Jamaica Days 3 - 4

It’s a long post. 3,216 words. I find that hilarious because this post is longer than my DIS currently.

I’ve divided it into two separate sections because I doubt a single one of you has the interest and/or patience to read the entire thing. The first section is primarily a debrief of my itinerary (the who, what, where of my internship). The second section is more of my “thoughts of the journey” thus far. Choose your own adventure.

Section 1:

Day 3 –

Although I can expect that the last two weeks of my internship will be much more routine in terms of specific internship-oriented tasks, this week is all about face-time with campus notables. Yesterday (Wednesday) I met all of the Hall Managers (called Hall Coordinators at FSU) and got tours of the 6 Halls of Residence. Each hall has a unique character, design, and culture. The managers are fantastic. Each manager has a lively personality that (based on my observations) seems to match his or her hall. In addition to creating development (Res Life) programs, the Hall Managers are responsible for the facilities/budget/finance component of their hall AND chair another department within Student Services. For example, Mr. O’Sullivan manages Taylor Hall and the Department of Special Student Services (like our Student Disability Resource Center). Ms. Spence manages Mary Seacole (the only all-female hall—painted in the most wonderful bright colors) and heads up the FYE and Quality Leadership Program (QLP). And so on and so on.



In addition to touring the halls and the Department of Special Student Services, Mr. Dolphin, the manager of Aston Preston, took me on a little excursion to Papine, a local market. It was my first time traveling off campus since I arrived. Lots of street vendors, fruit stands, mobile/cellular stations, traffic. Given its proximity to campus (5 minutes in a bus), Papine is where most students buy their goods/produce.

Spending time with Mr. Dolphin is an absolute riot. He’s a huge sports buff and is heavily involved in the Jamaican Cricket Association…or West Indies Cricket Board…or both (I couldn’t tell which affiliation he had---either way, he’s invested in the sport). UWI Mona is hosting the U-19 Cricket Challenge this week. Young men from six different countries are representing their nation in this tournament—it’s an honor for them to compete. Mr. Dolphin was MC-ing the opening ceremony last night (Wednesday), so he invited Marcia and me to attend. It was so much fun to see the athletes, coaches, and Cricket Association members. The ceremony was a spectacle: the assembly hall was decorated with cricket paddles, there were two musical performances (Rihanna’s “Umbrella” was reggaefied), and it had a HUGE spread of food. I was fortunate to have the opportunity to attend the ceremony, and I hope to watch a few cricket matches this week. I fully intend on being a cricket expert by the time I leave.

Day 4 – (I feel like these should be preceded by ‘Captain’s log, Star Date…’)

I ate breakfast with some new friends who are here attending an international conference on resource management. I’ve met people from St. Lucia, Barbados, Guiana, Dominica, etc. After breakfast, I met with Dr. Monica Brown, coordinator of the M. A. Higher Education – Student Personnel Administration program (a.k.a. the UWI equivalent of what I’m pursuing). The M.A. program started in September of 2006. The program is almost entirely facilitated through distance (online) learning, with one required summer semester and internship. The summer semester is from 9 – 4 Monday – Friday. YIKES. They recently graduated their first cohort of 6 students (6 have completed their theses, 1 is still writing). The program attracts more mature (older) students who are already working in the field of student services, unlike American programs who are populated by predominately recent graduates. They currently offer one track (student personnel) but have plans to add a general administration and Ph.D. program soon, so the structure of their program is very similar to FSU’s. The current cohort is much larger –16 students—again very comparable to FSU’s cohorts. More on the new cohort in a second…

After my meeting with Dr. Brown, I met with Althea Gordon-Clennen, Director of the UWI Mona International Center. The IC is a brand new facility that opened in August 2008. They deal with incoming extended degree and exchange students; processing visas, documents, health records, etc. They don’t offer group study abroad programs like FSU, so each student who desires to participate in a study abroad program is served individually. They have partnerships with about 40 different institutions around the world, mostly in English speaking countries (UK, USA, Canada, etc.) Surprisingly enough, the majority of UWI Mona students that voice interest in participating in an exchange program choose programs in Canada---Canada?! Of all places?!

