Jamaica Week 4 - Last week

Marcia --Assistant to the Director of Student Services and Development

Mr. Lowrie -- Manager of Irving Hall

Grace -- Director of UWI Sports Dept

Dr. Reynolds - Director of Student Services

Donna Mae - Manager of Rex Nettleford Hall

I have re-transitioned back to the USA --> Atlanta --> Tallahassee. I got my share of Braves games in Atlanta, moved into a new house, played laser tag with my dad in Tallahassee, and now I'm back to work at 2 of my 3 jobs at FSU.

My last week at UWI was a great close to a very memorable international experience. We went to Liberty Hall, home to the legacy of Marcus Garvey, Jamaica's first national hero who encouraged descendants of Africa to embrace their culture and stand as equals with other races.

From the website:

The primary mission of Liberty Hall: The Legacy of Marcus Garvey, is to inform the public about the work of Jamaica’s first National hero and to use his philosophy and opinions to inspire, excite, and positively affect the self-identity of Jamaican people while creating social and economic wealth.

As a history buff, I really enjoyed the visit to Liberty Hall and learned a ton about Jamaican political and social history. I thought the on-going feud between Garvey and W.E.B. DuBois was fascinating. DuBois is such an American icon; it was surprising to learn that not everyone agreed with his personal philosophy.

From ritesofpassage.org:

Garvey's adherence to the ideals of service and success, on the one hand, and to the practical boosterism of the self-made man, on the other, created a peculiar tension in his later relationships with both W. E. B. DuBois and Booker T. Washington. The antagonism between DuBois and Garvey was more cultural than political. It stemmed from the struggle between the nineteenth-century New England patrician ideal, translated by DuBois into his concept of "the Talented Tenth," and the competing ideal of the self-made man that provided Garvey with his rationale. "Many American Negroes," DuBois asserted, viewed Garvey's meteoric rise as the "enthroning of a demagogue, who with monkey shines was deluding the people and taking their hard-earned dollars." Garvey, for his part, accused DuBois of setting himself up as "the highest social dignitary." Garvey saw in himself the idealized self-made man who triumphed over continual disadvantage in a heroic struggle for success and survival. On this basis he drew a harsh distinction between DuBois and himself:

Marcia and I also went to the National Gallery. I love galleries. I could have spent all day examining the artwork of Jamaica. I didn't take any pictures, but you can see different examples of works at the website: http://about.galleryjamaica.org/

On my last evening, my hosts and supervisors took me out for a wonderful farewell dinner at one of the local Chinese restaurants. Grace, Donna Mae, Dr. Reynolds, Marcia, and Mr. Lowrie (another Hall Director) were there for my send off, and they absolutely showered me with presents! My two favorite gifts were a coffee table book of the history of UWI and a Jamaican scarf. I can't wait for it to get cold so that I can wear it!

The final verdict--

I am so glad I took advantage of the opportunity.
If given the chance to go back, I would go in a heartbeat.
My favorite aspects of the experience were the people, the geography, and the food.
The only thing that would have made the experience better was if I had traveled with another classmate.
Tropical Island Man Eating Death Bugs = bad news.
I learned about: customer service/hospitality, program building, strategic management, Jamaican history and culture (especially music and cuisine!)
My favorite experiences - scuba diving in Mobay, getting lost in the mountains of eastern Jamaica with Grace, walking around campus during the day collecting wild mangos, meals at Rex Nettleford with the staff, running on the Mona Bowl track, visits with all of the Hall Directors

If any other higher ed students read this entry, GO ON THE BEYOND BORDERS TRIP and/or apply for the internship next summer. Phenomenal experience--totally worth it! I will miss my new friends and cherish my memories!

Pictures from Week 3

Makes me nostalgic for the Vineyard...Port Antonio


Driving home to Kingston


Who needs a car when you can ride on one of these bad asses?

...cricket cricket...




One of the beautiful homes in the mountains of eastern Jamaica.



Where are the velociraptors?


A snippet of the mountain road that allegedly took us to Reach Falls...ha!


The Jurassic Park theme is playing in my mind as I think about this view.


