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Thursday -
Like the other days we woke up, ate breakfast, had a group devotion and started our jobs on the work site. It's hard to believe that the week is almost over already! It has been one of the best weeks of my life! Today was also sad, though, because back in Atlanta, the Maibach's are moving to Leo, Indiana. (We later found out they moved on Friday...)I prayed and thought of them a lot today!
Today is our last work day, because tomorrow we either go to the YS Falls and swim or we go to Kingston School for Deaf Children and have a tour and be with kids there. We have a sponsor child at Kingston, so our family chose to go there. Although Ricky went to the falls with some friends he had made on the trip. Anyways, back to today! After lunch, the VBS kids, the teachers, and Anna, Nikki, and I loaded the bus to go to the orphanage. The kids from the deaf village are very excited! Mr. Chad drove us.
When we got there we saw a pretty small building and a fence with a swing set/play set area (which was not in the best shape). We got out of the 15 passenger van and a lady welcomed us in. The children at the orphanage were SO excited to see us and quickly ran out to play on the play set with the kids from the village. They blended nicely and played together happily. the women who owned the orphanage told us that while the kids played, we were allowed to come and hold the babies. The babies were soooooo sweet. But it was also sad when we got inside. They had cribs lined along all the walls in a very small room, and they had couches too. Everything in there was lined up to look at the TV which was playing "The Wiggles". They had about 5 or 6 ladies working there.
We sang a few songs with them and gave the lady the pillowcases we had worked on. After a while, we went back outside and played with the kids on the play set. I found this little girl who looked like she had been crying. She looked about 3. I held out my hands as she looked up into my eyes with those BIG dark brown ones of hers. She quickly took my hands and wouldn't let go for anything. I didn't mind at all. <3
We gave out our pillowcases and pillows that we had made, then we sang a few songs with the kids. When it was time to go, the little girl was still holding on to me. She didn't say one thing to me the entire time I was with her. I walked away not knowing her name or exact age, or anything really about her. Except the fact that she was obviously thirsting for affection. Don't get me wrong, the lady who worked there was loving and affectionate toward the kids, but when there's 30 (or so) of them, it was probably hard for her to love on everyone.
After we all said our goodbyes, we went back to the deaf village, had dinner, and played games then went to bed. I was REALLY ready for some sleep....
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Friday -
After we had breakfast, we all loaded one of two buses. Either the one to the YS Falls or the one to Kingston. It was kinda a long ride to Kingston. I slept on the way!! When we got there, the kids came running up to us and gave us some great big hugs, even though they didn't know us! It was cool!!! They LOVED the cameras, so we have many, many pictures of some one's hand or some one's eye, etc. Hehe...the pictures are fun to look at. :)
We got to meet our sponsor child (who is 18), which was neat. Sadly, we didn't get a picture with her. :( Shortly after we got there, the principle of the school gave us a tour. They had recently had a fire in one of their rooms.
I felt SO spoiled as I walked through their "dorms". They each had about 3 articles of clothing. (including their school uniform.) Every morning I wake up to a closet brimming with clothes. I worry about my clothes not matching perfectly, not having a shirt in every color and not having shoes to match the exact shade of brown. They're glad if they have even 1 shirt to wear for days in a row. I'm ready to ship half of my closet out to Jamaica, I don't know about you!!!
As we kept walking through, we found that they have a nice library here. Lots of good books!!!
The kids are deaf, but that does not stop them from coming up to you and trying to carry on a conversation!!! They would ask me a question and I would either make the "I have no idea what you're talking about" face, or try to respond with what little sign language I knew. It was quite the experience. I'm sure the people around me found it hilarious!!! :D
One little girl literally clung onto Dad. Unlike most children at the orphanage we visited yesterday, she was very outgoing. Dad figured out that her name was Kiera. She was SO concerned about the veins in my dad's arms. Dad was trying to assure her that he did not have an illness and that she had them too, you just couldn't see hers. :) She was adorable. She started crying when Dad left.
When it was lunchtime, we went to "Island Grill". The food there was pretty good!!! I had BBQ chicken and a "festival". A festival is a lot like the appetizer rolls at O' Charley's. They are SOOOOO good!!!!!!!
When we got back to the deaf school, the kids ran up to us again. This little boy LOVED my sunglasses. He put them on and then he ran off, I didn't think that I was gonna get them back!! (Thankfully they were from "Dollar General". ;D) Then right before we left, he sweetly handed them back over.
Today was very neat!! When we got back to the deaf village, we had supper, then we all went around and said what our favorite part of the trip was. I said that mine was either the church service on Sunday, the orphanage, or the deaf school. They were all so awesomely amazing. :)
I don't want to go to bed, because tomorrow we have to leave. :( Oh well, we can't stay here forever!! It will good to be with Rosy and Tommy, though. Anyways, gotta get some sleep....
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Saturday-
This morning after breakfast, we took one last group picture. Then we all went our separate ways. As we were driving away from the village, to go to the airport, I'll admit it, I cried. After about 3 hours of driving, we arrived at the airport and waited in a few long lines. We would've missed our flight if the lady who worked there hadn't given us a shortcut. We barely made it on our flight, even with her help!!
We were in such a hurry that we didn't have time to stop and eat! We went a total of 12 hours from meal to meal. UGH!!! We were really hungry!!!
When we got back, Some friends picked us up and surprised us by bringing our younger siblings, too!!! It was good to be together again!!
We were ready for some American food, so we stopped at Partner's Pizza. It tasted SOOOO good!!!
We were exhausted when we got home, so we went straight to bed.
It's good to be home, but I already miss Jamaica. It was an indescribable trip.
-s. olivia
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