After my visit to the IC, I sat in on a class with the Higher Education master’s students, which was one of many highlights of my day. Dr. Reynolds was teaching the students about psych theories (specifically Maslow’s hierarchy of needs—reminds me of US Airways orientation on the Vineyard when I erupted in an uncontrollable giggle fit because the US Airways training manual cited Maslow—erroneous!) The students wanted to hear about the functional areas of student affairs in which I had experience, how I developed interest in higher education since I was getting my degree prior to working in the field, and what popular research interests were among members of my cohort. I hope I represented FSU well. We swapped email addresses and I hope to exchange ideas and information with the students soon. I’ll probably see about 5 of them in the fall at FSU while they are fulfilling their internship.

I had a quick break for lunch during which Marcia and I discussed religion and American obesity. Apparently there is a substantial LDS (Mormon) population on the island, so Marcia will take me to an LDS church at some point during my stay. Americans—in case you were wondering, the rest of the world has noticed that we’re all overweight. I will 100% attribute it to our diets. Although Jamaican food uses a lot of oil, nothing is processed. Every meal I’ve eaten has been freshly prepared and incorporates lots of fruits, vegetables, and a starch (usually some variety of potato). And they don’t use salad dressing. Give it a shot. It grows on you.

After lunch, I met with Dr. Reynolds and Mr. Joseph Pereira, the Deputy Principal, who is essentially in command behind the Pro-Vice Chancellor a.k.a. Principal. It would be the equivalent to our Provost. We discussed student/institutional culture and student/faculty interaction. Student/faculty interaction is very formal and distant. Mr. Pereira attributed the hierarchical relationship to English influence (British model of schooling). UWI Mona also struggles to generate and encourage institutional pride; instead, students display fierce allegiance to their halls. Both administrators suggested that this was due in part to the fact that UWI Mona existed as the sole institution on the island for a long time. They also are working to find ways to engage their commuting student population in the campus culture. Their commuting student population would be most comparable to our transfer students. The FYE, mentorship program, and QLP are all programs that have proven successful with both residential and commuting student populations. I would like to see what mentorship programs FSU offers that would be similar in nature to the mentorship program at UWI. Essentially they pair on-campus and off-campus successful leaders with new students; surprisingly, the off-campus mentors are highly sought after (perhaps due to potential job offerings after graduation?).

Last thing on my list this afternoon was a meeting with Kinsley, the Chairman of Chancellor Hall. Kingsley is basically the equivalent to either an FSU residence hall president or perhaps more accurately a fraternity president. He assists with the hall’s budget proposal, disciplinary hearings, and helps plan the hall orientation. Each hall has a “ragging” period similar to our system of hazing in Greek Life. It’s a system of initiations that students are required to endure in order to have access the the privileges of the hall. In recent years, campus administration has really come down against the halls for utilizing unsafe practices, so Kingsley told us that the halls have tempered their initiation process significantly. The initiation process is very secretive. I need to find some resources (hint hint Greek friends) that I can send to him that describe our system of Greek life). The halls are very proud of their history and legacy. Every hall is convinced it’s the best. It’s so much fun to hear the students describe their halls. There is even a strong sense of inter-hall competition between the clusters. Chancellor Hall has 5 or 6 different blocks (clusters, same thing) that compete against each other in grades, debate—basically anything in which a competition can be staged. Each block has its own unique name and identity as well:

Block X—Xcellent – the ‘Ritz Carlton’ of UWI Mona Res Life

Block Ché

Block Aye

Block Dynamite

Block RUNCI – stands for Resides (? might be a different word—similar concept) Under No Chancellor Influence; in the 1970’s, this block felt as though it transcended the influence of the rest of the hall and refused to engage in competitions. It since has rejoined the hall community, but each block might boycott certain events if they feel as though they were wronged or disadvantaged in a previous event.

