impressed when they heard the kids singing, counting and spelling in both english as well as spanish. I adore those babies!

Cynthia let the kids take a break so we could play with them outside. I stayed in and talked with Cynthia about the school and different possibilities for the future while the team went out with the kids. It was another one of those moments (like the food basket) where the kids, similar to the Jamaican market, were completely foreign to some of the guys. I could have put a physical barrier between the team and the kids playing on the see-saw and it would have looked more natural. It didn't take long before the scene changed and everybody was covered from head to toe with kids. Brett was on one end of the see-saw while 30 kids were on the other, my dad had at least 8 girls playing with his hair at any given time and everybody found their place to jump in. One of the reason I love kids so much is their natural purity- there's no insecurities, no judgment and in most cases they haven't been altered by the evil in the world. All you see is their raw, unconditional love that's so strong you can almost see it. They run up to you with a smile and don't think twice about giving you a hug or sitting on your lap. We have sooo much to learn from these kids- imagine if we were half as secure as them and just learned how to love without holding back. As I was thinking about this, I looked over and saw a little boy chasing the girls with a deadly banana spider on the end of a stick and realized that some things are learned with age...

We finished our morning with hugs and "see you next time's" and loaded back in the bus. My dad really wanted to go to Keith to visit Sandra & see the house that they built a couple of summers ago. What we hadn't quite remembered was how far away it was on unfinished roads. It took about 45 minutes and a few sick team members to get there but it was definitely worth the trip. When we got there, it was the same countryside. Roosters, vegetation and dirt everywhere! All of Jamaica is beautiful but this area is so unpopulated that it has a way of looking like the people are living in nature versus having nature live around the people's houses. I'm not sure if that makes sense but Keith is beautiful and there isn't a direction you can look without seeing bright green with tropical flowers and animals. The house they built was amazing. Sandra's daughter was there with her 18 month old baby that she was pregnant with while they were building. They repainted the house, put in a driveway and planted a garden in the "yard." I know how special it was for them to be able to come back and see that they planted a seed a couple of years ago and it's continuing to grow.

Thursday afternoon I stayed back to make sure everything was set for the free day and crossed my fingers while the team took off for the community center. Typically, all of Steertown knows if there's a team in town and ALL of the kids will rush to the community center to play after school. I wasn't so sure how it'd work out with 6 of them but everything went great. The boys got to do some (deadly guard-free) weed-wacking and everybody was able to to spend some more time with the kiddos. They came back to get me around 3 when we went to Harmony Hall. After looking through a little bit of artwork, I ended up down by the bus with the guys. Per usual, we were all a little loopy at the end of the week and somehow began yelling about FULL joying Jamaica instead of EN joying Jamaica. Apparently, if you're ENjoying Jamaica, you're ending your joy. If you're FULL joying Jamaica... well, you get the point. I can't tell you how good it felt to just laugh. One of those genuine, I almost wish I could stop so these tears would stop running down my face and my abs would stop hurting kind of laughs. I stood there looking at my brother and the guys and really felt irie. There is no reason to worry about anything...ever.

We left Harmony Hall and decided to stop by on the way back to show the team the cottage and to meet Peter and Annabella. Just pulling into the driveway feels like returning home after a long trip away. Looking at Pam & Koz's place and envisioning all of us dancing in the kitchen and then seeing the picnic table where we've eaten so many delicious meals brought back so many memories. Hearing Annabella's British accent brought on another load of memories and then there was Peter. That hour at the cottage was fantastic. Heather and I walked down through the cave to the dock... the most peaceful place on earth. We all sat and talked until it was time for us to take off for dinner.

I'm going to drag this one out a little further...Friday will have to be separate. Sorry :)

Grateful.