On the way to Port Antonio


We don't see terrain like that in the States.


Grace Jackson has a mural outside of the national sports complex. That's how you know you're a stud.

Jamaica Week 3 continued

I'm typing on borrowed time as the computer lab is getting ready to shut down. I will try and make this extremely short (ha! right...):

I spent the weekend in the company of Grace Jackson and her family on two adventures in the Jamaican countryside. I have been fully inducted into the Jackson family and I absolutely love them all. Grace's two children, Bijee (10) and Dante (6), are so sweet, albeit they are two EXTREMELY rambunctious kids. Granted I never spent time with kids, so who am I to judge...any kid is going to seem rambunctious to me.

Grace picked me up at 12:30 on Saturday and we set off for Ocho Rios. 3 1/2 hours later, we arrived at the world's most secluded rafting operation. Definitely not your local tourist joint. It was about 4:00 by the time we got there, so we were definitely the only customers around, which was great. It was family created, owned, and operated--and when I say 'created', I mean the rafts were handmade out of bamboo shoots and the tubes were handmade out of who knows what.



^ A picture I borrowed from the internet as I didn't want to risk taking my camera down the White River...

Per suggestion of the guide, we elected to go tubing en lieu of rafting, so the 5 of us (Grace, me, 2 kids, and 8 year old niece Akira) set off down the White River with our guide. This was not your typical "lazy day down the river" tube ride. The White Current flows from the Blue Mountains and the current is FAST. We probably didn't hit more than a level 2 rapid, but it was a wild ride nonetheless. At the halfway point, we got out of our tubs and jumped off of "Pirate's Plank" into the middle of the river along with some of the locals. It was so wonderful to have the privacy of the entire river to ourselves and the local bathers. Dunn's River Falls was beautiful, but it was totally overrun by HUNDREDS of screaming tourists, whereas our trip down the White River was completely peaceful. Grace and I could have sat in the water watching her kids jump off the Pirate's Plank for hours.

After the tube ride, we drove another 2 hours (no traffic along the windy mountain roads) back to Kingston. She stopped off at a roadside stand (they're all over the place) to get me some sugar cane, fresh bananas, and something that sounded like 'sweetsa'--looks like an artichoke but tastes like a papaya...that's as good of a description as I can muster...



Fresh sugar cane is delicious. I'm addicted. Find me a place where I can get it in the States and I will show you a happy Kellie.

Okay, so Sunday:

Grace picked me up and the family hit the road at around 1:00 with the intention of seeing some of the waterfalls in Eastern Jamaica. Quick geography lesson:

Kingston/Port Royal - Southern Jamaica
Montego Bay - Northwestern Jamaica
Ocho Rios - Northern Jamaica
Portland/Port Antonio - Eastern Jamaica
Negril --far Western Jamaica

On second thought, I'm sure you all know how to read a map:


We started driving towards Somerset Falls in Portland. The falls entrance looked a little hokey so we decided to continue driving in search of Reach Falls. We drove through Port Antonio, which looked a lot like Aquinnah (for those of you who have been to Martha's Vineyard)---really deep clear blue water, steep cliffs, small fishing village, etc.

I'll post pictures later, but you'll notice that most of my pictures are awful because they were taken on the fly in a briskly moving vehicle traveling on extremely bumpy roads. I also took a 2 minute video of part of our route that I hope to post and give you all a laugh after you've recovered from the motion sickness that ensues.

Okay, so back to the story, we drove through Port Antonio because the last 3 people that we've stopped to ask for directions have told us "4-5 miles down the road". 45 minutes later, we still did not see a sign indicating that a waterfall is even remotely nearby. Grace stopped and asked another local, who told her in Jamaican Patois that was completely indistinguishable to my ears that we needed to take a left turn and follow the road and eventually we'd run into it...in 4 -5 miles.

