Day 1: Our Adventure Begins (by Anna T.)
Today started off as most Post Oak travel days start: a group of extremely tired but excited teenagers meeting in the lobby of Hobby Airport to begin their two week long adventure. Thanks to our caffeine run we were able to stay awake to talk for about an hour or so before our flight, but the moment we got into our seats and prepared ourselves for takeoff, we all collaboratively took a nap and bonded through sleeping and waking each other up for food. Upon landing in Jamaica, we met with our driver, Mr. Shaw, and we began our hour long drive up to Good Hope. The moment I stepped out of the bus at Good Hope, I was astonished. It was absolutely beautiful. From the view of where we eat dinner and breakfast, you can see the rising and falling hills of Jamaica. I cannot wait until we have time to explore the grounds of Good Hope and see what this plantation has to offer.
During our seminar tonight, we were asked what the purpose of this trip is to each of us persoanlly and the answer the teachers were looking for wasn't just "because it's a trip and why not", instead they were looking for the deep meaning of why we decided to come on this trip. The answers were varied but not limited to seeing the world, getting out of our comfort zones, expanding the friendships within our little community but also within the Falmouth community, immersing ourselves in the Jamaican culture, and, of course, learning about the history of Jamaica and how it has grown since the slave trade back in the 17 and 1800s.
We also were asked about the challenges that we might face. One of the most common ones that was thrown around the table by pretty much everyone was that we liked to keep to ourselves mostly, and the almost constant social interaction that this trip has to offer was definitely going to be a challenge for us. Another challenge is homesickness. I think that that is one of the challenges that makes this trip that much more unique, because we are going to be doing a lot of physical labor rather than classroom learning. We are going to be with each other a lot and we will be there for each other to cheer each other on and help push through the fatigue that we will probably all get from the early mornings and hard work throughout the day.
During our seminar tonight, we were asked what the purpose of this trip is to each of us persoanlly and the answer the teachers were looking for wasn't just "because it's a trip and why not", instead they were looking for the deep meaning of why we decided to come on this trip. The answers were varied but not limited to seeing the world, getting out of our comfort zones, expanding the friendships within our little community but also within the Falmouth community, immersing ourselves in the Jamaican culture, and, of course, learning about the history of Jamaica and how it has grown since the slave trade back in the 17 and 1800s.
We also were asked about the challenges that we might face. One of the most common ones that was thrown around the table by pretty much everyone was that we liked to keep to ourselves mostly, and the almost constant social interaction that this trip has to offer was definitely going to be a challenge for us. Another challenge is homesickness. I think that that is one of the challenges that makes this trip that much more unique, because we are going to be doing a lot of physical labor rather than classroom learning. We are going to be with each other a lot and we will be there for each other to cheer each other on and help push through the fatigue that we will probably all get from the early mornings and hard work throughout the day.
Nice post Anna! Have fun, work hard and keep it Irie. (google it if you don't know what Irie means!).
ReplyDeleteLove you!
-Daddy