That pretty much wrapped up my scheduled itinerary for the afternoon. As you can see, I am constantly on-the-go. I went for a walk around Ring Road with my camera this afternoon. If I can sneak into the Computer Room tomorrow with my external hard drive (‘the Brick’) when I post this entry, I’ll upload some of my pictures.

This weekend will be spent in Western Jamaica –Montego Bay area. UWI Mona just opened a new campus in Montego Bay, so we’re going on a campus visit. Montego Bay also happens to be the most well-known tourist destination, so Marcia is taking me to Dunn’s River Falls, Doctor’s Cave Beach, Mystic Mountain (which I think is zip lining through the mountains). I have no clue if I’ll have internet at any point during the weekend, so this might be all you hear from me until next Monday…

Okay, if that wasn’t your desired chapter, here’s Section 2:

Thoughts on my experience thus far:

My friend Mark lent me a book for the trip titled, “Gift from the Sea” by Anne Morrow Lindbergh (Charles’ wife). It’s a light read, but the chapters are filled with rich advice about patience, solitude, and simplicity. I can certainly say that I’m getting my fill of all three.

I’m on my 4th day here, and I’ve already established a bit of a routine. Going backwards:

I go to bed at 10:00 every night after working on my research for 2 hours (not joking---I’m glad I procrastinated so badly because now I have something to keep me occupied at night!). The TV in my room doesn’t work (I told Marcia that it was probably for the best) and the computer room with internet access is open during sporadic hours (I think I finally figured out today that it’s generally from about 9 – 4, which is usually when I’m somewhere else on campus), so after dinner at 5:00, I’m left to my own devices within the confines of Rex Nettleford. It’s got its ups and downs.

I’ve started running here, but when and where I can run is a bit of a challenge. My hosts have strongly discouraged me from going to the track alone, especially after 6, which usually conflicts with dinner. The interior perimeter of RN has a good running path encircling the clusters. This morning I woke up at 6:30 and left RN by myself for the first time to run Ring Road, which is a circular road upon which most of the main UWI buildings are located. My Hall Manager encouraged me to run Ring Road in the mornings because it’s light outside and it’s crowded. I felt very safe, and it was nice to get out of the ol’ Rex ‘Plex for a morning. I also went for a run this evening. I’m trying to put in at least an hour of running a day to ward off the 25 lbs. of negligence that’s looming in the distance as a result of my extremely hearty meals.

But back to my original point—if I’m not running, reading, writing, or researching, I have very little to keep me entertained when I’m in the hall in the evenings. I am KICKING myself for not bringing more non-academic/research oriented books with me. I could have killed some Dan Brown over the next three and a half weeks. I’m glad Mark lent me “Gift from the Sea” or I would have been without a single recreational book. And it’s becoming a real struggle of the human will to pick up “Sport, Play, and Ethical Reflection” (or similar) on a nightly basis. Seriously, who goes on vacation FOR A MONTH and doesn’t bring books? Cotton-headed ninnymuggins like myself, that’s who.

In synopsis, nighttime is a bit of a challenge to find things to keep me from bouncing off the walls. During the day it’s an entirely different story. Marcia created an extremely detailed itinerary that usually keeps me busy from between 8AM and 5PM. My [huge] meals are at 8, noon, and 5 every day, and I love the consistency of it. I am eating extremely healthily (so many fruits and vegetables) but every meal is enormous! I’m not used to eating so much—hence the running. I also usually find time to snack on a piece of fresh fruit or two in the afternoons. Mangos grow freely on campus. Let me restate that. MANGOS. GROW. ON. CAMPUS. The papayas are great too.

So—the American in me feels the need to highlight some of my recent adjustments. I’ve learned that I typically don’t realize that I’ve forgotten something on a trip until I go to use it. So far, the list is:

1) A hairbrush (d’oh! Left it in the car on the way to the airport…): luckily Mama G just cut all of it off, so I’ll live.