This "road" ended up being a road that took us through the mountainside. It was absolutely beautiful. The family and I were laughing hysterically because we had no clue where we were going or if we'd ever reach a waterfall (Reach Falls was out of our 'reach'...ha!) but the mountain views were absolutely worth the 3 hour trip it took us to get there. We'd stop off at small mountain dwellings to talk to the locals (and their reaction upon realizing that they were talking to Olympian Grace Jackson was so funny!--it would be like an American not realizing that they were talking to Michael Johnson or Tyson Gay) and admire the simplistic life of the mountain dwelling communities. There were fruit trees everywhere. It was just absolutely spectacular. The eastern part of the country is the "untouched" side, and I got to experience it firsthand. Again, I'll post pictures later, but they really don't do the experience justice.

Moral of the story is that by the time we found the correct road to Reach Falls, it was closed. Wa wa wa. We were completely content with our 8 hour road trip nonetheless. Grace and the family were excellent tour guides and I learned a great deal about the different parishes (like our states) and terrain. What a great adventure!

Jamaica Week 3

I am currently sitting in my room trying to figure out if the delicious meal I’m eating is curried chicken or goat, but that’s beside the point. In my last entry, I mentioned that I would be working with a former Olympian. It’s time I expounded upon that.

Most people know that I love sports. I love playing sports. I love watching sports. I love talking about sports. Certain sports have a special place in my heart—softball/baseball, sand volleyball, football, climbing, rowing—but as much as I love all of these sports, they all take a second seat to my first love: track and field.

Back in my Uncle Rico high school glory days, I was quite the T&F enthusiast, and even earlier than that, I did a 3rd grade school project on “My Hero, Florence Griffith-Joyner.” Yes, I had the fake nails and all. I also have a softball cap signed by Carl Lewis because he happened to be at one of my little league softball games. I get a big dumb grin on my face every time I go to the UWI Mona grass track because just knowing that I’m running circles on the same training path used by Usain Bolt is exhilarating. I love being in Jamaica simply by virtue of the fact that local people follow international track and field like we follow March Madness. Well, that and about a billion other reasons. But I think I’ve made my point.

Which brings me back to my original point: my week spent with Ms. Grace Jackson, international track icon, is probably one of the most amazing/humbling privileges I’ve ever had in my life. Before you young guns rush to Wikipedia to determine her identity (as my older/wiser readers shake their heads), let me save you the trip:

Grace Jackson (born 14 June 1961 in St. Ann, Jamaica) is a retired Jamaican athlete who competed mainly in the 100 metres and 200 metres. She reached the 100m and 200m finals in the 1984 and 1988 Summer Olympic Games and the 200m final in Barcelona in 1992. Her breakthrough performance was at the 1988 Summer Olympics held in Seoul, South Korea. She won a Silver medal over 200m behind Florence Griffith Joyner, beating then 200m World Champion Silke Moller, Heike Drechsler and team mate Merlene Ottey. She also won a bronze medal at the 1987 IAAF World Indoor Championships and a silver medal at the 1989 IAAF World Indoor Championships.

The only woman to beat her in the 200m at the Seoul Games was my 3rd grade hero! That, my friends, is really REALLY cool. You’d never know Grace was such a track stud the way she carries herself. She’s completely down to earth—very unassuming, genuine, hilarious. She doesn’t use her prestige as a launching platform, rather she relies on her former experience with competitive NCAA athletics to help build UWI Mona’s sports program.

Regardless of her track record (ha! I couldn’t resist...pun totally intended), the opportunity to assist the Sports Director at UWI Mona was such a blast. Unlike FSU, or UGA, or most of the other universities with competitive D1 sports programs that have been established for decades, UWI Mona is in the very early stages of building a University-wide program that competes nationally and internationally. Grace currently oversees the recreational and competitive sport programs at the University, and she operates with a staff of 4…compared to the multi-department system that D1 schools have at their disposal. I was able to review and edit documents regarding athletic scholarship criteria, management/governance, sponsorship/grant applications, and the 5-year strategic plan. Grace is truly building this program from the ground up, and as an American student surrounded by enormous American athletic offices, to be involved in the early planning and implementation stages of a nationally and internationally competitive program is one of those once-in-a-lifetime opportunities that make you stop and say (for lack of better words), “Wow…this is SO COOL!”

