Falmouth Field School

During the our work here, the film group initially discussed a few topics for the film. Our original thought was to dig deeper into Jamaica's history by better understanding who were the significant people responsible for the turning points that shaped the country. We wondered if there were people who weren't represented for what they did and tried to think about how Jamaicans would be impacted if people with a shared history as them more were more heavily represented. We started out by looking into how Jamaicans feel connected to and represented in their history through their family lineage and a shared history in their community. After many discussions and interviews and going through a long process of rethinking how the film will turn out, we finally have a more clear idea. Our film will show what it means to be Jamaican from the eyes of Jamaican people. It will be based in family, pride, and memory. Throughout our experience of talking to locals we have not only learned so

                                                    The Tradition Continues! End Of Trip Picture                                                                                   Jumping for joy in Jamaica                         In these last two pictures, Eddie teaches Sage and Josey how to plumb stones. A final group picture at the restoration site with (from left to right): Kamar, Emory, Josey, Kenneth, Eddie, Sage, and Gabe                                                                       Andreas and Tyler are eating lunch in the back of Dr. Conolley's truck. A final group picture at the archaeological site with (from left to right): Rim, Tyler, Dr. Conolley, Luke, Andreas, and Ren A final look at the archaeological site!

Tonight we took a fun excursion to visit Glistening Waters. What makes Glistening Waters glisten is billions of microscopic organisms which "charge" using the energy from the sun and glow blue during the night when disturbed in the water. Our captain, Jerry, proudly expressed that Glistening Water in Jamaica has the brightest glow in the entire world, although these organisms can be found in three other locations around the world. Ren, Cole and Sage do their best to conceal their excitement before the ride begins.  You can see how excited Anna and Claire were!  The upperclassmen are clearly excited for the luminous lagoon!  Gabe, Luke, Andreas, Tyler and Sutton are excited too! Photos simply don't do the luminous lagoon justice.  The glow was more green in real life!

     Working on the Archeological site at Kent has been a very educational and interesting process. I have really enjoyed working on the site because of the mystery involved with Archeology. We didn't know what we were going to find, and now that we've found something, we aren't exactly sure what it is. What we found appears to be a line that stretches across every hole that we have dug, so far it is close to 20 feet, but it hasn't stopped yet. This line is such a mystery to all of us, especially the students working at the site.      This idea of not knowing what you're going to find is so intriguing to me. Although you don't always find something groundbreaking, it is still very important to continue to look for answers to events, people or things in the past. We need to know what has happened in the past, because it might affect us right now or in the future, and because uncovering history is very important as well. It would be much harder to do this without

Anna, Luke, Claire and Sutton with the students of the Falmouth Primary School. A student smiles at the camera at the Falmouth Primary School.  Sutton, Luke, Claire, and Anna conduct a small video interview with a teacher when they first  arrived. Sutton, Claire, and Anna research historical figures, at the library, to understand family representation.  In the last two photos, Josey, Emory, Sage and Gabe install a new course with stones and mortar at the historical restoration site at the Good Hope Estate. Andreas and Tyler sift out dirt in order to find fragments of artifacts at the Taino dig site.  Andreas and Cole digging and uncovering artifacts in a new excavation, Unit 13.  

Today, I went with a group of students to restoration for the second time this week. We were reconstructing an old house, which required quite a bit of work including moving stones, and putting mortar in between the stones to keep them in place. The only thing that was different was we had two students from William Knibb Memorial High School who came to work on the project with us. When they arrived we were all a little nervous to meet them, but it was still exciting to get to know them and work together with people our age living in Jamaica. While going around to introduce ourselves, we noticed that they used different names for the grades they were in which gave us a new perspective on how things that seem so simple to us can be so completely different in international countries. After this, we told them about what we would be doing and the goal for this site over the course of this trip. We gave them a tour of Good Hope Plantation and gave a brief history of the different areas and

Students play a quick game before going out for the day. Claire, Anna, Sutton, & Gabe take a photo with some local students.  Ms. Tucker, Wakima, and Anika join Andreas, Sage, Emory, and Josey at Good Hope. Josey, Emory, Wakima, and Anika work together. The Restoration Crew lays down Mortar.