2) Batteries: just plain stupid of me. I was concerned about not being able to wake up on time, but going to bed at 10 every night has negated that issue. And my beloved running watch has an alarm on it, so crisis averted.

3) SD (which apparently stands for ‘storage device’) card for my camera: this is the only forgotten item that is truly a bother. I can visualize the stupid thing sitting on my kitchen counter still waiting to be packed in my suitcase. It hasn’t been a deal breaker yet—I just max out my 7 available pictures on my camera and then upload them on my computer. It’ll be a much bigger inconvenience when I’m on an excursion this weekend.

Things that I’ve learned to live without:

1) My cell phone – Proof that one can live without a BlackBerry and still be perfectly fine. I don’t even miss it. I hate having a cell phone. The internet on the other hand…

2) TV – so much more productive with my time…

3) Beer – tropical juice is better. My love of brewery tours is the only thing keeping me from kicking the stuff for good.

4) Internet – this has been the toughest adjustment. You don’t realize how much you use something until it’s no longer an option. I’m lucky if I can find a time and place to get 20 minutes a day. As with TV and my cell phone, it is probably time I weaned myself off of my technology dependence.

5) A bug free environment – all of the facilities at UWI Mona are extremely clean, but the fact of the matter is that I’m on a tropical island and creepy crawly critters are a part of the experience. There’s a lizard somewhere in my flat. I’ve named him ‘Eddie’ (Eddie Lizard—get it??). At first I tried to kill the cockroaches, but eventually I left it go. I just have to make sure that I keep the food wrapped up and my shoes in a secure location. I keep telling myself this is a great character building experience for when I return to the Swampy South.

*Editor’s note: I wrote this prior to my evening run. When I got back from my run, there was an enormous cockroach waiting for me in my kitchen trash can. Man those things are huge here. After about a 5 minute standoff, I managed to get the fugly bugly out of my flat. It’s absolutely impossible to completely insulate one’s living quarters from the outside world because the windows are slatted and don’t have screens. Live and let live I guess.

6) Hot water – I was warned about this, so I knew to expect it. At first, I thought it just came and went, but I’m starting to suspect that it’s on a timer because I’ve noticed that I’ve had better luck in the evenings. The first morning was a little rough. Luckily, it’s so blasted hot most of the time that a cool shower is pretty refreshing.

7) Gossip – The rumor mill is non-existent here. One of the halls, Chancellor, has a code that unless information is freely provided, the students in the blocks don’t provide or seek out information about instances that occur in the hall. It’s an honor code that is deeply respected. What a novel concept.

8) Bat habits – I don’t bite my nails (granted, I still have acrylic tips on and my need for a salon is severe – luckily I’ve heard that there are some salons on campus, including one in a hall of residence). I also have no reason to use curse words, so I’m hoping that these bad habits don’t follow me back to the states.

So what are the downsides?

1) I’m on lockdown most of the time. I know it’s for the best, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it. If it’s after 5 and I’m not with Marcia, I’m pretty much stuck at Rex. All things considered, I definitely prefer lockdown to the alternative. I’m so lacking in the common sense department that I’d probably be dead or robbed in 24 hours of total independence. I have felt safe the entire time I’ve been here, mostly because I have people constantly looking in on me.

2) Loneliness. It’s a good and bad thing. To loosely (and I mean loosely) quote Anne Lindbergh in her book, it’s such a rare occasion to find a time and space where one is truly alone with his or her thoughts, and that is certainly true. I have had a lot of time to think freely without interruptions. The solitude has given me an opportunity to process my experience without anyone interjecting his or her judgment or opinion, but at the same time, it would really enhance my experience to be able to share the taste of a tamarind ball or fresh mango with a friend, or talk about cultural differences with an FSU colleague.

Thus concludes my longest post ever. I hope at least one person other than myself reads half of this.