Today we grabbed lunch at a Chinese restaurant (and for the record, having Chinese with Grace Jackson is way better than the prospect of a tea party with John Smoltz and Chipper Jones combined) and went to a seminar on sports marketing and management being hosted by the International Best Practices Network. I learned some great sponsorship/grant-writing techniques that I will definitely using this year.

Again, athletic history aside, it has really been such a fun week working with the Sports Department, and I am extremely grateful that Grace has given me such a meaningful experience and treated me as a trusted friend. She’s taking me with her family to the country tomorrow (possibly Negril) for an excursion away from campus.

I’ll probably get one or two more final updates in next week, but I thought it would be worth mentioning that I’m down to my final 7 days here. Even though there have been days that have felt long, the overall experience has blown by. I will miss the staff here dearly! I am praying that I’ll have a job by Spring Break so that I can come back with FSU’s Beyond Borders exchange program en lieu of job searching…

Pictures from Week 2

Fort Charles at Port Royal.


The Royal Artillery Store, now called the "Giddy House" because one gets a sensation of giddiness when walking into the house as it has shifted 15 degrees due to the 1907 earthquake.


The Brick Oven, a bakery located right next to the Devon House "I Scream" store. I didn't eat at the bakery; I just liked this picture.


The Devon House


Bob Marley statue. One Love!

Days 8 - 13: Work, Bob Marley, Port Royal

I'll keep this one short[er], sweet, and to the point because I'm currently battling the UWI library wireless network on my laptop and I am losing.

I met with the President of the Guild of Students on Wednesday. The Guild of Students is like our Student Government Association. It's a very high profile group of students who are responsible for allocating student funds, programming on campus, etc. Similar to the processes that our SGA oversees, but the Guild does a substantial amount of programming in their Student's Union as well as overseeing the off-campus transportation system. I was amazed by how much external influence is involved in the campaigning process. The two major parties of Jamaica are the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and the People's National Party (PNP), and each party typically "backs" a candidate who is a member of its youth branch to run for Guild election. Politicians will show up on campus during voting week to encourage students to vote! (They're not supposed to, but many do anyway).

This year's president, VJ, is fantastic! We spent two hours comparing and contrasting our forms of student government and he also gave me a tour of their Union. Their Union has a club/sports bar, nail salon (yep, already went), supermarket, gym, Guild offices, steel orchestra room, etc.--it's a great space. I'm not as schooled in American college and university SGAs as I should be, so if you're a former or current SGA participant and have any useful information that I could pass onto VJ, let me know. :)

I spent most of my work-week in Rex Nettleford finishing up the development program and handbook for new residents.

The rest of my week was spent learning about Jamaican history and pop culture:

I went to the Bob Marley historical museum/his former house in Kingston. I don't really know how to describe my thoughts on Bob Marley. The people here have a tremendous amount of pride in his work, and my interest is definitely peaked, so I'll have to pick up some literature on his life and work when I get back to the States. I need to become more educated on the Rastafarian religion as well. His home was beautiful, and the curators have done an excellent job of maintaining its charm. The house had many of Bob's original belongings, but unfortunately tourists are not allowed to take pictures of the inside of his house. I have a few from the outside/statue, but they're not the greatest quality and certainly don't do justice to the experience.

A quick note on the statue:
The government commissioned a statue of Marley to be erected after his death, but they weren't happy with the first one, so they moved it to Montego Bay and erected a new one to stand outside of his house. We saw the other one while we were in Montego Bay--it's more impressionistic than the second.

We followed the Bob Marley Museum with a trip to the Devon House for ice cream. Devon House "I Scream" is like the Ben & Jerry's of Jamaica, only a million times better. I am completely lacking in creativity tonight, so I've pulled this description of the Devon House off its official website:

"One of Jamaica’s most celebrated historical landmarks The Devon House Mansion is the architectural dream of Jamaica’s first black millionaire George Stiebel. Stiebel was among three wealthy Jamaicans who constructed elaborate homes during the late 19th century at the corner of Trafalgar Road and Hope Road, which fittingly became known as the Millionaires Corner. Daniel Finzi and the Verleys were the other families that resided in the area, however, both homes were eventually demolished to make way for development ventures including the construction of Abbey Court Apartments. Stiebel’s legacy lives on with the beautifully maintained Devon House, which was declared a national monument in 1990 by the Jamaica National Heritage Trust."