Cole, Ren and Sage reading with their morning coffee. Students prepare for their first day back after a fun weekend. At the Good Hope restoration site, Josey fills limestone joints with mortar. Sage strikes a pose in front of his handywork.  Josey and Gabe observe intently as Andreas is laying mortar beds. Claire, Anna, Sutton, and Emery take advantage of #goldenhour in Falmouth.

Today, I worked in the restoration group. As I had already spent a day in it, I expected today to be fairly similar. I was wrong. First off, the last time I was there, we were just tearing things down. This time around, we were building up. As you could probably tell from the title, we mainly worked in the mortar department. This included anything from shoveling mortar into a bucket to setting it down as a bed for the next stone to be put on using trowels. However, similarly to last time, it wasn't light work. It wasn't as physically painful as last time, when we had to move and carry large stones, but it still wasn't easy by any means. Shoveling the mortar required strength along with carrying buckets full of it. On the building itself, we mainly used it by setting mortar beds for the stones and then proceeding to adding support to the stones. As you can imagine, it had to be perfect and had to be level so that the next course, or layer, of stones would be even and straigh

    Ok, so I am not sure how I am going to talk about this experience because today there was so much to  write about that I could end up with 50 pages, but I will try to keep it short for the reader's sake. When I originally heard that we would be attending church I was a little bit nervous. My reasoning for this was I never really attend church in America so I was not sure how on earth I would get through an hour and a half of church in Jamaica. From the times that I had attended church in America the only things that I can really remember is an old man talking in a really monotone voice and lasting for hours and hours. As I walked into the church, all my previous thoughts and expectations about church went away.       The only similarity at all between American and Jamaican churches is the length, but other than that nothing is the same. I knew this the second I walked through the doors to the church. No only were people singing and letting the emotions flow but they were doing

At 6' 5", Dr. Q looks tiny next to the "avatar tree" during a morning hike.  Everyone seems excited to raft down the Martha Brae! We all enjoy a rum-less punch before our excursion. A view of the Martha Brae from the entrance. The drivers' of our rafts get ready for us. Anna and Claire are first to set off on their raft. Then Ren and Tyler... Cole and Sage... Gabe and Andreas... Luke and Emory... And finally, Sutton and Josie. Dr. Lee and Dr. Q snap a quick selfie during their rafting. Sutton, Gabe, and Andreas enjoy festival, a local delicacy. We end our day with a beautiful view of the sunset from the Good Hope Coach House.

Today, we all went on a little excursion close to the Windsor plantation and caves. Instead of going to the caves, we hiked through the woods to the site of an old British barracks from the Maroon Wars (1728-40 and 1795-6). On the way over to Windsor,  we met Dr. Conolley and his assistant, Rim on the side of a long rural road. The journey over there in the van was as exciting and scenic as the hike. We passed through a few small towns including the area where Usain Bolt grew up, Sherwood Content. As we made our way closer to Windsor, the road became narrower and we twisted around the mountainous terrain. The feeling of leaving civilization behind and venturing out into the woods was very thrilling. The actual hike itself was a few miles into the woods. However, it was not your typical hiking trail. Like the map that Dr. Conolley gave us to get to Windsor, the trail was very much off the beaten path and was literally made by Dr. Conolley and Rim who cleared a path for us with their mac

We started off the morning with a hike, but to get there we had a little help from a hand drawn map. It begins. Students gaze at a natural remedy for mosqitoes. Andreas, Tyler, Luke and Emory sit down before our lunch break. Cole, Sage and Ren do their best impression of Marooners. Everyone enjoys a fun game before dinner.