The house and lawn are GORGEOUS. Absolutely beautiful. I'll put pictures up when I'm on a better wireless network.

I went to Port Royal on Friday. For those of you who don't know me well, I have a huge affinity for pirate culture. Seriously, this extends way beyond "Oh yeah, Pirates of the Caribbean was a great movie" type of fascination with pirates. Before committing to a degree in Higher Education, I submitted grad school applications to history programs with every intention of studying the Golden Age of Piracy. So, for me, Port Royal is like the Mecca of pirate history. Henry Morgan was one of the more notable pirates that made quite a living in Port Royal.

We grabbed a quick lunch at a wonderful seaside cafe on the outskirts of Port Royal before taking a tour of Fort Charles. I don't really know what I expected Port Royal/Fort Charles to be like, but it definitely wasn't the booming metropolis that I expected. Port Royal was one of the richest/most wicked cities in the New World in the 17th Century (1650-1692), but in 1692 a major earthquake swept 2/3's of the city underwater. The British rebuilt Fort Charles after the quake, and it served as one of its key naval bases in the Caribbean for the next 200 years, but it never regained the prominence and wealth that it had when it was the haven for pirates and privateers. Another earthquake hit in the early 1900's, and by that point, the British were fed up with the natural disasters and turned the town over to the locals. The town as it stands today is a small community that survives on local fishing business. The tour of Fort Charles was fascinating. Some of the artifacts that divers have pulled up from the original settlement (circa 1650) were marvelous. Unfortunately, no photography allowed inside. My favorite artifact was an old pocket watch that was recovered from the waters; they x-rayed the watch to see where the hands were last positioned (before disintegrating), and the technology indicated that the watch hands stopped at 11:43 AM--the exact time that the earthquake hit in 1692. How cool is that?

Lastly, I finally ventured off campus at night under the watchful eye of my new friend Michelle, who runs the kitchen at Rex Nettleford and supplies me with delicious yummy food everyday :)--she is an Angel! She invited me to join her and several members of her family at the Miss Jamaica Festival Queen pageant--which is apparently a HUGE deal in the country. Women representing every parish in the country vie for the title of Queen; typical pageant competition: talent, poise, question/response--and a category for cultural awareness.

The theme of this year's pageant was "Jamaica's natural treasure: Jamaican woman". All of the talent presentations acts demonstrating some issue pertaining to race/gender/equality/national pride--it was extremely interesting. Two contestants made commentary on skin bleaching--I didn't realize that was such a critical issue in the African diaspora. One contestant reenacted the defense of Lena Baker, the only African American woman to suffer execution by electric chair in Georgia. She claimed self-defense (rightly so) against a man who was violently abusing her, but her all-white male jury convicted her and sentenced her to death.

Also worth pointing out was that in an audience of about 1,000 spectators, I appeared to be the only White person. I haven't seen a whole lot of other Caucasians on campus or in Kingston (Montego Bay is a completely different story--tourist central), but the experience of being at the pageant/on campus made me understand a little more about why racial/ethnic minorities might have a tendency to group together in social settings. At the pageant, I found myself looking for other people that looked like me. It's a little unnerving to have a bunch of people look at you to see how you'll react to a performance criticizing white-oppression. I got to experience what it feels like to be the "spokesperson" for an entire group of people.

My hosts have done a phenomenal job of making sure that I'm always in good hands. I have felt safe and I have been treated with nothing but respect the entire time that I've been here. I'll never know what it's like to be a minority in the United States. I'll probably never endure racial oppression or discrimination, and I'll never be able to relate to any of my minority students who come to college with those types of experiences, but my experience in Jamaica has made me more sensitive to the types of feelings that minority students might feel when they come to schools that are predominately White institutions.

Okay, I need to cut this off because it's getting dark outside and I have a bit of a hike to get back to my Hall. I'll be working with Ms. Grace Jackson (former Olympian!) this week at a sports camp. Until then...

Per request of a friend, more pictures from Montego Bay and Ocho Rios